My vet had never heard of EIC either, and suggested that her collapse was probably heart related. I wanted to be able to rule out EIC so I insisted they draw blood for me to send to the U. of Minn. Sadly, the results came back affected, but at least now I know what I'm dealing with and how closely I must watch my dog for signs of an impending collapse. I'll be feeling my way along with her, especially as the summer heat approaches.
I'm definitely no vet, but the video clips I've seen of EIC dogs "collapsing" show a clear collapse of only the rear end and in my opinion, are distinguishable from either heat stroke or heart, where basically, the whole dog goes down. I have often wondered if the word collapse serves to confuse people, because it's more of a temporary rear end paralysis where they drag their rear, than a complete collapse. Having said that, my experience is limited and others might have seen cases which differ from the few videos I've seen, most of which were viewed from links posted to this site.
The above page should help distinguish. EIC has a quick recovery time compared to heat stroke/heat exhaustion. Heat stroke is quite serious as organ damage can occur, btw.
