Looking for ideas as to what is wrong with my dog

[alligande]

Three days ago I realized that Brody was eating very slowly, and then that night he threw up. So at breakfast I took the time to watch him eat and he looked like a human with a very bad sore throat. He had coughed once that night and sounded like he was coughing up a hair ball. That was the only cough.

So I took him straight to the vet, he had a slight fever, and she confirmed the sore throat.

We were given a course of doxie. He ate for the next 2 days but through up both days a couple of times. He does seem to be digesting most of the food, as the vomit is mostly bile.

This morning he would not eat anything even being enticed with little bits of chicken.

 

Any suggestions?

[Maja]

My dog had a sore throat,and she was not to eat for a day after she got the shots, simply because it hurts and triggers vomiting reflex. Then she got things like broth, and dogfood that has a consistency of porridge, you pour water over it and let soak, and no try food or dry treats. Basically the food should not aggravate the pain, also one has to make sure that it is cured thoroughly because the infection can spread onto other organs and cause trouble. It is easy to cure, but the job must be completed.

 

All the best for Brody!

Maja

[MaryP]

Ollie started with just vomiting bile and a loss of appetite. They treated him with antibiotics initially and without success. It wasn't until they did exploratory surgery that they found that he had a string strung throughout his entire small intestines. I'm not saying that that is what is wrong with your dog. But, the lesson I learned from Ollie is that if you are not satisfied with the results of the treatment or the answers you are getting, keep going back, or go somewhere else. Insist they keep looking for the problem. My vet was wonderful and willing to put up with me bringing Ollie back in every day and insisting that there was something more going on. But, I've had other vets that have tried to blow me off (e.g., the vet that I talked to when I called the emergency number one of the nights when Ollie was screaming in pain - GRRRR!!). We know our dogs best and we know when there is something wrong.

 

I hope you find your answers soon and I hope that Brody is feeling better.

[juliepoudrier]

Doxycycline can cause stomach upset. Talk to your vet about adding something like Pepcid (generic is fine) about an hour before giving the doxy or even some anti-nausea meds. You want him to keep the doxy down so it can do its thing. Probiotics 2 hours after the doxy might also be appropriate, and make sure you give the meds with food.

 

J.

[Alchemist]

Doxycycline can cause stomach upset. Talk to your vet about adding something like Pepcid (generic is fine) about an hour before giving the doxy or even some anti-nausea meds. You want him to keep the doxy down so it can do its thing. Probiotics 2 hours after the doxy might also be appropriate, and make sure you give the meds with food.

 

J.

 

I'll second that - from personal experience! I felt REALLY sick once after taking doxy on an empty stomach - as in "please, please, let me die RIGHT now!". Took a look at the bottle and it clearly told me to take it with food. Which I did, religiously, thereafter.

 

Since then I've always been careful to check - with humans or pets alike - whether the meds should be taken on an empty stomach vs with food. (Also whether there are any interactions to be wary of, such as "avoid co-ingestion with dairy").

 

That's not always a foolproof solution - metronidazole made Duncan vomit profusely, regardless of whether we gave it with food. But certainly food can help in tolerating some meds.

[Maja]

As my vet explained, they way you know it's sore throat is that you sort of massage near the throat as though you were checking tonsils. I am sure your vet did it. If the dog has a sore throat this action will activate the vomiting reflex and the dog will make licking-smacking motions. That way the vet knows it's in the throat. Unlike with people sore throat causes vomiting in a dog.

 

I was quite surprised by it. It is usually not difficult to get rid of, but because it is caused by the staph bacteria it must be thoroughly eradicated so that it does not move on to other organs. All this I was told by my vet. I must say that the way Bonnie was acting before we went to the vet's I was sure she had something stuck in her throat.

 

However, I am sure that if the vet treatment has not brought a quick improvement, you should go back. Also, if you have other dogs they can get infected so you should monitor them too.

 

Maja

[alligande]

We went back to the vets today, he was x-rayed and there were no obstructions. Did find out his hips are not that great but I have had my suspicions for awhile about that due to him jumping liking a bunny. He also has lyme again, ( he was diagnosed back in June and completed a course of doxy back then with no ill effects) but the vet thinks the lyme is unrelated.He has a slight fever that has increased a little since the last trip to the vet. She changed the antibiotics and he is taking pepcid as well. As he is not eating anything it is hard to give the antibiotics with food, we have tried tempting with all sorts of things but he is not interested.

Keeping my fingers crossed that he starts to improve over the weekend, otherwise back we go. Brody is a tough little dog, when he had lyme last it took us ages to realize there was something wrong as he just keeps on driving hard, but he is now a miserable dog, and even wants a cuddle which is very out of character.

[Maja]

Poor little fellow. I suppose he drinks, so clear chicken broth cooked with chicken feet, if you can buy them, will give him him some strength.

 

Maja

[juliepoudrier]

What antibiotic did you change to? Doxy is the abx of choice for Lyme, and it worries me that your vet switched to something else as if the Lyme is of no consequence (in less she switched to amoxicillin, which can also be used if a dog won't tolerate doxy). Is it possible that you didn't treat long enough or at a high enough dose the first time around? Why does the vet think the Lyme is unrelated to his current symptoms? I'd sure be treating the Lyme aggressively at this point. Even if what he's got is unrelated to Lyme, I'd wonder why not doxy since it works for more than just Lyme, and you could probably kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

 

J.

[stockdogranch]

I completely agree with everything Julie said. All those damn TBDs have a way of lying subclinical and not quite completely going away unless treated very aggressively (high doses for long periods of time). I would add that Doxy can also be quite irritating to the throat, if you use the old shove the pill down there method. When I had a dog with a TBD, I would find something, anything, that she was willing to eat at least a little bit of. Feed her, then wait a half an hour. Then I would put the Doxy into Burger Balls--just a little wad of raw hamburger with the pill inside. She loved them, and actually looked forward to getting them. Once you can get the Doxy into the dog, they usually start feeling better enough to have a bit more appetite, and then getting some food into them initially isn't as difficult.

A

[alligande]

What antibiotic did you change to? Doxy is the abx of choice for Lyme, and it worries me that your vet switched to something else as if the Lyme is of no consequence (in less she switched to amoxicillin, which can also be used if a dog won't tolerate doxy). Is it possible that you didn't treat long enough or at a high enough dose the first time around? Why does the vet think the Lyme is unrelated to his current symptoms? I'd sure be treating the Lyme aggressively at this point. Even if what he's got is unrelated to Lyme, I'd wonder why not doxy since it works for more than just Lyme, and you could probably kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

 

J.

 

She did switch him to amoxicillin, just could not remember how to spell last night. She switched because of him not eating and throwing up and did not want to agrivate his stomach further.

She thinks the lyme is a red hearing as he does not have any joint pain or other lyme symptoms, her thought was that the titer was unfinished business from the last time. We do live in Lyme central (Rhode Island) so either it never went away, he did take doxy for 30 days or he got it again which is possible. Basically she did not want to latch onto lyme as the diagnosis as she thinks there is more going on, just does not know what yet.

 

Like the idea of dogy chicken soup, of to the market I go. He is drinking, just has no interest in food.

[urge to herd]

Add some white rice to the chicken broth, and cook till it dissolves, making a sort of thin rice cream soup. The chicken smell/taste will tempt him, and the rice will give him some more nice bland calories. It might help his appetite.

 

Good luck, Brody!

 

Ruth

[Maja]

I would stick to clear broth first.

Maja

[alligande]

Mr Brody is still not eating, we have tried to entice him with all manner of tasty treats, so today we are going to have an ultra sound. It is a good job he does not know what is going on because if he was a nervous as me we would be in trouble.

[Maja]

Poor Brody! I will keep him in my prayers.

Maja

[MaryP]

Poor you and poor Brody. I sure hope you get some answers today. Sending more mojo your way.

[PSmitty]

Good thoughts for Brody. I hope you can get to the bottom of this and he's feeling better soon.

[KrisK]

I know how much worry they can cause when they are not eating and feeling rotten. Sending good mojo to Brody and hope he feels better soon. When Zach wouldn't eat anything, we did find he liked shrimp...it was a good way to get his heart pills into him.

[WildFlower]

Sending so goo thoughts to you and Brody!

[urge to herd]

Mojo coming for Brody and you!

 

Ruth

[Journey]

I would strongly reconsider the Lyme. A very aggressive dose of doxy for 8 weeks min. Not all dogs will show classic clinical symptoms. I hope he feels better but I would not be calling a TBD a red herring.

[Carson Crazies]

I'll second that - from personal experience! I felt REALLY sick once after taking doxy on an empty stomach - as in "please, please, let me die RIGHT now!". Took a look at the bottle and it clearly told me to take it with food. Which I did, religiously, thereafter.

 

Even though we've moved on from the Doxy part of things I wanted to add that I can so totally identify with this. I had a round of Doxy a few years ago and I was nauseated the entire time - even taking it WITH food. Ugh. Not a pleasant experience, but it did indeed fix me right up. I found that Ginger capsules eased some of the nausea.

[alligande]

And the mystery continues, he had his ultra sound yesterday and that showed nothing unusual. I am waiting to hear from the vet about his blood work. I am supposed to be getting some computer projects worked on, but I do not have much consentration at the moment.

I am convinced there is something wrong with his throat, but the vet does not as he is not coughing. It is just that at times he seems to want to eat but it just becomes to much effort.

[Journey]

Does he have any bad or broken teeth?

[MaryP]

Gosh, that just sounds so much like what Ollie went through with the string. Has your vet considered doing exploratory surgery? Ollie had tests and x-rays and you-name-it, and they could never find anything wrong until they did exploratory surgery and found the string that he ingested.