Dog is very sick

[gummybear]

Hi guys, I am a H&F poster but I am hoping you can help me out. We have a 9 year old Golden who has always been healthy. We were on vacation at the beginning of January, and she boarded at her vet. While she was there she had her yearly, which was normal, except for a large weight gain since June. They did a thyroid panel and put her on meds.

A few days later she stopped eating. She has been super lethargic, won't eat anything, save a bite of meat or a lick of PB. I've tried it all, broth, rice, favorite treats etc. We took her back to the vet, she had a 103 fever, we did a full blood panel, which was all normal (electrolytes, kidney, liver etc.) save for an elevated WBC count, and took an x-ray, which was unremarkable except for what appears to be some narrowing of her intestines, which could be related to her obesity. She is getting an u/s tomorrow. They gave her an IV of antibiotics on Sat. and she seemed to perk up. But she is back to the lethargy, now with intermittent vomiting of pure bile. Not sure if her belly is upset from the antibiotic she is taking (enrofloxacin). 

I am desperate for an answer and for her to get better. Any ideas of what it could be or what I could do?

[mrsjrd23]

I have no idea what it could be but wanted to send good thoughts to you and your pup. I have a 6 year old golden. Have you thought about taking her to another vet? (not that your vet did anything wrong but sometimes another vet may have some other thoughts on the situation)

[gummybear]

I think we might try a second opinion if nothing comes up on u/s tomorrow. She is still drinking water and pottying normally so I have hope that she's just under the weather. My poor boo

[mmp]

Good luck!

The antibiotic definitely can be causing the bile and vomiting. I give slippery elm an hour before antibiotics to coat the stomach. Or try Pepcid.

If you live near a fancy pet food store, I find frozen tripe is the only thing my dog will eat when he's on a hunger strike.

Probably some infection going on, glad to see the kidneys and liver levels are ok.

Poor baby!

[Deleted]

I don't have any dogs but I always give probiotics when I have my horse or cat on antibiotics. It seems to handle the bile and upset stomach some.

Is she still drinking normally? I'm happy to hear the blood work was normal. I'd assume some other symptoms are being caused by the antibiotics or dehydration if she's not drinking.

[lolanjoe]

This sounds like a thyroid storm which in humans can be brought on by starting thyroid medication. Has the vet stopped her meds and checked thyroid levels? It would be absolutely textbook in a person and was the first thing that came to mind. A quick check on the 'net showed dogs can get this too. It's emergent and would need to be diagnosed right away.

Good luck!

[gummybear]

Oh WOW! We are going in to the vet this AM so I will be sure to mention it. Thank you!
And thank you everyone for you support and feedback.

[mmp]

Any news???

[gummybear]

She is actually doing much better! I had a long talk with the vet today and we decided that because of the weather we could reschedule the u/s. She woke up perkier, ate some rice and chicken, and a little bacon. She has kept that down. Her fever is gone. The vet said we should stop her antibiotic and let her get a chance to settle her stomach and eat some food. She is still tired but making progress. She even went outside and rolled in the snow for a bit. We did talk about the thyroid storm, the vet seemed to think that she would be agitated in addition to her other symptoms, which she is not at all, but we are stopping the thyroid meds until we go in as well.

THANK YOU everyone!

[gummybear]

Oh and I know bacon was probably not there best thing but I was making it, she was interested, and I jumped at the chance to get a little food in her. It was just a tiny bit

[gummybear]

Wanted to update now that the dog is feeling better. She had her u/s and it was all normal, save for some very minor, almost unnoticeable mottling of her spleen. Unremarkable but noteworthy only because cancer of the spleen is common in GRs. She had some sludge in her gall bladder, which is normal in older dogs. We COULD do a aspiration or biopsy of the spleen but, decided against it, as the mottling was really, really minor and the darn dog has been through enough already. We decided to just keep an eye on it and follow it with her check ups. She is on a different antibiotic, handling it much better, and a drug to help her gall bladder. She is acting MUCH better, back to her old self, though we are having trouble getting her to eat her kibble. She is eager to gobble up the home made food I make her, but literally eats around the kibble I attempt to mix in. She is back to begging and counter surfing so I KNOW her appetite is back. At this point I think it is a battle of wills. Oh, also off the thyroid pills until we get her 100%. She lost 10 lbs!!! during all of this so she has a head start on getting to a healthy weight.

So, $1200 later, no diagnosis, but the pup is hopefully on her way to recovery

[audry80]

So glad your pup is better. I have a 8 year old JRT who has bad acid reflux. He loves to go on hunger strikes and we now mix in homemade food with his kibble three times a day. He sure has us trained and seems like your GR is just as smart!

[gummybear]

She ate plain kibble tonight.
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