I know this is a cat forum but please if anyone could help me with my mum in laws dog I would be gra

[ruthyb]

 Hi, my mum in law doesn't know where to turn to and I thought I would ask on here for her as I know some of you have dogs and may know a little bit and be able to help me. Her dog is a pedigree Lhaso Apso and will be 3 next month, she is fully innoculated but hasn't been spayed. That is next on her list as she doesn't cope well with being in season. The problem is she came into season last friday night, all the normal things she does usually, she burys toys and carries them around with her, she was due on too but there has been no bleeding at all, she has always bled when she has come into season before. Also she has gone off her food completely and was being sick a lot, mil phoned the vets they said try her with plain chicken, she wouldn't touch it, then she started sleeping a lot and just not being herself at all she was still being sick. They took her to the vets, vet examined her and said her stomach felt normal, gave her an antibiotic injection and sent her home. Still no better sunday and still no food, she stopped being sick but they were concerned as she hadn't eaten. Phoned the vets again they just said persevere with plain foods. She did and on monday still no food at all and she was sick again, mil said it was just clear fluid. They took her back to the vets, they took bloods and examined her again, the vet said she couldn't feel anything at all.

 Bloods came back today, all normal apart from the vet said her white blood count was slightly down but that could be due to her having a stomach bug. They have just told her to still try her with plain foods, she still won't eat, she is lethargic, although mil said when the postman came she barked and chased the letters like she normally does but then just layed down and slept. The vets are not helpful at all and basically said they have no idea what it could be. she has phoned another vet in the area, they looked at the dogs records from the other vets, they have said the same thing. Has anyone got any ideas at all, my mum in law is worried sick, Maisy is her baby and she is worried as she hasn't eaten for 4 days, she has had water I must add. The season and no bleeding sounds weird to me.

  if anyone has any ideas at all I would be very grateful.x

 

[yayi]

Did the vet do x rays?

 

[catsallaround]

I would be concerned of infection resisting treatment or something of that nature that may have been building up.  What about stabilizing and doing a spay now.

 

[nerdrock]

If she hasn't eaten anything in 4 days you need to get SOMETHING into her. She may not have the energy to eat right now, you can rub a bit of corn syrup on her gums to give her a bit of energy and then offer her something nice and smelly - canned dog food, tuna, etc. You can also get puppy milk replacer to try, just to get some nutrients into her. If you have it there, you can get some NutriCal and give her a bit of that, it's packed with nutrients too, something like 1000 kcal/tbsp. Once she starts eating you can give her satin balls (google the recipe) to help her keep on weight, they're pretty bland. You can also give her ground beef and rice or chicken and rice, the meat can either book cooked or raw, although cooked would better if she has an infection right now. Just boil it with nothing added. 

As to what it can be... is she in heat right now? It coud be a split heat if she's not bleeding, she will more than likely go in again in a few weeks/months. The first thing that comes to mind is pyrometra

Has her kidney function been checked? Lhasa's are predispositioned to kidney disease and kidney/bladder stones, symptoms can include vomiting. 

They're also predispositioned to IVDD. Generally, the symptoms you described are not ones associated with this disease, but I have seen differently. Sadie, one of my dachshunds, has mild IVDD and when she's having an episode she's often lethargic and doesn't eat as much, although she has never thrown up. 

Something else to consider is hepatitis:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/dog/health/viral/hepatitis.php

Anemia:

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/immune-mediated-hemolytic-anemia-in-dogs-imha/page1.aspx

There are also a few tick born illnesses that have similar symptoms. 

Personally, I would run a full blood panel if that hadn't already been done (I don't know if they only did a partial one before), xrays and a urinalysis. Those tests should cover pretty much everything I've listed if it's one of those. 

Sorry she's going through this right now. 

 

[ruthyb]

If she hasn't eaten anything in 4 days you need to get SOMETHING into her. She may not have the energy to eat right now, you can rub a bit of corn syrup on her gums to give her a bit of energy and then offer her something nice and smelly - canned dog food, tuna, etc. You can also get puppy milk replacer to try, just to get some nutrients into her. If you have it there, you can get some NutriCal and give her a bit of that, it's packed with nutrients too, something like 1000 kcal/tbsp. Once she starts eating you can give her satin balls (google the recipe) to help her keep on weight, they're pretty bland. You can also give her ground beef and rice or chicken and rice, the meat can either book cooked or raw, although cooked would better if she has an infection right now. Just boil it with nothing added. 

As to what it can be... is she in heat right now? It coud be a split heat if she's not bleeding, she will more than likely go in again in a few weeks/months. The first thing that comes to mind is pyrometra

Has her kidney function been checked? Lhasa's are predispositioned to kidney disease and kidney/bladder stones, symptoms can include vomiting. 

They're also predispositioned to IVDD. Generally, the symptoms you described are not ones associated with this disease, but I have seen differently. Sadie, one of my dachshunds, has mild IVDD and when she's having an episode she's often lethargic and doesn't eat as much, although she has never thrown up. 

Something else to consider is hepatitis:

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/dog/health/viral/hepatitis.php

Anemia:

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/immune-mediated-hemolytic-anemia-in-dogs-imha/page1.aspx

There are also a few tick born illnesses that have similar symptoms. 

Personally, I would run a full blood panel if that hadn't already been done (I don't know if they only did a partial one before), xrays and a urinalysis. Those tests should cover pretty much everything I've listed if it's one of those. 

Sorry she's going through this right now. 

Thank you, the vet ran a full blood panel and apart from the white blood cells being a bit low, everything else was fine. Mum in law has tried rice, plan chicken, plain dog food, the only thing she nibbled on late last night after I came off here was a tiny bit of sausage that my father in law had in a sandwich. Not the best thing to start off with I know but since then shown no interest, mum in law ut the food next to where she is lying and she just raises her head, sniffs it and then puts her head back down again.The vet suggested an x ray tomorrow if she still hasn't eaten, if that shows nothing then a scan. Its just so weird. I suggested getting some puppy milk.x

 

[ruthyb]

Did the vet do x rays?

X ray is next on the list tomorrow, its just so baffling.x

 

[carolina]

Ruthy, if they don't find anything on the x-rays, I would go straight to an ultrasound.... Also, get this baby some nutrition while at the vets.... fluids and get some recovery food to take home. They will have to syringe feed this baby, she can't go without eating forever
Maybe it's time to talk about an appetite stimulant, or something...
Also, this will sound weird - but try cat food. It has more protein, and a lot of dogs love it. It is no problem for them to eat temporarily (the reverse can be a problem)
Try a bit of dry and a bit of wet cat food and see what happens usually dogs go ga-ga for it :nod:
Tons, tons of vibes for the little one

 

[ruthyb]

Ruthy, if they don't find anything on the x-rays, I would go straight to an ultrasound.... Also, get this baby some nutrition while at the vets.... fluids and get some recovery food to take home. They will have to syringe feed this baby, she can't go without eating forever

Maybe it's time to talk about an appetite stimulant, or something...
Also, this will sound weird - but try cat food. It has more protein, and a lot of dogs love it. It is no problem for them to eat temporarily (the reverse can be a problem)
Try a bit of dry and a bit of wet cat food and see what happens usually dogs go ga-ga for it

Tons, tons of vibes for the little one

Thanks Carolina, mil offered to buy some special food from the vet and she said there is no need to be thinking about this yet which I thought was odd, I know how important it is for cats to keep eating so I presumed it would be the same for dogs. I will tell her to try some cat food.x
 

 

[carolina]

Well, luckily for dogs it is not as dangerous to go off food as it is for cats.... With that said, it has been 4 days already, and that is just not good for any leaving being..... Humans, dogs or cats.... That poor baby just has to eat now

 

[resqchick]

The symptoms scream Pyo or false pregnancy. I hope they get some IV fluids into her right away, and an emergency spay would not be out of the realm. I have always sworn by nutrical for my maltese who leans towards low blood sugar at times, but a bit of lightly cooked chopped meat has also helped to bring around a poor appetite. 

I really hope everything turns around for her. It's scary with small dogs and their tendency toward low blood sugar. In any case, she needs to be spayed so this doesn't happen again. 

 

[ruthyb]

The symptoms scream Pyo or false pregnancy. I hope they get some IV fluids into her right away, and an emergency spay would not be out of the realm. I have always sworn by nutrical for my maltese who leans towards low blood sugar at times, but a bit of lightly cooked chopped meat has also helped to bring around a poor appetite. 

I really hope everything turns around for her. It's scary with small dogs and their tendency toward low blood sugar. In any case, she needs to be spayed so this doesn't happen again. 

Thank you the vet has agreed that this could be the reason and she needs spaying asap but they won't spay her until she has eaten something. How long will this last for?

Thank you.x

 

[ruthyb]

Mum in law just phoned another vet, she started telling them symptoms and straight away the lady said sounds like a phantom pregnancy, they have got her in tomorrow morning and they are going to give maisy something to bring her out of it and then as soon as she is back to normal they will spay her. x

 

[nerdrock]

It does sound like it's a false pregnancy, but it sounds like there's something else going on as well. If nothing else, an xray would provide peace of mind and could rule out pyrometra. Pyro is an incredibly dangerous condition, I don't want to scare you or anything, but if it's not dealt with she will die. Please look up pyrometra and the symptoms, they fit your mil's dog perfectly. 

Lhasas are also prone to kidney disease and renal failure, so it's important to get her to eat something as soon as possible. When dogs don't eat for a long period of time, they don't eat because they don't have the energy to eat. She should really rub some corn syrup on her gums, if she doesn't have that then she can use honey, or in a pinch sugar water. If she still won't eat, they need to start syringe feeding her. 

 

[ruthyb]

It does sound like it's a false pregnancy, but it sounds like there's something else going on as well. If nothing else, an xray would provide peace of mind and could rule out pyrometra. Pyro is an incredibly dangerous condition, I don't want to scare you or anything, but if it's not dealt with she will die. Please look up pyrometra and the symptoms, they fit your mil's dog perfectly. 

Lhasas are also prone to kidney disease and renal failure, so it's important to get her to eat something as soon as possible. When dogs don't eat for a long period of time, they don't eat because they don't have the energy to eat. She should really rub some corn syrup on her gums, if she doesn't have that then she can use honey, or in a pinch sugar water. If she still won't eat, they need to start syringe feeding her. 

She is seeing this different vet tomorrow, they sound like they know a lot more. Mil ook her for a walk earlier, she said she told her walkies and she went and fetched her lead and was fine on the walk, just when she go home she lay down again Mil said its like she is very depressed more than anything now that the sickness has stopped. Hopefully this new vet will do better.x

 

[ruthyb]

 

It does sound like it's a false pregnancy, but it sounds like there's something else going on as well. If nothing else, an xray would provide peace of mind and could rule out pyrometra. Pyro is an incredibly dangerous condition, I don't want to scare you or anything, but if it's not dealt with she will die. Please look up pyrometra and the symptoms, they fit your mil's dog perfectly. 

Lhasas are also prone to kidney disease and renal failure, so it's important to get her to eat something as soon as possible. When dogs don't eat for a long period of time, they don't eat because they don't have the energy to eat. She should really rub some corn syrup on her gums, if she doesn't have that then she can use honey, or in a pinch sugar water. If she still won't eat, they need to start syringe feeding her. 

OMG I have just looked this up, I shall pass it on to mil now, this sounds just like her symptoms, thank you.x

 

[ruthyb]

Have spoken to my mum in law, she said the previous vet did mention about a womb infection but didn't mention the seriousness of it at all. She agrees that the symptoms seem to fit. I have done a lot more googling and armed myself with info on it. I am taking mil to vets tomorrow so I shall tell them my findings. I told mil if she seems to deteriorate at all tonight then she needs to go to the vets straight away. Poor girl she must be in so much discomfort,mil said she is not leaving the vet until something has been done.Thank you for all your help.x

 

[nerdrock]

I'm glad she's getting looked at tomorrow. Keep us updated!

 

[ruthyb]

I'm glad she's getting looked at tomorrow. Keep us updated!

I shall do thanks, my mum in law phoned the vets and told them what I had been told on here, they asked her if she had been licking down there a lot or if her stomach is swollen, she isn't and it isn't so they said that that is a god sign also it's a lot more common in older dogs, so lets hope that it isn't, or if it is we have caught it early. Thank you again.x

 

[ruthyb]

Been to the vets, they did an ultrasound, she is just having a phantom pregnancy luckily and nothing more serious. They said she had some milk produced. They weighed her and she isn't underweight which is a good thing, they gave mil some anti sickness syrup, antibiotic tablets and also some kind of hormone tablets to stop the phantom pregnancy. Fingers crossed that she will be feeling better soon and starts to eat something. Mil will just keep offering her different foods. The vet advised when this has passed to have her spayed which will be done to prevent it from happening again.She has to go back again in a week or before if she gets any worse. Thank you for all your advice xxxx

 

[milk maid]

Phew, Ruthy just seen this post I was really worried it was Pyro till I got to the end, fingers crossed that the meds do the trick and that she is back to eating well by now.