Got a Sick Dog, Need Help, Advice...

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

I've got a 6 year old female Maltese that as of last Sunday afternoon appeared to be completely healthy. Sunday night she just seemed a little off. She was panting, quivering and was having trouble with her balance. My wife had her in to an ER vet on Monday and was told she probably ate something bad and should be okay. She was prescribed a pain killer. Tuesday she seemed worse and was brought back to the ER and we were then told that she most likely had a disc issue in her neck and needed surgery to the tune of $5k.
Wednesday I spoke with a coworker who rescues a lot of animals and was referred to a vet who in her words was in it for all the right reasons and that I needed to get the dog to see him. I brought her up there Thursday morning and he had a look at her.
He completely disagreed with the first diagnosis simply because he didn't see anything that suggested that the dog was in pain. He suspects vertigo. One reason is that every time she stumbled in front of him, she went to the same direction. Problem is, many things can cause that. She was prescribed two medications that would help with vertigo.
This dog did have an ear infection back in early February. I'm was starting to think the infection had gotten worse and that was her problem.
Now yesterday and today there have been times that she is at her absolute worst. At one point her tongue started to turn purple. The anti vertigo meds don't seem to be doing anything.
I'm trying to post this quickly because my wife, sister in law & mother in law are kind of flipping out right now and everyone has a different opinion. It's possible we're heading out for another ER visit.
Here is a short video I took Wednesday morning that shows her walking a little.

stomachmonkey · 03-15-2015, 03:53 PM

Other than it looks like she wants to poop I have no clue.

Hope you get it figured out.

Bump

tabs · 03-15-2015, 03:57 PM

There is nothing worse than seeing something you love suffer...I do hope it is nothing really bad and can be straightened out shortly.

Rick V · 03-15-2015, 03:57 PM

Vet time, she looks like she is having control issues or her hind quarters. Dogs don't show pain like people do.
It does look like she is blocked up but it could be anything that causes pain in the back end.
Yeah she needs to be seen.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

I should add, she was eating and pooping just fine up until today. She'll still eat and drink if it's brought to her mouth. But we haven't seen a poop since yesterday.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Real time update, she pooped, half of it was stuck to her ass though.

Baz · Baz's Garage

I'm no expert so take this with a grain of salt - just make sure she doesn't have canine bloat.

Dog Bloat: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

Chocaholic · 03-15-2015, 04:40 PM

Bloat would make sense...but a vet would be able to diagnose that easily. Of course, not so common in small dogs. We had a cocker spaniel rupture a disc in her back...wasn't pretty. Get her looked at asap.

masraum · 03-15-2015, 05:08 PM

Does she seem better since the poo? The wobbly walk is similar to when our doxie had his back problems, but it really only affected his back half. I hate to see this and hope it clears up whatever it is. Good luck.

masraum · 03-15-2015, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tabs

There is nothing worse than seeing something you love suffer...I do hope it is nothing really bad and can be straightened out shortly.

It's shocking, but nice to see a regular human come out in tabs, but then I know tabbie is a dog lover too. +1 to his sentiment.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Seems odd she'd be able to eat if it was bloat. Other than that , it makes sense.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by masraum

Does she seem better since the poo? The wobbly walk is similar to when our doxie had his back problems, but it really only affected his back half. I hate to see this and hope it clears up whatever it is. Good luck.

She's been pooping just fine up until today, it just came a little later. Probably due to the fact that she's been eating a little less.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Her abdomen is very tight, that would support the bloat theory.

LeeH · 03-15-2015, 05:30 PM

+1 on the bloat/torsion theory.

Gastric Torsion in Dogs

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

Spoke with the ER vet, they said if it was bloat it would have killed her by now. That can't go untreated for a week.

emcon5 · emcon5's Garage

Look at her eyes for nystagmus.

Seems pretty young to get it, but it could be this:

Vestibular Disease in Dogs | VCA Animal Hospitals

jwasbury · 03-15-2015, 07:12 PM

My Rottie-Mutt had bloat back in November. Nothing goes in, or out when a dog has bloat...I really knew there was a problem when he wouldn't eat as my guy never missed a meal before that.

Good luck with your fur kid...hate to see them suffering and they can't tell us what is wrong.

cashman · 03-15-2015, 07:15 PM

Good luck.

Not a vet but could it be poison of some kind? Yard fertilizer? Plant food?

We took a cat to the vet once for something similar and that was their suggestion. It only lasted a day though. Hindsight, we thought the cat ate some plant food.

74-911 · 03-16-2015, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GG Allin

Spoke with the ER vet, they said if it was bloat it would have killed her by now. That can't go untreated for a week.

We had a basset that survived one session of gastric torsion (bloat) with emergency surgery ( opened him up from stem to stern) but didn't survive the second episode. Both times the problem was caused by deathly fear of fireworks. It was very apparent something serious was happening as he looked like an over-inflated ballon and was in serious distress. As the vet said, this requires immediate action.

GG Allin · GG Allin's Garage

As of this morning she can't even walk now. Not looking good.