Worrying about my pup

[pkcrossley]

your pet store should have some of the high-calorie pastes for dogs who are not eating --full of calories as well as necessary nutrients. you can keep adding it to anything currie will eat until he gets back to his old habits. it is extremely useful stuff and ensures good basic nutrition.

[jodi0553]

Well, we're back to the vet this afternoon. Good news is that since we took him off the antibiotic, no vomiting. bad news is, still no eating. I appreciate all the suggestions and will probably drive the vet nuts today asking about liquids to coat the stomach and pepsid and partial obstructions, etc.

Thanks also for the suggestions about food, however, they are not yet of help. He won't eat *anything* Not just dog food, but everything I've tried - from bland diet to favorite treats both from the dog treat bin and the human food pantry - he is absolutely refusing food except for a bare minimum on his terms and timeline. He ate about 1 tbsp of chicken breast yesterday around noon and that was it for the day. He actually turns his head and skulks away with his tail between his legs when I try to feed him.

I am starting to think that some of this might be psychological. As most of us are accustomed to, he is one stubborn little dog. The refusal to eat didn't start when he was vomiting - in fact I had to give him very small servings of bland diet food because he was eating them with such excitement. It instead started after the first vet visit when he was given an antivomiting pill and an antibiotic. The vet mentioned that they were very bitter. When he does eat now, he's extremely tentative - almost timid - as though he expects that the food will jump up and attack him. This sounds crazy to me, but I think I will bring it up with the doctor this afternoon. What do you fellow cairn owners think?

[sanford]

I agree with Terrier Lovers comments & others, re x-rays, etc.

Also, examine Currie's mouth, throat, teeth, gums to look for growths and to see if there is any irritation, inflammation or if something small is lodged or stuck somewhere.

[Hawkeye]

Poor boy. Glad to hear you have an appointment today, he really needs to be seen again. I know the antibiotics can do a number on their stomach and my previous westie was on pepcid for her last 2 years. I felt it was a miracle drug for her, but before putting currey on anything that could disguise the problem you first need to rule out the possible medical problems that can be causing currey not to eat. Good luck today and please let us know what happens.

[jodi0553]

Well, X-ray was taken and inspected by radiologist and we have no signs of an obstruction or anything else unusual. He got an anti nausea shot today and is going in for another shot of that med and a followup tomorrow. I thunk i am going to request a shot of antibiotic, if that is possible, Temp is normal and there is fecal matter in the bowel and colon. There is no physical reason why he is not eating. He has not touched even a morsel of food today despite being offered it both by free feeding and hand feeding. I'm starting to think that nausea isn't the issue, as the shot has had no impact on his desire to eat. Ultrasound is the next step if he continues to refuse feeding. The doc reassured me today that dogs can go a long time without food with no ill effects on their permenant health and as long as he is still drinking water he is not worried about nutrients. I tried to get him to drink chicken broth but he refused it too. I just don't understand. He is clearly hurting from lack of food, but won't eat. Since he vomited Tuesday night, he has eaten 1 tbsp of chicken, nothing else.

His energy is so low that he had troubles jumping up into the car and taking two flights of stairs today. On our rides in the car, he went to the floor of the passenger side and just lied the, wide awake. I'd do anything to have my wild man back right now. It is now well over two weeks of this and I'm feeling pretty down. I just want my sweet puppy back. Everyone keeps asking how old he is and when I say 5, I get oh wows and the like. He could be 13 or 14 by the way he is looking and acting.

[bradl]

The frustration must be almost palpable. Arghh. It sounds like even if the cause is as yet unknown, Currey is getting attentive and supportive care, so he may just eventually recover without ever knowing what the heck happened.

There have been two cases like that in this area in the last year or so where in the end things worked out fine, but there was never really any satisfaction of knowing what triggered the problems in the first place.

Hang in there, you, and Currey too.

[pkcrossley]

how distressing for you. since you have ruled out obstruction with the x-ray you know you have time to investigate, although each day is so hard for you and currie. i would continue to look for a physical cause. ultrasound would be the natural next step.

if you are going to ask your vet about an antibiotic, i suppose you might ask him about prednisone too. it is sometimes used to stimulate appetite in distressed animals. the problem is that prednisone can make almost anything look like it is cured --which can be a problem if you are still trying to diagnose him. still, if currie's condition is deteriorating the vet might consider it or another steroid.

i hope you get it solved soon, and get some good news. i know what this is like, it is very, very distressing. keep working with the vet, you will get an answer.

[Tuesday]

Poor you and Curry.

I also echo PK's thoughts on the Prednisone.

Please hang in there and keep us posted...

[Hawkeye]

How frustrating for you. All I can say is continue what your doing, work with your vet and give currey lots of love.

Also if you are going to ask about the antibiotics you may want to ask about giving him pepcid too. Our vet is a firm believer in giving pepcid while on antibiotics to prevent or ease stomach problems.

I know how difficult this is for you. Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

[hheldorfer]

Thinking of you and Currey and hoping for good news.

[jodi0553]

Vet has decided daily check-ups and antinausea shots are needed. He didn't eat at all yesterday or anything yet today. He did frolic in the snow quite a bit last night (SNOW IN OCTOBER, UGH!) but is just snubbing all food. Still drinking water so vet is not worried about nutrition. He was strongly opposed to steroids, antibiotics and pepsid at this point and is considering ultrasound as the next step in diagnosis. Currey got a second shot of antinausea meds today and will get another tomorrow at 10 AM. There is no physiological reason why he refuses food. We've started just leaving it out and not forcing it on him. I am starting to think that if he can't be nauseous and everything looks fine physically, that I am in a battle of wills with a ridiculously stubborn animal. Or at least I hope this is the case. I just worry that I know this dog and I know that when he becomes convinced that he is right about something, it takes an act of god for him to change his mind.

[remltr]

This just has to be absolutely frustrating for you. I am feeling frustrated and I am not directly involved. Part of me says get a new vet, part of me wants to scream at Currey "eat, damn you". But then reality sets in and I realize that everybody involved is doing everything they can to get Currey back on track.

Can't they do some sort of IV feeding, so at least he can get some nutrients? Raw cut up steak or hamburger?

[Sam I Am]

I know this might sound a bit crazy but I wonder if you have another dog brought into the house (let say a friends dog who your Cairn knows) and put out two dinner dishes with some really yummy food in both bowls. Would that prompt Currey to "protect" his food and dive in? It might also prompt a fight so you would have to be careful.

I cant believe it is in Currey's "head"... to not eat. It just isnt dog behaviour. There just has to be a reason. Have you thought of going to a specialist for a second opinion?

[pkcrossley]

ultrasound is a good next step. i thought your vet might be opposed to steroids, since they can obscure symptoms, and if the vet doesn't want to use them it means he doesn't think currey is at any crisis stage.

i agree with terrier lover, a dog is not going to starve himself for weeks to make a point. keep looking for the medical cause, it has to be there somewhere. in the meantime you and the vet can give curry the support he needs.

[finncaraid]

Wow, how distressed, depressed & worried you must be! If you feel he's being obstinate at this point, what do think caused it? Do you think he was feeling really bad for some unknown reason & now distrusts food? Maybe if you start going back to your regular routine pre-illness, Currey will start to resume his routine. We had a Pom that had the same thing you're experiencing 2x in 2 years. Never discovered a cause but it seemed when she had a new adventure & immediately went back to our regular life, she went back to eating like nothing ever happened. Granted, she tended to be very dramatic, even as a puppy, so I learned what kinds of things would get her mind off her troubles. Hope Currey gets back to his sweet angel self soon!!!

[Malcolm's Dad]

How frustrating. We all go to the vet thinking they will diagnose the problem, give some medicine and everything will be fine. Then a baffling situation like this happens.

Hopefully the vet can find the problem, or Currey will just snap out of it himself.

I sometimes care for an Alzheimer's patient. She had stopped eating a while ago. Nothing wrong with the digestive system. Her brain isn't sending hunger signals like a healthy brain would do. The doctor gave her something to increase her appetite since the brain wasn't doing it. It worked and she started eating again.

I don't know if there is an appetite stimulant for dogs, just a thought to put out there.

Hugs to you, hope this is resolved soon.

[Lynn in TN]

I can't imagine what you must be going through. I hope he is back to normal soon.

[jodi0553]

Went for this mornings daily vet check and he sent us to emergency vet clinic for further tests including ultrasound. Emergency vet wants to admit for IV fluids and antibiotics. He's back getting ultrasound now, some suggested diagnoses are pancreatitis, Addison's or worst case a perfed ulser. It's a lot to take in, especially with an impending major snowstorm. I hope the ultrasound gives us some immediate answers.

[pkcrossley]

thanks for the update, i hope this is the day you get some answers. those things can all be handled. i hope you and currey can get some kind of resolution from this. i know how worrying it all, i'm pulling for you.

[ScruffynMag]

Thinking of you and Currey and hope you get some answers too for both your sakes. Hope the snowstorm doesn't cause you any problems either. Sending hugs and best wishes.

[Sam I Am]

Not that I wish you the expense of emergency care but I am glad that now things will start to make some sense hopefully with further diagnostic tests taking place. I have an upright friend that was diagnosed with Addison . It took the medical community two years to find out what she was suffering with. It must be a disease that is difficult to pin point. She is as right as rain now on proper medication. An ulcer can be taken care of ... keep your chin up. I am so glad that Currie is getting IV and is under the care of vets that treat these kinds of issues. Hoping to hear encouraging news from you soon. All of us that have Cairns on this site I know are keeping our toes and fingers crossed (and perhaps even a little prayer wouldnt hurt) and are all thinking of you and your furry pup.

[josie&holly]

Hope the ultrasound/extra tests sort this out for you................... thinking about you and Curry

[jodi0553]

Well, he had the ultrasound and a repeated blood panel. Ultrasound showed some fluid in the abdomen and the fluid draw showed very thin fluid with an alarmingly low protein count indicative of thinned blood weeping of fluids. Bloodwork came back with red blood cell count quite high out of range (60ish, for you medical types) and protein count low out of range. Both of these were well within normal range Monday afternoon when we previously had a blood draw. Addison's and ulcer have been ruled out, but not pancreatitis. However, her best guess at this time is inflammatory bowel disease, which was explained to me to be an autoimmune disease similar to Crohn's disease. The other possibility that fits the symptoms is cancer, but given his age, she considers the autoimmune to be much more likely and we are really hoping for that at this time. If he stays as he is or stabilizes, he'll be fine till he can have a more detailed ultrasound with the radiologist monday or tuesday. Worst case scenario is that they will have to perform exploratory surgery if he decompensates which terrifies me. I can't believe I started this week thinking he had a stomach bug and today we're at a best case scenario of a chronic auto immune disorder.

I didn't write about it earlier since I was on an iphone, but he really took a turn for the worse early this morning. Last night he was very agitated, insistently digging in the carpet and asking to go out repeatedly. At 2 am, he got up and asked to go out and all he wanted to do was dig. The emergency vet says this is commonly a symptom of abdominal pain. Since it was 2 am and nothing else seemed wrong, we crated him and kept him within earshot since we had the appt scheduled for 10 AM already. When I got him out of his crate this morning, he voided his bladder in the crate. He apparently had a second accident at the hospital, so it seems that he has at least temporarily lost continence of the bladder. Its really frustrating that he started acting alarmingly on a friday night, since there isn't much they can do till Monday. Our vet had considered sending him to the other facility yesterday but he had a normal temperature and hydration level and no belly tenderness and he knew they wouldn't be able to ultrasound till Monday anyway. The emergency clinic shares facilities with the major veterinary specialty clinic, so when they come back monday morning, he will be transferred to their care. For now he's doped up and hooked to an IV. They didn't even need to give him an e-collar - he is so mellow and docile (even before the pain killer) its pitiful.

My husband is supposed to go out of town on business tomorrow night and I am sincerely hoping he can cancel as we have no family nearby. Please keep Currey in your thoughts and prayers and thank you all for your words of wisdom and encouragement. It means so much to me right now to have this community of dog lovers to turn to.

[pkcrossley]

i understand what you are going through, it is very terrifying, but you are on track to help currey and find out what is going on. if he is on IVs they can make him feel much better and keep him stable. you lucky you have an emergency clinic within striking distance, and that the vets feel that more ultrasound might be enough to give some answers. currey is being very brave, and he knows you are taking care of him.

i hope you get answers soon, this stage of pre-diagnosis of serious illness is extremely distressing. we are all thinking of you two.

[cairnsby3]

I just hurt reading your posts, so glad you have now found a vet that seems very pro active