Help!! Need advice I have a sick Lab??

[Paul & Michele]

Hello!  I know he isn't a doodle he is one of our spoiled fur kids,,, we have had him since he was 6 weeks old, he is now 10 years old.  We live in Kansas and the weather here has been extremely HOT, we are talking actual temp @ 105-110 everyday.  Brady (our lab) has always been really muscular and solid weighing in around 110-120lbs. he now weighs less than 80lbs.  All of a sudden he can't eat anything without throwing it up.  I have been making him rice with chicken and hamburger to try to get something to stay down him and nothing seems to work.  Molly (our goldendoodle) is still eating just fine and not getting sick so it can't be the food.  I though maybe it was because it was so hot so we have been keeping him inside in the daytime now and at nighttime. He really likes to be outside in the daytime but it is too hot for him.  We took him to the vet and he thought he had a kidney infection and gave him a shot of amoxicillan  and some pills to take.  They did not help.  He is still drinking water but still losing alot of weight.  We are going to take him to another vet tonight and have them do some blood tests.  Has anyone else ever had this happen?  I'm not sure what it is, how it happened or how to fix it.   I feel really bad for him because I know he isn't feeling well.  Any advice would be helpful....Thank you....

Update:  We took Brady to the vet as soon as we got home from work and they checked him over and did 2 blood test one came back ok and the other their machine wsan't working right so they said they would know tomorrow.  Of course it's the one that wil leet them know how his kidneys and liver are.  They gave us a can of food to try and he wouldn't even touch it he's at 75 lbs.  Hopefully they call first thing in the morning..

Update #2:((Wed. pm) The vet called and said they needed more blood so we are going to take hime back in a little bit so they can get some more.  They said his blood had alot of fat in it what ever that means so they could get a reading from it.

UPDATE #3: (Thursday am)  We took Brady back to the vet and they took more blood and said that all of his blood test looked good and normal. They said there was a chance he could have cancer and wanted to hook him up to an IV for 4 days and do x-rays and a sonogram.  This unfortunately isn't an option for us right now.  He got sick all over right after we got him back home from the vets so they gave us some anti nausea medicine and we called his original vet back (he doesn't do lab work like x-rays and blood tests) and we took him out to him last night and he gave him a shot of penicillin and said we could try this for 6 days and hopefully it would help along with the nausea med and we might be able to get him back on track.  He said before when we were giving him the pills he was prob just throwing them back up and so they never got a chance to work and by giving him the shots it will start to work right away and he shouldn't get sick from them.  We have our fingers crossed.  We feed him some sliced turkey deli meat  and some rice with a little gravy on it to give it some flavor and so far he has kept it down and is wagging his tail a little more this morning.
Update #4:  (Thursday pm) Well things were starting to look up this morning and then tonight after we gave him his shot of penicillin and his cerenia pills for the vomiting he started acting all down again and just lays there and then got sick twice a little and won't eat (  i bought baby food , sliced turkey , every kind of canned dog food pedigree makes, hamburger, hotdogs)  or drink and is drooling way way more than normal.  I just got done talking with my husband he's thinking about calling the vet tomorrow if he isn't better he doen't want to see him suffer anymore if he isn't going to get any better and he really needs to eat.  Then I looked at the box for side effects for the cerenia and it can cause depression , weight loss, hypersalivatation, loss of appitiet and vomiting of all things which is the reason they gave it to us in the first place.  So now tomorrow we are not going to give him the pills to stop vomiting because they are not helping they are making it worse and we are going to see what we can get him to keep down.  He did eat some things this morning and kept it down til after he took his pills this evening.  I wish he would get better.  Molly "doodle" is sticking very close to him but also staying out of his way I think she knows he feels bad. Today my stepson was playing his x-box and she was laying on his bed w him and he said about every 15 minutes she would get down go check on Brady and then come back and lay down.  Hopefully tomorrow is a better day...  Thank you all for your well wishes , thoughts and advice. 

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

My step kids had this happen to their lab at their moms when it was 7 yrs old. Turns out she had total kidney failure and was put down immediately. Not to scare you. Then a few months later when we got our Rosey I read that grapes can cause kidney failure and my husband said they used to feed that dog grapes all the time.... I would get her to the vet ASAP.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

The last time this happened was to my Taquito (chihuahua) 3 years ago - he was eating tainted chicken tendons - on the recall list. He has permanent kidney damage from this that we are still dealing with.

He lost 25% of his weight - went from 6 pounds to 4.5 - he looked like skin and bones. I dealt with this for over 4 weeks and made myself sick. I guess your lab is not getting this from food since your doodle is not sick. What are you feeding?

My advice to you: get more bloodwork ASAP. He needs to have subcutaneous fluids asap, even though he is drinking water. The final vet I went to three years ago told me to STOP feeding any chicken, burger meat, etc...said T's stomach was too sensitive. We went with a high quality can food (do not go with the RX stuff they might try to get you to buy - not good quality) mixed with solid food. Nausea pills and water packs (subcutaneous fluids) every other day. He FINALLY turned a corner after I stopped feeding him anything and everything.

It sounds extremely similar to what my Taquito went through, but that was caused by bad treats from China. Hmmm....sounds like the kidney infection is connected to everything. I just had a scare like this last week. Trust me, if the infection is not treated, it will lead to permanent damage and possible failure. (don't mean to scare you either).

More bloodwork is all I can say. They will look at all of his levels....
Oh and have you had an xray to check for an intestinal blockage? Expensive but worth it to rule that out.

Please keep us posted. I know EXACTLY how you are feeling. I am so sorry. Feel free to message me directly if you would like.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Oh and I need to add it does not matter that your lab is not a doodle! Many folks on here can tell you I end up having as many questions and blogs on my chihuahua as I do about my doodle, Peri. They are all members of our family :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad you're having blood work done. With older dogs (and 10 is fairly old for a lab), it's pretty common for them to start going through digestive changes, but a 30-40 lb weight loss coupled with an inability to hold anything down is not just the result of normal aging, and he definitely needs some help. I hope whatever it is can be easily treated and Brady feels better soon. Please keep us posted on what you find out.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I agree. This sounds rather serious and your poor lab needs athorough work up. It could be many things, some of which may be readily treated provided you know what you're treating.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so sorry. Please keep us posted and know that we all care - furkids are furkids.

[Laura & Chewie]

So sad that Brady is so ill...know how worried you must be. I really hope it turns out to be nothing serious.

[Donna K & Quincy]

This may be way out in left field, but maybe you could try him with some baby food. It doesn't have any additives and should be ok for your dog. Maybe feed him very small amounts to see if he can tolerate it. I really hope that he feels better soon. Over what period of time did he lose the weight?

[shelly]

I feel for you, truly I do! You should never feel that you can't look for help and support just because your pup is not a "doodle". There were many times that many of us had ill dogs and found comfort and some answers right here! Did he eat anything like grapes, garlic gloves, or even get into someone's pocketbook and eat any gum? Did the vet tell you to try and feed him tonight without the results back yet from the other test? Maybe try and just offer water of ice for tonight. I wish there were better answers for you ... I'm sure you are probably beside yourself with worry... I hope the night moves by quickly and tomorrow you will have some answers! Sending {{{Hugs}}} and good thoughts!

[Paul & Michele]

The vet gave us some food to try and he just stuck his nose up at it and just a little bit ago I got him to eat a few pieces of ice. It justr seems like in the 3 weeks he's not been feeling well he is getting worse really quickly. The medicine that we had him on from the vet for the first couple of weeks we hoped would help but it didn't. I will be calling the vet first thing in the morning to see if he found out the results from his other bloodtest. Thank you everyone for your advice and well wishes. I will keep everyone posted....

[Ellen aka BeauBeau's Mom]

You could try a little oatmeal or a mashed sweet potato. Sounds like he ate something bad or tainted.....make sure none of the treats or kibble you have been feeding are on the verbotten lists from the FDA recalls. It could affect one dog and not the other, so don't rule out the food.....some of them, especially since he is older, are just more sensitive than others. I hope you get an answer tomorrow from the vet so he can be put on the road to recovery! We are praying for him!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Any news from the vet?
One thing that gets Taquito to eat is cooked carrots on top of his food.