My poor Winnie is sick, what could it be?

[Nicole]

Usually Winnie is a bundle of energy.  My husband and kids can get her running and jumping around the house like a crazy girl.  A game of soccer with the family in the yard is her all time favorite thing to do.  Since Friday afternoon we have noticed that she is acting odd.  The best way to describe it, is that she is acting like a 12 year old dog.  She walks slowly, she won't jump or run.  When she gets on the couch it is really slowly and carefully.  She walks slowly around the house, and then she just stops, and stares into space for minutes at a time.  She approaches her food and water as though she is expecting them to attack her.  She just lays around with her eyes half closed. And nobody can coax her into playing!

Friday evening I was so alarmed by her behavior that I took her to the emergency vet.  Winnie has eaten socks and underwear before, so we thought that she had done it again.  They took x rays but couldn't find anything.  The vet thought she was just a really nice, well behaved dog.  Little does he know, that is why we were concerned.  Ordinarily she would have tried to jump onto his reception desk!  We kind of laughed it off and said she was suffering from "good girl syndrome".  But now we are onto day three of this odd behavior. I will take her to our regular vet tomorrow.  But in the meantime what could this be?  Is she depressed? She seems to be hurting, but we can't figure out where?  This is just the oddest thing.  Any thoughts, anybody?

[Nicole]

Thank you everybody for your thoughts. She is drinking less than usual, and she seems fearful as she approaches her water bowl. She is pooping okay. No diarrhea or vomiting. The only new thing is that my mom gave her a bone to chew on. That was 1 1/2 weeks ago. It was one of those big ones that you could buy cleaned up and stuffed at the store. My mom brought it home from the butcher. It still had pork on it. They sell them there for dogs. I asked the vet if that could be it, maybe a one splinter in her intestines. But he said he couldn't see anything on her x rays. We checked her mouth to see if maybe she had something stuck in there or her throat. But she wasn't too cooperative. No vaccines lately. She has tick medication and vaccines, plus we live in a neighborhood with all manicured lawns. No wildlife, so I don't know about ticks. I have never found any on her. I will try checking her temp, she is very sluggish. She has been laying behind the couch for hours now. I would go back to the er vet today, but he wasn't too helpful on Friday. But I definitely will if I need to. Her stomach is not bloated, no obvious injury. I will check her temp now.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Can you check the bone to see how much of it she actually consumed, and if there are any jagged edges or splintering apparent?

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Doesn't sound like that vet was at all thorough.  I do hope you get answers very soon to what would seem to be some physical problem. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'd be concerned too but I have no additional suggestions unfortunately.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I'm thinking more along the lines of she hurt her back or has a pulled muscle or something along those lines.  Mostly because you have said she won't run or jump and she is walking slowly.  The water situation could be that it hurts her when she goes to put her head down to drink or something along those lines.  Just my initial thoughts since there's doesn't seem to be intestinal issues.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sometimes, not wanting to drink water can be a sign of nausea, too.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Sounds like Lyme disease to me--we are in an area that is prone to Lyme and my dogs never go into the woods, but have still gotten it --just from overhanging trees. The thing that bothers them is their joints and feet--they don't want to put pressure on their feet and perhaps it is painful to reach her head down to the water--try putting it up higher and see if that makes a difference. Lyme deer ticks are so small they usually go unnoticed. My hubby and I have each had Lyme numerous times as have our neighbors and we almost never find the tick. The vaccine is useless too. It can not hurt to her her on the antibiotic and do the blood test. To not test for it and let it go can be very dangerous, so I would recommend testing and treating.

Otherwise, it could be a pulled muscle. My pup did that once and was very uncomfortable for two days--the vet put him on Rimadyl and that really helped. 

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

My Sasha acted like that before she got really sick, she was not eating, peeing and pooping fine but was very lethargic.  It got prorgressively worse and by the second day I was rushing her to the vet becaue she was so weak.  Her temperature was  105.  The vet could never pin-piont exactly what Sasha had because all her tests came back negative.  He thinks she had penumonia (sp?).  She had a relapse 4 months later and spend another week in the hospital at the specialist and he also could not pin-point exactly what was wrong with my baby.

 

What is Winnie's temperature? is she eating? are her gums pink?

[Nicole]

Okay I checked her temp it is 102.7.  I think that is elevated but not necessarily a fever, right?  A pulled muscle could be.  I checked the bone, it looks intact.  Looks like she just chewed all the pork off it.  No cat food in the house.  Well I will def. take her to the vet tomorrow, and keep you posted.  Thank you for all your input and insights.  It helped me feel much better today and less helpless.

[Katie and Sophie]

Poor baby!  normal temperature ranges from 101-102.5, so it is just a little bit elevated.  Unfortunately I don't know what what it could be, but until you can get her to the vet I would say the best thing you could do would be keeping a close eye out for dehydration (checking gums and skin elasticity regularly).  Maybe try to offer her water by holding it up to her just in case it is a sprain or something like that and it is painful for her to bend down to get it.  Good thoughts coming her way!  

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think that's right....just a slight elevation.  Hoping today brings you some answers....get well Winnie.

[Bonnie and Kona]

I am hoping to hear that Winnie is doing well very soon. Please let us know how she is tomorrow. We will all be anxious to hear. Holding good thoughts for her healing.