Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
Terrier (I think) that I’ve had for 4 years, found her off of the streets, no one claimed her. She has started to act very lazy and lethargic. She won’t eat and she keeps puking. Diarrhea, restless, I can’t afford to go to vet. HELP!!!
Me and my husband rescued Grizz from the local SPCA on Friday, November 27, 2015. The next day, he began to have diarrhea which cleared up by early Sunday morning. As Sunday progressed he became extremely lethargic and would not eat. We took him to the local vet, a VCA, on Monday Nov 30 and he was diagnosed with a yeast infection in both ears and GI parasites (roundworms and hookworms). Was given Panacur to deworm and drops for his ears. The following day, Tuesday, his lethargy continued and worsened to the point in which he would not move his head. We took him to the hospital at the VCA and found out he had a 104.9 fever. During the time of examination, his face and lymph nodes instantly began to swell and there was purulent discharge from his mouth. He was admitted for IV fluids and antibiotics. After no improvements and an onset of swollen painful joins on Wednesday, the Vets suspected Grizz had juvenile lymphadenitis. On December 3, he started on steroids, dexamethasone, but he only slightly improved. On Friday, Dec 4, we decided to care for Grizz at home and was given Clavamox (1ml/2xday) Enrofloxacin (0.8ml/day), Metronidazole (0.3 ml/2xday), Predisone (10mg/day), and Bupreorphine (0.1 ml as needed 3x a day) to administer to him. By the next day his fever had broken and each day he was becoming stronger where he was able to stand and eventually walk and play. The swelling had just about fully gone down by Tuesday Dec 8. After an initial check up on Monday, Dec 7, we were told to begin to taper the Predisone by 2.5 mg weekly beginning Dec 11. He was responding well to the initial taper dose until yesterday, Thursday Dec 17. Upon waking up Thursday morning we noticed he did not want to put pressure on his front left paw and was shaking. We took him to the VCA at 10am and he remained in hospital to be monitored and was administered his antibiotics, and an additional 5 mg of Prednisone (had already received his 7.5mg dose at 8am) and IV fluids. During his stay his fever reached as high as 104 but began to decrease upon us taking him home at 6:30pm. Throughout last night his fever increased again to 103.9 (temp taken by me by his rear leg pit). His continues to favor his front left paw and his shaking has persisted. Through his entire experience his appetite as remained strong and continues to do so. The most recent treatment plan is to increase Predinisone again back to 10 mg/day for 7 days where another visit will take place on Dec 24.
Species: Dog
Age: 4
Sex/Neuter status: Not neutered
Breed: Weimaraner
Body weight: 66lbs
History: He started showing sings of what appeared to be the mange at 3 y-o. Before this he was completely healthy and hadn’t had any sorts of trouble or illnesses. He was taken to 4-5 different vets and he had some studies done where they determined he had staphylococcus aureus on his skin. Most of them agreed that it was mange and suggested the following treatments (at different times, to no avail):
* Inyected clindamycin
* Ciprofloxacin tablets
* Cephalosporin (don’t know if tablets or capsules)
* Omega 3 and 6
* B complex and casein shots
* Shampoo with amitraz
* Florfenicol .6% spray
* Aluspray
* Antisebhorreic shampoo
And he is currently on an hypoallergenic salmon diet with special food.
Clinical signs:
* Weight loss
* Very swollen paws and skin in general
* Hair loss
* Loss of appetite
* Ulcers
* Lethargic
* Some fever here and there
* Redness in his eyes
Here are some pictures of him http://imgur.com/a/FgYiT
This is him a couple of months after it started a year ago http://i.imgur.com/whXOmQs.jpg
Duration: 1 year
Your general location: Mexico city
What could this be? What can we do for him? We’ve tried everything and it seems like nothing works and we’re scared to death. We want him to get better.
He already had bloodwork and nothing showed up, in the skin scrape they just detected bacteria and in the skin biopsy they caught the staphyloccocus aureus. No fungi in any of those.
He was also seen at a vet teaching hospital by both students and doctors and most of them agreed on mange and one has been studying his case closely to no avail.
They are not in the US and not anywhere close to a border city at all. We are desperate which is why I’ve come here to ask online since we’ve taken it to plenty different vets on the city and outside the city and spent amounts on the thousands to get him better, which is not a problem because we love him but we are truly worried and aside from the staphyloccocus aureus on his studies, nothing else has shown.
They’ve urged their vet and themselves which is why they’ve gone to so many different providers and have tried all the treatments as prescribed to no avail.
folks i need some help my puppy is sick i need advise fast
is was vomiting and now he is lethargic and not moving at all
his mouth and toung are white i need something fast please
You need to get that poor dog to the vet now! Something like that you don’t stop to ask questions online, you just load him in the car and go!!!
Seriously, if a dog is acting like that, don’t look online go to the vet immediately!
I am looking after a cat who is not eating after being treated for a bladder infection on 10/31. He returned home on 11/3 after being under vet supervision, and although he was somewhat active, he was still being lethargic and then slowly started to decline again (not eating, although drinking and using the litterbox). He was taken back to the vet on 11/7 I was told that he is depressed and misses his owner. I returned to the vet today and was told again that he is “starving himself from depression”. He has since stopped drinking and using the litter box. Any advice on what to do?
Also, the owner is out of the country until June! I am the long-term caretaker.
Hi Carolyn,
There are steps your vet can take if he has stopped drinking as well as eating- give fluids subcutaneously, prescribe an appetite stimulant, etc. Did they run bloodwork? You can tempt his appetite, possibly, by offering Fancy Feast, or Gerber’s turkey or chicken baby food. Sometimes they’ll try tuna, or rabbit (vet sells.) You can syringe feed him with Hill’s AD(add water.) Worst case scenario- they can hospitalize him and/or place a feeding tube. They need to do something to turn him around.
If you can post a head shot here, I could send him Reiki long-distance.
Thank you, Krista. I appreciate your advice. The vet only suggested taking him to an emergency vet and said that they would run tests that would cost 3-5K, with no mention of a feeding tube or any other suggestions for sparking his appetite. Although he did give us nutritional gel, he was not interested in that and we have had to force feed it to him to at least get him some nourishment. It seems as though he should be taken to another vet! Thanks again. Best,
Carolyn
I have a shitzu/poodle mix.
She is lethargic, hard stomach and when I squeeze her abdoment lightly there is definitely some pain.
My 7 year old cat has the following symptoms: weight loss, brown eye discharge, and is lethargic. He still has a good appetite and can be coaxed to play.
My parents have an 8 month old chihuahua that has always been very energetic, playful and loving. All of a sudden she became extremely lethargic, seems unbalanced, dry nose and she is constantly licking her chops and from time to time opens her jaw wide and paws at the inside of her mouth. It’s been a couple weeks now and she is not back to normal. She’s been to the vet twice and they can’t find anything. Could it be neurological or possibly something in her mouth they can’t find?
Did they check bloodwork, or consider sedation in order to explore the back of her mouth, soft pallet? I would consider a second opinion, if not…
Blood work and xrays came back normal and they did sedate her and check her mouth. The only other option is to find specialists and my parents just can’t afford it right now. Not sure what to do from here.
I had a 6 year old female rabbit. The day we noticed these symptoms was the day we had to put her down unfortunately. When we saw her she was holding her head up constantly and only one side of her nose was twitching which wasn’t twitching properly in itself. She didn’t eat a single thing or drink anything that day despite our attempts. I called her and she was all over the place trying to walk, not steady at all, she was staying in one position. Once I lifted her up I noticed blood spots on her bottom but there didn’t seem to be any in the litter tray. Very lethargic and not responding to anything. As I said, I made the choice to have her put down. The vet did say she felt masses in the abdomen on her initial examination but we didn’t find out what was actually wrong. Any suggestions or answers would be much appreciated!
Hi Beth,
I’m sorry for the loss of your rabbit.
It’s very hard to say what may have been wrong with your rabbit. Since you said your vet did feel masses, I’d tend to believe that was most likely the cause of her having these issues. Most likely if she felt masses, there may have been other issues as well that she just couldn’t see or feel. She could have had a mass rupture internally and that may have caused her odd head symptoms and lack of wanting to eat.
Rabbits of course need to constantly eat or else their digestive symptoms start to shut down so once she’s to the point of not eating then it’s usually a downhill battle. It would have been interesting to get a necropsy done on her, but that would have been costly depending on your vet. Some vets will do it for free just for learning purposes.
Again, very sorry for your loss.
~kelly
Thank you for the reply 🙂
Female Rabbit, 6 years old
Symptoms: Holding head up constantly
Blood spots on bottom
Not eating or drinking 24 hours prior to when she was put to sleep
Lethargic
Very unstable, attempts to move ended with her moving sideways
take him to another vet and get a second opinion. increase of predisone to 10mg is not good
Why is that not good? That is what he started with before the initial taper and significantly improved. From my research it is 2mg of Pred per every 1 kg of weight. He currently weighs over 9 lbs which would put him at just above 8 mg of Pred and so 10 mg of Pred isn’t that far off, espeically since he is currently in his first relapse after the initial taper dose. What is your experience with Pred?.
just as in cortisone in humans you retain fluid so also animals.keep an eye and if anything give you doubt before 24 th dec get a second opinion
Update: grizz’s fever broke by Saturday and has remained normal. He stopped shivering by Saturday completely. He is putting pressure on his front paw and no longer favoring or lifting it, despite the swollen weist joint that became inflammed on Friday and has not decreased since. I cancelled his vet appointment due his signs of improvement and will reschedule in another week or so incase the wrist joint does not change or decrease in swelling.
Note: it also looks like one back leg joint is also swollen. He did have swollen painful joints during his first hospital visit so I’m thinking this is just a flare up from the relapse? He doesn’t seem to be in pain at all