Ben Is Sick But I Don't Know Why

[greytpups]

Yesterday DH got home first and when he came in the house, Ben was just standing there panting heavily and shaking. When I got home I wondered if something had scared him...that's how he reacts to hot air balloons. However, it was dark, cold and rainy so I wasn't sure what it could be. But he wasn't his happy tail-wagging self. Nor would he eat ice cream or tripe.

 

I fell asleep and DH came up and woke me up and said he thought we should take Ben to the e-vet. He was panting heavily, wouldn't lie down and seemed to try to hack something up. He was also shaking.

 

Although, he wasn't retching exactly, bloat was clearly on my mind. However, the x-rays were clear, blood tests were normal, but he had a temp of 40C (104F) and was still panting and standing up. This is a dog who is rarely on his feet if there is a pillow nearby.

 

We were there for about 3 hours and he finally laid down and fell asleep. He was dehydrated so he was given fluids (IV) and then we went home.

 

This morning he did not want to go for a walk and this guy loves to go on a walk no matter what the weather. He wouldn't eat his breakfast though, and he did not eaten his dinner last night either. He also had a big pee on the carpet...he never pees in the house.

 

He's lethargic...I keep checking to make sure he's breathing. Something's wrong and I'm really worried about him.

 

Any ideas??

 

thanks

 

Jan

[CaliforniaGreys]

Sounds like something is hurting him. What about your regular vet? Hoping you get some answers so he'll be comfortable

[4greyhounds]

It does sound like his is hurting, we will be praying for him. Please keep us posted.

[gazehund]

Dang Jan, that just isn't like Ben is it? I don't know him well enough to even hazard a guess as to what might be wrong. It does sound like he is having pain of some kind, but from what I have no clue.

Please keep us posted on sweet Ben. You are in our prayers.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Oh no!!! ing for that desperately needed answer to come SOON! Can you get a hold of Ben's regular vet after hours? Is there an answering service at his vet who perhaps could reach Ben's vet?

[Guest greyhound1]

:hope

[carronstar]

Sending lots of good thoughts and prayers Ben's way.

[Guest SoulsMom]

I have no idea, but not eating and panting like that sounds scary. Isn't a 104 temp on the high side?

 

Sending tons of good thoughts

[Guest SusanP]

Is there more than one e-vet to consult in your city?

[Guest GiJenn51]

That is definitely not like Ben. Did they happen to get his belly in the xray? Maybe a blockage? A temp of 104 indicates an infection or some distress. How do his gums look? Are they good and pink, or red or whitish with slow refill?

[greytluck]

Yesterday DH got home first and when he came in the house, Ben was just standing there panting heavily and shaking. When I got home I wondered if something had scared him...that's how he reacts to hot air balloons. However, it was dark, cold and rainy so I wasn't sure what it could be. But he wasn't his happy tail-wagging self. Nor would he eat ice cream or tripe.

 

I fell asleep and DH came up and woke me up and said he thought we should take Ben to the e-vet. He was panting heavily, wouldn't lie down and seemed to try to hack something up. He was also shaking.

 

Although, he wasn't retching exactly, bloat was clearly on my mind. However, the x-rays were clear, blood tests were normal, but he had a temp of 40C (104F) and was still panting and standing up. This is a dog who is rarely on his feet if there is a pillow nearby.

 

We were there for about 3 hours and he finally laid down and fell asleep. He was dehydrated so he was given fluids (IV) and then we went home.

 

This morning he did not want to go for a walk and this guy loves to go on a walk no matter what the weather. He wouldn't eat his breakfast though, and he did not eaten his dinner last night either. He also had a big pee on the carpet...he never pees in the house.

 

He's lethargic...I keep checking to make sure he's breathing. Something's wrong and I'm really worried about him.

 

Any ideas??

 

thanks

 

Jan

 

 

Not trying to scare you, but these symptoms sound a lot like what Hobbes initially had. He ended up being a very sick dog and still isn't better. They suspect it's lepto but it's still inconclusive. His first blood test came back normal except an elevated bilirubin value and a high red blood cell count. By the next morning his kidney and liver enzymes were very elevated.

 

Is Ben refusing all food even treats? Is he vomiting? How is his gait, is it slow and short? Having just been through all of this I would insist on a lepto test of his urine. You know your dog best, if you think there is a problem there probably is.

 

I'm keeping Ben in my prayers. Hope you find the answers soon and it's nothing.

[Guest K9_Lady]

Jan, no suggestions just positive and healing thoughts coming Bens way.

[greysandmollie]

How is sweet Ben doing tonight Jan??

 

I hope he is better!!

[duncan41]

Prayers going out to Ben. Is he any better this evening?

[greytpups]

Yesterday, he didn't even get up when DH got home from work...Ben usually is jumping around and making happy sounds when daddy comes home. And we almost had to drag him outside last night so we could all go to bed.

 

Ben seems to be OK today. He ate most of his breakfast with a little bit of coaxing and baby food mixed in. He went for a walk this morning and has been acting pretty normal...not sure what was wrong but I don't begrudge paying the e-vet bill (just over $500). I would feel worse if something was wrong and I didn't do anything about it.

 

Hopefully, he'll continue to be OK. I've been to the vet's office too often these last couple of weeks. Bailey had her toe removed (bit bloody) and then Ben was sick. Yesterday both dogs threw up and Ben peed on the floor. DH shampooed the carpets this morning

[patricia]

So happy Ben is feeling better today. Sending more prayers for good measure.

[maximum]

Yikes Jan - it's so scary when something is wrong and we can't do anything to help them, isn't it! Hopefully it was just something "off" and he'll recover. But a trip to the vet tomorrow might not be remiss. He could have a pinched nerve or something like that, hurting. Today's it's better (just like a sore neck on us is sometimes better the next day) but a check on it might help. Gentle little kissies to the boy...

[Guest ChasesMum]

Do you have a vet that does chiropractic? Maybe something was out (or pinched as was suggested above)?

 

I too immediatley thought "maybe a blockage?" because Chase was acting like that when she was blocked, keep a eye on it though and if he has a relapse I would take him back into the vet and get abdominal films done again...maybe it moved and unblocked kinda thing?

 

UUGH these pets we love... :-)

[Guest sheila]

I don't know if this is worthwhile or not. I'm going to copy/paste an excerpt from an experience I had with my Kiowa that I have written about in the past. I'm wondering if your dog may have had a less severe episode of an allergic reaction to a bite of some kind. The symptoms you describe sound eerily familiar with the panting/shaking and the hacking like something was choking him.

 

~

One night after I had him for about 9 mo I had a very terrifying experience. The evening had been normal, Kiowa had had a long walk, had eaten his dinner and had tossed a stuffy around for a bit. I was in another room when I heard him yelp. When I checked on him he seemed fine, I couldn't find anything wrong, but about 20 min later he started pacing and panting and shaking. I called the vet who told me K probably had gas and to give him an antacid. I went to the store to buy some and when I came back K was laying on the floor and wouldn't get up, wouldn't even move. I called the vet back and insisted he needed to be seen NOW. The vet was in the city about 35 miles away but said he would return to his clinic as soon as he could. Now keep in mind K weighed over 80lb and I only weigh about 100 myself. I couldn't pick him up so I pulled my car around to the front porch and drug K by his legs and pulled him into the car. When I arrived at the clinic we had to wait about another 20 min for the vet to arrive. By the time the vet got there K had stopped breathing. He was alive but couldn't breathe. The vet tried injections of benedryl and epinephrine but they had no effect. Kiowa started to thrash in my arms at that point because he was suffocating. The poor guy even bit me during his panic and I didn't even notice until one of the staff noticed the blood pouring out of my hand later. The vet grabbed a scalpel and performed a tracheotomy and put a tube into K's neck and blew into it. K was then able to breath on his own a minute or so later. During his time on the table we discovered a bruised and bloody mark on his inner thigh which lead us to suspect some kind of bite, most likely from a spider. K spent the night at the vet and came home the next day.

~

[greytpups]

I don't know if this is worthwhile or not. I'm going to copy/paste an excerpt from an experience I had with my Kiowa that I have written about in the past. I'm wondering if your dog may have had a less severe episode of an allergic reaction to a bite of some kind. The symptoms you describe sound eerily familiar with the panting/shaking and the hacking like something was choking him.

 

~

One night after I had him for about 9 mo I had a very terrifying experience. The evening had been normal, Kiowa had had a long walk, had eaten his dinner and had tossed a stuffy around for a bit. I was in another room when I heard him yelp. When I checked on him he seemed fine, I couldn't find anything wrong, but about 20 min later he started pacing and panting and shaking. I called the vet who told me K probably had gas and to give him an antacid. I went to the store to buy some and when I came back K was laying on the floor and wouldn't get up, wouldn't even move. I called the vet back and insisted he needed to be seen NOW. The vet was in the city about 35 miles away but said he would return to his clinic as soon as he could. Now keep in mind K weighed over 80lb and I only weigh about 100 myself. I couldn't pick him up so I pulled my car around to the front porch and drug K by his legs and pulled him into the car. When I arrived at the clinic we had to wait about another 20 min for the vet to arrive. By the time the vet got there K had stopped breathing. He was alive but couldn't breathe. The vet tried injections of benedryl and epinephrine but they had no effect. Kiowa started to thrash in my arms at that point because he was suffocating. The poor guy even bit me during his panic and I didn't even notice until one of the staff noticed the blood pouring out of my hand later. The vet grabbed a scalpel and performed a tracheotomy and put a tube into K's neck and blew into it. K was then able to breath on his own a minute or so later. During his time on the table we discovered a bruised and bloody mark on his inner thigh which lead us to suspect some kind of bite, most likely from a spider. K spent the night at the vet and came home the next day.

~

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this...this is a lot like what happened...of course without the breathing problem...but he is still doing a fair bit of hacking. However, I've checked him over and there aren't any bite marks. Right now he's almost back to normal so I hope whatever it is has passed. I'll keep an eye on the hacking and if it still continues tomorrow, we'll go to our vet. He has improved 99% though from the last couple of days. I'm so not ready to lose him...he's only 6 and he's the sweetest dog, well-behaved pup ever

[Guest sheila]

I don't know if this is worthwhile or not. I'm going to copy/paste an excerpt from an experience I had with my Kiowa that I have written about in the past. I'm wondering if your dog may have had a less severe episode of an allergic reaction to a bite of some kind. The symptoms you describe sound eerily familiar with the panting/shaking and the hacking like something was choking him.

 

~

One night after I had him for about 9 mo I had a very terrifying experience. The evening had been normal, Kiowa had had a long walk, had eaten his dinner and had tossed a stuffy around for a bit. I was in another room when I heard him yelp. When I checked on him he seemed fine, I couldn't find anything wrong, but about 20 min later he started pacing and panting and shaking. I called the vet who told me K probably had gas and to give him an antacid. I went to the store to buy some and when I came back K was laying on the floor and wouldn't get up, wouldn't even move. I called the vet back and insisted he needed to be seen NOW. The vet was in the city about 35 miles away but said he would return to his clinic as soon as he could. Now keep in mind K weighed over 80lb and I only weigh about 100 myself. I couldn't pick him up so I pulled my car around to the front porch and drug K by his legs and pulled him into the car. When I arrived at the clinic we had to wait about another 20 min for the vet to arrive. By the time the vet got there K had stopped breathing. He was alive but couldn't breathe. The vet tried injections of benedryl and epinephrine but they had no effect. Kiowa started to thrash in my arms at that point because he was suffocating. The poor guy even bit me during his panic and I didn't even notice until one of the staff noticed the blood pouring out of my hand later. The vet grabbed a scalpel and performed a tracheotomy and put a tube into K's neck and blew into it. K was then able to breath on his own a minute or so later. During his time on the table we discovered a bruised and bloody mark on his inner thigh which lead us to suspect some kind of bite, most likely from a spider. K spent the night at the vet and came home the next day.

~

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post this...this is a lot like what happened...of course without the breathing problem...but he is still doing a fair bit of hacking. However, I've checked him over and there aren't any bite marks. Right now he's almost back to normal so I hope whatever it is has passed. I'll keep an eye on the hacking and if it still continues tomorrow, we'll go to our vet. He has improved 99% though from the last couple of days. I'm so not ready to lose him...he's only 6 and he's the sweetest dog, well-behaved pup ever

 

I know just how you feel. K was my heart hound. He passed in June of this yr and I miss him so much.

However I still laugh when I remember at the end of that awful evening when K was stable the vet gave me a funny look. Only then did I look down and realize I was wearing a threadbare T-shirt with the words 'Because I am the mom and I said so' .....and NO bra...OMG! I don't know who blushed more!