Greyhound trembling several days in a row, now won't eat or drink much

[DSMinister]

Good afternoon, All

I am owned by a retired racer named Duke. He was with another family after being adopted when his track closed, but has been with us for 3 - 4 years. The last three days, he's been shivering a LOT. He sleeps pretty well at night, but during the day he no longer wants to sleep on his pad in my office, but goes upstairs to our spare bedroom and lays on the rug (not on the bed, which I might expect, but on the rug). He goes for our twice-daily walks pretty normally, but is walking slower and lags behind me a bit. His usual routine is to walk beside me, occasionally in front of me. When I tell him we're "going home" he speeds up and gets a bit in front of me. 

Bathroom habits are normal - peeing and pooping normally, though he hasn't eaten much, so I'm not sure where it's coming from. We thought he might have been missing my daughter, who, along with me was his primary caretaker before she moved out of state. His shivering coincided with her return home after a Mother's Day visit. He also just had a kennel cough vaccine, as we have to kennel him to go out of state for a family funeral in a couple of days. 

I'm worried - he has shivered before, but petting and rubbing him and talking to him gently usually does the trick to calm him down. He does not shiver when we're walking. Because of travel, I'm not sure we'll be able to get him to the vet before we leave, but if he's still shivering when we get back, I'm making him an appointment.

Anything else I should do, or look for? If the shivering wasn't going on for so many days (4 at last count) I'd be less worried. He's the furbaby of my heart, and I'd hate for him to be suffering and I not know it. No recent changes in his food - we're pretty consistent and don't give him a lot of table scraps.

Dianne D.

[macoduck]

Shivering as in his whole body?  Just his mouth?  How old is he? No shivering outdoors, only inside your home? While shivering, is his expression one of hyper-alertness or fear?

One thing that comes to mind is that by petting and rubbing him while he's shivering, you are reinforcing that the behavior is okay. When he gets in one of those states, can you distract him with toys?

 

[KF_in_Georgia]

Maybe try the jumbo-sized cotton balls in his ears. He may be hearing something that's bothering him. (If he shakes his head and sends the cotton balls flying, try cotton balls and make a "sleeve" out of the top tube of a sock to help keep his ears flat on his head and the cotton balls inside.)

My girl isn't normally afraid of anything except thunder. But last year, I was hanging outside with the dogs on a couple of nice days, and Jane kept wanting to go back into the house. I finally realized she wanted inside on the days the landscapers were out with leaf-blowers, either in my condo complex or the one behind mine. And I realized that when I realized I was clenching my jaw against that leaf-blower noise. To Jane, I think it  sounded like a huge buzzing insect. For me, it was just exactly the wrong pitch. (Think power saw squealing on concrete.)

Normally, my condo complex is quiet. But I've had Georgia DOT crews installing deep-set piles for expressway bridges, and we heard (and felt) every thump as they drove the piles. I have neighbors who like to do carpentry in their carports--especially over the weekend--and their power saws are loud. Has your air conditioning recently started up for the season? Or maybe a neighbors' with a noisy system? At your house, it's been 4 days, so what has happened recently?

Edited May 16, 2021 by KF_in_Georgia
typo

[Time4ANap]

If the shivering started after the Kennel Cough vaccine I would call the vet and run the symptoms by them to rule out a reaction to the vaccine or confirm if he needs to be seen sooner.