E-Vet Ordeal.... any ideas?
 

So, Echo started acting all bloat-ey after dinner... scuttling around the house all roached, licking his stomach (which felt hot but not distended), trying to lay down, etc. Rush him to the e-vet, where they whisk him away from me and don't update me for over two hours.

Turns out, he was ok (YAY!!!). She said that he had a very elevated lactate level (3.6) which went down to 2.8 after fluids (still high). He had not had any real exercise all day, and went on a long but leisurely walk yesterday. Nothing strenuous. She also pointed out that his resting heart rate was very rapid-- over 200 bpm. He was very anxious while there, but I mentioned that his resting heart rate was always very fast-- over 100 bpm. I never thought it was abnormal-- no vet had ever pointed it out. We've made an appointment to see his regular vet, but it's two weeks out... does anyone have any experience/ideas what these might be? Or are they just coincidental?

No opinion on the symptoms.

Your dog has just been to the e-vet, your regular vet couldn't get him in any sooner?

I called and left a message with the answering service-- that was a standing appointment that we had made a few days ago to update his rabies. I'm sure they'll call me back first thing in the morning to get him in sooner; I was just curious if anyone's experienced those symptoms while I'm up all night watching him like a hawk.

Lactic Acidosis in this wikipedia link

Lactic acidosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From that there are several causes...scroll down to the list.
On that list is there are some causes related to neuro disorder (Pyruvate), for that reason alone - without knowing what has caused this (not saying that that is the relation, but I wouldn't do the rabies vaccine when you go in....no matter how convincing the doc is...also look at diabetic ketoacidosis

Sometimes roaching is associated with acute pancreatitis (not to be mistaken w/EPI), pancreas is responsible for insulin....

However, under no circumstance should a vaccine be given at any signs of illness...but i'm sure you know this

Hoping your doggie is going to be fine:)

It sounds like it could have been the start of bloat. Look here:
Small Animal Gastroenterology, General Review Page, Gastric Dilatation / Volvulus

I believe another symptom is elevated pulse.

Hey guys, sorry for the delay in update. Saw our vet; he wasn't concerned about the heart rate because his EKG was normal and the rate didn't vary (i.e. speed up, slow down, etc). He said some dogs, like people, have a naturally higher resting HR. They did blood work to look at kidney function, I won't know for a few days.

Msvette-- I really do think it was early/minor bloat. That was my initial thought and why I rushed him right away. His screens didn't show any gas, but he was VERY gassy the rest of the night....which is unusual for him.

GatorBytes-- No worries-- I rescheduled his rabies vaccine for next month, as long as he's in the clear. I was curious about pancreatitis, but by the next morning he was totally fine-- normal temp, no pain, etc. I am a little concerned about possible kidney issues-- he's always drank a LOT of water, though his urine has always been normal... our previous vet was never concerned and had done some preliminary blood work, but it's worth looking more in depth.

LoveEcho (I LOVE Echo's name, my Canine Soul Mate was named Echo!!!) ... this is just a suggestion, keep something like Gas-X on hand at all times "just in case" and give him one or two if you even suspect that he has bloat and then get him to the vet as soon as possible if he's still acting uncomfortable. Just as an FYI, I've always found that vomiting white foam/froth is almost a sure fire signal of a major gastric problem including bloat.

I wish I had known about the vomiting white foam when I lost my Dakotah to bloat. I had called my vet, but he thought it was something else. If I had known, my Dakotah would still be with me.

I've always had the gas-x on hand... figures I ran out earlier in the week (my husband raids the dog medicine drawer, apparently). I bought the strips this time. I know the gagging/attempting to vomit is a big sign...when he started doing that is when I put him in the car and off we went. My husband was giving me a hard time about "overreacting".... I told him once you've seen a dog bloat once, you'll "overreact" the rest of your life. I'm so glad that it was all ok. I was mostly curious about the lactate levels, so hopefully we'll have some answers soon from his regular vet...everything else seemed a-ok while he was at the e-vet. And Echo is an excellent name ;)

i wouldn't waste time with gas x if i suspected bloat unless the the vet is more than 30 minutes away. imho, gas x would take too much time to work and not worth the 5 minutes or more that you loose in delaying treatment.