German Shepherds Forum banner

Another ER visit...

10K views 95 replies 33 participants last post by  RoseW 
#1 · (Edited)
Been a busy weekend and in the bad way... Saturday morning Gandalf stopped drinking water and eating any food. I was able to force a little fluid into him by having him sip off my palm and little ice cubes. Today the same thing, anytime he drank a little or took a little bite of food he would gag consistently. We took him to the ER vet this afternoon and they thought obstruction and did an X ray, nothing showed up that was significant ... a little gas and foam she said. Did a full panel of bloodwork as well but we won't know the results until tomorrow. My poor boy, It's always something with him and he's so young!!! The other day I posted about him being unable to take the heat on a run.. I'm wondering now if there's something else going on. My husband had to pick us up on a walk on Friday because he just laid down on the sidewalk during our walk and wouldn't move. He's been doing so well for the past 8 months I'm just dumbfounded really of what could be going on... before the ER vet this morning he had a perfect poop. Nothing has changed, no new foods or treats.. Doesn't ever eat stuff he shouldn't.... he had his monthly Revolution exactly a week from today. I thought it may have been a side effect but the vet was confident that couldn't be it. She said we would have seen those side effects within a day or two. praying my boy feels better soon... he was so good at the ER vet, dogs and chaos everywhere and he was so calm. We love him so much..
 
#2 ·
This may sound kind of like a silly suggestion, but have you considered doing the Embark test to see if Gandalf is predisposed to any genetic health issues that might be causing this? Might help you eliminate if its environmental or not and give you a direction to go in.
 
#5 ·
Every vet so far has told me white dogs have more health issues. This vet oddly enough told me white shepherds don't exist and mine was a wolf/malamute/Pyrenees hybrid apparently lol... liked her otherwise besides that comment, she didn't push ZD food and had some good recommendations on things we can try. We actually had an appointment with UF about 8 months ago but I canceled because he got better. Hoping the bloodwork gives us some insight...
 
#8 ·
thanks y'all... I agree so scared to find something but just want answers... it's heartbreaking I thought we were through all this he was doing so good. They had to knock him out to take the x rays as well, he's still not recovered from the anastesia several hours later now.. finally got him to eat and drink a little but he still can't walk across the room without falling over. I don't remember my old dogs taking so long to recover from being knocked out. Vet tech said it was pretty normal.. So worried about him right now...
 
#11 ·
Thanks guys that's makes me feel a lot better. He's coming around a bit more it looks like, just drank from his bowl for the first time in two days and I gave him half a raw patty and he scarfed it down like normal... phew. Still gagged a bit though after. Seems like intaking food/water is triggering it. I asked the vet if maybe he had a splinter or something back in his throat but they didn't seem to think that could be it. I tried checking myself and couldn't see anything...he actually hasn't thrown up anything, just dry gagging. Thought it was bloat at first ...
 
#12 ·
I'm so sorry Gandalf isn't well. I'm also going through ongoing medical issues with my boy.
When I had to ensure Nitro was hydrated after his last medical emergency (last month) he enjoyed it when I used a large syringe to gently squirt water into his mouth.
 
#13 ·
Thats a good idea. I made bone broth and bought him beef broth and he's been sipping that from my palm along with ice cubes. (What's with dogs and ice cubes? They just can't ever turn them down lol). I hope your boy Nitro feels better soon too! They gave G some fluids under the skin as well, he looked like the hunch back of notre dam for a while too.
 
#16 ·
Hi, I read your posts and wanted to give you some insight on our similar scare with Serena. She stopped eating and drinking water, she was very tired and did not want to engage in play after a few days. We took her for XRays and they also thought it was obstruction of some kind. When it didn't pass naturally, they cut her open and found that she had a rare twisted colon causing lots of gas and back up. If it were only a few hours later, her intestines would have died and cut out dead tissue/reattachment recovery is very risky. They untwisted her colon and it began to turn pink again and start doing its job. She was back to normal and even gaining more weight within a week.

I'm not sure if this is similar to what your pup is experiencing but I wanted to give my experience in case it helps anyone else out there!
 
#17 · (Edited)
@audrienco
Wow I'm sorry to hear about your girl but glad she recovered. How old was she when that happened? How did they determine it was twisted, what convinced them to operate?... why did they think it was an obstruction that didn't pass? the vet didn't seem to think Gandalf was having any kind of bloat or torsion, no obstruction was noted but she did mention some gas... but didn't suggest operation at all. He's eating and drinking well now but they gave him cerenia and fant. For the nausea... I appreciate your input!! Ill definetly bring this up with the vet tomorrow...
 
#20 ·
White dogs have problems? Does your vet refer to albinos maybe? They don't have pigment as they have bleu eyes ,pink skin. Yours does have pigment, hence the black nose, eye lids etc. What about all other white dog breeds: Pyrenese, Maltese, Samoyeds etc? All these breeds unhealthy? I don't believe this.
Have you talked to the breeder about how his siblings are doing?
 
#23 · (Edited)
This was just an emergency vet not our normal vet, its a new office right by our house and they were open and had good ratings so we decided to try them vs our normal ER vet who is usually really expensive and not great.. I think this vet was really confused about the breed, I liked her other suggestions such as no ZD food.. she liked raw which is a first ive ever heard a vet say, didn't promote many vaccinations, etc. Just really unknowledgeable about shepherds ugh. She believed all white dogs have issues. I have no idea the validity of that comment.. Interesting enough was an ER vet into holistic medicine and acupuncture.

Our breeder is dead, she passed away from cancer just a few months ago. His siblings have had many issues as well, I just got done talking with the owner of his brother and he had a severe reaction last week to Nexgard. Which is why I was and still am suspicious of revolution despite what the vet said.. Husband and I basically made the decision today no more flea and tick meds ever again, we are going to live with the fleas. Holistic methods dont work here but its not worth seeing him suffer like this.. I really am still believing it was a reaction to the revolution. Seems like an odd coincidence NOTHING has changed except he got his monthly dose last week. He had a similar reaction to comfortis a few months ago but it was not this severe and it was immediate... Although he has had Revolution 4 times in the past with zero reactions . I realize the body can change. Just doesn't make sense to me that a perfectly healthy young dog suddenly falls ill and refuses to drink or eat. Unless something serious has been going on all along, which hoping the bloodwork will tell us. I'm curious how his kidney levels are going to look. Vet ran all the blood tests she could while he was out (~$200 worth ugh) pancreatic, CBC panel, thyroid function... etc..
 
#24 · (Edited)
No rivers or lake.. we live in FL so we don't take that risk period. He did just go swimming in my parents pool on Friday (or was it thursday? Can't remember which day..) but they had chlorinated recently. Thought perhaps chlorine overdose as well, but seemed unlikely to me . . . . ? Only let him swim for 15 minutes and he got a lot of breaks. Seemed fine afterwards.
 
#27 ·
He seemed a bit more perky this morning, not as lethargic as he had been this weekend. Ran to his bowl to eat breakfast but only finished half.. its bizzare though if I show him a bowl of water,beef broth, bone broth, etc. he won't drink and just starts gagging now looking at it. He's bowing a lot as well, seems like his stomach may still be in pain? Hoping they call soon with the results...
 
#28 ·
Hope he feels better soon - does he have a hernia? Is his stomach swollen? Often the can get a needle biopsy of the fluid of the stomach to tell you more of the blood work does not show much. I’m sure the fluids helped to rehydrate him and make him more perky. They also can pick up something in puddles on trails is he ever drank from them sometimes this happens even if the tongue is just able to scoop up a tiny bit. Just keep an eye on his bowel movements to make sure he doing. Signs of blockage are not being able to poop and not being able to keep anything down.
 
#30 ·
It’s very possible he picked up something from a puddle I would just let your vet know. My dogs sometimes are to quick and snag a tongue full of water without stopping also it freaks me out who knows what is those puddles and water that sits has lots of bacteria. It is something possibly did not agree with Gandalf. This is just thought so just going down a list of what could be.
 
#31 ·
Do you have fungal diseases in Florida? Those can be wicked to diagnose. My dog picked up a southwestern fungus (Valley Fever) and showed similar symptoms. First vague, then super obvious. Titers can be inconclusive but will at least show you if the dog has been exposed.

My boy was a white dog, but a complete mutt. I would tend to discount the "white dogs get sick" statement immediately offhand, but who knows... maybe they do if there is some sort of link between coat color and immune system? It is possible.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top