help, my dog is sick

[luckydogcafe]

My dog woke up one night (thursday early a.m.) scratching @ her ear. the next morning it was severely pussy and bloody on the outside of her ear, behind her ear. she had scratched it raw just during the night. the day before I had not noticed a thing. her eyes had a discharge (green) & so did her nose. the vet said it was allergies & sent us home w/antibiotics & gentocin & said for us to give her benedryl (this is a 7 year old golden retriever). the next a.m. she came down stairs slowly, & her legs gave out @ the end of the stairs. she got up, walked to the middle of the floor & laid down. she did not want her food, & had a difficult time getting up all day, and was very uncharacteristically tired/loppy. took her to the vet again the next morning, they have drawn blood, but since it's the weekend i have not gotten the results. but today she has vomited twice. it is mucusy, but no blood. there is a whitish egg-white looking substance too.

her urine output seems less (but is drinking more), but her stool looks fine. the dr. thought @the second visit that she may have an allergic reaction to the antibiotics & switched kinds & gave us rimadyl. her ear is still quite pussy.

her fever on the second visit was 104, and the dr. said her urine was abnormal too, I don't remember why. but she does have a history of bladder infections, and ear infections/allergies.

i think the rimadyl has helped a bit because now she is getting up more frequently. she had not previously had issues with arthritis.

she is better, but what could this be? i am fearing the worst.

[PeachFaceMom]

if I were you I would take her back to another vet for a second opinion or to an emergency clinic if the improvements do not continue.

[Julia423]

It is so scary to have a sick dog. Your vet is analyzing the blood and urine (at least that's what it sounds like). I wouldn't worry about the lack of food for the weekend...no food for 12 hours or more is actually good if your dog has been vomiting, but keep fresh water really nearby for her. If she keeps the water down, you can try a bit of boiled chicken and rice...easy on the tummy. But I wouldn't force it. If you get too worried or she seems worse, call or visit an emergency vet clinic. If you have a relationship with your current vet, I'd see what she/he says on Monday morning and definately ask about the symptoms you observed over the weekend. Get your questions answered and be open about your fear. If you don't trust the response you get, head off for that second opinion. Let us know how she is doing. :)

[Cane Corso]

I suspect it is the dog food that your dog eating is make him sick.

[Angelfire]

Please watch her for the following side effects. As our Rottie was on Rimadly and we had to take her off of it.

As soon as your dog begins Rimadyl therapy and during the entire time he takes it, watch for the following symptoms, all signs of potential life-threatening reactions to the drug:

loss of appetite
change in drinking habits (refusal to drink or increased water consumption)
unusual pattern of urination, blood in the urine, sweet-smelling urine, an overabundance of urine, urine accidents in the house
vomiting
diarrhea
black, tarry stools or flecks of blood in the vomit
lethargy, drowsiness, hyperactivity, restlessness, aggressiveness
staggering, stumbling, weakness or partial paralysis, full paralysis, seizures, dizziness, loss of balance
jaundice (yellowing of the skin, mucus membranes and whites of the eyes)
In the presence of any of these symptoms, IMMEDIATELY STOP the drug and take your dog to the vet. The earlier you catch the problem, the better the chances of complete recovery.

[PeachFaceMom]

I suspect it is the dog food that your dog eating is make him sick.

according to the symptoms..I really dont think so.

[tiffers]

Is your dog vaccinated for Leptospirosis and Distemper, and are they current?

[MandyPug]

according to the symptoms..I really dont think so.

I think what they meant was that if the dog was prone to allergies then maybe the allergies were to something in the food and have been progressively getting worse but had gone unnoticed until now.

[OrangeCtyCa]

I suspect it is the dog food that your dog eating is make him sick.

I can't see a connection between food and the ear although I do understand that there are food alergies. Unless you changed food recently I'd discount that entirely.

[tiffers]

I can't see a connection between food and the ear although I do understand that there are food alergies.
Food allergies settle in the ears, usually. Some dogs experience only ear problems, others experience acne or hot spots or general itching/irritation.

[luckydogcafe]

Hey everyone. thanks for the replies!

I am not sure about that dog food issue, but it is curious. she has been on something called C/D dry dog food for years because they said it balances her urine pH. she has a history of frequent bladder infections, at least 2-3 a year, since she was a puppy. since starting the C/D food though it has lessened them quite a bit. she also has had a lot of ear infections/allergies I think because she is a golden. that seems to run in that breed.

There is always a chance for contamination of her food though, and that had crossed my mind, but she does seem to be getting better, even while still eating the same food.

i gave her antibx yesterday (saturday) morning, and by evening she was still pretty bad. after giving her her evening dose of antibx and rimadyl etc, she threw up twice in less than 2 hours. since she had thrown up her meds, I did not give her more. in fact she threw up three more times during the night, and was acting quite better by morning. i chose not to give her any more of any meds, because I suspected they may be making things worse.

last night her nose felt warm, but I did not take her temp. now today, she is moving around just fine, eating well, urine and stool output is good with no sign of blood. her nose is wet and cold, and she hasn't thrown up since last night.

I am very encouraged by these signs, however, her ear has not healed and is still fairly pussy. shouldn't that be getting better by now?

i wonder if the ear isn't the source, like either a bug bite, or perhaps an actual bug has embedded itself somewhere in there? they looked in her ear, but only for infection, not necessarily to inspect it.

she isn't back fully to her old rowdy self, but hopefully soon. the blood results should come back tomorrow.

i wonder if I can get my money back for the antibx that I haven't used? $186 just for the one kind! that's just wrong!!

oh, her ear does have several red spots in it, and some look like pimples that could be popped. her other ear does not have this.

does any of this sound like allergies or could it be something else entirely?

thanks for the great advice, looking forward to more...take care!

[tiffers]

...a lot of times antibiotics make animals/humans sick. Call your vet...if they put her on them, she needs to be on them. They may give you a different kind or some type of anitemetic.

As far as her ear, does your vet know about it?

[luckydogcafe]

yes the vet has seen her ear. they thought it was allergies the first time around.

they have given her two different antibiotics so far, both of which seemed to make her worse. she has been off them for 48 hours now and is getting better and better. i can't help but think there's a connection.

i am contemplating taking her back to a different dr. and making them focus on the ear. it is still blotchy with a bit of puss, but does look quite a bit better than yesterday.

her spirits are practically back to normal. i won't know until a visitor comes over and gets knocked down by her whether she's at her full loveable personality yet. :p

[tiffers]

...definitely second opinion. You never know. Vets aren't perfect, they're humans and do make mistakes or misdiagnose.

Also, like I said before...antibiotics, ANY antibiotic is going to make the pet ill. Be it diarrhea, nausea, fever, etc. It's a common side effect. The new vet will probably put you on a different one, or give you the same antibiotic with some other medications to counter it's side-effects.

[luckydogcafe]

good news. she is all better. the vet called yesterday and said her labs looked great, but to keep giving her the antibiotics because it did show that she had a deep infection from her ear.

the rimadyl must have been what was causing all the other probs. I have been giving her antibx for a day now with no problems, and she is officially back to knocking people over.

thanks for everyone's help!

[bambi_22]

i am sooo glad she seems to be better, :) but ill still pray for her. God Bless!