Hi, I was hoping some more experienced dog owners might be able to offer some advice regarding our dog, which we adopted at Easter. He's a lovely male uncastrated 4 yr old lh daschund.
We are going to the vet in two hours time but I am panicking a bit in the meantime. I've been around lots of dogs growing up but never been responsible for one of my own before.
Context: the dog had a very difficult start in life. He came from a seemingly well-off household and we were told that the reason for him being offered for adoption was a marital break-up and a new baby etc. His owners admitted that he had spent most of his puppy-hood alone in their garden and they hadn't taken him out for walks. But the male of the household seemed genuinely affectionate towards the dog and sad to see him go. And the dog, when looked at superficially, seemed well cared for and friendly.
But when we had him checked over by a vet on adoption, it turned out that the dog had been badly neglected. He hadn't had the correct injections as a puppy and in the instances when he had, they hadn't been followed up with any boosters. His teeth had been neglected to the point where he had a horrible infection and had to have an operation. His ears were disgusting to the point of not being able to hear properly. He was underweight and had bad patches of scurf on his skin. It also became apparent that he didn't know how to walk on the lead and was scared of bicycles, other dogs, large men in hats, tall women in hats etc etc etc. He gets fearful if anyone leans over him too much or walks past with a remote control or book in their hand 
And the vet, having followed the paper trail (we live abroad) thinks that he had probably been bought from a puppy farm.
[Sorry for long ramble but background details significant I think]
Anyway, to cut a long story short; dog has never been a good eater. Every dog I have ever known has been a walking dustbin but adopted dog frequently needs to be cossetted and cajoled in to eating. He eats well for a few days and then just eats a very little or not at all for a couple of days. It is a constant struggle to keep weight on him.
I should add that he is of course now up to date with injections, his teeth are no longer hurting him, he's been wormed, had flea/mite treatments and we've changed from the poor quality dog food to much better quality kibble (he also has rice and chicken and rice and mince - anything he is fed has to be fairly delicate because of his stomach). But with every change, although he has put on weight and his coat has improved immensely, he never seemed quite 'at ease' with eating or enthusiastic about it.
We put this down to his nervous temperament and initially to the pain of his teeth and after the op, possible 'remembered' pain.
But he has had 3 bouts of vomiting (mainly clear gunge like wall paper paste) since Easter. He's often refusing to eat. And last night he was up all night vomiting again - the worst it's ever been - he's cross and grumpy and whimpering today
I'm really worried now. I'm afraid the vet is going to say that his early neglect has left him susceptible to some horrible illness or that there is something more sinister going on?
Does anyone have any ideas as to what this could be? We put it down to his nervous temperament at first, but it is becoming obvious to us now that there is something more serious going on.
What will the vet do? What questions should I ask?
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
Advice sought re: poorly dog (sorry, rather long - as is the dog!) panicking a bit
SearedChestnut · 01/12/2015 08:38
Here are the symptoms of bloat - twisted gut. I very nearly lost my dog to it, but we caught it in time.
pets.webmd.com/dogs/gastric-volvulus-bloat-dogs
Hopefully he's not showing these symptoms and you can wait to see your vets.
So the fussy eating - that's not that unusual. My dogs do that. They'll eat really well for weeks, then suddenly decide they don't want it. We try to vary it a bit by mixing in sardines or dog meat into their kibble to keep it interesting for them.
It sounds like your poor dog has a sensitive stomach. What I expect the vet will do is give him a jab to stop the vomiting (if he's still vomiting today), then tell you to starve him for 24 hours before introducing bland food like boiled chicken and rice to rest the gut.
What questions should you ask? Ask what they recommend you feed him. Ask them to weigh him, and remember to check his weight every time you visit (I always put my dog on the scales even if we're only there for a booster jab).
Finally - well done OP. Your little dog is lucky you found him. You're doing the right thing 
Thanks UnGoogleable and apologies for getting back to this thread only now
Hugely relieved because the vet doesn't think it is anything too serious. He has a virus apparently (slight temp) and she gave him two injections (one an anti-emetic and one an antibiotic). Following up with tablets today. She said if he didn't improve by Friday then we should take him back for a blood test, but he is already much, much better and back on his regular cat patrol in the garden. He ate a tiny bit of food last night and that stayed down and ate again this morning and is fine so far!
The only thing she said that worried me a bit (and I am translating from the French here) is that he has pancreatitis. This is puzzling to me because he never gets fed fatty treats or biscuits and is not a dog who goes around guzzling things from bins or trying to eat off plates and his recall is so poor currently that he is never walked off the lead, and responds to a firm 'no' if he is interested in anything unsuitable he finds dropped on the ground. May go back to vet when she is less busy (yesterday was an emergency appt although we were there a good half hour) for further info about diet. Don't want this to be a regular occurrence.
Oh and he has put on weight overall so that is good 
and the vet said his muscle condition is much better too than when she last saw him.
So overall hugely, hugely relieved! Thanks again for your reassurance, I was imagining all sorts of awful things ... !
Just thinking about this, he did come to us with a pkt of very poor quality dog food (the one in the yellow pkt 
which the behaviourist (who assessed him on arrival) said was the equivalent of eating a Big Mac a day. Perhaps that has something to do with pancreatitis? He had been fed on it since puppyhood.
He's on a much better diet now but may have to investigate further ... .
Thank you Ungoogleable
He's much better this morning and we are happily in engaged in the "how to pretend I swallowed a tablet" game 
Just posting again to calm my nerves ... .
Blood test results are back. Vet is concerned. (Translating from the French) dog's cell count is low and he is missing an important enzyme. She thinks this may indicate a liver problem.
Does anyone have any experience of this?
Furry one seems fairly good in himself but is not eating
And we have to wait until Tues 8.30 am for the ultrasound (first slot available).
I will be worrying all over Christmas now.
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