To be really worried about my dog?

[PoorlyPup]

I have a 20 month old yorkiepoo, and she means the world to me.

She was in season in December, and she has been a bit sleepier than usual since then and just not herself, but no major concerns. Still active and happy and training/competing in the sport we do together. Then this week she seems to have taken a turn for the worse, she’s hardly been eating, and just seemed completely listless and lethargic. Tried taking her for walks but she’s just wanted to be carried. Yesterday she only ate a tiny bit of food, and this morning she vomited yellow bile.

I took her to the vets today and he’s ruled out a phantom pregnancy, couldn’t feel anything worrying when he examined her, heart and temp normal. He said to cook her some chicken and rice and try to get her to eat. He gave her an anti nausea injection. She still hasn’t eaten anything at all, or had a drink since yesterday. I’ve tried tempting her with every kind of food I can but she’s not interested. For the last 12 hours since she got back from the vets she’s just been curled up in a little ball and not moved at all, apart from when I carried her outside a couple of times for a wee.

The vet said to take her back tomorrow if she doesn’t eat, so of course I will, but in the meantime I’m too worried to be able to sleep 😞.

Taking her back to the vet is the best thing for her.

Is she interested in eating a favourite snack? Even just a tiny bit? Not all dogs like chicken and rice.

The yellow bile is because her stomach is empty.

She might just have a virus, and will bounce back soon.

Try to get a little sleep. Is she lying near you?

Take her back to the vet, and get her neutered asap. I don't know why you haven't done that already.

If you post on the doghoise, you'll probably get some help there😊

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse

If my dogs have ever been too ill to drink I always use a kiddie medicine syringe to squirt water towards the back of mouth. Making sure they're hydrated helps.

She is lying near me, and she hasn’t been interested in any kind of snacks all day until about 5 mins ago when the cat came in and she did some territorial eating of some little chewy bone things that she loves. So that’s a really good sign. I’ll take her downstairs and try and get her to drink, and if she won’t I’ll give the syringe a go.

Take her back and request blood tests. Hope she's better soon. It's horrible to see them get ill, you feel so helpless.

Did they do any blood tests? This sounds really similar to how my cat was and it turned out to be a blood issue that needs checking. I would be asking them to run some general bloods as a starting place.

Yes blood tests is the next step tomorrow. It is horrible, I wish she could talk and tell me what’s wrong.

What is her temperature like? Does she have a pyometrium after being in heat?
Do take her back to the vets this morning and mention this

I'd be concerned about a closed pyometra - an infection of the womb that is not draining.

When was her last season (start and end date if you know)?

I would be back to the vets to push for bloods and an ultrasound that would show up infection markers in the blood and a uterus full of pus.

If that is what it is, I would spay asap, most vets will advise that but I have come across some who want to try antibiotics first which I really wouldn't go for (not after discussions with several vet friends!).

I would also advise caution in syringing water into her mouth, it is very very easy to cause them to aspirate water into the lungs and the last thing she needs right now is water in her lungs! You can try adding really tiny amounts of honey or milk to some water (really, homeopathic amounts, enough to smell a little bit nicer than just water to an animal with an incredible sense of smell, no more, or wetting her tongue but please don't jet water into her mouth and down her throat.

Hopefully the blood tests can bring some answers.

Last year my 3 year old dog stopped eating properly, lost weight, still generally OK for walks but not with her usual huge enthusiasm and just wasn't herself. She had been seen at the vet who said to give it a little while, try changing the food etc. A few days later I came down in the morning and she just wasn't right at all; clammy feeling, no energy or desire to eat, some vomiting etc. Made vet appointment that morning who did bloods and her results were really bad - showed that her kidneys were barely functioning as well as many other results being 'off'. They were suggesting it could be a devastating outcome but also wanted to check for Addisons Disease. Thankfully, it showed that she has Addisons (which had been mentioned the previous year when we nearly lost her very unexpectedly a few days after being spayed but a night in vets on fluids and sorted her out so the test was not completed). She needed another night in the vet to treat the Addisons crisis she was in with fluids etc; she now takes a daily steroid and has a 4 weekly injection, she's completely stable with it and should be able to life with full quality and expectancy.

I just wanted to share as I was so worried about our dog and she went from being apparently completely healthy to gravely ill in what seemed like a short time. Was so grateful it was something treatable. I really hope they can give you some answers and your dog is feeling a lot better soon.

I’d be concerned this was a pyometera, which is a life threatening uterine infection that’s common post season and can worsen rapidly. Take her to the vets today.

My dog used to drive me potty when she refused to eat and "looked sad". She is now a healthy and bouncy near-8-year-old and, honestly, we frequently go through patches of her refusing to eat for 3 days at a time, especially coming out of a season. Vomiting bile is fine if it is within a short timeframe. i.e. vomiting 5 times in 10 minutes is ok but vomiting 5 times across 10 hours is much more indicative of a problem.
Your girl is under the vet's supervision so this is good. But, honestly, my dog and I go through this after most seasons and she's been absolutely fine and snaps out of it within a couple of days. She also frequently refuses to eat for a few days after her jabs.

If you give her fatty treats or too much human food it could be pancreatitis perhaps. But her temp was normal at vets?

Good luck with her blood tests.

As others have said, is it Pyometra? It can be fatal and they go downhill incredibly quickly.

Definitely back to the vets today.
Keep us posted please.

I hope she's better soon 💖

Just wanted to add that chicken & rice isn't always great for dogs

link didn't work so I'll c+p

Rice is a grain. It is inherently inflammatory. Dogs do no not digest rice too well. It takes a lot of work for the body to break down. Rice is a carbohydrate and we know dogs have little nutritional requirement for carbohydrates in their diet. White rice has a high glycemic index, meaning it will cause a rapid spike in blood glucose levels. White rice is far too starchy to be part of any dogs daily diet, let alone when it is suffering GI tract inflammation.

Chicken is one of the two most common protein intolerances or sensitivities to many dogs. Now there’s two main theories for this. The first that most people are feeding factory farmed rather than organic chicken. Intensively farmed chicken is fed grains (often GMO grains), pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics and vaccinated 3 times in its 30 day lifespan. No wonder our dogs have a problem with chicken. I have known some dogs to be fine with organic chicken.
The second and more compelling theory is canine vaccines (more about this in my next blog).
This aside (of course not all dogs have a problem with chicken), chicken in Chinese medicine is considered a ‘hot food’. We certainly don’t want to be feeding our sick dog a ‘hot’ food, but rather ‘cooling foods’ that will help clear heat and toxins and cool and calm the blood.

Did your vet not scan her uterus, given the recent season?

This is nonsense.

Please stop copying and pasting absolute nonsense - particularly articles which come from a pet food website which is pushing their own products.

The vet - you know the qualified practitioner - advised chicken and rice. The vet who has met the dog in question. You, someone who copies articles from companies pushing their own raw food, should be ashamed of yourself.

OP - take your dog back to the vet if you're really worried.

You didn't give the source

https://aussiepooch.com.au/blogs/news/why-chicken-rice-is-one-of-the-worst-things-to-feed-a-sick-dog#:~:text=Dogs%20do%20no%20not%20digest,spike%20in%20blood%20glucose%20levels.

That's the source - a pet food website where not a single member of staff has any qualifications apparently (at least looking at their 'team' pages.)

This aside (of course not all dogs have a problem with chicken), chicken in Chinese medicine is considered a ‘hot food’. We certainly don’t want to be feeding our sick dog a ‘hot’ food, but rather ‘cooling foods’ that will help clear heat and toxins and cool and calm the blood.

This nonsense reminds me of studying medieval medicine at school and the humours.

Op should follow the advice from her vet, not a random on the Internet talking about "hot and cooling" food.

I'd be concerned it was pyometra, get to vets and have her checked again and get her speyed asap.
Pyometra is fatal if untreated.