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 😞.

I am in love with a dog that pukes into a bowl and wants their paw held ❤️ ❤️

How did the vet rule out phantom pregnancy?

Only asking as my dog had one and the vet could only rule out pregnancy and other sources of possible illness.
She behaved like you describe for a few weeks then it gradually went away.

Why on earth is she not spayed already? You're not planning to illegally breed your mutt?

You've not answered any questions about why she hasn't been spayed yet- are you planning to breed?

Illegally? Get a grip. The dog is described as a Yorkiepoo.

It may be inadvisable but why would it ge illegal.

He said that with a phantom there would be changes to her mammary glands, which there isn’t, and he’d also expect her to to be collecting her toys up and displaying nesting behaviour, so he didn’t think there was enough evidence to suggest that.

She hasn’t been spayed yet because the ideal time after her first season was over the summer and that’s also peak agility time, and with that and going away for holidays etc there wasn’t a good time to do it. She has a busy schedule of training twice a week and competing most weekends so I need to work out the best window to do it in. I’d like to get her spayed laparoscopically as the recovery time is a lot shorter, I picked up a leaflet on it when I was in the vets on Thursday, and asked about the price (£550 😳).

Anyway, the great news is, after a day of eating nothing but grass and having a very gurgly tummy, about half an hour ago she came downstairs and ate loads. First her bowl of kibble, then most of a scrambled egg (I remembered the vet telling me to give her that when she had a bad tummy as a little pup), then a whole slice of ham that she scrounged off DP. It’s more than she’s eaten in the whole of the last week put together so hopefully whatever it is is passing. She had a 💩 a couple of hours before she started eating so maybe whatever was making her ill has been evacuated.

Ah ok. My dog didn’t display any of those either, but the vet suggested that he couldn’t rule it out and having made sure there was nothing serious said it could be and to wait and see, and feed her tasty treats to encourage her appetite.

Don’t know why people are calling out about her not being spayed - she’s only 20 months. Plenty of vets don’t recommend spaying until a dog’s had two seasons.

And a photo of her ladyship in less sickly times 🥰

She's a sweetheart. I'm glad she has eaten. You might want to build her back up slowly to reduce the chance of her being sick.

I read that if a dog loses their appetite, one thing to encourage them is to feed another dog (from their own bowl) nearby at the same time. Apparently the thought that another dog might come and eat their dinner spurs them on!

Yes I have considered getting another dog for this very reason, if she thinks someone else might eat her food she wolfs it back, but generally she eats like a sparrow. She’s a good weight though so I don’t worry about it too much, it’s just a pain trying to find things she will actually eat!

So pleased she is doing better.

Pls don’t dismiss Addision’s Disease. The symptoms can wax and wane.

My ten month old pup started pooing in the house after a stressful event (dog boarding) and we thought it was just stress or gastro enteritis. He also lost his appetite.

He seemed to return to normal for a few days and then it started again. He became very lethargic and sleepy ( very untypical for a ten month old puppy) and then started pooing again in the house. Then refusing to eat for three days.

He was admitted to vets on an IV and and his electrolytes were totally out of whack. It’s the low sodium/potassium ratio that indicates Addison’s.

He continually refused to eat and we could see him fading before our eyes.

His Addison’s test was positive and with treatment he improved dramatically within 24 hours.

He came home this Thursday and he is slowly starting to eat again and act more like his old self.

He was treated in the nick of time and had he had another day or two without treatment, we might have lost him.

Anyway, hopefully your girl is absolutely fine but Addison’s Disease is most common in dogs with poodle genes so it’s good to be aware.

Beautiful girl!

Get her spayed pronto.

Ok maybe I spoke too soon, she was sick again this morning. Looks like I’ll be keeping that vets appointment tomorrow.

Good luck. I know how distressing this can be. My own dog was once unwell for weeks but I never did get a diagnosis. He just gradually got better and has been fine ever since (I'm writing this years later).

Thank you, hopefully whatever it is will pass. I guess it will be x rays at the vet tomorrow as that’s what he said she needs if she can’t keep food down. Sorry if TMI but it was just yellow frothy bile that came up this morning, no chunky bits despite the fact she ate quite a lot last night, so I don’t know if that counts as keeping her food down or not.

Also maybe completely unrelated but the last two nights I’ve had horrendous stomach cramps, and got them again this morning. Definitely not period related as that finished a few days ago.

OP I really wouldn’t worry about going to the extra expense of a laparoscopic spay in a dog that small…you may find she’s too small for anyone to do it

Good that she seems to be improving.
A few years ago I lived away for work - my cat was diagnosed with kidney disease, but because I was in two places was being seen by her original vets, and the new ones in Sussex.

They had very different styles, local independent vet was very 'lets try this & let me know tomorrow" - the Sussex vets always leapt to (v expensive) blood tests, some times just for repeat prescriptions.

I appreciate that the wait is very worrying, but sometimes the try something gentle wait and see before leaping to the worst tests and assumptions can be the best approach.

I hope she's feeling better soon.

She’s not too small, at least the vet didn’t mention that she was when I asked about it. Recovery time is 5 days before completely back to normal activity, vs 6 weeks off and then having to build up slowly to normal activity. If we didn’t do agility it wouldn’t really matter either way but she’d lose a lot of fitness in 6 weeks.

I hope your pup improves @PoorlyPup

Just to say, we went for laparoscopic because our dog is very active and the thought of keeping her quiet for a long recovery was horrifying, but the specialist vet who did it still wanted 10-12 relatively quiet days following the surgery. Better than 6 weeks, but a lot longer than 5 days.

Just left the vets and still nothing obvious through examination, except for slight dehydration. She was sick A LOT yesterday and hasn’t eaten anything since Saturday. They’re keeping her in for 24 hours, giving her fluids and doing blood tests to begin with. In my car crying now, she’s like my little shadow so handing her over was horrible and I’m so worried about her. Hopefully should hear today about blood test results.

Sorry to hear this.

She's in the best place.

This was me last week (for four whole days on IV) and now my pup is curled up with me on the sofa doing much better.

Hoping this will be the same with you too. ❤️

We can’t diagnose her over the internet. When mine had similar symptoms, it turned out to be a severe stomach bug going round. It took over a week, but he recovered absolutely fine (after he’d has scans and blood tests that were clear). But that doesn’t tell you anything about what your has. You need to trust your vet.