Dog just coughed this up *GRAPHIC IMAGE*

[WhatIsThisPlease]

My dog (small border terrier 6kg) had a minor op on Friday and has been so poorly since.

She's not eaten since Thursday tea time and is lethargic, constantly coughing, had a temperature of over 40 and at one point her tongue went blue.

Rushed her back to vets who said she'd probably inhaled some sick and now has a chest infection.

She's just coughed this up. What do you think it could be? I'm so worried about her. She's been to the vet every day since Friday but they're just giving her antibiotics and anti inflammatories.

Sorry for your pup op! It looks like a bit of gristle but beyond that I’m stumped. Has she eaten any meat- not in dog food I mean. Has she eaten anything she shouldn’t have - in the garden etc without you seeing? Any small chance of rat poison etc? The symptoms sound odd- if it was an infection and she’s on antibiotics for more than a few days I’d expect her to be starting to improve? Have they done any blood tests x

She's not been out of the house except for wees in the garden since last week. She's too weak to walk and definitely hasn't eaten anything.

The last thing she ate was Thursday tea time

Poor thing. She only went in to get her teeth cleaned and has ended up more poorly than she's ever been 😔

That looks like a bit of her palate - which it could be from the cleaning - take it to vets with her

It also explains why she's so reluctant to eat

That doesn't look good.

What has the vet said about her not eating since Thursday.

I know dogs can go for some time without food but she's a small dog and I'd be worried about that length of time, and dehydration.

Is she drinking?

If she's very weak I wouldn't be happy about them just giving you medicine and sending her home. Especially as the medicine doesn't seem to be making her any better.

Agree with LaurieFairyCake you need to go back to the vet tomorrow and take that with you.

Frankly, I'd be wanting a bit more input from the vet at this stage.

If it were my dog I think I'd be asking about admitting the dog in order for them to get to the bottom of what's happening and get her well again.

I am not a vet, but they’re describing aspiration pneumonia. In people this is very serious; I can’t imagine dogs are very different.

Unless she’s improved very significantly during the day I would be calling the vets tonight. Yes, I know it’s nearly 10pm. I wouldn’t be waiting til morning.

Get on the phone to the out of hours vet and ask for her to be admitted for emergency care. Take that gristly thing with you for the vet to see. Poor dog.

She must be severely dehydrated by now unless she's been drinking (and not vomitting it back up).

I’d be at the ooh vet , did the vet actually witness the vomit inhalation ?

It's all a bit suspicious to be honest. But I've only just started piecing it all together.

The vet told DP when he collected her after the op on Friday that they'd washed her. With hindsight that seems a ridiculous thing to do to a dog that's just had a general anaesthetic. It makes me think that she was actually very sick at the vet's and they washed her because she was covered in it.

I don't know if they witnessed her inhaling it but they're absolutely adamant that that is what has happened.

She's been having antibiotics via daily injections because she won't eat so I can't get tablets into her.

She is drinking and weeing so not dehydrated.

She was very poorly on Saturday. Her tongue had gone blue which is when we rushed her back. Her temp was over 40 but that's settled down now.

I sent them a photo of what she's coughed up and they said it was normal and she was just clearing her chest??

She has actually managed to eat some toast tonight thank goodness and has managed the very smallest of tail wags so I'm hoping she's finally starting to feel a bit better.

She's a pretty stressy dog when she's not at home so I'm happy to have her here with us if it makes her a bit more comfortable. But I will absolutely take her to the emergency vet if she deteriorates overnight.

It's such a worry. She's only tiny and currently looks like skin and bone. I know they can go for many days without food but it's awful to watch.

Call a different vets and get a second opinion. I’m glad she’s picked up a bit, but none of it sound good.

Yes I think I'm going to. Thank you.

I think you're right about it being aspiration pneumonia too.

I suspect that she's come round from the anaesthetic, been very sick (and probably inhaled it then) and they haven't realised what she's done. They've obviously washed her because she had sick on her and have played down just how poorly she is.

Her tongue was blue on Saturday morning and I honestly believe we were very close to losing her.

I'm going at 12.15 for more antibiotic injections and will be asking many more questions.

Thank you for responding

Good luck today. I would be very probing with the questions and even then I would be considering visiting another vet entirely. Something sounds very off about them.

Thank you @HappyCup

I agree entirely. It's sad because they've been brilliant over the years but I just can't get past the fact that they sent her home when she was so obviously very poorly.

In better news, I've just managed to get her to eat an entire hotdog! I could cry I'm so happy 😁

Find a different vet and get her there pronto.Your vets sounds really dodgy and like their trying to cover something up.Is your current vets part of a large national chain?

Glad she’s started eating! Get a chicken on to roast, I bet she’ll have that!

How’s she doing op?? Agree second opinion definitely X

Glad to hear she seems to be picking up.

Agree with pps find a different vet, and not just for a second opinion.

They sound really neglectful and if, as you suspect, they're covering things up and putting your poorly dog in danger I'd have no trust in them any more.

Just following to make sure she's OK! X

Hi everyone, thank you for asking after her.

She's so, so much better today!! Finally tempted her with a hot dog this morning and since then she's had some ham and a few sausages and a bit of toast. Won't eat any dog food but I'm just happy to see her eating.

I went to the vet today but saw a different vet who was really thorough and went through everything. She explained they'd only washed her because she'd had her teeth cleaned and it's standard procedure (especially with dogs with furry faces). The gunk from the teeth gets stuck in the fur.

She showed me all the notes and she wasn't sick at all at the vets so it's unlikely she inhaled anything there.

The one thing I did complain about was not seeing her sooner on Saturday morning when I rang with her symptoms and she agreed they were wrong about that and was going to talk to the reception team to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I'm just so glad to see her wagging her tail and being more like herself. She's still coughing but definitely on the road to recovery.

Thank you all for thinking about her 🐾❤️

I’d be very surprised if they hadn’t told you she’d vomited under anaesthetic (I know that’s now not the case).
My DDog did when she was being spayed, despite having not eaten for 15 hours beforehand. The vet phoned me, explained everything they’d done, she came home with antibiotics and omeprazole and checked her on both subsequent checkups. I was told to phone anytime day or night if she started coughing and they would see her stat.
I’m glad she’s improving, poor pooch, mine enjoyed scrambled eggs when she was recovering 🙄😄.

So pleased to see your update OP and the vet you saw was more helpful and reassuring.

Sounds like she's really on the mend now.

It's horrible when they're unwell.

Great news!