(10 year old) Labrador pup not well :(

[Blanketpolicy]

I am hopefully catastrophising but very teary for some reason.

10 year old Labrador (still my puppy!) has not been well this week. Started with bilious vomiting each morning, took to the vets mid week who gave him a good check over said all seemed ok, dogs can start doing things like this as they get older, and gave him some omeprazole. He was eating, drinking, peeing all as usual.

Friday he was sick twice - the second time was a big pool of very dark brown sludge (more like poo than affected by blood I think) rather than food. Took him to out of hours vets service our vets outsource too. They checked over again, said seems ok and gave him an anti sickness jab. An expensive 20 min consult and jab (£406!) but would rather be safe than sorry.

Seemed a bit out of sorts yesterday, but still eating, drinking and peeing, no more sickness so thought just recovering himself. Gave him something to eat late last night, as vet said could help with morning bile problem if tummy not empty for too long overnight, which he ate ok - not enthusiastically, but thought that was just because he was confused getting fed at a different time.

Today, still no sickness, but he is very lethargic, noticeably wobbly walking, wouldn't touch his breakfast (never refuses food!), tail down not a single wag, won't even come for a pat, left a wet patch on the carpet from drooling. So he is back at the out of hours vets again with dh (while I wait for Tesco delivery!), they have looked over again and said abdomen, temperature, heart, lungs etc all still feel/sound good. dh texted to say they have given him another anti sickness jab and have taking bloods because dh asked for more to be checked.

Are we over reacting (and spending a fortune at the vets for no reason), he just doesn't seem right...

No, I don't think you are over-reacting at all. My previous Lab went off his food just a bit, but so unlike him, so took him into the vet and he turned out to have a 3.5kg spleen tumour. It was removed and he had another four years, dying when he was nearly 16. He needs a proper investigation with a scan of his abdomen. Hope all turns out well.

You're not overreacting.

I'd be worried about a blockage - especially in a labrador.

They are back.

Another vet checked him over again, all ok, did bloods and dh asked for the detailed tests to be done on them to check liver, kidney function etc and all came back clear again (including our wallet to the tune of another £550!).

They have said to keep an eye on him and bring him back if he gets worse, said the anti sickness jab will make him feel a bit better until whatever it is passes, and keep giving the omeprazole but they think he will probably perk up in a day or two. The said next step would be an endoscopy rather than a scan but didn't feel it was needed.

He has never been a swallower of socks, etc only food, so hopefully not a blockage. They said it was unlikely because he is still pooing.

Wish he could talk and tell us how he is feeling!

We will be watching him very carefully, dh has already said he will sleep downstairs tonight ❤ but hoping it is nothing, and PetPlan pay out for over worried owners!

3 weeks on from the original post at pup is still not right. Huge list of problems -

Lethargic - tail down not happy, wont come for pet, just lies about
Very poor appetite - will only eat small amounts of chicken and leaves some
Very poor water intake - less than 500ml in last 4 days
Bilious vomiting if not feed every 4ish hours - probably sick 2-3 times a week now
Only pooing twice in last week

He has been in vets overnight - last night to get some fluids.

Full bloods show no problems (slightly raised ALT 112? but say they are not concerned about that)
Checked cortisone for addisons and loads of other blood tests - all normal
Hydration was also normal even though he is drinking very little
Sedated today and a good check of mouth, throat, xrays, scans and they couldn't see anything - slightly distended trachea but again they say not of too much concern
They tried to hand feed him today but he wasn't interested and threw up lots of fluid

They can't seem to find anything wrong with him - £2.5k out of £4k insurance gone already!

Next steps is possibly referral to the vet hospital for proper scans to see what they pick up which is going to get VERY expensive - they are sending the referral in to ask them for advice. If they said give them £5k and they will fix him I'd give it in a heartbeat, but it just feels as if we are throwing money around and getting nowhere and he isn't getting any better... 🙁

Feel so helpless!

Oh I do feel for you. DH is about to take our 7 year old lab cross to the vet as she has been lethargic all week (me saying she's not right and dh saying it's just the heat, she's not a puppy anymore etc). But she clearly isn't right today as she is now refusing all food and looking very unhappy. I'm worried sick about her.

And your poor old boy. I wish I had some advice. We had a nearly 13 year old lab admitted to a veterinary hospital a few years ago and yes, treatment is very expensive but they were extremely thorough. We declined the aggressive treatment they offered due to her age but a 10 year old could still have a few years left in him. I hope you get some answers soon

Have they taken a stool sample and checked for Giardia?

What about checks for pancreatitis?

With the scans today have they scanned his abdomen , spleen etc . Have they tried just giving him some steroids to perk him up ?

I hope it's not this, but we lost our dog to a blocked gall bladder recently and it sounds similar. It was picked up on a scan, not by previous tests, and though she had emergency surgery she didn't make it.

Poor pup. I wonder if he has been poisoned by something. I hope the vets get to the bottom of it soon.

Oh, bless his heart :( Have they done a SNAP test for pancreatitis?

They said they checked for pancreatitis.

We asked about poisoning and they don't see anything in bloods - said it would show if impacting kidney liver etc.

Have checked stool samples, but not sure what for. He has only done one poo at home this week and it was soft but fully formed (probably change of diet).

They gave him something to try to improve his appetite before I picked him up.

@GuppytheCat , sorry about your dog. His tummy and sides are all shaved from where they scanned him - I assume ultra sound as fur is a bit sticky from gel, was yours blocked gallbladder picked up on ultra sound or a CAT (dog!) scan.

Ultrasound, so if yours has had that, I guess it would have been picked up?

I don't know where in the county you are, but if you're anywhere near Bristol, Guillaume Ruiz at Highcroft Referrals is a brilliant, brilliant internal medicine specialist who diagnosed our dog's immune-mediated pancreatitis straight away after our own vets had faffed around for months (we knew it was pancreatitis but not why it wasn't responding to diet changes).

We are in central Scotland.

He came Thursday night, refusing cooked chicken, seems to chew it and then just drop it (they have checked his teeth and as far down his throat as they could see). He came into kitchen and was interested when I was chopping raw chicken so gave him a bit and yesterday he ate two raw chicken breasts (over 3 meals). Maybe his throat is sore and cooked chicken too dry.. maybe caused by the ongoing bilious vomiting, and cold raw chicken was as better texture to eat.. There was more bilious vomiting overnight.

The vet hospital in Glasgow called this morning and we have an appointment for 5th July where they will do abdominal imaging, endoscopy, we are also to take urine/faeces samples. Cost estimate is between approximately £2k-£4k.

We have around £1.5k left on insurance, ok to pay the £2.5k balance if the can find out what is wrong so we can make come progress/decisions but have a horrible feeling they'll also come back and say they still can't find anything conclusive.

Would never have thought 10 years ago the bills would rack up this quickly with no answers yet! He's had treatment, surgery for luxating patella and MRI's for an eye issue in the past and neither even hit the £4k before. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

What a worry, the 5th of July is a good bit away as well. Horrible not knowing what is wrong.

Just sending you some good wishes. Hope the vets can find out what's wrong and treat it. x

Thanks @ilovesushi

Today wasn't a good day, started well - he didnt throw up overnight, he had a small amount of chicken at breakfast but wouldn't eat at lunch/early afternoon.

Then we had 4 lots of bilious vomitting through the afternoon (probably because he didnt eat). Our lounge is carpetted which makes everything very messy, the carpet spot cleaner machine is nearly constantly on the go!

I tried some calpol tonight and he had some chicken and a drink about 30 mins after so it must have helped. I am going to call our vet and vet hospital tomorrow and ask them to let me know if they have any cancellations and we can get him in earlier for these tests.

OH you poor things. I hope they get to the solution soon. So miserable and worrying for all of you

I can feel your pain regarding the insurance. We have £12k lifetime policy for our labrador. He already has allergies & IBD which means we are currently claiming over £200 a month on medications. Now he started with various problems & our vet is at a loss as to what is happening, so he was in a referral vet last Tuesday for tests which we have been told is between £4-5K. He may also need to see a neurologist which at a guess will be another £5K so that's the insurance wiped out for this year. That's not including they think (waiting for specialist to check CT scans) that he has developed lar par, so could well be another £3k if he needs an operation. He only turns 5 in 2 weeks so really too young for lar par but vets think his immune system is attacking him

2 days to go until his vet hospital appointment on Thursday and counting the hours.

He had been ok for a few days, stopped eating chicken now but was eating raw mince and an occasional egg. Today was another bad day. Threw up 5 times (partly digested raw mince and carpets don't mix!) so had him back in local vets for an anti sickness jab to hopefully see him through. He is now 33kg and has lost 4kg in last 4 weeks. Curled up on couch together with me very teary today.

I had a chat with dh earlier to try to say we need to be prepared if they find something significant and we are miles apart on what happens if they do. I think if they find something that they cannot treat or improve his current symptoms we tell them to let him go while still under anesthetic, dh wants him to come back home until time to say bye. I don't know if all dogs are the same but he whines constantly all day/night after, why put him through that just to say bye when he doesn't even wag a tail now and he gets nothing out of it. Hopefully we'll both sleep on it and get closer to agreeing what would be best.

Really hoping it doesn't come to that and it is something they can help him with and we don't need to make that choice.

I hope they find something that is treatable , it’s so difficult when they are ill . Our dog was desperately sick at New year and we had about 6 weeks where it looked like we would lose him but he’s still here and despite being a very different dog than the one we had pre NY day he has a great quality of life at the moment . We will keep our fingers and paws crossed for your lovely dog .

How is he feeling today @Blanketpolicy

The anti-sickness jab has done its job and he has stopped being sick, but he is not eating anything or drinking much today - he drank loads yesterday - and just lying around.

After sleeping on it dh is aligned now that if they don't find anything treatable that is going to significantly improve his current condition we let him go tomorrow instead of prolonging everything when he is so miserable. It doesn't feel like the right thing to do to mess around hoping he gets better any longer if there isn't something clear to work on. dh also told me this morning on one the earlier vet trips I wasn't at one of the vets said we might never get to the bottom of it and heavily implied we could be wasting our money trying but he wasn't allowed to say that, which made me a bit sweary.

I have spelled it out to ds(19) where we are at, he agrees with the logic of our thought process and the decisions we might need to make and tomorrow might be goodbye, so there have been quite a few tears today already 😥 and ds is currently lying on the floor beside him.

Money is obviously another difficult factor - we are not loaded. We have £1.5k left on insurance. Quote for tomorrow is £2-4k - will pay it tomorrow and more in a heartbeat if it is guaranteed to fix him to what he was 2 months ago - but we could end up spending thousands to fix him for what might only be another year or so and no guarantees of what quality of life he will have. We need to make a decision where do we stop for a 10 year old Labrador. It is so bloody hard. 💔

Need tips on how to get through the consultation at the hospital tomorrow, then leaving him there without crying!!!

Such a hard decision for you all. Tbh, it sounds like his quality of life has been pretty poor for the last 5 weeks, which is a long time for a dog of his age. I don't think I would keep going. I hope they have some sort of concrete plan for you tomorrow.

I've just read your posts and my heart goes out to you. I lost my beloved choc lab 13 year old boy a year ago to cancer. During his lifetime he had many illnesses. When we first got him he had Giardia (a parasite infection), he was vomiting and had diarrhea but it was identified through stool tests and was easily treated. He also ate various things he shouldn't over the years and had to have major surgery. I know you said your boy isn't one for eating things he shouldn't and I'm sure this would have shown up anyway on xrays. I'm wracking my brains for you, trying to think what it could be? I really hope you get some answers soon and I can well imagine how devastated you are watching him go downhill. My boy was diagnosed with cancer in 2019 and had two ops then chemo. It gave him another 3 years but cost us a fortune. We had no insurance (for reasons that weren't our fault) and spent thousands on him, we aren't wealthy but don't regret a single penny. I think you have made the right decision to let him go whilst he is still under, should they find something untreatable. Heartbreaking though it is, I think it would be the best thing for him rather than bring him round just to say goodbye. It would be the final act of love that you could do for him. I really hope they find out what's wrong and it is treatable. Stay strong for him