dog with stiff neck

[mister2]

I think my 9.5 month old GSP may have an issue. Sunday night he threw up in the house. Monday night while feeding him he would get his face within 6-8 inches of his bowl, whine, paw at it, then he would walk away. At first I thought he just wasn't interested in eating. He did this 3-4 passes and then I finally picked up his bowl and placed it on the stairs and he came over and ate it. I knew there was definitely a problem when I put a pheasant wing on the floor and he just stood there and pawed at it and whined. My wife takes him to the kids bus stop also and noticed on Monday that everytime he went to walk on the grass he would whine. This morning he almost didn't want to get out of his kennel. His gait was not as smooth as normal, it's somewhat stiff. I Googled these conditions and it came up with Meningitis so I'm in panic mode. I will take him to the vet but was wondering if anyone here has ever experienced similar with their pets and what the outcome was.

[Sharon]

I've never seen that in a dog. Let us know what the vet says.

[jlp8cornell]

My older dogs has a similar issue every now and again. She tweaks her neck, mostly when digging for voles. I will find her with her head/neck down. I can feel the knot on the right side of the neck. I give her anti-inflammatories and pain meds and she is usually better a couple hrs later. Has happened about 4 times this yr.

I would go to vet and see if you can figure out what is causing it and how to treat it if it happens again.

Good luck.

[Cajun Casey]

Similar to the symptoms of tetanus, which I have had two dogs die from.

[RoostersMom]

My sister's GSP (year old) is recovering from meningitis... it was horrible, he couldn't even go outside on his own, any movement of the neck was excruciating. He was diagnosed from a blood draw or spinal fluid - I don't know which. High white cell count. He was in really, really bad shape for several days, but now, about 2 weeks later, he is doing GREAT. Hunting even. He's on antibiotics still and prednisone and tramadol.

[mister2]

He's back to normal so I'm not worried anymore. Probably just strained it from playing too hard or something. Thanks.

[northUpland]

mister2, glad to hear he's back to normal today...keep your youngster in very close check the next few weeks. Symptoms for conditions touched on from other posters can be very sneaky. If you see it come back even slightly take that boy to a vet asap.