What could it be?
Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:51 pm
Six year old GSP, has had three different episodes through out the last year and has seen four different vets in three states without a definitive answer.
Episode 1 November
Hunting in Illinois, he was acting a bit lethargic in the field got him home and he shivered all night long didn't want to get up off the dog bed. Coat looked poor and breath got bad, not chemical but bad. I brought him to the vet no temperature and they ran a blood panel and all came back normal. Couldn't find anything wrong vet gave me some pain meds in a day he was feeling better.
Episode 2 January
Hunting northern Nevada, similar symptoms shivering all night like he was in pain except this time he had blood in his urine. Blood test came back within range, gave him a steroid shot and some pain meds. Seemed to clear up. I brought him to my local vet as soon as I got home and ran urine/blood work again liver enzyme slightly elevated but all else normal. He gave me an antibiotic for possible lepto. I wormed him and everything seemed like it cleared up and he has been good all off season.
Episode 3. Three weeks ago
Cough developed sounded exactly like kennel cough, cleared up in a couple weeks. He woke me up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom three nights in a row which was odd. Following week he got in to a bag of cat littler from a litter box change that my wife had left in the garage, he vomitted up two meals in a row. I brought him in to the vet thinking maybe he had a blockage, the vet gave him an IV fluids, did a blood panel and X-ray. Blood work came back all normal except AMYL was slightly elevated. X-ray didn't show anything. Came home that night and started shivering. Went to let him out in the morning and he couldn't get up. He was in extreme pain in his stomach and back. Bad breath, and runny nose (clear). Had to carry him in on his bed. When I brought him in he had a slight fever and they gave some more fluids and did a barium study. By mid day he was back up and moving around ok. Blood work once again was normal. They kept taking X-rays through the day and some of the barium was not going through as fast as it should. One of the Doctors mentioned that his kidney looks a little enlarged. They thought there may be a blockage that was not visible on the X-ray. They opened him up and didn't find anything. I brought him back in today because he pulled a staple and was grinding his teeth, I also noticed some ulcers on his gums. They gave me rymadyl to go with his othe pain meds and antibiotic. They didn't seem too worried about the ulcers.
Maybe Lepto seems to be a common thing I hear during all these visits. How long can they carry it. Any other ideas?
Thanks
Episode 1 November
Hunting in Illinois, he was acting a bit lethargic in the field got him home and he shivered all night long didn't want to get up off the dog bed. Coat looked poor and breath got bad, not chemical but bad. I brought him to the vet no temperature and they ran a blood panel and all came back normal. Couldn't find anything wrong vet gave me some pain meds in a day he was feeling better.
Episode 2 January
Hunting northern Nevada, similar symptoms shivering all night like he was in pain except this time he had blood in his urine. Blood test came back within range, gave him a steroid shot and some pain meds. Seemed to clear up. I brought him to my local vet as soon as I got home and ran urine/blood work again liver enzyme slightly elevated but all else normal. He gave me an antibiotic for possible lepto. I wormed him and everything seemed like it cleared up and he has been good all off season.
Episode 3. Three weeks ago
Cough developed sounded exactly like kennel cough, cleared up in a couple weeks. He woke me up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom three nights in a row which was odd. Following week he got in to a bag of cat littler from a litter box change that my wife had left in the garage, he vomitted up two meals in a row. I brought him in to the vet thinking maybe he had a blockage, the vet gave him an IV fluids, did a blood panel and X-ray. Blood work came back all normal except AMYL was slightly elevated. X-ray didn't show anything. Came home that night and started shivering. Went to let him out in the morning and he couldn't get up. He was in extreme pain in his stomach and back. Bad breath, and runny nose (clear). Had to carry him in on his bed. When I brought him in he had a slight fever and they gave some more fluids and did a barium study. By mid day he was back up and moving around ok. Blood work once again was normal. They kept taking X-rays through the day and some of the barium was not going through as fast as it should. One of the Doctors mentioned that his kidney looks a little enlarged. They thought there may be a blockage that was not visible on the X-ray. They opened him up and didn't find anything. I brought him back in today because he pulled a staple and was grinding his teeth, I also noticed some ulcers on his gums. They gave me rymadyl to go with his othe pain meds and antibiotic. They didn't seem too worried about the ulcers.
Maybe Lepto seems to be a common thing I hear during all these visits. How long can they carry it. Any other ideas?
Thanks