I have a strange issue with my 7 year old male GSD. About 10 days ago he stopped eating and vomited a couple times. I took him to the vet and after trying oral antibiotics (he wouldn't eat them even in meat) I did 7 days of Sub-Q Penicillin G. We had him X-rayed to check for blockages etc and nothing was found. He had his last shot Friday and was his normal self full of energy eating well. He was fine until Sunday night and he started vomiting again and refused to eat he is back on a 10 day course of Sub-Q Penicillin G. I prefer giving the shots over chasing him all over trying to get pills down his throat. At this point I don't have confidence that the shots will do anything but get him feeling better and once they are stopped we will be back to the same problem as before in a few days. Does anyone have other ideas about what I can have the vet check? I have been through most of the vet's in a 30 mile radius and these folks have been the best I have found and I have no doubt that they will do pretty much anything I ask, within reason.

I would hate to loose this dog so young. I have gotten two litters this year from him and the pups are simply awesome, over the top prey drive and I suspect that they will all have his defense drive as well. While he isn't the easiest dog to live with he has moved into my house from an outdoor kennel and is great with my six year old daughter. It's fun to watch people's mouths drop when a little girl is able to consistently give commands to a large bite trained dog and he obeys instantly.

I noticed you did not mention blood level panels. Is there any reason this has not been done? That would be my request to the vet--blood panels STAT.

I forgot to mention the blood work. It was all within normal ranges. His white blood cell count was high normal but still within the normal range. It looks and acts like a bacterial infection. The CBC didn't show high liver enzymes nor any sign of kidney problems. His prostate wasn't overly large etc. I saw both the x-rays and CBC results and while I'm not a medical person I had a son in NICU for 5 months and can make sense of most standard lab reports. I have to look up normal values for dogs but otherwise there isn't much difference. I may have them re-run the CBC's to see if there has been any change. I could take him down to Michigan State University's School of Veteranry Medicine and have an ultrasound done and I may go that route if he dosn't improve.

What was the tentative diagnosis that led to antibiotics?

In what ways(s) does he appear to have a bacterial infection?

Does he seem to have sensitivity when his abdomen is palpated?

Were pancreatic enzymes included in the lab work?



I'm not a health professional; it sounds like you're looking for anecdotal and research suggestions. (I would be, too.)

Sorry to hear your guy is not feeling well. Have they done a stool smear to check for a parasite? Is the stool normal or runny, or runny with blood? My recent similar experience was hook worms. The vet said two good signs before the stool smear, is pika (Attempting to eat anything but food), and runny stool with blood.(The blood shows that the bowels are inflamed, and that food is just passing through,) I hope he has a fast and simple recovery.

The initial thought was a prostate infection and he did respond to antibiotics after seven days. He did eat tonight and ate a pill I had wrapped in some cubed round steak. When he had eaten his stool is pretty normal. He was pretty much back to normal Saturday and most of the day Sunday even to the point of chewing a kong and playing fetch.

I feed my dogs a decent diet mostly beef, chicken, turkey necks, eggs and fish. I don't feed any salmon just mackerel and sardines. They get supplements like a multi vitamin, vitamin c, wheat germ oil and omega 3. My puppies leave here without ever eating commercial dog food.

What's so frustrating is not knowing what is wrong! He is not bloated or tender in the abdomen and is drinking water. His strength has not been affected and he is a strong dog! I have had to take him in and out of x-ray rooms etc because he is to much dog for the folks at the vet's to handle physically. I have to watch my footwork when I work him on leash to keep from being pulled of balance.

Hi Chris. I'm sorry you are going through this frustration. I too am curious about whether you've had the pancreatic enzyme levels tested. We had that problem with our beagle a bit over a year ago. Similar symptoms - with the exception that the Beagle couldn't keep water down either which was critically scary.

Once they identified the pancreatic enzyme problem, they were able to treat it successfully and relatively quickly. Maybe you've already done these tests....

Best wishes to you... I hope you are able to identify the problem soon!

Beth

Thanks I will call Friday. He has eaten again today and has kept everything down. The funny thing is that he has a decided preference for chicken all of a sudden, all I could get him to eat today was deli sliced chicken that I had bought for myself. He will probably get the leftover turky tomarrow.

I'm still leaning tward some sort of infection since he improves after a couple of penicillen shots, but it never hurts to ask. I will have them fax me a copy of the labs.

I believe that we have the problems identified and probably resolved. It turns out that he had half of a tennis ball in his intestine. That REALLY pisses me off since I don't use tennis balls with adult dogs at all, the ball must have been tossed over my fence by a neighbor's kid and I missed finding it in time. They usually come right over and ask for their ball, arrow or other toy back right away.

Removing the ball didn't resolve the issue it went on for another three weeks up to the point I nearly lost him. The day after Christmas I had him with me at my parents and he was ready to cash it in so I took him to a vet we had used since I was a kid 20+ years ago. The vet determined he had autoimmune hemolytic anemia (probably) there is no good test for this. After a couple days on steroids, a organ rejection drug and antibiotics all delivered IV he was a totally differnt dog. It's been a week and he is eating normally and is no longer very jaundice and is gaining back the 20 lbs he lost. The vet thinks that the trama of the surgury or weight loss etc may have brought on this problem but no one really knows why this happens.

I'm so glad your dog's going to be okay. What a scare!!! How long does the vet think that the ball was in there? Sheesh. What a nightmare.

Still...a happy ending.