Hey everyone, so my German Shepherd is really sick. We (vets, myself) are unsure of what this could be, so I decided to ask here since you all are really familiar with GSDs. It's all so strange since she's only 2 years old, and this seemingly happened out of nowhere.

Her symptoms started one week ago: extreme lethargy, disinterest in food, labored breathing, fever (104F). She will only eat small amounts of wet food (less than 1/2 large can per day). She is drinking a normal amount of water and continues to go potty. She has only pooped once since last Wed. No vomiting.

Vet prescribed ciprofloxacin 250mg, did not help. She's the same, if not worse. Continued fever (104F), continued lethargy, losing weight. Right now she's at the E-vet, they say it can be anything from cancer to rheumatoid arthritis to infection. Her lungs looked clouded on the Xray (but she's not coughing, or very rarely). Her spleen & liver look large. The E-vet said GSDs are prone to getting fungal infections and not being able to fight them off (weakening immune response?), and that is what they're leaning toward. Blood work/urine has been run but will take a few days.

Has anyone experienced anything similar to this before? Any ideas? We're pretty desperate.

Yikes! What testing have they done?

When was her last bloodwork? Liver values?

Had she possibly ingested some kind of toxin?

Had she just been vaccinated? Bitten?

So not pneumonia? (Rare coughing, still?)

Any mention of possible bone marrow problems?

And yes, fungal disease can affect many sites at once.


I think that after the above is ruled out, with no infection found, the next focus would be immune system disease, bone marrow disease, and cancer.

But I'm not a health professional .... this is all based only on my reading.

How is she at the e-vet? She is comfortable, and you can visit, and she has fluid support?

I know everyone here who reads this will be thinking of you and your dog. I sure will be. Please update us, and try to be calm and upbeat for the dog. Sometimes doing this for the dog can help us a little, too.

Good thoughts & prayers coming your way. Stay strong for your girl. HUGS.

How long has she been on the Cipro? If it has been a fair enough amount of time,with no improvement, I would request Doxycycline, in the event it might be tick-borne-Anaplasmosis.
JMO

I hope she gets well soon.

First, let me say I really appreciate everyone's advice and support!

She's not staying at the E-vet overnight since she's drinking lots of water naturally (also, money is an issue and I live in a pricey area).

Her last bloodwork done (a year ago) came back completely normal. It was just the normal bloodwork that a regular vet does. E-vet ruled out pneumonia because she's not coughing and it would have responded to the antibiotic she received. She had not just been vaccinated.

It's possible she ingested some sort of toxin. The only thing I can find for this hypothesis is when she was at the dog beach (before the symptoms appeared) she was playing in ocean water that was standing and probably had some runoff in it. She was playing ball in this area and probably ingested some of the water, which could also lead to the fungus she may/may not have picked up.


The e-vet gave a few options: cancer, fungus, infection (maybe needs another antibiotic). Of course they offerred to run the full gamut of tests, but I have to watch what I spend. I decided to start with bloodwork and urine since that's what the vet seemed to suggest as a first step.

My hesitation to confirm cancer is that these symptoms appeared suddenly and came on very quickly. I would think it would have been a slower progression? But I don't know, really.If I were to put her behavior on a scale, she was a 10 (extremely healthy, no problems) and went down to a 2 (no energy, not interested in food, depressed looking).

Right now, they sent urine & bloodwork away to be examined for a fungus/fungi. It will take a few days they said, currently she's at home. Upon arrival, she drank a lot of water and ate a whole can of wet food. Now she's sleeping. I was debating on whether I should have her regular vet do bloodwork, yet the e-vet seemed to think that this other bloodwork she was doing would be more extensive.

I meant more like poison.

Any dumpster diving, anything in the garage or under a sink?

Had she just been vaccinated?

Are you monitoring her temp?

Is she intact? If so, has the vet ruled out a closed Pyometra?

Are ticks and tick borne diseases a problem in your area?? If so doxycycline is good on all of the tick borne diseases and easy on the kidneys should they be involved. The beach and standing water near the beach opens up a big can of possibilities with all the wildlife and animals along the waters edge. Is Leptospirosis a problem in your area??

Even though lepto was pretty much eradicated in SoCal 6 or so years ago, it is re-emerging.

Humans, dogs, and sea mammals are all experiencing a re-emergence.

Good call.

On the tick fever, too. The first stage of developing chronic tick fever has fever, labored breathing, lethargy, and inappetence. Sometimes neuro problems.

Also swollen glands. WAS THIS CHECKED? Can you check? Can you ask if the e-vet did?

The bloodwork should reveal the bacteria, I believe. And yes, if it's tick fever, now is the time to treat it (NOT when it has settled into "chronic").

I'd be calling on the swollen glands first thing, I think.

http://www.vetinfo.com/tick-fever-in-dogs.html#b



ETA
I'm not a health professional. All JMO.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/18/2013 10:25 PM)
Edit reason: eta