Any ideas?

dolly — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:30:16 GMT

my dog has zero energy.he is hardly eating and has stopped drinking water. we had his ears flushed thinking he had an ear infection after he fell over into my flower bed and stayed there. he was hyrated enough at the time. 12 hours later we went to dog e.r. and they checked his erratic breathing did bloodwork and gave him saline.after 400.00 he is still the same any ideas

RE: Any ideas?

pebo orelli — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:17:46 GMT

dolly, I'm so sorry to hear your dog has this problem. I love dogs too! I'm wondering if your dog got into something ie: DO you use any chemicals in your yard where your dog walks around? Failure to thrive is serious and you need a vet who knows and cares to help your pet . Has any blood work been done? How old is your dog? I've gone thru lots of problems w/ my dog to and vets can differ from one or the other. You know your dog the best like behavior, etc. You need to think back like when this all started and if anything was going on different w/ your dog like did it eat something out of the norm. It also depends if the dog is an indoor or an outdoor dog. Was it exposed to too much heat,chemicals used on plants and or is it just tied up on a leash and left alone all day while you work. Not saying you do this but, if a dog just like humans is left alone and only interacted w/just for feeding. it can be depressed and figures it has no reasons to live. So psychcological problems vs.medical problems can come to play w/this failure to thrive. Dogs get the same things people get. You have to play detective and figure out when did my dog start acting different. When and where has my dog been exposed to something different this also means was my dog w/ a different person and this person did not keep a close eye on the dog. Was it taken to a dog park and exposed to another sick animal or did it find something toxic and ate it before you knew it. Did your vet check temp. fecal sample urine sample and like I mentioned blood work. Well I hope this helps you out a little to get the ball rolling to help your dog dolly. Best regards< peboorelli@gmail.com>

p.s. OH! do you have a garden in you yard? Some plants dog eat are toxic ie: a tomatoe plant. Dogs can eat tomatoes but not the leaf of a tomatoe. The leaves are toxic. Some fruits are to ie: grapes, etc.

Dear Dolly, so sorry to hear about your dog. Failure to thrive is very serious. I'm not sure flushing the ears was the problem. Why did you have this done? I'd be concerned of two things. 1. A medical issue 2. A pyshcological problem.

RE: Any ideas?

yp1801 — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:35:09 GMT

I'm sorry about your dog too!

Since he didn't get up after his fall plus breathing problems, it is a possibility something in the flower garden stuck him (ie - a rose thorn or something similar). Many flowers/things(including insects) in gardens are very toxic to dogs and if something like that happened, it might have gotten under the dog's skin, out of sight.

Something like that can a) hit a muscle group and cause pain during motion (explaining some of the lethargy) and/or b) get into the dog's blood stream and cause an allergic reaction that becomes toxic in the blood.

You need to have a vet do a full blood work up on the dog, as quickly as possible and jot down every type of plant, flower and/or insect you notice in your garden as well as the brand names, lot numbers and phone numbers on the labels of any insecticide you use (if he fell on an insect with an ability to bite or sting, that insect had ingested the insecticide and if the stinger hit a blood vessel, your dog could be in need a blood transfusion)

If he is still not taking in fluids within 6-8 hrs since the ER vet removed the IV, consider it an ER. Dehydration will return and can be fatal if not treated.

They should do blood work on your dog and coupled with what you jot down about your garden, if you can't get to regular vet, an ER vet will notify the National Animal Poison Control Center if the results show a toxic reaction. This org will charge you for a phone call and you need the actual vet test results to verify if your dog has a poison/allergy reaction so it is better to let the vet call them. They are familiar with EVERYTHING that can cause reactions in animals, including andidote medicines. You dog might only need a medication vs a transfusion but there is no way of knowing unless you have a vet do the blood work.

Don't put it off. The longer you delay, the higher the risk, whatever it is, if caused by something in your flower garden, will reach the dog's heart. I'm surprised they released the dog if his breathing was not stable!

Get your dog back to a vet with a quick list and any labels you have from insectides. If you can't locate the bottle information, don't worry. Just tell the vet and if you saw the dog when he first fell, the general area (ie - backside, leg, chin, etc) that hit the ground first. They might be able to locate what would be a very small dot where a bite or stinger got the dog and if the latter, they might be able to remove it. If they can't, it will just pass through the dog's system but, only the blood work will be able to tell you if it's poisonous or an internal allergic reaction and let them treat the dog. There would be no other reason a fall would effect the dog's breathing and I'm sure they checked for any broken ribs.

It sounds like something more serious but completely treatable.

You can also use an eye dropper to give your dog water but, if he is not moving, he needs to go back to the vet.

Please post back how he is doing.