Dog Not Eating

[dorieanne]

I'm desperate for help!

Here's the situation:
My dog was vomiting about 1 month ago and lethargic.  I took him to the emergency vet clinic and they did an Xray, which was inconclusive.  They sent me to a specialist center to have an ultrasound done.  The specialist looked at him and felt that the Xray was inconclusive due to bad technique and recommended leaving him overnight for observation.  He didn't vomit, they put him on some bland food and he seemed to improve over the next week or so.

Then, he began urinating in the house.  I was concerned about this because it's highly abnormal behavior for him.  I took him back to the emergency vet, who prescribed ciprofloxacin for him (750 mg), 2 pills per day.  The urination inside stopped immediately.  However, he HATED the pills.  He stopped eating entirely 3-4 days into the antiobitic.  I became concerned but continued to give him the pills.  After the 9th day (only 2 pills left), I called his regular vet and asked what he thought about me discontinuing the antiobitc.  He said I should go ahead and quit.

He started eating, very very small amounts a few days later.  Very small.  That's all he continues to do at this point.  I took him out of town for the weekend last weekend and he acted very strange when he wasn't at home.  He was pacing, very out of it and nonresponsive.  He vomited several times.  I gave him pepcid, which seems to stop the vomiting.

I then brought him home (Sunday).  It is now Wednesday.  He hasn't vomited at all in that time.  He's still pacing quite a bit but he's pretty responsive to me, although he seems depressed and not himself.  I took him back to the Vet, had an ultrasound, cbc and a fecal exam done.  All came back with no findings.  He is still barely eating at all.  I've been making him chicken boiled and can get him to eat that but he's not too excited about it.  I'm sure he's not eating enough to sustain himself and I'm at a total loss.  I'm afraid he'll quit eating the chicken too.  The vets I have taken him to seem to have no further options for me.  

Does anyone out there have any ideas, suggestions. . . .anything.  He's a black lab.  He's gone from about 92 lbs. to 78 lbs in the last month.  I'm sure he was a little overweight before but I'm so worried about him that I"m starting to make myself sick.  He's 6 years old and I want desperately to help him but I'm running out of things to try.  He's started to cut back on eating even the chicken now.

[nick1957]

i have a 2 year old Lab.  he has started to eat less and
not be as excited to have his food.  he does not cry and
is very fun loving..he has thrown up in the middle of the nite.
His stool is the same.  I used the kibble from Nutro, large breed
and then switched to Nutro but a different kind...I am worried.

A side note is I have been away from alot lately and get home
for only short periods of time.  Also we have new born twins and my
wife and i are really busy...Is this a problelm for my lab?

[dorieanne]

Just an update.  I had an endoscopy performed and guess what - he's got a very irritated stomach lining.  They're not sure what has caused it but they are awaiting lab results to find out.  Most likely scenario is some sort of allergic reaction to food or something he ate that he shouldn't have.

Yay!

[dorieanne]

I appreciate your comments and help.  Not only has he had bloodwork done (CBC) but he has bloodwork done on 3 separate occasions in the last month.  The vets have indicated that it might just be a case of gastritis.  It's so hard for me to watch him like this. He hasn't vomited since Sunday morning (it's now Friday) other than 1 time today.  I have been giving him a pepcid every day but I had stopped (and surprise surprise he vomited again).  I'm kind of a worry wart but I haven't seen as much improvement after 4 days of eating as I had hoped for.  

[suzi-q]

I agree with the two above posts.  And like them, I hope I am wrong.  However, definitely get the blood tests done to see what the exact diagnosis is and then people on this site can also help you from there!  Please keep us posted and I hope it all works out.

[aggieone]

I just read your post.  Like Jaybay, I think it sounds like the onset of kidney failure in your dog.  I HOPE I AM WRONG!!!!  Did the specialist ultrasound the kidneys, did they do a complete set of blood work which would indicate kidney failure.   You sound so desperate,   I know the feeling when you love your baby so much.  Keep pushing more tests for your baby to find out what is wrong-PLEASE let us know what is going on.  WE CARE!!    Aggieone  

[Jaybay]

Much as I hate to say it, your dog has the same symptoms of kidney failure that mine did.  You'll have to ask your vet to run more blood work and a urinalysis to be certain, but this just sounds all too familiar.  Unfortunately, there isn't anything you can do to cure kidney failure.  The treatment is to try to maintain as much function remains for as long as possible, and it's a very difficult road to travel.  If it turns out to be kidneys, ask your vet for something to help with the nausea.  It's not really a painful thing, but very miserable with all the nausea and vomiting caused by toxins the kidneys can no longer filter out.