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Need advise

I have a 13.5 year old black lab /German wire hair mix, 5 years ago on a hunting trip he became very sick 2 days later we found out he has an infection due to drinking the pond water. That incident put him into retirement and since then has been a house dog. Doc is such a loving dog all who have come to meet him fall in love with his demeanor, he has been on Rimadyl for arthritis for 2 years. I noticed yesterday he was having a hard time getting up and now today he is hardly able to walk refused to take his medicine which normally his ears pop up when he hears me shake the bottle.  I am very worried he has no energy, hasn't drank any water today or will not eat even his favorite snack. My husband is devastated as this was his road dog. I took him outside to lay in the backyard hoping the fresh air would help. It didn't he is moaning which just started today and when he sits up his tongue is hanging out of his mouth and is moaning as if he is in a lot of pain but when we come near him as he is lying on the carpet his tail wags. Please help!
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441382 tn?1452810569
I meant to ask in my first post to you if your vet had performed bloodwork before prescribing Rimadyl to have a baseline liver value to work with before beginning the medication?  Rimadyl, while an excellent medication for relieving the pain of arthritis in canines, can cause liver damage over long-term use.  Even though dogs have been domesticated for hundreds and hundreds of years, they still retain enough of their wild instinct that they will hide not feeling well, often until it is too late to do anything to help them.  Unless we know them as well as we know ourselves and can detect even the slightest bit of difference in their demeanor, we just don't know that there is anything wrong until they are so sick they just can't hide it any more. I can't help but think that perhaps the Rimadyl is the culprit, I just hope that whatever it has caused is something that can be gotten under control by stopping the medication or changing the dosage.  Again, please let us know what the vet says.  I am not trying to alarm you, I just need to make you aware of what his problem could possibly be.

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
I would most definitely consider this to be an emergency situation and would not, given his advanced age for a large breed dog, even wait until morning to go to a vet.  I would pack him into the car and take him to a 24 hour emergency vet.  From your description of the situation he seems to be going downhill pretty rapidly so at this point every minute is important.  If you absolutely cannot get him to a veterinary ER tonight, be waiting at your own vet's door in the morning when he opens and ask to be seen as a walk-in before he starts to see his other patients.  Please post back and let us know how things go and what the vet says.

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
974371 tn?1424653129
This really sounds like he should be seen by your Vet and ASAP.
Anything I would say would only be a guess and he seems to have a number of symptoms that could indicate something serious.
Hope all turns out and you do get him into the Vet and please update us.
Good luck
Helpful - 0
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