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1948900 tn?1324519237

Sick Husky: throws up and has yellow eyes!

My husky is on a mixture diet where she eats blue buffalo lamb food and raw like fish and duck (uncooked bones and all)
I ran out of her normal food and had to feed her what my mom's dogs eat which is Eukanuba chicken mateinance for adult dogs. She is about to be 2 years old. Immediately after feeding her the food she threw it up still looking like whole pieces of food not chewed up. I gave her some water and she drank it and ran around happily. I went to work and came back and she had thrown up again, this time yellow bile. She was happy and rambunctious still so I gave her more water and some scarmbled eggs and she went to bed. In the morning around 5 am she had thrown up real bad so I cleaned her up and gave her more water no food. To let her stomach settle. I went to work and had my mom keep an eye on her. When I got back she was groggy and lethargic. I noticed her gums were yellow and her eyes (the iris where it is usually blue) was yellowish-green and cloudy. She wasn't "talking" like she usually dies so I gave her water and she threw it up immediately and ignored it.
SO!
I ran her to the vet right away (It has only been a day a half now of these symptoms her eyes JUST turning yellow) The vet took a blood test and her temperature. Everything was fine her white blood cell count was just a little high. She had diareah so the fecal was not very accurate but nothing he could see. He gave her an antibiotic, a shot for naseau, pills for naseau and Cephalexin pills three times a day to fight a bacterial infection (What he thinks it is). She is only allowed to have scrambled eggs and rice and cottage cheese but she still doesn't eat. She refuses water entirely and her eyes are still this ugly green muck colored. Now she has a super dry nose and mucus in eyes.
What should I do?
Should I trust the vet and keep going with the pills or could it be something worse like kidney problems?

I'm really worried. She ignored a cat yesterday entirely which is not at all like her!
Thanks for responding

LoriLai
29 Responses
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Avatar universal
We lost our husky this morning. Last week Sunday we came home and the iris and pupil were red so we took him to the vet last week Monday. He ran a fecal and blood work, said he had a high white blood count and a low platelet count but no indication of liver or kidney problems. The vet said probably a tic born disease and put him on an anti dirreah and 2 antibiotics. He then developed hemerioids on his but and a yeast infection in his ear. We took him back to the vet and more medicine was added. His fever was 104 so he got a shot to help break the fever. By Friday he was showing SMALL very SMALL signs of improvement so the vet gave me shots to give him over the weekend to help with fever if needed and nausea. Friday night his fever jumped back to 104.5 then after a bath it broke. Same thing Saturday, then Sunday he appeared confused and wobbly. I slept with him in the bathroom because he was having trouble with bowles and he passed away this morning. We still have no idea what was wrong but its so sad to loose a pet, they are family.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
my 12 year old male has this and u r the only description that is comarable via DR. GOOGLE. I administered 250 mg AMOX twice daily and by the 3rd dose, he was changing back to BLUE eyes! no understanding frm the doctor other than the following ur lead!!!thanks a bunch. Would luv an explaination though of what hapened. He is doing well, gained back his appetite and personality.
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Avatar universal
Above is my brother who concerned about our husky backhome while he is abroad.
Both of us would like to thank for this forum. Our husky was 10 years old & had same problems but unfortunately she passed away only yesterday in the afternoon: 22/10/2012 after 2-3 days of this sickness. She had waterly and slimy puked & pooped. Finally, she passed away after our dad shared his love after having lunch at home. 30 minutes later, she passed away.
Her memory is going to be with our family forever.
-hardy liga-
Helpful - 0
4192714 tn?1350866610
hi, my 9 year husky is currently having the similar conditions as what your husky had.Lethargic, vomiting, yellowish eyes, no appetite. However, she doesnt have any diarrhea and right now thankfully she starts to drink water. I am going to bring her to the vet today, but i dont think the vet in my area has adequate range of medications to treat her sickness, nevertheless i will still try. May I know what other pills and antibiotic besides cephalexin that the vet has subscribed for your Sniper before? THank you I am a bit at lost now
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1916673 tn?1420233270
It's great to have some really good news on the site, just before new year. Love to you and Sniper. Tony
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1832268 tn?1326816010
Thanks for the update....and such a wonderful one at that..!
I hope you and Sniper have a safe happy and healthy New Year.....!
Connie
Helpful - 0
1948900 tn?1324519237
FINALLY! Her other eye is back to being blue! The vet looked at it and said that it was possibly caused by the antibiotics or that maybe the bacteria was collecting in the eye. He really couldn't say what it was for sure though. She is running around and acting like her spazzy crazy self again just in time for the new year! I'm so relieved she's doing better! Thanks to everyone for all the advice. Happy Holidays and Sniper says Aru-woo-woo!!!!

=D
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82861 tn?1333453911
Whoa!  That eye business is bizarre!  So glad you got right in to your vet and that she's feeling better now.  :-)
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1832268 tn?1326816010
This is a very interesting photo, How are your dogs eyes now...?
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1948900 tn?1324519237
I have a picture up of her now. It was hard to get her to stop moving haha. The picture's kind of dark but you can still see the contrast between her two eyes. Her right one is green and the left is blue. Its still like that right now.
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
LoriLai, I am SO relieved to hear that your girl is so much better!!  What a relief for you!  I hope she continues to improve and that her other eye returns to its normal color.  Have a great holiday!

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
1916673 tn?1420233270
Thats great news. It seems as though your dog is making towards a full recovery. It's so nice to have something to celebrate, just before the holidays. It must be such a relief to you. Phew! Hopefully, your dog's other eye will get back to normal after another day or so. Have a fabulous Christmas - give your dog an extra cuddle from me. Tony x
Helpful - 0
1832268 tn?1326816010
It sounds like she is doing so much better. What a huge relief that must be for you. Hopefully her other eye clears up as well.
I am sure all of us who have responded to your post, would absolutely love to see a picture of your dog, and her eye..!  
I will be sure to be watching for it...!
I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas.......
Connie
Helpful - 0
1948900 tn?1324519237
No the vet didn't check her eyes. I told him they were light yellow green and he said it was from dehydration. Then just this morning one is back to being blue and the other is this crazy neon green. I have a picture maybe I can put as my profile picture later. Its just so weird! She isn't itching the eye though and it doesn't seem to bother her.
Helpful - 0
1832268 tn?1326816010
Did your Vet put drops in your dogs eyes, the first time you brought the dog in...?  If your vet used drops, he would have been checking for scratches on your dogs eyes. The drops that are used, will make your dogs eyes turn florescent green. This side effect will usually disappear in about a day.
Helpful - 0
1948900 tn?1324519237
So she is running around scarfing eggs and drinking water and holding it down. The only thing is now one eye is back to being sky blue while the other one is literally a lime green color. Its super neon green! I checked her gums and they aren't yellow anymore and she seems to be back to her old self "talking" and howling and running around happily.

If she got a hold of a toxin or onions it would have been because of my neighbors. I usually monitor her outside because our neighbors don't like us and I know they have tried kicking at my moms other dogs before since they don't like them. But she hasn't eaten anything strange that I know of. The last thing she ate was the inside to a baseball a couple weeks back and from what I can tell she pooed all of it out.

The vet did the bloodwork himself and he seemed to know what he was talking about. He checked her for blockage and did out her on some fluids. But he said if she wasn't back to her old self in 24 hours to bring her back in. But she does seem to be normal now aside from the neon green eye.
She looks funny because one is pretty blue and the other is just green. Its not milky or cloudy though.

I was wondering if maybe the medication could cause this? most dogs have brown eyes so maybe you wouldn't notice a color change caused by meds on other dogs?
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127124 tn?1326735435
Did they check for an intestinal blockage?
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1832268 tn?1326816010
Hi...
I am glad to read that your dog seems to be doing better. I hope that your vet is right, and it is nothing more than a bacterial infection.
It looks like everyone here, has given you some great information, and if things don't improve with your dog, at least you will have some other options to consider.
I know that you are wondering about the color of your dogs eyes changing. If your dogs seems to be getting better with the meds, but his eyes continue to change, It may be that he has 2 separate conditions.
Siberian Huskies are predisposed to a condition called Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada-like Syndrome  (VKH syndrome)  also called Uveodermatologic Syndrome (UDS or UV Syndrome), this disease appears more commonly in males...  (we have a load of Siberian Huskies in Minnesota !).. it is a condition that will cause the eyes to change color, and also the skin and  hair.  This condition can lead to blindness.  
I only mention this, because it is something you should do some research on now, just in case your dogs eyes do not improve.
Best wishes ....I hope your dog recovers soon...!
Connie
Helpful - 0
1916673 tn?1420233270
So pleased that it probably isn't parvo, but it would be good to get the vet to come up with a sound diagnosis ... and at least from what you have said, she seems to be responding well to the meds. The jaundice is of concern, particularly if it doesn't calm down over the next 48hrs. I once had a sick dog that refused point blank to drink even though it was imperative that she did, due to the meds she was on at the time. I found salty crisps worked a treat - just one crisp would have her drinking water. You might try this after talking to your vet first, as you don't want to upset the electrolite ballance with salt if it is indeed the liver that's damaged/traumatised.
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
Do you feed any particular treats? If you feed a regular treat, please list the name......Thanks, Karla

P.S. Are you sure about her bloodwork? Do you have a copy to look at yourself?
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
I just thought of something - could there be any way she could have gotten into anything that contained onions?  Were there onions in the trash or did she maybe eat something (human food) that either contained onions or was cooked WITH onions?  

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
If her gums are yellow then yes, her liver is involved.  I don't understand how she can have icterus to that degree and still have her liver values come out OK on the bloodwork!  That's VERY strange!  

Did the vet run the tests himself or did he send them out to a lab to be done?  It's not impossible for him to have gotten results that were for someone else, and in this case especially I would suspect this.  Did you tell him that her gums are yellow or were they that way when he looked at her?  If so, I don't understand how HE couldn't be suspicious of the test results in this case.

I don't know what your relationship is with this vet or how long you have known him, but in this case if it were me I would be off and running for a second opinion before letting this drag on too long.  This is Christmas week and lots of places might not be keeping their regular hours because of it, so I'd make sure that I got an opinion I could live with before all the clinics are closed down for three or four days.  Otherwise you could end up at an emergency vet in a crisis situation paying through the nose because the ER vet is the only thing open.

I have been wracking my brain all evening trying to figure out what this could be.  And now with your list of things that she does that bear watching, wow, there's no telling what she could have gotten into!  I have you both in my thoughts.

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
1948900 tn?1324519237
Thanks for all the ideas. Yes GHilly, the iris of her eye where it was once light blue is yellow-green. Her gums are yellow her skin I think is pale white-pink. (She's got a lot of fur) Even though she has seemed to perk up since taking the meds and she isn't throwing up anymore I can't get her to drink water. She just ignores it unless I encourage her and praise her while she drinks.

I know its not parvo, I had my first puppy pass away from that and it was a god awful experience that I don't wish upon anyone. My mom was thinking it was jaundice from lack of water since she was throwing everything up. I just don't get how to rehydrate her if she won't drink! Usually she gulps down bowls of water. She also isn't telling us when she needs to go out anymore. She just pees or poos wherever she is and we find it later.

She also is up to date on all her vaccinations.

She's been eating raw since I have had her (4 months) and I always get her meat fresh and rinse it thoroughly. I just remember someone telling me once that huskies can be prone to kidney problems and liver problems (I don't know if that's true) but I got real worried.
ause she'll drink the dew of the grass, puddles on lawn chairs, anywhere she finds moisture. So for the past few months we have been able to keep her from doing that. She is also an eater of "things" her main chewables of choice are balls and flowers. She literally will EAT baseballs and tennis balls when she finds them. So before playing outside we have to search our yard for stray balls.
and GHilly she does try to sneak water from standing puddles. That's why she's not allowed to run around unless supervised bec
Once again thanks for the ideas everybody!
Helpful - 0
441382 tn?1452810569
Everyone has offered some very good suggestions.  You said that it's the iris of the eye that looks yellow and not the white part, am I understanding this correctly?  Is the white part still white?   What color are her gums?  What color are the insides of her ears and the skin on her belly around her abdomen and the insides of her hind legs?  If it's her liver, the icterus or jaundice would also affect these areas, giving them a yellow color.

Has she been drinking from or playing in puddles or standing water?  Leptospirosis is contracted by them drinking water from puddles or standing water that wild animals that carry the disease have urinated or defecated in.  Even if she was just running around in puddles, she could have come into contact with the bacteria by licking her fur afterward.

Dogs are designed to eat meat raw, but that doesn't mean that she can't get sick if she eats something that is totally bad.  Their digestive tract is very short compared to that of a human and the bacteria is usually not in them long enough to do any damage.  Dogs can eat things that would send us screaming to the hospital or even kill us without batting an eye because they are designed to be not only predators, but also scavengers.  Their total digestive time from in to out is about 8 hours.  This doesn't mean, however, they can't get sick from something.  It may not be a bacterial toxin that has made him sick, but a chemical one.  If you live where it's cold, antifreeze is the number one enemy of dogs and cats.  Even a tiny amount can make them horribly sick or kill them.  Sometimes flea products cause massive body-wide reactions, even the ones that are touted as being "all natural".  Too many people think that "all natural" equates to "safe" and nothing could be further from the truth.  

Your vet probably needs to do a complete blood panel.  It will involve several vials of blood but it will be worth it to check everything.  In the meantime, keep her on whatever the vet gave her at the prescribed dose.  Hopefully whatever is affecting her will respond to the medication.  In the meantime, please keep us up to date on her condition.

Ghilly
Helpful - 0
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