Stopped eating

[Kyiagoldbeach]

I'm in need of help/advice - I have a 6 month old German Shepard (female) three days ago she got her foot caught and lost a toe nail (Whole) I put some pepper on it to stop the bleeding then wrapped it. Her toe is red looks just like if we lost a fingernail, rare and red shes still walking around and dos'nt seem to be in pain, but she has stopped eating and drinking water. yesterday she had 1/2 a bowl of dog food with a cooked scrambled egg and a little bit of water. Shes in hiding behind the couch for three days now, does go outside with other dogs, alittle active, but now shes not eating at all and looking and feeling really skinny. I've evn tryed giving her small piecies of bacon and cooked chicken, wont eat it. I'm strating to worry what should I do and what seems to be problem. taking all ideas.

Thanking you in advance

Kyia  

[Kyiagoldbeach]

hello ginger, Ok sence were confused I need to tell you a little back story, I was home alone with the kids(dogs) when kyia lost her nail, mom came home a few days later and she remembered a week earlier that kyia had found some Salmon while we were at the river. She had been thru that before w/another dog years ago and the simptoms looked the same. So when we got to the vet, she agreed. Anyway we've come to believe that yes there was something else going on and all this was just bad timing. We had rescued her (Kyia) a few months before and she never seemed to gain weight even thou she eat well and was well exercised. And yes we are getting a new Vet, She rushed the prognoses didnt even draw blood for any posablites. long story. anyway shes (Kyia) close by and will always be in my Heart. and "I'm reminded AGAIN in times like these, in this thing called LIFE, That the only thing I can control is my THOUGHTS."
thank you for your intrest and support,
Robert
@ ***@****
ps yes I have two other dogs and believe it or not have found another rescue that I'm looking at.  

[tonyb286]

Hi Ginger. I agree, it sounds like more than one thing was going on. I have been doing a bit of reading on Salmon Poisoning, which I hadn't even heard of before, and it seems it can lead to death quite quickly, within a couple of weeks if it is not treated in time. Though I am not so sure the symptoms of blood loss by mouth and rectum fall into the Salmon Poisoning list. Maybe someone else knows more about this and can clarify, as this is important information for all of us.

To Robert ... a week is a very short time. When I lost my own beautiful lurcher BB in November, it took months for the grief to subside to bearable degrees, and even then I had my really bad moments after that - and still do. It's truly heartbreaking to lose a dog that is so loved and one that has become such an important member of our family. My heart goes out to you. It will get better - and yes, having another dog does help. I also have another younger dog and he is getting double doses of cuddles now. Tony

[ginger899]

I am so very sorry you lost your Kyia. It is so sad, but believe me, you did all that was in your power to help her. That much is obvious.

It makes absolutely NO sense to me. How can losing a nail become Salmon poisoning....how can Salmon poisoning cause such extensive internal bleeding like that? The whole thing doesn't sound at all right to me. Losing the nail could have just been co-incidental to some other thing that was going on, fair enough.
I'm wondering if this was hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. There are numerous causes of this:
Gastrointestinal ulcers
Colitis
Parvovirus
Coronavirus
Campylobacter (bacteria)
Salmonella (bacteria)
Clostridium (bacteria)
Escherichia coli (bacteria)
Leptospirosis
Whipworms
Hookworms
Coccidiosis
Giardiasis
Warfarin (rat poison) toxicity
Thromobocytopenia (low platelets)
Gastrointestinal cancer
Hypoadrenocorticism

I am also wondering if your vet knew exactly what he/she was doing.

I know all that doesn't bring your beautiful Kyia back, it only causes more pain. But I would recommend changing your vet if you have another dog.

I am so very sorry. Bless that lovely dog's Spirit.

[Kyiagoldbeach]

Thanks Tony,
She was on the mend for a day after the vet visit, but then went south again, thanks for your thoughts and efforts here. Its been a week now, I'm still in pain but better my other dog is helping me as I'm helping him. Kyia was girl friend and he is so missing her. But life goes on "Right". Hope all is well in your world.

Robert
aka-Kyia-Zeus

[tonyb286]

I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. I imagined she was on the mend after your last message, having received a diagnosis and getting treatment. This is so sad - and I can only imagine how much of a shock it has been. I really don't yet know enough about this condition to offer you any information about how and why it happened or why the treatment didn't work, but hopefully others might. Tony

[Kyiagoldbeach]

I'm in so much pain, our Kyia passed, so confused, this took less then a week, we got her to the vet thursday, they said Salmon poisoning, gave her meds while we were there, and a pushed IV, whats making me mad is the fact that within 10 mins of getting her in the lobby and driving home, she had three uncontrolled BM's that was blood. We called the vet and they said it was the infection leaving her system, We got her home where she continued to have bloody BM's the next day she had controll over her BM's but they were still nothing but blood. She was taking her meds, not eating or drinking. Found her the next morning blood was present in both ends of her. i so wish I had the $$$ for an autopsy. Again Kyia has left us. This was so damn quick from when she lost the toe nail to her passing was 6 1/2 days. What happened here. I got that toe wraped as soon as it happened. All I want is an answer, what happened? Thank you all for responding and your concerns.
Kyia  

[tonyb286]

That's a new one on me, but something I will certainly read up on today or tomorrow. I do tend to keep a close eye on my dog, as we are often on the beach, and just occasionally there are dead fish on the beach, probably dropped or discarded by the seagulls. My dog always wants to go and sniff at them - and would probably try eating them if I didn't intervene, which I always do. What happened to your girl makes me aware of how important it is to stay vigilant when taking our dogs out near lakes or coastlines.

It's good that your girl seems a little better and I hope tomorrow she shows even more improvments. Tony

[TwoBitsMom]

Thanks so much for the update.
Hopefully your girl will be feeling better in the next couple of days.

[ladyhawk101]

ok
well we took her to vets, she has salmon poisoning. sent home with bunch of meds to give her. know its a waiting game to see how long it will take her to feel better. her temp is down and her breathing is lot better. vet says we wait. she got this from chewing on an old fish tail, before we got it away from her. they say only fresh fish, wrong it can happen with old dry crap to. thanks for all the help and info.

[TwoBitsMom]

Ginger, Ghilly and Tony are right...Please...get your dog to the vet as soon as you can. Her actions are telling you that something is amiss and you need to take care of it as soon as you can.
Dogs love to eat, and the fact that she is hiding behind the couch and not eating, is telling you that something is wrong...you already know this..so please follow your own instincts, and get your dog to the vet.
A systemic infection could prove to be fatal for your dog.
Get her in as soon as you can...
Connie

[tonyb286]

I have to add my concern over your dog here and totally agree with both Ginger and Ghilly, your best friend has probably got a fairly serious infection. Some weeks ago I was taking care of a dog, a greyhound, who had just had to have all his claws removed because of severe infection. Unfortunately, dogs are extremely susceptible to infections in the nailbeds, partly because there is a near-surface bloodflow and partly because they are constantly walking on things that can cause infection. Once a fungal infection gets into the nailbeds, it can very quickly turn septic and start pushing the nails out from their roots. This is very painful for the dog, despite the fact they may not show it. Please get your dog to a vet straight away. Tony

[Ghilly]

I completely agree with Ginger.  None of the symptoms that you have listed your dog as having are very good and all of them point to a potentially very serious problem.  Chances are good that all she needs is a course of strong antibiotics to knock out what sounds like an infection that has set itself up in her toe, but as Ginger said, if you don't take care of this quickly, it could end up going systemic and could even become life-threatening.  Please keep us up to date on what the vet says.  

Ghilly

[ginger899]

No, this is a problem. She has a problem here.
I think it most likely is pain. She may not be showing outward signs of intense agony (which is what usually makes dogs yelp or cry out) it might not even make her limp-but it could be a throbbing "level 5 or 6" pain.
A classic sign of pain in a dog is when it suddenly goes off its food. Hiding behind the couch is not a good sign. When a dog starts to hide from you, there is something quite serious happening.

Another cause could be infection. It sounds to me as if she could have infection of the nail-bed. This will need veterinary treatment. Take her as quickly as possible. If the infecton spreads to her whole system, her life could even be endangered.