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mysterious illness

5 1/2 year old husky got sick w/severe diarreah recently.  Had it for several days.  At home tried bland diet but it didn't work.  Took to vet.  Vet did cbc work up, stool and urine tests.  ALL NORMAL.  He gave shot of centrine for diarreah and gave diarsanyl a nutritional supplment (this was tuesday).  He told us to check in thursday.  By wednesday night the dog's diarreah was uncontrollable and there was blood in it so we went to emergency hospital.  Meanwhile Xena is peppy & active and completely normal behavior and attitude.  They hydrated her at hospital, took xrays.  Found nothing.  They put her on antibiotic - Metronidazole, fortiflora supplment, and low residue diet.  The next morning she was very lethargic and had extreme difficulty walking.  It only worsened throughout day.  The vet wanted to unltrasound but hospital said it was unnecessary.  That night we took Xena back to hospital.  We had to carry her to car.  Once inside hospital she miraculously walked and was all peppy.  The doctors at hospital did cbc work up.  Lyme was positive, however, we live in tick area where most dogs test positive so they weren't sure if she had Lyme disease or not OR if joint stiffness was rare reaction to metronidazole antibiotic.  They took her off "m" antibiotic and are treating her for Lyme & giving pain pills too.  This was last night.  This morning she woke up.  She couldn't even sit up.  I had to carry her down steps and outside.  She hobbled to couch.  Did not eat and I had to force her to take pills inside lunch meat.  It almost seemed as though she couldn't chew.  I am sick with worry.  Has anyone every had this experience?  
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Avatar universal
get her adrenals checked!!
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Avatar universal
We got up at 4 am to take Xena to University of PA vet hospital.  They took our history, looked at all the reports I brought.  Took xrays of her leg joints.  Front joint was hurting her and they said it was tad swollen and arthritisy looking not that she has arthritis.  Their recommendation was treat as if she has Lymes and see how she is doing in one month.  They didn't do joint tap because she did show improvements in mobility today.  The positive thing is that this morning Xena was way more active than usual, however, tonight she is lethargic, not eating, barely drinking.  She has been on the Lyme meds for 3-4 days now.....I asked about the Addison and getting tested.  They said sure it could be Atypcial Addison but they thought Xena was more Lyme symptomatic (I DON"T SEE WHERE THEY GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  SHE HAS MORE ATYPICAL ADDISON than Lyme!!!!!!! Plus they are not 100% positive it is LYME..) I am willing to pay the couple of hundred dollars just for peace of mind but no one wants to do it.  My boyfriend thinks I am obsessed with Atypical Addisons.  I feel I am just advocating.  Thanks for listening.
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675347 tn?1365460645
COMMUNITY LEADER
I do hope they find out what is wrong, very quickly, and she gets the treatment she needs, and starts to recover.
They should test her for Addisons. They should test her for anything right now! This has to be solved.
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Avatar universal
I will look into the other tick illnesses but after 2 solid days of my own research I swear she matches 100% for ATYPICAL ADDISON"S.  

Hopefully U of Penn vets will test her.  

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE :)
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Avatar universal
They took of bowel region I think - to see if obstructions that would have caused all the diareah.  They saw nothing.

Her diareah is gone now, although she has stopped eating.  Started throwing up when she drinks water.  Took her to animal hospital and they are sending us to U of Penn for further testing as her joints are swollen (although she test positive for Lyme vet does not feel it is lyme).

I wanted her to have acth test done to rule out atypical addison's but emergency vet refused to do it becuase her bloodwork is normal (BUT THAT IS WHY IT IS ATYPICAL!!!!!!).  Our Xena has ALL THE SYMPTOMS OF ATYPICAL!!!!!!!!! PLUS the vet is stumped....isn't that also a clue to proceed with the ACTH test???????

I am mad at myself that I did not insist on it!  Know anything about atypical addison's. Thanks so much, LC
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Avatar universal
Don't know if Lyme affects dogs like humans, but my husband had Lyme and his joints were so bad he couldn't bend or move without a lot of pain.  He had to have intravenous antibiotics in heavy doses.
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675347 tn?1365460645
COMMUNITY LEADER
Please ask your vet to test her for ALL the tick-borne diseases. Although they are not all easy to test for (the way the bacteria of some of these diseases behave once in the dog's bloostream). Those Ticks are terrible, and  diagnosis can be quite difficult sometimes. See what the vet thinks.
A webpage which might help you:
http://www.mirage-samoyeds.com/tick.htm
(Canine Tick disease F.A.Q.)
Helpful - 0
462827 tn?1333168952
Hi Xena & Welcome....Wow, I'd be worried, too. I've been racking my brain on this one....Maybe someone else will respond soon with better knowledge....I do have one question; what did they take xrays of and from what angle???  Also, what pain pills is she taking?   Let me know.....Karla
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