Dog not eating, very weak and now limping

[SuperCharge]

Hi. I have a 4 year old Yellow Lab named Dora. For the past 4 days she has not been the same. The first few days she just wanted to sleep, then she stopped eating and I noticed she hind leg was limping. The limping went away but she was walking very slowly and still sleeping all the time. She doesn't want to eat, we have to bring her water bowl to her in order for her to drink. Last night we took her to the vet and they took blood, exrays, and urine samples. The results came back fine, but this morning she could not get up. She isn't fixed and has not been bred but she did just come off a heat a few weeks ago. She isn't the same dog. Right now she is at the vets getting I.V and anti-biotics and a barium? The vet thinks she may have pyometra. So far with today's visit we're $1000 dollars into it, not including the surgery.

I'm just so worried. If it is pyometra the surgery will help her, but i'm afraid it could be something worse like a cancer. Her symptoms are getting worse really fast. I hope someone can help me out.

[SuperCharge]

Hey guys

Had to take her into the vets again yesterday, she still doesn't seem to be getting any better. Dora was allergic to the antibiotics that they prescribed for her which was doxicilian(sp?) so we decided to stop those for a few days. What we are noticing is that her stomach looks as though it's swelling, she takes really long pees and has difficulty getting up and very slow to lay down. We spoke with the vet this a.m and we are taking her in at 11:20. We are going to be giving her a surgery. It seems that pyometra is now back on the table. I just want her to get better. Whatever it is, it's in her stomach. My poor baby just hasn't seemed to kick whatever seems to be ailing her.

I will let you know what the outcome is.

[Ghilly]

First of all, I'm really glad to hear that Dora is doing better and that the antibiotics seem to be working.  This, coupled with the fact that she had been eating Purina food and you have stopped feeding her the Purina food makes me wonder if the food DID have something to do with her illness!

It's really very scary reading the accounts that people have written in about their pets' illnesses and deaths from Purina products.  Whether we do or do not feed Purina foods, we have all grown up seeing them everywhere, on television, in magazines, in the stores, just about everywhere that pet things or food is sold.  Such a large, well-known company and now their products have become something to fear!  

I do not feed Purina products, however I still find it to be very unsettling.  I no longer allow people to give my puppy a treat when we're outside, things that used to be unhealthy only in terms of being nutritionally useless and basically junk food can now take the lives of our furry ones!

Please keep us updated as to Dora's condition.  I hope she continues to improve and is back to her old self in short order.

Ghilly

[ginger899]

I am absolutely thrilled to hear Dora is making good improvement. I wonder what could have been the matter with her?
I think the vet may have thought it could be Pyometra possibly because Pyometra strikes quite fast, knocks them off their feet a bit, and is very common in entire females. (But it's not VERY common in a dog your Dora's age. Usually it affects middle aged or older dogs.)
Plus perhaps the fact that Dora got sick a certain number of weeks afer her "heat" cycle, as that's often (though not always) when Pyometra strikes.

My dog got Pyometra. Her belly didn't swell either. The only real symptoms were her extreme lethargy -really didn't want to move off her bed- and slight wobbliness on her legs. But then she got vaginal discharge, which made things clearer. However there is a type of Pyometra where there is no vaginal discharge, and that is a bit harder to diagnose.

Anyway -good that Dora's getting better. Let's hope she continues to improve so well. Great news!

[SuperCharge]

Just wanted to give everyone a quik update. We brought Dora back home yesterday, she's on anti-biotics but looks much better. She is still limping slightly but we can see improvement. We are hoping that once the antibiotics are in her system fully that she will improve even more. We still didn't get a diagnosis on what happened, but I'm just glad she's slowly but surely getting better.

I also wanted to say thanks to all that responded and gave me advice and support. This forum is very helpful and knowledgable.

Thanks guys, Dora says Ruff-thanks-Ruff too :-)

[SuperCharge]

I can't believe what I have read about Purina dog food. I will not be giving her any more...period.

[SuperCharge]

OMG....that is soo sad and heartbreaking. I didn't realise the food was soo bad. What type of food would you recommend I give her?