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.

[Misfits4Me]

More often than not, the Lyme disease test (Especially, if it's an in house snap test) comes back negative....I'd ask your Vet to go ahead and treat......If it's Lymes, the Doxycycline will show a notable difference in 3 days.....

[Misfits4Me]

Again...What do you feed this girl & what treats (Names) does she consume? Thanks......Karla

[ginger899]

Well you're right Karla. The White blood cell count WOULD normally be high with Pyometra. So normal bloodwork doesn't quite figure. It's MUCH easier to diagnose Pyometra if there is vaginal discharge. If not -it's harder, but yes it should definitely show in the bloodwork! An experienced vet should know all the ins and outs of Pyometra however.

[SuperCharge]

Oh also, she ate her regular food. We gave her a little bit of homemade hamburger in with her food to get her to eat a few days ago, but hasn't wanted to eat since. Also one night at the beginning of the week on our regular trail she picked something up like a bone and ate it which we told the vet about which was why she wanted to get an xray but nothing was lodged or picked up on the xray.

I hope that once the antibiotics kick in, she will feel better. I guess we're playing the waiting game right now. Problem is, vet thinks her uterus is slightly distended which she could see from the barium she gave her today?  but her leg shift limping and stiffness isn't supposed doesn't happen when you have pyometra. It seems hard to pin point exactly what it is,(which undoubtedly is worrisome and frustrating to me) - whatever it is, came on fast and hard. She had a low-grade fever last night but temperature was fine when we brought her in the a.m.

Status as of right now. She's still on I,V, has eaten a little bit and has gone to the washroom, had her anti-biotics but still has the limp. .

[SuperCharge]

Her dry food is Pro Plan with shredded chicken in it. Her treats are the little marrow bone s by Pedigree and chicken tenders. Some times we give her raw hide but she hasnt had one lately.

[SuperCharge]

Hi Ginger (The pyometra expert i'm guessing lol)

To be honest, other than the fact that Dora isn't fixed, nothing else is pointing to this being pyometra. Short of getting an ultrasound done, which apparently costs 500 just for that, the vet just wants to do surgery. I will be getting her fixed once she gets healthy again, but i'm still confused why the vet thinks it pyometra? Her main issues are not being able to move around, stiffness, hard to get up and first limping in the back leg, and now the front one. Her stomach doesn't seem big. I just don't know. I hope the antibiotics works for her because it breaks my heart to see her trying to walk around. Dora is a very energetic dog and will follow me around all day long, it's sad to see that she doens't have the energy to get up and only tilts her head to see where I am.