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My dog is not eating or drinking & looks like he's in pain.

13 yo mixed breed rescue dog.

He has not eaten properly in 2 days or drank much water. He is crouched slightly and seems reluctant to move around much.
Have been to the vet but there are no obvious sources of pain. He was prodded and poked every where with no pain in his abdomen or legs or neck or spine etc.. Vet suggested it being his back or spine? Was very sudden. What could it be?
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Avatar universal
chijuajua pain in jaws hurts to open wont eat or drank
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1 Comments
Hi jamesparkercherrie,
I think you definitely need to take your little dog to the vet. It may be he has a tooth abscess. Of course, I cannot diagnose him on the internet! Nor can anyone else here.
He needs to go to the vet.
Avatar universal
Iam losing the love of my life- yes the love of my life and i just feel immobilized. Jaxson was diagnosed with renal failure and i wanted it not to be true. He is my 12 year old toy poodle who rescued me about 7 years ago.
How could i be so diligent with his health care and yet be lulled into this false sense of reassurance?
I consider myself not only a realist, strong etc. I am a pretty good people nurse and i let professionals give me reassurance vs accurate information. At 1:45 am a vet every 2 weeks for the last 6 weeks and left town with their blessing, Jaxson got a lot worse in a little time. And 1 vet and 2 emergency hospitals he is in renal failure, not eating/ drinking for 3 days. They brought out a bill for 1500.00 for one overnight stay and unfortunately with the numerous visits i did not get a chance to try.
I just feel angry, sad, disappointed in myself because he is my little monster( kindest, gentlest 8 lb monster you could ever love.
I looked at his labs and my nephew who was a vet tech directed things- he was AWESOME. Asking the right info and deciding on the right treatment i could afford and i brought him home. He does not want to be picked up but just to lie quietly. We have fluids going just to keep him comfortable. I could ABSOLUTELY not make the decision to put him down when i stepped away for a momement and heard his 8 octave range calling for me- i knew it was him and i knew not today.
I have been on sites reading a lot of clinical info when i stumbled on this site and found that i was not the only member of this unwanted club called grief.
To each of you my heart yearns knowing your journeys and now my own.
I have decided to accept whatever emotions that surfaces because i can not hide my pain. Jaxson is laying beside me as i reach over and gently let him know. Mommy is here, mommy is here.
I dont know what the daylight hours will bring us but i know i will be by his side as he makes the final leg of this journey.
I hope that i dont make things difficult for him bc of my anxiety of letting go. It is now Christmas day, but i dont feel joy and i am ok that i am being brutally honest. I am despairing, so sad, angry that my life is such that i could not do this last thing for my monster when he has done so much for me.
Tomorrow i will try to get nutrition down a little at a time.
Jaxson and I would appreciate just a simple prayer regarding compassionate transition for us both.

Please take good care( from my little monster and me)
May we find peace in a wounded world,
Gwen
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Avatar universal
did you ever figure out what happened to your dog? my dog is showing similar symptoms and I'm very anxious to figure out how to help her.
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675347 tn?1365460645
COMMUNITY LEADER
Get them to check for tick-borne diseases. Depending on where you live (?) also consider possible spider bites (especially Black Widow) /snakebites....Even in the UK the False Widow's bite can cause a lot of pain, and cause some quite serious effects. And the False Widow is becoming very common. I have seen lots of them.
That's just a thought, I may be way off the mark. However, you would probably have noticed some amount of local swelling at the site of the bite.

Otherwise, I wonder if it's possible he has a badly pulled muscle or tendon. This may well not show up on an Xray but may be inflamed enough to cause pressure on a nerve. And there is nothing like a badly pinched nerve to make anyone -including a dog- almost unable or definitely unwilling, to move at all. Also that would affect appetite for sure. The reason he hasn't been to pee may well be that to get up and go out would be painful
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Avatar universal
Blood work came back normal. Still no idea what it is specifically! xray of his lower back was done and nothing was found.. doing another xray of the upper part of his spine to see if there is anthing there. It must be a nerve damage of some sort? It happened so suddenly! Sunday night he was acting a bit strange, took him in Monday Tuesday and today and we still dont know what it is. Max is a whimp and will show pain if the painful area is touched.
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Avatar universal
Max is awful today. No strength in his back legs, can barely walk, restless wont eat, havent seen him pee etc. took him to the vet first thing this morning and they think its something in his spine, a primary spine problem. I am waiting on blood results now, they are giving him something for the pain. I have left him there for the day. its not looking good at all.
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441382 tn?1452810569
Good for you!  I am anxious to hear what the results are.  Thanks for keeping us updated!

Ghilly
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Avatar universal
I have booked an appointment today! Getting the blood work done in about an hour. I cant leave him over night if hes in as much pain as I think he is!
Thank you!
Will update tomorrow.
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441382 tn?1452810569
An x-ray is an excellent idea.  It will at least give you a clue as to whether it is something structural or not.  If nothing shows up on the x-ray then you'll be dealing with something more nebulous, but you can cross that bridge when you come to it.  The bloodwork will be extremely important as well, because that will give your vet the info he needs right off the bat as to whether or not this is something that is affecting his organs.  Please let us know how things go tomorrow.  You're in my thoughts.

Ghilly
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Avatar universal
Thank you for your comment!

The vet gave him a pain killer & also an anti-inflammatory injection last night & sent me home with some tramadol for him. He seems a bit better today. He drank some water, and ate a few pieces of his favorite ham which he wouldn't eat this morning. He stood up to greet us at the door too but still seems to be uncomfortable. I was going to leave him the rest of today and if there is no substantial amount of improvement tomorrow to take him back in for the blood tests etc. The vet also recommended an x-ray of the area.  
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441382 tn?1452810569
It could be any number of things.  Poking and prodding are fine, but in order to find out what the problem is, proper diagnostic tests have got to be done.  Did the vet take blood to do a complete blood panel?  This will tell whether or not his liver and kidney values are where they should be or whether there are problems with these two major organs.  

Our pets can be amazingly stoic when it comes to showing pain.  In the wild, to show pain or sickness is to make oneself a target for predators, and even though a dog may trust his vet enough to allow him to poke and prod to a certain extent, when it comes to showing real pain, to an animal that is baring their soul, and they can still be reluctant to show pain, often until it is too late to help them.

I would go back to the vet and insist that they do bloodwork.  Your dog is obviously uncomfortable, the hunched position itself is indicative of pain and/or discomfort of some kind, and since palpation did not work to reveal where that is, the next step is to do tests to find it.  I would call today and try to get him in there today.  The more time that goes by, the longer whatever it is has to do damage to your dog, or at the very least, the longer your dog will be in this discomfort.

Please keep us up to date on how he is.

Ghilly
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