Any suggestions for a 'sickish' dog? (long)

16 years ago

Just wondering if anyone has experienced any symptoms like the following in a dog:

* Generally listless

* Frequent bouts of not eating, or very picky eating, interspersed with a normal, healthy appetite

* Lethergy, interspersed with normal terrier-level activity

* Bouts of shivering that do not appear to be related to the temperature or weather

* Frequent stiffness while walking, often walks with head and tail down and ears back

* When she is not feeling well, she is fearful and clingy

Background: She's a 10-year-old Jack Russell Terrier female, with no particular health issues other than these symptoms. Was bred 3 times with no complications, then was spayed around the age of 5. Has always been very very athletic and active, mentally sharp and occasionally semi-aggressive to other dogs - not a shrinking violet!

The symptoms listed above have worsened recently BUT PREDATED by a year or two the long illness and eventual putting down of our other JRT last fall at age 15. Although the 2 dogs were not close buddies, they were constant companions in each others' lives for 10 years. This dog just fell apart at the death of the other, at first sleeping for days, followed by some major hot spot licking (fully resolved with topical treatments and putting her in an E-collar temporarily), but she is still exhibiting a major drop in activity levels (except when out on walks or runs in the woods). It seems obvious (to me, at least) that there is an emotional/depressive component to her current state.

She has had gastric issues for years - specifically she has always (as far back as I can remember) put herself on occasional 1-2 day fasts, followed by normal eating the rest of the time. Often, I can hear major gurgling and gassy sounds in her gut when she is not feeling well. Stool and bowel habits normal, and no parasites ever detected.

She gets all recommended health care throughout the year. She's been checked out for this problem several times and no issues came up in her latest blood work done in December. We've since changed vets (returned to her long-time vet who left when the practice was sold several years ago.) Her new/old vet treated her in January for an infected lymph node in her groin - apparently completely resolved with 2 weeks of prednisone and antibiotics to resolve the swelling and irritation/licking. She's been on a daily Pepcid for awhile now, but I'm not sure if it's helping at all. She's always eaten supermarket dog food, but I'm in the process of trying to find a healthier dog food for her.

I'm scheduling her for another vet visit, but just going to the office revs her up enough so that she isn't such a sad sack when we get there, and displays none of the symptoms listed.

I was wondering if any of this rings a bell with anyone. I'm assuming she has some kind of chronic digestive problem, compounded by the emotional and psychological issues from suddenly finding herself the only dog. (We're getting a new puppy in about 2 weeks, which we anticipate will help with the depression, even if it just riles her up to have a new dog underfoot all the time :o))

Thanks for your input.

Susan

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Comments (8)

olga_d
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Have you tested for Lyme and other tick borne diseases? That would be my first stab, and perhaps a full thyroid test.
sylviatexas1
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
sounds like a depressed, grieving dog with a sensitive stomach to me.

Do get her checked out, but I have a feeling that a "cure" will occur when you bring home that puppy!
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ilovepoco
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks Olga, that's what I'm hoping for - a list of questions to ask the vet next time.

Susan
annzgw
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Also could be spinal/back problems that flare up but IBD is definitely a possiblity. What you described is what my last dog would do when her IBD flared up. It's painful.
Ask the vet for something besides pepcid (it didn't help my dog) and change the diet to something more bland. I ended up making my dog's food and feeding her several small meals thru the day .

Have they x-rayed her spine lately?
Meghane
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The stiffness when walking could be a lot of things but degenerative joint disease of the hips or spine comes to mind immediately. My old Rottie K'Ehleyr has lumbar-sacral spondylosis, which is the body's way of correcting lax joints- basically building up excessive bone around the weaker joints. Because of her L-S disease, she walks very slowly, puts as much weight on her front legs as possible, has difficulty going up and down stairs, and doesn't move around more than she has to. She is on a lot of pain control which helps a bit- she no longer cries when going up or down stairs and she is somewhat more active but certainly still less active than even an old rottie should be.

Animals in pain display their symptoms differently. Nothing besides personal death would keep K'Ehleyr from eating her food, but I have seen dogs that are in pain not eat because of that, especially if their pain is in the cervical or thoracic spine. On her bad days before I had her on all the meds, she would try to be clingy but that was too painful. Some dogs shiver when in pain.

Considering her history with a slow progression of signs, I would be very suspicious of pain especially in the spine. A thorough physical exam should localize the pain, and radiographs may show what the problem is. Sometimes neurogenic pain such as with compressed disks and other soft tissue spinal cord injuries cannot be seen on radiographs but there are other imaging modalities that may help.

Not to scare you too much because the appetite changes could be related to bad pain days, but my Aleksander had gastric adenocarcinoma. His first signs were a picky appetite. Like your dog, Aleks had always been one to skip meals every once in a while, but it became more frequent when he was sick. He didn't have any other signs- was still as active as ever- and he had always vomited 1-2 times a month. But when it started being that his appetite was more picky and he was vomiting 1-2 times a week, I knew something was wrong.

These kinds of vague symptoms are really hard to sort out. Almost any disease in any system could cause them, so it really takes a lot of effort and searching (and money unfortunately) finding out what is going on. The stiffness may be a clue to the other problems, and getting her pain treated may resolve everything else, which would be wonderful. But that may not be the case, and you have to be prepared for possibly a bunch of tests that show nothing. Well, not actually nothing; having normal bloodwork is good since it means that the liver, kidney, pancreas, adrenals, etc are all ok. But it leaves you searching even more.

I hope you can get to the bottom of her problems soon. Good luck.
cynthia_gw
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
When she doesn't eat, that's likely the time that the pain is most severe. Try to get her into the vet next time she isn't eating. I too would recommend a complete tick panel and ask your vet to check her spine and range of motion.
ilovepoco
Original Author
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks everyone - I will bring all of these ideas up at our next vet visit.

Susan
oceanna
16 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I'm with the spine problems folks. I'd ask the vet to do an x-ray if he can't finger the problem.

Here's a little test you can do. Hold her still with collar and leash with one hand. Run the other hand very lightly down her back, just one finger at first, then try the whole hand. You can even "finger walk" down her back. If every time you get to one particular place you see her stomach/side muscles suddently tense up, that's a good indicator that it might be a slipped/herniated disc.

Another test you can do. I can do this with my left hand, but not my right (I'm right handed). Your mileage may vary. Run your hand down her neck and back about one inch above the skin, with your palm facing her. See if one area feels especially hot. That may be a trouble spot that you can call to your vet's attention. If you can do it on two dogs, you can compare the two. Sometimes I do better if I shut my eyes. It also helps me to turn off radio/tv/distractions and concentrate. A hot area can signify inflammation. You can try doing this all over her body if you like, but I find it's great for detecting spine or hip problems.

Good luck and please keep us posted on what your vet says.

Any suggestions for a 'sickish' dog? (long)

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Any suggestions for a 'sickish' dog? (long)

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