10 month old Mixed breed Lethargic, Regurgitating water

hawk99hawk99@hotmail.com · Guest

Please please help. We live on a very small island with intermittant
veterinary care which is inconsistent. I will keep consulting with the
vets on-island, but would appreciate your input.

A 5 month old (approx!) pup walked in to our garden in July- looks a
cross between a Doberman and a labrador, but quite thin. She had been a
wild stray for that long (there is a stray dog problem on this island)
and was covered in ticks. Since that time, she has been vaccinated,
wormed, spayed, had antibiotics for skin issues which have now
resolved. She became a loving, playful dog- can 'sit', 'come', 'stay'
etc as well as fetch- an all round adjusted pup.

Fast forward to 6 weeks ago- she got in to something truly disgusting
smelling dumped next door (I got there seconds too late). She vomitted
it up within the hour and I kept her off food for 24 hours. She was
very lethargic and depressed. She bounced back the next day and all
returned to normal- eating science diet dry kibble and playing with her
toys.

Then about 5 weeks ago, she started regurgitating small amounts of
water and only eating a small amount of kibble at any one time. She was
still very playful. We took her to the vet after a week of this, and he
gave her a steroid injection (Vetalog) and a course of 7-Day
antibiotics, and she was on mince and rice diet. A couple of days
after, she became very lethargic, but she was eating properly again and
vomitting water less. I thought that I would leave it until the end of
the antibiotics to see if she came back to her old self, but she never
did.

Back to the vet- now she was still regurgitating water, and very
lethargic, but still eating extremely well and going to the toilet
normally. The vet did two x-rays and found only what looks like a very
small piece of bone in her stomach, but he said that should pass
through normally, and a very slightly enlarged spleen, but he said that
was likely due to medication. He carried out a blood test for
heartworm, Erlichia and Lyme Disease (all tick bourne diseases) and all
were negative. He has put her on 10 days more different antibiotic and
the s/d special canned science diet which seems to be turkey and rice.

She has now been lethargic for 2 weeks- no playing (she used to love
squeaking toys and playing tug etc). She is eating well (one tin in the
morning and one at night gone within a minute) and still wags her tail
when she sees us.

She also seems to do several swallowing motions in a row when she is
neither eating or drinking- like she has a sore throat?

What should we do? How long can we wait to see if yet more antibiotics
help her? Should we ask the vet for another X-Ray to see if the small
piece has passed? Should we go with exploratory surgery?

Has anyone had similar experiences with a dog regurgitating water (not
her food though) and being lethargic?

ZPL · Guest

For some reason, I keep going back to the "2 very small pieces of bone in
the stomach". Could it be that there may also be a small piece stuck in the
esophagus as well? (Not all vet think to x-ray the throat, and with a
larger dog, the throat will not show on many standard abdominal views).
Or - could it be that the pieces of bone are actually lodged in the lining
of the stomach, and not just sitting in the stomach?
Good luck.
wrote in message

Guest

yes, my sad dog is lonely for him to, come back to me, because he is
away for christmas, in the vets due to his condition, now i understdant
that he needs to be at the vets but he being a dog gets confused due to
his condition of having a stcik lodged in his stomack that upon
entering hurt his assophagus, as we speak, the kind vet is operating on
her and so i pray your lovely dog will find a good vet who can help
your dog like my vet is doing. i pray for you and your dog to have a
merry christmas and i do believe the good lord will find a way for you
and your dog.

hawk99hawk99@hotmail.com · Guest

Thank you for your replies. It is good to get our priorities sorted out
by getting outside perspectives. We have been thinking about a Pancreas
infection or Kidney issue or enlarged throat (Megaesophagus) etc etc.
We need to stop running away with theories. I will take her in to the
Vet next week and have a barium X-Ray of her throat to see if they can
see anything, and also see the progress of the small pieces of bone in
the stomach. I will keep you posted.

In the mean time, if anyone else has had experience of other infections
etc as mentioned above- what age of dog do they affect? Are there more
symptoms than we have?