[Coleman11C]

So, I'm having trouble with Olive, my Basset Hound (F - 2 years) and I really need some advice.

It all started a couple days ago... I was noticing her whimpering a little bit for no apparent reason. Then, I noticed her whimper a little when I tried to help her on to the couch, starting with her front legs. She also didn't seem to wanna eat, for some reason.

So, I took her to the vet and explained what was going on and we tried to recreate what was making her cry, but with no luck. The vet then did a thorough examination (fine temperature, fine stool, no apparent pain up and down her spine, and no pain when pressing on her organs). So, she decided to run blood work and work from there. Her blood work came back fine and she gave Olive a shot of buprenex and sent her home to see if it got any better. On the way home, Olive wouldn't move; just completely knocked out, which was surprising to me. When we got home, she layed on the floor, shaking heavily all over every time she took a breath. It scared me, so I took her right back to the vet hospital.

At the vet hospital, they did x-rays and tested her for heart worm. Let me say that the doctor had never seen anything like it; she would be shaking like crazy (from what she thought was pain) one minute, then be wagging her tail and not shaking the next. The doctor showed
me the x-rays and pointed out that she thought her spleen was slightly swollen around the edge, as well as a weird pocket of gas somewhere in there, too. She also thought that a couple of disks on her upper spine appeared to be a little too close together.

She decided to put her on a strong antibiotic and switch her over to metacam for possible inflammation and pain. Olive hadn't had anything to drink that day and I was worried that she was gonna be severely dehydrated, so the vet injected some fluid in her back and sent her home.

She was crying quite a bit throughout the first night on my bed, so I decided to move her off my really soft mattress and onto the carpet, so see if it was too soft for her spine. She seemed to sleep alright after that.

Here we are, two days later, and she hasn't had one drink of water on her own. I noticed that if I give her ice cubes, she'll eat as many as I put in front of her, so yesterday she ate about 50 of them (which is hopefully enough to keep her hydrated). I have to hand feed her wet dog food piece by piece or she won't eat anything at all. I'm sure the antibiotics are making her lose her appetite, as well as the painkillers, but I can't be sure that's the only thing.

I'm stopping the antibiotics after 5 days and today is her last day of painkillers and I'm hoping her appetite returns after that. Other than the not eating or drinking, she appears to be doing fine now, but I have to know what's going on. If this keeps up, I don't know what I'm gonna be able to do.

If anyone has had a similar experience, or knows someone that has, any advice would be much appreciated.

I'll answer any specific questions you have if it helps narrow down what might be going on.

Thanks