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Old November 7th, 2012, 09:31 AM
Kally Kally is offline
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Food troubles, sore nose

Hi everyone,

I'll be calling in the afternoon to get a vet appointment if I don't see any improvement, but I thought maybe someone here might have had a similar experience and have advice.

I woke up this morning to my 9 year old Aussie x pretty much glued to my back. She's generally not much of a snuggler, and it's pretty common for her to demand ample space to stretch out. If I, the human, move too much while trying to fall asleep, it generally results in her leaving the room in a huff, and going to lay down elsewhere.

Anyways, so I get out of bed early, thinking I can avoid the early morning "feed me, feed me now" whining. lol Maggie is the type of dog that will come running at any time for almost any food. Yet instead of coming to vaccumn up her breakfast, she sat at the front door crying to go out. This is not normal behaviour for the kibble monster, but none the less, I start getting ready to go for a walk with her.

First thing I find when running around the appartment, is her big water bowl empty (it was full last night). Then I find the vomit covered dog bed in the livingroom. At this point I'm trying to think of anything she could have gotten into to make her sick. I can't think of a single thing. There's nothing poisonous around here, and she's not one to chew things at this age.

I took her outside, poop looks normal, although a little small. Then I noticed her nose, along the "seam" where it meets the top of her muzzle, is all red and bloody looking. That's the only way I can describe it. It doesn't seem to bother her.

She still won't eat her kibble, although she has no issue with having things like cooked veggies (which I give her as a treat here and there). The only interest she has with her kibble, is to carry it in individual pieces to different locations around the appartment. She's not eating it. I just find it all very odd for her.

Any ideas anyone? Allergies? Just not feeling well (like we gets colds, etc)?
I've read the post about when to take your pet to the vet, but in a circumstance like this, I'm not sure how long is reasonable to wait. This is the first time something like this has happened.

Thanks!
*~Kally~*
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Old November 7th, 2012, 09:54 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Could she have gotten into mouse or rat poison put out by a neighbor, Kally? The bleeding at the 'seam' bothers me and the intestinal upset would be enough to have me at least talking to a vet.
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Old November 7th, 2012, 10:13 AM
Kally Kally is offline
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hazelrunpack, she's actually a leash dog, so where she goes, I go. She does always have her nose on the ground, but I generally watch her so that she doesn't pick anything up. That being said, she was running in my parents backyard on Sunday... I'm not sure if she can get sick a few days later, if she managed to eat something bad there.

It's not that her nose is bleeding, it just looks like she bashed the top really hard making it bleed under the skin type thing. I have no idea what could have caused such a thing out of nowhere.

I'm trying to get through to the vets office now, atleast to see if they think it's necessary to bring her in right away or see if it's okay to wait.
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Old November 7th, 2012, 05:51 PM
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Is this a new bag of dog food you are using? One that was just opened or has she eaten normally from this same one?


Were you able to get her into the vet today? What did they say?
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Old November 7th, 2012, 06:21 PM
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I think that if she'd gotten into warfarin poison at your folks, she'd have shown symptoms sooner, Kally. (Whew)

I have seen a dark discoloration of the skin on the upper snout before--Ridge had a bad case of folliculitis a few years back and that's how it started. But I don't recall that through the whole ordeal she ever lost her appetite or had any digestive difficulties.

Hope you got in touch with the vet and they had some good advice for you! Keep us posted, pls!
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Old November 8th, 2012, 08:31 AM
Kally Kally is offline
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Thanks for the replies everyone.

Mags seems better this morning, but still not herself.

I ended up taking her to the vet in the afternoon, after she continued to vomit, and then started falling down here and there. It was really strange because she'd perk back up, then go back to sleep out of nowhere.

The vet thinks it's acute pancreatitis. She was also pretty dehydrated. They were going to keep her for a few days, but she was stable enough by then, and to be honest, with the cost, and some other factors (long story) I felt it was best to bring her home.

She's had bloodwork done, had Sub-Q fluid shots, medication to stop the vomiting, and been put on a low fat wet food, which I was able to start this morning. Poor bugger seems hungry now, but I was told to only give her a small amount every two hours. I'm not crazy about feeding her Science Diet anything.. but for a few days I figure it wont kill her, atleast until I can find a good alternative.

We'll know more when the blood work comes in (checking for both toxicity and factors related to possible health problems).

@Growler, hm, good question. I think she's been on this bag of food for atleast 2 weeks. She normally loves this kibble, but wouldn't even touch it. The little sample food was one that was new, but she wanted to eat it. Unfortunately that didn't stay down either

@hazelrunpack I asked about her nose, and the vet thought that she was just pawing at her nose, and maybe made it sore. He ddn't seem to think much of it. It looks a bit better today, but I have to wonder if it's an allergy thing. Mind you, I wouldn't think food with duck as the protien source would be a common allergen. I noticed that she also has a sore looking ear. I suppose when we go for our follow-up, I'll ask about it again.
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Old November 8th, 2012, 02:00 PM
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Poor dear! Pancreatitis is uncomfortable!!! Those special diets are sometimes just the thing you need to turn the corner, even if they wouldn't be optimal for long term use. I hope her bloodwork comes back clean!
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Old November 9th, 2012, 07:57 AM
Kally Kally is offline
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Still waiting on the blood work.

It was a long night. I'm not so sure the vet is right about it being pancreatitis, but we'll have to wait and see what the results say. She doesn't really seem to be in pain... although she doesn't automatically roll over for belly rubs anymore. She's just kind of lifeless, outside of the fact she now wants food.

I bought her a new bed, and put a large towel over it incase she didn't feel well. Ofcourse you know the first thing she does when Im not looking is rub her face all over it, causing the irritation on her nose to bleed. I also found a bunch of droplets all over the pillow and floor. When I mopped them up with paper towel, it was clearly urine. I think she might be accidentally dribbling.

I feel so bad. She's clearly now at a point of being frantically hungry, that I've had to feed her by hand to stop her from gobbling the small amounts the vet has told me to give her. She only had a can of food yesterday, and technically she should be having 3.5 - 4 cans. I've upped the amount this morning... she wasn't sick at all yesterday, although I did hear a gurgle or two.

She's not drinking as much as I'd like her to. Only half of her big bowl of water is gone, and normally she goes through a bowl and a half a day. I'm not sure if that has to do with the fact she's now eating wet food. I can't really tell how much she's peeing, and she hasn't had a poop since Wednesday (the 7th). I don't know if that's because she's getting to eat so little, because of the food change, because of the shot they gave her to stop the vomiting - or something worse.

This is horribly stressful.
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Old November 9th, 2012, 02:55 PM
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Likely, most of that is from the wet food. If our dogs' digestive tracts get very irritated, we often will put them on a canned food that's supposed to settle their tummies. They rarely drink when they're eating it and because it's very low residue and they've usually been vomiting and/or have diarrhea for a few days, there's very little stool till we start transitioning them back to kibble. So the not drinking and pooping parts are probably normal for her circumstance.

Not sure what the urine dribble would be from, though.

Have you talked to the vet again about possibly giving her more food? If she's so hungry, she may be ready to handle more.

When are the results from the blood work due back?
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Old November 9th, 2012, 05:54 PM
Kally Kally is offline
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Well some good news atleast.

All blood tests, liver function, kidney, basic blood counts, etc, came back normal. She did have fairly elevated - I think it was - CK (or CPK) levels. The vet said something about it being something to do with muscle enzymes... possibly elevated from vomiting. I read somewhere that it has something to do with muscle damage. Anyone know more about that?

Anyways, Maggie is still pretty lifeless. I gave her quite a bit more food at the last meal, she ate it and went back to sleep. The vet said she might have had a significant case of gastroenteritis, and may be dribbling urine because she's weak from being sick. I have to go back on Tuesday with her, so if she cant handle some kibble by then, or can and is still not pooping, they'll look at the possibility of something like a blockage or other things. I'm glad they can rule out some pretty major things with the blood work though - a few years ago she was having problems with liver and kidney enzymes, and they are good now.

I can start adding kibble to the wet food tomorrow morning. Problem is, I put a few pieces in my hand to see if she wanted them, and she still doesn't.

Anyways, thanks for all of the responses, and listening to my panicking over my poor old dog. She means the world to me. I know there's no guarantee on how long any dog, or even person gets to live, but I'd like a few more years atleast. Even if it does mean she gets even more lumpy and bumpy, and even a little more smelly (phew, that breath!). As long as she's happy and healthy.
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Old November 9th, 2012, 11:34 PM
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If she still won't eat the dry food & you know she's hungry I wouldn't feed her from that bag again - might be something off with the food then again she might be associating the smell of the food with the tummy upset ie "last time i ate that i threw up" kinda thing


CPK is elevated when there is any trauma to the muscles
- dog struggling during exam
- sometimes just being restrained for blood work will increase it
- can be elevated just from tension in the muscles from stress
- vomiting would do it from over use of stomach muscles
- also elevated if they got hit by car or kicked etc
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