what is the problem with my dog

[Kiran]

My dog Simba,may have to be euthanised. The vets dont seem to be doing their work right-i reside in Kenya.

Simba is 7 and a half year old -a mixed breed and is an alpha male. a month ago he got into a massive fight with the younger dog and we had to separate them-which was very difficult. Simba had fought with the younger dog-lenin about 3 times, and in the process, his lips were torn and he had pus,and he initially took out bloody stools, but recovered fully.Now just a week ago, he stopped eating and we took him to the vet.was diagonised with tick fever, he was injected and now have Kept him on doxycycline 200mg twice a day.

I also give him brewers yeast ,vit B, to enhance his appetitite and recovery process, but not once does this dog touch food. He only drinks milk, has lost lots of weight, and drinks alot of water.

I am afraid that he is suffering and i dont know if he has to be put to sleep. Is there any hope of his recovery.

His faeces are watery(eats no food) and green as he eats alot of grass. His water intake has increased but there is no sign of blood in his faeces.

what could be wrong with him, and what should be my course of action. I dont want him to undergo the numerous injections,blood taking if he is going to die, i dont want him to suffer anymore, but if you feel there is hope please let me know. I am planning to put him to sleep-by taking him to the vet, but will await your answer...please help me...

Kiran

[mikischo]

I'm sorry Simba is sick.

If the symptoms only started about a week ago, it sounds like it might have been caught early. In the acute stage of tick fever your dog is going to be very sick, but I believe there is a very good chance that he will recover. Treatment usually lasts two to three weeks and from what you say he has only been on antibiotics for about a week. It is important that you try to get your dog to eat anything you can get him to eat to keep up his strength (chicken, hot dogs, anything he likes that you can entice him with).

I have pm'ed Dr. Lee, an excellent veterinarian that we have on pets.ca, who will give you some good information.

Just sending for Simba that he starts to feel better soon.
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"If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat." -------Mark Twain
"The animals share with us the privilege of having a soul." -------Pythagoras
"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different." -------Hippocrates

[bendyfoot]

The milk could be contributing to the watery stools, many dogs have a hard time digesting it. I would try offering a combination of cooked plain rice and boiled meat (lean beef or chicken) instead.

[Dr Lee]

I am sorry to hear about the problems with Simba. Doxycycline is the treatment of choice for most tick borne diseases. Since 1980, there have been more than 15 different tick diseases described and discovered. There are many strains. In Arizona, USA I saw a lot of tick fever (ehrlichiosis). A 2 - 3 month course of doxycycline would be prescribed. Clinically they would usually improve fairly quickly -within days to a couple of weeks. (this was my experience in the years I worked in Arizona, USA).

Again doxycycline is the treatment of choice. Imidocarb dipropionate was used earlier but replaced by doxycycline as it works better. Doxycycline's success rate is usually fairly high.

So... why are we not getting better. I would be concerned that there may be something else going on as well. I would recommend additional blood testing and radiographs. I know that you don't want to put Simba through more tests if he is not going to make it anyways - but we just don't know that yet.

If testing is just not something that you are able to do, then I would recommend that you ask your veterinarian about adding in prednisone or prednisolone. It is used in conjunction with treatment for tick fever when there is platelet destruction. It is can also assist with other possible problems. This is not my first recommendation though! I would strongly urge further testing. But in lieu of euthanasia, you might want to try prednisone.

I hope this helps.

[Kiran]

Thank you so much for your reply, and for connecting me to Dr.Lee. Will try out the corticosteroid, as he has refused to eat anything-including meat which he loves.

[mikischo]

For those of you who don't know, Kiran took Simba to another vet to try to find out why he wasn't getting better. Further tests revealed that the reason that Simba was suffering so much was because he had stomach cancer. Kiran had to make the heartbreaking decision to help him to the other side.

Kiran has posted a tribute to Simba here:

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=66507

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The animals share with us the privilege of having a soul." -------Pythagoras
"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different." -------Hippocrates