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Old December 27th, 2012, 12:00 PM
yorkies_lover yorkies_lover is offline
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Exclamation Small yorkie with arched back and obvious pain

First of all, hello to everyone.

My dog is having a really rough time lately, and i really do not know what to do anymore

Ill try to keep it short and to the point,all the details can be found in the medical history which is, unfortunately, extensive.



Yorkie
1.1 KG
10 months
Male
Miscellaneous medical conditions: undescended testicle, few milk teeth still not out.

He has a healthy appetite and a little reluctant to drink water, but i moisten my finger and get him to drink eventually.

His current symptoms are arched back, occasional circling, walking strange with his head to the right side(almost as if wanting to lick his back), and sometimes pointing his head up high.
Sometimes he yelps in pain when getting up or being picked up(but not always), and does not respond with pain when i touch every part of his body(spine, teeth, abdomen, everything).
Reluctant to come when called or to be picked up.




He had blood work done numerous times, x ray and x ray with contrast, none of which showed any obvious indications, other then rapid progression of the contrast agent through his intestines.
We took him to 2 different vets 5 times for this condition, and nothing helped. After all the tests, the last vet instructed a change in his diet and some probiotics.

I read online that treatment for digestion with probiotics and change of diet takes time, 2 weeks or more, but i dont want to lose time if there is something more serious. He has been like this for 3 weeks now.



I know you dont go on threads and googling when something is bothering you or your pet, you go get it checked out and done with.
But I did that five times and I am running out of money and they dont find anything wrong with my dog.

It pains me to see him like this and i would pay any amount just to make him get to his old self.

Any help you can provide is appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Daniel



MEDICAL HISTORY

About a month and a half ago (18th November), we were on vacations. He was on the floor with a larger dog when there was a sudden bang. When i picked him up he was completely unresponsive.
His eyes were looking around, but his whole body completely limp and lifeless.
He was rushed to the emergency and diagnosed with shock and remained there overnight and was administered IV fluid. Within a few days he was back to his old self.

2 weeks later (1st December), on the last day of the vacations an as we were to board the plane he got diarrhea. He was taken to the vet the next day and was treated for it with, IV, vitamins and medication. Bloodwork shown all the normal levels.

A week later (8th december), we got up in the morning and he placed his paw on my other dogs back (a female yorkie of 1.7 Kg), she growled at him and he stiffened his back and yelped out.
There was no physical contact.

Ever since then he has been displaying the above stated symptoms.

Vet who treated him diagnosed a pinched nerve, and treated him with following medication and massaged him, and told us to come again for the second treatment the next day.

rimadyl
dexafort
gentamicin
vitamin d

He was ok for a 2-3 days, but it deteriorated again to the point that we had to take him back 10 days later (20th december).

They did bloodwork tests and added coffein, novalphen, vitamin c and clamoxyl to the mix. They injected all that into an IV and left him with a vet tech who monitored the IV drip.

I noticed he already received 100 ML and i asked the tech how much is he supposed to get, and he responded with "i dont know"

I went to get the doctor, which was sitting in an office and told him to get back and check what are his minions doing.
He came back and said he needs more. In total, a 1.1 kg dog received 200 ML of liquid. And after all that, he didnt even receive the full amount of the medicine, since the bottle still had 150 ml left.

I am no veterinarian, but thats like someone pumping 6-9 liters of iv into you. Poor dog was peeing himself as he was getting th iv.
Later he was vomiting and panting in obvious stress.
He told us to come 2 more times... last time i ever go there again.

I called a fellow dog owner for advice and we immediately drove him 2 hours to a supposedly better veterinarian. He could not do much because xray and ultra sound showed large amounts of gas and bloodwork would be contaminated by the IV.

We came 2 days later when he was given xray with contrast aswell as complete blood work. Everything was normal other then that the contrast has progressed through him in 15 min, and normal time is one and a half hours. He also had low blood sugar, vet told us because we didnt feed him for 10 hours (told to do so because of the tests). Probiotics and LG yogurt, rice and Intestin by eukanuba were prescribed.
He was injected with reglan and vetalgin.

After the visits to the vets and getting the IV and not eating much in those 2 days, he was back on his old self. There werent symptoms of pain and he was playful and acting healthy.

Five days later, he is displaying symptoms again. There are times when he is not, but its obvious something is hurting him.

Last edited by yorkies_lover; December 27th, 2012 at 12:18 PM.
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  #2  
Old December 27th, 2012, 06:34 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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How are his stools? A lot of the symptoms are similar to what we were seeing in Evan when he developed inflammatory bowel disease. The stools would be bloody, though--progressing to tar-like.

It could also be back pain related to the spine or even kidney malfunction. Very difficult, sometimes, to pinpoint a cause. I know that helpless feeling while you're waiting for a diagnosis.

I hope you find some answers, soon!
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Old December 28th, 2012, 02:48 PM
yorkies_lover yorkies_lover is offline
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Hello, his stool is regular and normal color and somewhat soft, possibly due to the fact we are now feeding him rice and special dog food.

We took him again to the vet today and he freely donated a sample in the vets office... a bit embarrassing.

He also got tested for possible pancreas problem, and it came back negative. X ray was clean and ultra sound was inclocusive due to high gas in his bowels.


Palpation was performed by two vets all over his abdomen before and after a dose of painkillers, he didnt not react in pain at all. When the vet touched the liver, kidneys and pancreas, he did not yelp in pain, as he should if there was a problem.

The vet instructed us to give him only rice and some chicken, antibiotics and Buscopan (hioscin butilbrmoid) to relax the pain from spasms.

He also told me that he exhausted all the diagnostic tools at his disposal, that now we are left with exploratory surgery or a MRI to pinpoint the problem.

He assured us that what he has is not life threatening, but I want him to be healthy and living a life without pain.

Can you post a link to the thread about Evan, i couldnt find it using the search tool.

Thank you!
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Old December 28th, 2012, 03:01 PM
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angeldogs angeldogs is offline
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I wonder if it is the high gas in his bowels causing it. my boy a couple of years ago was some what like this.blood work was normal xrays too exept for the gas in the bowels.we were told to put him on a plain diet for awhile and try another food. so i switched to a fish based food as it is good for allergies and sensitive tummies and is cheaper then food based for sensitive tummies. all that gas could cause pain. thats what the vet had told me.
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Old December 28th, 2012, 03:35 PM
yorkies_lover yorkies_lover is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by angeldogs View Post
I wonder if it is the high gas in his bowels causing it. my boy a couple of years ago was some what like this.blood work was normal xrays too exept for the gas in the bowels.we were told to put him on a plain diet for awhile and try another food. so i switched to a fish based food as it is good for allergies and sensitive tummies and is cheaper then food based for sensitive tummies. all that gas could cause pain. thats what the vet had told me.
i really dont know, i hope its something like that and not an organ failure

can you tell me after switching the diet, how long did your dogs health return to normal?

also i forgot to mention, creatine levels were low in his blood work, but the vet said its normal because the condition was present for a long time and the fact that he hadnt developed any muscles in that time accounts why
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Old December 28th, 2012, 03:46 PM
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angeldogs angeldogs is offline
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It took a few days or so to get all the gas out of his bowls then he was fine it was finding a different food. i was feeding acana at the time and it just didnt agree with him. which was to bad as he would drool as you were putting it in his bowl.

I was also doing short walks to help get the gas moving.
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Old December 28th, 2012, 06:39 PM
yorkies_lover yorkies_lover is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by angeldogs View Post
It took a few days or so to get all the gas out of his bowls then he was fine it was finding a different food. i was feeding acana at the time and it just didnt agree with him. which was to bad as he would drool as you were putting it in his bowl.

I was also doing short walks to help get the gas moving.
i see, thank you for your input

well all i can do at the moment is keep up with the regime and hope for the best
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Old December 28th, 2012, 06:50 PM
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angeldogs angeldogs is offline
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Thats all you can do.Hopefully it's the gas in the bowels and if not i hope you can find out whats going on with your boy.
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Old December 28th, 2012, 11:00 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Gas pains can certainly give them pain! Gas in the intestines can also occur if there's a partial blockage--and that's why the next step would be an exploratory surgery if the symptoms don't improve on their own.

Unfortunately, Evan preceded my membership on the board, so there's no thread. With Evan, though, it was a matter of eliminating all the other things it could be, then finally getting a diagnosis at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at the U of MN. If there's a VTH associated with a vet college near you, that's another option you have--they tend to be a bit pricier than regular vets, but we've found that when our vets were stymied, the teaching vets could normally pinpoint the problem.

Praying that your little guy gets some relief soon!
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Old December 29th, 2012, 01:48 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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I would definitely do the probiotics and pursue working on the digestion issues. However, I would also see a doggie chiropractor: www.avcadoctors.com

If there is an impingement of the nerves that feed the digestive system, it can cause symptoms, and often an adjustment will help. From the history, it sounds very likely that something is misaligned.

When I adopted my girl at 6 months, she arched like, and had little quivers along her back. But a few adjustments fixed her right up.
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Old December 29th, 2012, 02:48 PM
yorkies_lover yorkies_lover is offline
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i was told that the next stop is the vet school where they could do an MRI, however the vet said that his current condition does not warrant such an expense

i would pay if i had the money regardless, i cant stand seeing him in pain

@maxalisa

did your girl display signs of pain when touched in the back? from what i understand when something is misaligned in the back or the intestines, when you touch it, its a world of pain

my boy does nothing of the sort

today he lunged at my other dog and started squealing in pain when she barked back in defense

at the moment he is somewhat better, arching has subsided and he is more alert. in the morning he was feeling bad and i was up since 6 in the morning worried about him
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Old December 29th, 2012, 04:23 PM
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angeldogs angeldogs is offline
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Some dogs wont yep when in alot of pain.my boy doesnt make a sound i know by his eyes and body language when touch a sore spot.

years ago when we got my boy he wasnt trained by his old owners not to pull or jump around well trying to walk. when he started i would stop walking and he would run to the end of the leash which would send him into the air. he ended up putting his neck out never showed any pain then one day his legs gave out on him well he was standing got him to the vet.and when you ran your fingers down the spine of his neck and back he never made a sound.
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Old December 29th, 2012, 08:23 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkies_lover View Post
@maxalisa

did your girl display signs of pain when touched in the back? from what i understand when something is misaligned in the back or the intestines, when you touch it, its a world of pain

my boy does nothing of the sort

today he lunged at my other dog and started squealing in pain when she barked back in defense

at the moment he is somewhat better, arching has subsided and he is more alert. in the morning he was feeling bad and i was up since 6 in the morning worried about him
They often show absolutely no signs of pain or discomfort, but it sure sounds like the back or something is out of wack.
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Old December 31st, 2012, 09:00 AM
yorkies_lover yorkies_lover is offline
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i dont know, he is quite sensitive and yelps when my dog bites him in play sometimes

after we give him buscopan he seems to be better, no arched back and more active, so it seems its cramping of the stomach
whats causing it, could be a 100 reasons

problem is that buscopan is only a stop gap measure, not a permanent solution

anyway, thank you for your help and input
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Old December 31st, 2012, 07:24 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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Yep, could be a number of reasons. Since the dog is clearly uncomfortable, and appears to be in pain, hopefully you will find a long term solution.
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Old March 3rd, 2014, 08:16 PM
aglat aglat is offline
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Does anyone know if Yorkie Lover ever figured out what was wrong with her Yorkie. I am having the same exact problem with my maltese. I have had 4 dr visits in the past 5 days. He is in SO MUCH pain. Thank you for your help!

Last edited by aglat; March 3rd, 2014 at 08:46 PM.
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  #17  
Old March 10th, 2014, 01:30 AM
dimension dimension is offline
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hey yorkies_lover, did you ever find out what was wrong with your dog? I'm curious as I have a dog with similar symptoms.
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Old March 10th, 2014, 11:40 AM
aglat aglat is offline
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Maltese

My maltese is having the same exact symptoms as Yorkie Lover. He has been suffering for almost 2 weeks now. End result is it looks like meningitis but it looks like we found out to late. He has been to the dr. (or emergency) every single day for 12 days now. But now it looks like he won't make it. It progressed and progressed until they finally figured it out. He is only 2 years old and I am absolutely devastated and heartbroken right now!!!!!!!!
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Old March 10th, 2014, 06:41 PM
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pbpatti pbpatti is offline
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Sorry to hear that you have some pets that are in pain. This thread is a couple of years old. If you both start your own threads about this you will get some readers/responders..
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Old March 10th, 2014, 09:55 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Oh, aglat, what a terrible outcome.

I agree with patti, though, about new threads for both you and dimension. Many of the posters in this older thread aren't around any more and new threads may get you more responses.

Wishing the best for both of you.
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