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Hey everyone, I have a 4.5 year old Doberman that has not been himself today. Yesterday I took him for a walk on a path through the woods near the house. He was full of energy and the happiest dog in the world. Everything is fine when we go to bed as well.
This morning I could tell something wasn't right. He was lethargic and wouldn't eat. I figured taking him for a walk would get him going but it didn't. Not once did he sprint or act like he was enjoying it. He hasn't vomited but I did notice on the walk his stools were loose. He has been laying down for most of the day. I finally got him to eat a few pieces of hamburger but that's it. Usually he devours it.
My question is should I take him to emergency services somewhere or just wait until I can get him in to his primary vet next week as soon as I can? I'm wondering if he caught something while on the walk yesterday?
Hard to say, really. "Next week" is day after tomorrow - Monday, right? My thought is it can wait, unless you are seeing blood somewhere - like in the stool. You say the stool is loose - is it also black? Black stool means blood. Stool can be black from a meal of liver or some other innards (if raw feeding), but if you aren't feeding like that, black means internal bleeding.
What could cause lethargy? Poisoning, bacterial infection, injury, internal injury from something the dog ate, physical injury, lots of things.
Poisoning - drinking antifreeze, malicious poisoning, or something else. I would think that if the dog got into something like this yesterday, and it was going to kill the dog, it would have by now. But I'm no expert. Diarrhea is good in this case, moves things out!
Dog ate something bad - food poisoning? Bacterial cause - could cause lethargy, loss of appetite, along with vomiting and diarrhea. When it is really bad, there will be fever as well.
Dog ate something that caused damage. Like cooked chicken bones out of the garbage can, and they splintered and punctured an intestine? You'd see the black stool I mentioned earlier. Or somebody tried to poison the dog by feeding something with ground glass in it? That should get an emergency vet visit - I haven't heard of this being done in a long time - but as I recall - the damage ground glass can cause needs a vet to operate.
Internal hemorrhaging would require an injury. Did your dog fall off something tall while on your walk? Or get kicked? Or hit by a car? If nothing like that happened, I would not suspect internal injury and hemorrhaging.
I think you would know if the dog suffered an accidental injury that was bad enough to cause hemorrhaging. You might not know if your dog got into the garbage at the park and ate a whole bucket of chicken bones from somebody's picnic. Or got into some antifreeze. Malicious poisoning happens, but it's pretty rare.
Me? If the dog was mine, and I found no reason to believe one of the more drastic possibilities I mention had occurred, I would wait, unless the dog continued to get worse, or if I saw blood. If you think the most likely cause is the dog found a week old hamburger and has a touch of food poisoning, you can likely wait.
But watch the dog closely. If it gets worse, you may want to act.
I took him to the emergency vet in the next town over. Fecal and blood work turned out fine. Vitals fine as well. The vet said she wouldn't worry too much unless he doesn't drink anything tomorrow by noon. They said he wasn't too dehydrated yet looking at his blood work.
When we got home he did eat some hamburger but wouldn't drink anything. We will see what the next couple days reveals.
Glad you took him in. Better to be safe than sorry. I used to give metronidazole to my dog that got frequent upset tummies. It has a calming agent in it. Cleared her up within a day.
Glad you took him in. Better to be safe than sorry. I used to give metronidazole to my dog that got frequent upset tummies. It has a calming agent in it. Cleared her up within a day.
I will look that up. Thanks. I plan to cook some chicken and rice in the morning and see if he will eat that good. Everyone at the vet office was really nice and the charge was $193. I honestly thought it was going to be at least $300-$400. He's just never been sick or had health problems so it was really worrying me.
I've had dobermans for 45 years and, every do often, one of them will not eat for a day or so. I keep Pepcid on hand for times like that. I also keep canned cat food on hand for emergencies -- if the dog wont eat that, then I know he's really sick.
In your dog's case, did the vet suggest xrays to make sure that there's no blockage? That would be my concern.
Glad to hear this. The reason I mentioned internal bleeding as a possibility was that sometimes dogs can have a rupture in an internal blood vessel that occurs without an injury. The dog becomes lethargic for maybe 24 hrs then declines very quickly. The condition is hemangiosarcoma if you want to read about it.
I've had dobermans for 45 years and, every do often, one of them will not eat for a day or so. I keep Pepcid on hand for times like that. I also keep canned cat food on hand for emergencies -- if the dog wont eat that, then I know he's really sick.
In your dog's case, did the vet suggest xrays to make sure that there's no blockage? That would be my concern.
She said xrays were an option but she felt of his abdomen and wasn't concern and because he had no bloating anywhere. I would have known if he ate anything that would cause blockage.
Today he is much better. He's been drinking and eating so I think he is fine. A lot more pep in his step as well.
...Today he is much better. He's been drinking and eating so I think he is fine. A lot more pep in his step as well.
I'm so glad. Please get some Pepcil (not Pepcid AC) and a couple of cans of cat food for the future.
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