Sick

Sounds like chicken soup is not a good idea.  How about a trip to the vet before he gets really weak and dehydrated?

This dog needs to go to the vet absolutely as soon as possible.  When you get a personality change like that which includes lethargy (and that IS what you are describing) is a bad sign and you need to vet this dog this morning!!! Don't wait.

My vet opens at 9:00am so in 25 min I am going to call him and I will let you know what he sais.

No, it doesn't sound funny at all...I'm glad you are calling your Vet.  The shaking may be pain, and if he is throwing up, he may be dehydrated even though he is drinking. 

What did the vet say???  I'm all ears (well, no Luna's got the BIG ears but I'm all human ones!!)

Thanks, unfortunately I am almost certain that it would be material or string from a toy. So the only thing that will show that, is a ultrasound? If that is true, than I would suggest doing that first .  What was the cost on something like that? If you don't mind me asking.

ORIGINAL: andr041


Thanks, unfortunately I am almost certain that it would be material or string from a toy. So the only thing that will show that, is a ultrasound? If that is true, than I would suggest doing that first .  What was the cost on something like that? If you don't mind me asking.

 
I am not sure what this means, anyone else????

I was in a private email with someone, anyway
I took him right in and he went into surgery, they suggested that I did barium, which is a chemical that finds the blockage and then you can see it on x-ray. I denied that and ask if they could go right to surgery. He was going down hill fast. They said if they would have done what they suggested the barium, which takes all day to do, he would have died. Also that if I would have waited until I got out of work, he would have died. I told them how long he had any sign of this and they said it wasn't more than 12 hours before that, that this happened, and most people give there dog a week before they come in. (He would have been dead.) They called it a string, meaning his intestine had foreign material in it and then started to crawl back into itself. He is doing good, I paid a little extra to have them keep him today, because I wanted continual supervision and I wanted him to stay on an IV so he has no dehydration. I don't work on weekends so I'll be able to pick him up after work and spend the whole weekend babying him. Thanks for your support calliecritturs.

Sometimes a dog can have a partial blockage -- which results quickly in vomiting and throwing up, but they will still take water.  But if the blockage is fiber (like the inside of a toy or a chewed bed) it won't necessarily show up on an x-ray (which will find hard stuff like metal, bone, etc. but not fabric/fiber) then sometimes they will use an ultrasound to find the blockage. (like a sonogram on a pregnant woman).  The best an x-ray can do in a situation like that is show you where the back up stops BUT since the intestines are kind of layered over each other altho you may know 'where' it starts, you may not know which loop of the intestine it is.
 
So often if a dog is vomiting (particularly if it is still taking water) owners think they need to "wait a few days" -- in this particular dog's case it wouldn't have survived because 'intusseption' was occurring where the intestine will turn itself inside out and the dog will go septic and die. 
 
Moral of story?  If your dog is violently ill ... get to a vet ... NOW.  She saved her dog's life!!

I am so happy that you, andr041, were able to do all of that and save your dog's life.  That must have been painful for the dog, .  Yes, that is the moral of the story calliecritturs!  A dog doesn't complain like a person.  Habits change and sometimes it isn't even that dramatic of a change and they can be on their death bed. 
 
Wonderful news, so glad I asked because I was baffled by your last post andr!
It all makes sense now~  happy for you. []

Thank You, I can't wait to take my baby home. I called the vet again on my lunch and they said he is drinking water, and ate a little food. He hasn't vomited and is perky. I can't wait to see him.

Miller is home and well. He had his whole under side opened up, they took out all of his intestines and made 5 different incisions. Plus went into his stomach. Wow! They said he only needs a week to recover. He already wants to play and run. But untill Friday he will be confined to his crate, we want him to heal. Thank You for all of your support through this, it is harder than people who dont have dogs think.