On Friday, my dachsund refused her dinner (a combination of dry/wet food). I tried some wet food only and she did eat that. She’s had two prior occasions of tooth problems where she acted the same way, so I was going to keep an eye on her over the weekend and take her to the vet Monday if she was still off her food.
Today, I came home and she crawled under the covers to lie in bed with me, as usual. Then she started acting funny. She came out from the covers and was very restless and seemed uncomfortable. I noticed that she kept wanting to stretch her hind legs out behind her and then stretch up with her front legs, as if she were trying to stretch her stomach out or something (she doesn’t ever do this). She would stretch, then move, then stretch, then move, over and over.
I picked her up and sat on the floor with her. At first she was super clingy and kept pressing close to me. But then she started wanting to head off into the other bedroom (very unusual for her) and acted like she thought she was in trouble when I called her back. Just nervous and uncomfortable and something was definitely wrong.
Now then: She calmed down after about 20 minutes or so and is now once again lying next to me under the covers (this happened about 30 minutes ago, I’ve been looking online for advice since then to no avail). But in case she starts up again, I’d like to hear any suggestions of what I should look for that will turn this from “take her to her regular vet tomorrow morning” to “take her to the emergency clinic right away”. Anyone have any idea what could be wrong with her (especially the weird stretching) and what I should do besides just keep an eye on her for now?
If you see any signs of increased thirst or vomiting, or of severe abdominal pain, I would head for the ER. (Be aware: I tend to head for the ER more often than necessary, but I’m guessing you’d feel worse about waiting and having a bad outcome than spending the extra money.) Note that I am absolutely paranoid about bloat, and I know full well that bloat would be unlikely to take from Friday until now to develop.
Here’s a thought – is your emergency clinic very accommodating? I am fortunate enough to have access to two very high tech Vet ER’s and Specialty Hospitals, and they are always willing to take five minutes on the phone to help determine whether immediate action is needed.
Thanks, Tenar. Yup, due to vaccine reactions and a very sensitive stomach, my girl’s no stranger to the ER. I too thought of bloat and so I was trying to weigh between the time urgency of a bloat situation with the fact that so far, she’s displaying only the most general symptoms of bloat (restlessness, discomfort). No stomach distention or trying to vomit, gums are OK, etc. Not sure what the weird stretching thing is though.
If I know myself, I suspect that I’ll keep any eye on her and if she starts acting up again I’ll just run her to the ER just to ease my own mind.
It’s too bad dogs can’t talk to you and tell you what’s wrong! I do appreciate your input, it helped calm me down.
Just a thought, IANAV(Vet). Maybe its some sort of intestinal parasite? Has your dog eaten anything unusual? If your dog has a sensitive stomach, maybe it is just a worse than average stomach bug.
Because she is a Dachshund, I would also keep in mind the possibility that it could be back pain. Dachshunds and other long dogs like Bassets and Corgis are especially susceptible to injured disks, and dogs in pain often show stress through lack of appetite and general restlessness. The lack of vomiting/diarrhea and the stretching also suggest that this may not be digestive upset.
I wouldn’t say you need to run to the emergency vet, but I would make sure you have her seen by your regular vet tomorrow. Good luck, I hope it turns out to be something minor.
She seems to still be okay, so crisis averted tonight, hopefully. Pythagras, she has a very controlled & strict diet, so if it is a stomach thing, then she ate something out in the yard (bad doggie). Miabella, that’s a great thought on the back pain. I just bought a mattress topper that added a couple of inches to the bed. I have a foam rubber “step” that she uses to get up on the bed, but the first couple of days she misjudged the new height and fell back down.
When I got home today, maybe she irritated her back again getting up on the bed, and that’s why she started acting funny pretty quickly.
I’ll run her to the doggie doc tomorrow and get her taken care of - whatever it is… Thanks, you guys!
My doxie stretched and whined when she was overfed during a holiday dinner party (the guests snuck her snacks- she’s only 8 lbs!).
Mine needs a “step up” to get into the bed (because she has the very important job of keeping me warm at night which she takes very seriously). She’s using the cedar chest now but am thinking of a ramp at the side or foot or a stair. Any better suggestions? She’s very small.
One of my dogs acted the same way a while back: abdominal pain, lack of appetite, and no vomitting, diarrhea or increased thirst. This happened on a Sunday and I made a vet appointment for Monday morning. Turns out my naughty dog had eaten an entire sweaty tee shirt of mine. That had to cause some tummy pain in a 23 lbs sheltie!
Yes, I got to deal with a huge vet bill two Christmases ago, after she conned several family members into sneaking her huge bites of ham…as I saw when she threw them back up. They now do not feed her anything, under threat of severe pain from me if they do.
I had a custom foam block made from an online site - I think it was this one . I got to set the measurements (something like 18’Wx18’Dx12’H) and I ordered it extra firm. Then I bought a cheap set of stretchy sheets from Target and wrapped it in a bedsheet so that it matched my bedspread. Works like a charm - it’s exactly half the height of the bed, so it’s 2 pretty small jumps for her, and it’s a bit bouncy but firm enough that I can sit on it. (In fact, one of our other dogs likes to curl up on it for naps!) It was much more economical than the pre-made dog steps out there, and, since I got to decorate it, much better-looking IMO.
I’d lean toward back issues. Doxies are prone to it anyway, and with her having extra height to jump up to and having fallen I’d be awfully suspicious.
Whatever it is, it’s almost certainly not bloat. If she’d bloated Friday night she’d be dead by now.
Yes, we went to the doggie doctor today and, seeing as how Em is very complex, it turns out she had both back issues and stomach issues.
The vet got a pain reaction when he manipulated her spine - in a spot higher than usual for doxies, up almost to the shoulder blades. So he did an x-ray, then some bloodwork to check on the not eating. Sure enough, the x-ray confirmed a minor disk compression problem in the painful spot , but her neurological reactions are very good and it’s still in the beginning stages of what will likely be an ongoing disk/back problem. She probably did irritate it falling back the other day.
Then he checked the bloodwork and she was dehydrated and her liver functions were a little off. Her Lipase (?) was way off, which he said indicated pancreatitis. It could have been caused by stress and not eating, or could just be a totally separate event from the back thing.
She got a shot and some fluids under the skin (still has a bit of a funny bulge while it’s absorbing) and some meds, and she gets to start eating a little bit tomorrow. She’s already feeling better, chewing on a bone just as perky as can be. I’m just glad she’s feeling okay. We’ll have to really start watching the jumping stuff, which I don’t think she’ll cotton to very well, but she’ll learn.
