Ok I can only speculate & am not a vet but some thoughts. Does he ever scavenge? The sudden stomach upset could have been from eating something that he shouldn't have, then if he had been vomiting & having diarrhea in the house he may have either wanted to stay outside due to the association with being ill indoors, or simply for the fresh air?
Alternatively, could he have been bitten or stung by something in the house? This could explain his reluctance to be inside, the sickness & diarrhea, then issues with movement potentially?
I have known dogs who lost mobility after being ill due to acute dehydration & electrolyte depletion - you mention Calvin being on IV fluids at one point so this seems less likely but I wasn't sure of the timing so worth mentioning just in case.
Finally, my own dog Rosie suffered a pinched nerve in her lower spine around 18 months ago & she had very similar symptoms to what you're describing with Calvin from when you got home. I wonder if with the exhaustion of being ill/not eating/surgery he could have laid down awkwardly & pinched something in his spine? The super stiff & shaky back legs & seeming like he's aged 10 years sound just like what we experienced but of course this is entirely anecdotal. With Rosie, we noticed she would arch her back when standing still & this is apparently a very common symptom of a pinched nerve so could be something to look out for.
I hope you manage to get to the bottom of things - it is so awful dealing with sudden illness like this, especially when your dog is usually so lively.
You're welcome 😊 Immediately afterwards she regained use of her back legs (I would say after 20 minutes or so) but was extremely stiff & weak & obviously in pain. She got painkillers from the vets & a pain relief shot that made her pretty high. The first 6 weeks we saw gradual but pretty slow improvements - we had her in a pen or being held/on our laps all day other than very short toilet walks, which we increased by increments of a few minutes every few days. After that she seemed to improve exponentially & she was back to more normal walks at around 3 months (on lead) & then off lead around 4 months I think. She is small so we would carry her if she got tired which made things easier, but I think Calvin might be a little too big for that! She is also 10 so her recovery may be slower than you experience (if it is even the same thing that happened with Calvin). She is back to normal now & you would never know if happened other than an occasional tremble in her back leg.
My beagle had the same thing as your pup. She had a random pinched nerve and couldn’t use her hind legs. And one time she ate food she shouldn’t have been eating and she wouldn’t eat as well. I had to syringe feed her smoothies and blended meat.
My first thought was xylitol.
OP, what are the chances that Calvin got ahold of sugar-free gum? Check your peanut butter to make sure there is no xylitol as well.
Certain kinds of paralysis can also be tick-borne if the instability he has came on kind of suddenly. If that's the case, it's reversible as long as you detach the tick. Good luck, OP. I hope Calvin recovers from whatever's going on with him.
One of my friends K9s just went through Lyme. They went weeks without answers. Ended up at the University Vet Center. They ran the right tests to identify Lyme. Stayed for 2 weeks in their ICU and beat the odds and came home. More weeks of fluid loading and slow appetite recovery.
That was my thought, too. My AmBull foster in 2016 suddenly developed weakness and pain in his back legs. I thought he blew a CCL trying to jump up on the bed. It was very sudden. Vet suspected tick borne disease, drew blood for titer, and immediately started him on docycline while waiting for results. I thought she was nuts. Turned out to be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It nearly killed him. Once he recovered, he had to go through heartworm treatment.
Hey OP, I'm no Vet and these are just my thoughts, so no guarantee it's the same situation but your story lines up with one I had from last October, and again these past few weeks almost to a T. TLDR at bottom.
My dog is a healthy lab, loves food and was consistently a healthy weight and loved playing/ being active. Suddenly he had the exact same symptoms. Quickly turned downhill with vomiting, diarrhea (soft to liquid, very dark color), and peed in the house in the middle of the night out of nowhere. Also very lethargic and hardly wanted to move. If we did walk him, it would be to a house or two next to ours at a slow pace and back. Refused food, even peanut butter and treats (it had been days without eating by then, we just wanted him to eat something.)
Went to the vet on and off, and they couldn't pinpoint anything either. Bloodwork was normal, no cancer or disease. Tried anti nausea shots but it made him even more lethargic. Tried appetite stimulator meds, nada. Tried antibiotics, didn't help much. Many vet trips, many IV fluids, many dollars spent.
Ultrasound showed a TON of gas buildup like yours. Even tried exploratory surgery after they thought they saw something lodged, but it came up nothing (now the poor fella was recovering from surgery on top of whatever the main issue was). What they did see during the surgery were his intestines were super inflamed/ irritated.
We ended up getting him on steroid shots to kickstart his system. They got him eating again and acting more like himself. Also got him on a round of probiotics, and once they ran out we got more on Amazon to keep giving him.
In the end, they ended up pumping his stomach (can't remember what led to this, its a blur) and we gave him steroids for maybe 3 weeks (every 48hrs, then there's a tough wean period where they get sick again withdrawing). This was all last October, he made a near full recovery and we never really knew what it was. Vet suggested he ingested something toxic, I swore he wouldn't have but a dog is a dog and they eat things sometimes.
That brings us to today, he began showing similar symptoms. Vet remembered us, got him steroids, probiotics, and hoping he gets better. The similarities from now to then are: Last time he got sick was right after we dogsat our friends puppy for 1.5 weeks. Last month we brought home our newborn (first baby) and he got sick again. Leads us to believe my dog, when stressed, goes into this terribly sick phase that is hard to kick. Our vet agrees. Could be IBD, friend said he might get stomach ulcers which I will want to look into, or its something else entirely.
Your dog started getting sick after being left with a friend/ dogsitter. Nothing against them, but maybe simply not being with you stressed your dog into getting crazy sick and made their system shutdown. Even if it's never happened before, dogs get new issues as they get older.
TL; DR Some dogs have crazy poor reactions to stress and yours might be like mine. Last time, steroid shots helped us along the way and he's currently responding well to them again. Good news is, your dog might not have any terminal issues. Bad news is it's just a hump to get over that they need to work towards, might not be an overnight fix.
This sounds extremely similar to Addison’s disease. My parents lab would often have vomiting and diarrhea as well as lethargy after periods of stress (playing hard with other dogs, seeing lots of people). Their vet did an ATCH stimulation test and ended up diagnosing him with Addison’s disease. He is on a regimen of daily steroids now and his disease is well managed, but getting it under control is super important. I would strongly, strongly consider bringing this up to your vet because addisonian crises can be deadly. It seems like more labs recently are being diagnosed with Addison’s disease, I know three people with labs who have it.
The vet actually did bring up Addisons, if his condition continues like this I think it would be the next option. Interesting that you're noticing a trend of labs getting it too, wonder if they're more prone to it. Our (and the vet's) main hesitations were how he bounced back so well and didn't need steroids for months following the events last October. Seems like Addisons is something to treat constantly, but his problem went away.
I do think that we shouldn't rule out Addisons though, appreciate the insight!
This course of events sounds pretty strange to me. Escalating from only X-rays to exploratory surgery without an ultrasound or attempt to treat the digestive upset with something like probiotics or even metronidazole makes me think there’s either additional information that made the vet believe it was a foreign object or that this vet is maybe not keeping up with their continuing education. Stomach upset can take weeks to fully recover from.
Alternatively, the stomach upset could be a secondary symptom of something else, or there could be two separate issues going on here. It’s quite possible that the gastrointestinal symptoms are due to high levels of pain caused by something else.
Has your vet discussed seeing a specialist? The inability to walk is very concerning and could warrant a trip to a neurologist it could be hip dysplasia, IVDD or host of other things that a neurologist could be more equipped to handle. At the very least I’d seek a secondary opinion of a vet completely unassociated with your current veterinary practice. I’m very confused by the completely unnecessary surgery when all imaging indicated that wasn’t the issue. Get your dog’s records and read through them.
So the lack of info there is my fault. They did do ultrasounds, probiotics, AND metronidazole before the surgery. It feels like so much info and this is all so new to me, so my brain is on overload mode and I left out details lol. I apologize. We still weren’t thrilled about the exploratory surgery, but assumed they were just trying to be very proactive. We are considering a second opinion as the next step and then going from there. I so appreciate you reading this long post and responding!
I’d definitely consider getting a second opinion. Since it sounds like your vet went through all the standard treatments before surgery, it doesn’t mean that your vet is doing anything wrong—but a set of fresh eyes can help since your vet doesn’t seem to be able to get to the bottom of it.
If your dog continues to decline in their ability to be mobile, I’d absolutely consider that an emergency and I’d try to go to an emergency vet with a neurologist on staff if that’s available to you. Even if it’s a bit of a drive. Neurological issues can be very time sensitive. Keeping my fingers crossed that it’s just that your pup needs some time to recover from the stomach pain and surgery.
Hello, I haven't read through every comment, but this "exploratory surgery" is very concerning to me. The worst vets I've had were the ones who tried to do everything themselves. The best ones know which specialist to refer you to. If you haven't already, please try to get a referral to a specialist...from a different vet if necessary.
Exlaps can be diagnostic as well as therapeutic, and not everybody has access to abdominal ultrasound. It's not an unreasonable thing in some circumstances. This dog clearly was scanned first anyway
... Do you have a Carbon Monoxide monitor?
... Have you noticed your plants are looking sad by chance?
Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms in dogs:
-Irritable behaviour: watch for sudden or unusual behaviour such as aggression or anxiety. For example, they may suddenly become more fearful of noises, children and other animals
-Resisting or refusing to enter the house after being outside
-Vomiting
-Uncoordinated movements
-Drowsiness
-Difficulty breathing
-Bright cherry red lips, ears, and gums
-Unusual intolerance to exercise they usually partake in.
The refusing to go back inside set off alarm bells while reading this. AND the fact that he does SO much better every time he stays overnight at the vet.
I know someone who died of CO poisoning, his partner almost died as well, and she's a nurse. She thought they had food poisoning. Carbon monoxide has NO odor. It is the silent killer. PLEASE open all the doors and windows in your home immediately, and buy a CO monitor.
Edit: formatting
2nd edit: often times diarrhea is a common stress symptom, so it is entirely possible that because he's feeling nauseous he is stressed and having gnarly BMs. Poor guy I hope you get this sorted asap!!!!
My (layman- no veterinary or other medical experience) thought was something in the house, too. It seems odd that he recovers and then regresses again at home.
OP, any changes to household products? Plants? Personal products that you or your husband are using?
I'm not a vet but our 12 year old boy has been dealing with gastrointestinal issues; vomiting, diarrhea (some times straight bloody goop/mucousy poop), he's also lost a total of 30kg since last August but it was a rapid 3kg(6.6lb) weight loss from February until May, our boy had really started to refuse his kibble and I had introduced wet food to h and he happily ate it but then he stopped for a bit. It's been a rollercoaster ride with our boy, Max, but we slowly finding out what is going on with him. He's had x-rays done and they show a potential mass in his abdomen that is pushing his stomach up towards his spine and his intestines towards his bum, the x-rays show that it's cloudy looking, so our next step with Max is an outpatient ultrasound and see what the mass is and if its attached to anything.
His blood work from February showed one of the liver enzymes in the 300's, his recent blood work showed that same liver enzyme is just over 1,000. So I have been worried about Max
Hi OP, vet here. I tried replying on askvets but you know they pretty much deleted all but one comment especially if you give too much details.
I’d definitely get a referral from your GP for specialist advice. They are better equipped with diagnosing and treating complicated cases, and this is probably going to need further diagnostics that specialists can offer but not a GP.
I had a golden retriever as well who presented with vomiting initially, and his back legs started having issues after. Back then I was just a vet student but some differentials that we suspected were myasthenia gravis (could be secondary to hypothyroidism), or other forms of polyneuropathy. Not saying of course that’s what your baby has, but I would closely monitor your dog between vet visits especially seeing how quickly the signs progressed. Mine unfortunately developed aspiration pneumonia and passed away.
Definitely not a vet but my parent’s dog had the same symptoms, including the “strawberry jam poop.” I read that this was a clear indication of “hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE).” He was taken to a doggo urgent care where they did a blood test and confirmed it was HGE. Its onset can be very quick but also easily treated.
He was treated with aggressive intravenous fluid therapy and antibiotics. He was back to himself in about a day. I’m guessing your vet tested for this, because of the “strawberry jam”, but maybe double check?
Give him some pets for me. He sounds like a very good boy. ❤️
Trouble standing up and the shaking legs sound like hip issues. But that wouldn’t sporadically occur unless there was some kind of injury. This is all so odd. I’m sorry you guys are going through this I hope you get answers for your boy❤️ also it sounds like you have an amazing dog sitter for her to do all of that while y’all are out of town
I thought of hip issues too which wouldn’t be rare for the breed, so if this hadn’t been so spontaneous I wouldn’t even question that! But like you said, without injury it just seems too sporadic I feel. Thank you for the kind words and yes our dog sitter is AMAZING. Spent her holiday weekend in the vet’s office ❤️ she’s an angel!
I only thought of that because my friends dog has hip issues and her legs tremble like that. Seems very odd but doesn’t hurt to have the vet check! Anything is possible honestly. He could’ve gotten an injury simply running on it odd in the yard🥺
No advice from me (you already got some great ones from other comments), but just wanted to say you are such a great owner. Thank you for taking care of Calvin so throughly ❤️
Has there been any changes in flea and tick treatment over the past few months? My brother's vet insisted on changing his dog to Simparica and he started having all kinds of issues with his hips and hind legs. Then skin issues later. It happened slowly over a few months but once they tried a different flea and tick med he started getting better.
You are living one of my biggest nightmares. It’s a little bit of a relief that you’re able to handle all the medical interventions but I know that’s not really a consolation. I hope you guys pull through though and that he gets better soon.
It has truly been an absolute nightmare. First and foremost obviously the well being of our baby, but also financially. It’s been so stressful but Calvin is doing a bit better today and we go back tomorrow so I’m hoping and praying for the best!!
Have they been able to find a prognosis? Sorry if you already described in another comment
Hoping he only gets better from here. He’s such a young pup!
***UPDATE***
First of all, thank you to everyone who commented. Whether you offered advice or just positive words, both have meant SO so much to me. I’m sorry if I haven’t responded to all comments, I’ve been on round the clock Calvin watch (I’m a helicopter dog mom lol). I wanted to make an update comment (I’ll also add it to the bottom of the post) to hopefully answer some frequently asked questions and to share some positive news!
1- I accidentally left out some details leading up to the exploratory surgery. This has caused some (very justified) confusion among people replying. That’s my fault so I want to clear it up!
While we still feel like they jumped to do it pretty quickly, there was close to 48 hours between first vet visit and the surgery. They also kept him for 24 hours before deciding on surgery. Within that total of 48 hours, they did abdominal ultrasounds, multiple X-rays, probiotics, meds to treat the nausea (can’t remember the name of the medicine, oops), and blood work. I’m not saying that they didn’t rush it by any means, I just wanted to give more info so that it *hopefully* made a bit more sense to people!
I also think they may have been quick to do it because they were worried that he had gotten into something while dog sitter was there and maybe she didn’t want to admit it. This is just my theory, so I don’t know that for sure! (I know dog sitter well though and I’m confident she would have told us if that had been the case, but I think the vets could have been skeptical).
Sorry for leaving those details out, my brain is on overload and I’m new to a lot of the vet related terms since he’s never been sick before ❤️
2-The vet did recommend us seeing a specialist, but as heartbreaking as it is for me to say, and as much as I will do EVERYTHING I can for Calvin, I’m not sure we can afford it on top of the thousands we already owe for vet bills up to this point. I think our next step is a second opinion with another vet depending on how the appt goes tomorrow.
3- Now for the good news!!
So yesterday(Wednesday) Calvin was continuing to do a bit better but was still having lots of trouble getting up and seemed to be in pain with his back legs (the pain meds helped but not just a ton). He was also peeing on himself a lot (which he NEVER ever did before but this was still within the 24 hours of bringing him home so could have had to do with the IV fluids). I called the vet and she consulted with another doctor and decided to call him in an anti-inflammatory to go along with his other pain meds. She was initially hesitant to do this because of the concerns she had mentioned about his liver, but she said she really wanted him up and moving and just to keep a close eye on his stool. She said if we noticed any vomiting or diarrhea to not give him any more of that medicine and to bring him back in before Friday. I gave him his first dose around 5:00 yesterday and we noticed such a big difference in him last night and throughout today! I don’t know if it’s due to the new medicine, or just time. Or if it’s his antibiotics or just a mixture of all of the above that have made such an improvement 🤣 but he’s doing SO much better. Still having trouble getting up if he’s laying on the hardwood and still walks a bit stiff, but he’s not peed on himself since yesterday afternoon, is in much better spirits, and seems to be in no pain. He’s wanting to play some even though I’m making him take it easy and he’s totally regained his interest in food lol (still feeding him soft food from the vet though and we start weening him tomorrow). He’s not had any problems with any vomiting or diarrhea.
Obviously we are still very concerned about the initial cause of the problems and are hoping and praying that his progress continues, but we finally feel encouraged for the first time since this all began ❤️
I’ll update again after Calvin’s next vet visit tomorrow. I’m going to mention a lot of the things that were said in several comments posted on here! If we still aren’t getting answers soon we will go elsewhere for a second opinion. Now I just need everyone to send good vibes, thoughts, or prayers that I don’t have to sell everything I own to pay for these vet bills! 🤣🤣 (I’m a kindergarten teacher and my husband is doing an unpaid internship, so safe to say we are broke LOL. We will be doing pet insurance in the future for sure).
Again, thank you to everyone for caring about Calvin. You don’t know what it’s meant to me. I’m so appreciative!! ❤️
Editing this comment to say that it won’t let me add the update to the post, so I will still be trying to respond to people and answer questions as best I can!
Has he had an mri, ultrasounds or endoscope? I had something similar with my pup, we went through many tests and so I'm familiar with many things it might be or at least how to rule out things. MRI would rule out spinal issues like pinched nerves, herniated disks, disc disease. Ultrasound and endoscope would rule out things like potential tumors in pituitary and other glands, as well as bad inflammation or ulcers. Best of luck to you
Thank you!! He did have an ultrasound which looked good, but no MRI and I’m not sure about the endoscope. We are waiting for Friday visit (as long as nothing escalate before then) and I will mention those things. I appreciate you responding!
No worries. For background, my dog suddenly started having intermittent pain issues in his stomach/hind end, with gastro issues. Every now and then he would have a few days where he would not eat (also a food monster), vomit and diarrhea, not want to move, and yelp in pain randomly. Blood work found anemia and high gastrin levels, and some other oddities. With vets, we did the tests to rule out Lyme disease, addisons, IVDD, slipped disk, impoundment, hip displaysia, various cancers, and neurological disorders. His would also randomly come and go, every couple of weeks/months. We ended up going to an internal med specialist (as well as neurologist, and other specialists). While we still don't 100% know what triggers it, IM found bad ulcers through his guts/stomach, and super high gastric levels. We've since been on a modified diet, sulcrafate, gabapentin, and omeprezol, and haven't had a major issue since. He still gets checked every 3-6 months. I'd suggest getting a referral to IM, and request a gastrin test and endoscope if nothing else is being found.
Poor baby! Just wanted to say you are being an amazing pet parent and sending you all hugs.
It’s great that you’re being so attentive to his energy levels and I know it’s so difficult to relax at all especially without answers, but if it relieves a tiny bit of your anxiety— specifically in regards to the lethargy and not doing things he normally likes to do (sleeping in the bed, running to you, etc) it’s very normal for him to be out of sorts for a bit given how much he’s been through. My pup takes quite a few days to bounce back from much less severe illnesses so I can only imagine the poor babe is exhausted 🩷you are doing everything right so give yourself a little bit of grace!
I had a dog with chronic erlichiosis and when it flared up suffered from parálisis that started with weakness in the hind legs..
But erlichiosis should have appeared in the blood work because it produces anemia.
I’m sorry I can’t help but I would suggest that you take Calvin to see a specialist. My vet kept saying it’s this it’s that costing me money all the time, when I took him to a specialist they sorted it straight away. Found the problem. It was cheaper than the vets with all the test etc when all I cared about is trying to get him well again.
It breaks your heart to see them suffering so I hope your able to get to the bottom of this soon. I will be thinking of you all.
Best wishes
Please let us all know how he’s getting on. ❤️
We had something very similar with our dog a few weeks ago, sorry if I missed it but have you done a stool culture? Our dog was suddenly incredibly ill in the same way and I took a sample of his strawberry jam poops for testing. It came back as a strain of campylobacter that neither our vets nor the testing lab had seen in a dog before. They think he may have gotten it from eating something contaminated with human poop.
His tests were all clear, apart from the stool culture and it seemed to get better and then worse! He was hiding in our room and struggling to stand or walk (turned out to be from dehydration and inflammation). He's 100% back to normal now after a very scary week!
Tech at an ER, tbh right off the bat, it sounded like classical HGE (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis). I have no idea of location, but if you're in the midwest/central USA, the cicada explosion we've had near daily cases of HGE. The cicadas are loud and noisy and tantalizing even for dogs who don't usually eat bugs so everyone is out there having sick dogs. The exploratory seemed an odd choice. Usually, we don't do those unless there's a higher suspect of an obstruction like little out put or near impossible to control vomiting. Even then, some doctors opt for barium study before an exploratory because the patients health isn't great for surgery sometimes.
That said, I've seen exploratory surgery recover going both ways, sometimes their knocked on their ass for a while, and others are up and ready to go the same day. It's hard to determine with your pup. It could be medications also keeping him rather sedate. Stuff like gabapentin causes drowsiness. If you can share what meds he's been on with mg and frequency, it might give more insight.
That said, being overweight can lead to hip and leg issues and could be where the pain in the back end is coming from. That on top of any straining/posturing during the diharea episodes could have strained those possibly weak joints/sore hip problems that he might've been hiding.
It’s also been hella damp in some areas which has caused in our area a huge mushroom bloom - which definitely could contribute to HGE!
The other thing I immediately think of is…any chance he got into something very fatty? Our Weimaraner ate an entire tub of coconut oil once and the biggest worry after was whether she’d experience acute pancreatitis from the fat.
I’m in TN and yes an INSANE amount of cicadas! I really appreciate your response. They did the exploratory after more testing than I included in the original post (another comment brought it to my attention lol) I’ve had medical term overload and left things out, plus I’m all totally new to so many of these phrases. I also think they were quick to do it because they thought maybe dog sitter wasn’t wanting to say if he got into something or not. I don’t know that for a fact, but a couple very brief comments they made to me sounded like them maybe slightly hinting at the fact that they’ve had dog sitters not be completely honest in the past about whether a dog got into something while they were sitting them. So I think they were trying to be extra cautious because of that? But that’s just my theory lol. He is doing much better today, but I’m screenshotting your comment (and several others) to mention at our next vet appt tomorrow!
This is very interesting op. I am so sorry your family is going through this. I would cross post this into the r/askvet subreddit if I were you, along with any additional documentation + test results you have.
I'm not a vet, but am a retired Vet tech and I'd be very concerned about erlichiosis. Please be certain he's been tested for tick borne disease. I hope he feels better soon ❤️
I'm not a vet but could he have eaten something he shouldn't have during a walk? Whatever is going on with Calvin, I hope he will make a full recovery and will be back to his old self soon! Keep us posted, OP!
I really don’t think so however the only thing I could think of is that before we left I cleaned the toilets with a toilet cleaner (but I flushed them) and if he maybe took a sip from the toilet bowl with the dog sitter?
What about some other kind of poisoning, either direct or indirectly (like a dead rat that had been poisoned) that would ultimately affect his nerves and muscles? I really hope not, but thought I would throw that out there. Though I would think bloodwork would show any kind of toxicity.
This is so heartbreaking OP. I don’t have any answers for you but I am sending all of the good vibes to you and Calvin. He is precious! I hope you get your sweet boy back to his usual happy self.
Our puppy recently had an upset stomach, was off his food, vomited a few times & had bad diarrhoea (some with blood). Vet checked him over (temp, felt stomach & checked his bum) then sent him home with a probiotic & told us to come back if it didn’t improve. The blood stopped but he still had diarrhoea and was not feeling himself so we took him back and they did a poo sample. Poop sample came back saying he has giardia & another bug of some kind which we think he picked up from puppy socialisation classes. He’s now on antibiotics and extensive worming meds to combat it but without the poo sample we wouldn’t have known.
Might be worth requesting an investigation to see if there’s anything gut related.
I hope he didn’t eat anything ( scavenging ) sharp and maybe his inside intestines were scratched in a nasty way ….. sending prayers and much love to darling boy and yourself. 🙏♥️🥲
….A cooked t-bone or something might cause problems. Bbq chicken carcass could be woofed down and woukd cause internal damage and tummy pain . ?? Did he raid the garbage can ?? I’m just going in the scans here …
I forget the name of it for dogs but what about vertigo…. In dogs? My moms dog has it right now. It came on suddenly and randomly. Granted she is 16 so she is a senior dog with previous health issues.
Did he have a fever or other signs of infection (abnormal blood cell counts etc.)? Viral and bacterial infections can cause absolutely crazy symptoms and very quickly. If they travel to the brain, they can cause neurological issues. Given the array of symptoms your dog displayed seemingly out of nowhere and which progressed rapidly, I would think some type of infection could be the culprit and curious what they did to rule that out.
Is it possible that the back leg issues stem from an injury that happened during sedation? Happened with my dog, went in for routine dental and to have some masses removed, woke up with gorgeous teeth and great looking incisions but all of sudden couldn't walk. He had some other issues crop up in the same time and would not eat, looked depressed. Slowly fixed the things we easily could while he was on crate rest for a couple of months, started very slow walks with zero expectations and now he's walking and happy, albeit a little stumbly.
This was my thought as well. Typically legs are strapped to keep them stabilized on the table during surgery and I was thinking he could be sore from that. Exploratory surgeries are not usually quick, so he was probably like that for an extended period of time. He may have been scared to squat to pee because he was sore.
My first thought is that he's a goldy, whom are more susceptible to cancers. Has that possibility been investigated at all?
I had a keeshond mix who was full of piss and vinegar, passed her wellness and blood exams with flying colors 6 months prior to her passing away. Suddenly one day she couldn't move too well, still a great blood test so they suspected arthritis due to her age. A week later she can't move at all. We rushed her to the ER and an ultrasound indicated she was full of cancer.
Maybe you should look into that option further.
This sounds like what just happened to my friends dog - back pain, that led to gastro problems. She spent a week taking him to countless vets, getting the best specialists in London. & he would yo-yo between looking fine & not. Finally 1 week after the back pain symptoms & 2h after leaving a vet, that said he was totally fine & wouldn’t even need a follow up consultation, he crashed & she had to take him back in, but he didn’t make it…
She got him autopsied & all they found was that in the end his stomach had twisted on itself… No understanding of what was originally wrong or why it happened or how. Just very sad
I'm not sure if you're describing intussusception or GDV but either of these would have been noticed with the exploratory surgery (and since intussusception doesn't always show on radiographs or ultrasound, may have been what they were looking for). I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend's dog. 😞
Tick fever and pancreatitis would be my first concerns but I’m just a dog owner who has been through a lot of dog sicknesses. I’m not a vet. Did they do an abdominal ultrasound? Or just X-rays.
Have they done any x-rays of your dog's legs? My dog had a lot of similar issues and turned out he had valley fever, which can cause bone lesions and similar symptoms that you've been describing.
Have they checked his blood platelet count? Look up Immune mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP). Blood in stool can be a sign of internal bleeding which is the risk with this disorder, spontaneous bleeds can be life threatening.
My dog suddenly got ill and had some of the symptoms you mention and it turned out it was ITP. The diagnostic plan the first vet took was blood analysis, lyme test, pancreatitis test, urinalysis with him. All came back normal, or so they said. Turns out his platelet count was critically low on the first blood test and they ignored it. Over the next several days of me trying to find out what was wrong his condition declined and he could have died. Emergency vet caught the ITP issue and started treating right away but he had to stay hospitalized for 4 days and it took more than two months for him to get his energy and mood back to normal once he got on the meds. It’s treatable but they need to catch it! Hope you get answers soon whatever is going on with your pup!
What pain meds did they put Calvin on after the surgery? Our dog has bad arthritis & she was started on pregabalin. With this med we thought she was getting much worse. She didn’t want to get up or walk. When we could get her up she was super shaky, almost like she was drunk. We switched meds & she’s 100% better. I don’t know what caused the issues with the stomach obviously but the movement could possibly be that if that is a med he is taking. Hope you guys figure it out, I know it’s so scary when our babies aren’t feeling well & have no idea why.
I'm sorry I have no guesses or answers. I just wanted to say what a handsome boy he is and hope he recovers soon and you get to the bottom of what happened.
My heart goes out to you all.
I hate to see of think of any animal suffering.
I've read most of the comments and a lot are just repeating what your vet has already done.
It sounds to me like your vet has done an excellent job and been very thorough to me and you should trust them.
Most of the suggestions like Lyme disease etc your vet will have already tested for.
Personally I do think your babysitter is too afraid to admit something. However nothing they would have done with malice obviously. Maybe he banged his back accidentally? Spinal pain can cause leg problems, which in turn can lead to bladder and bowel weakness.
It looks like the vet explored already for internal bleeding from ulcers or poison.
You can't accuse people and if the sitter did accidentally do something I'm sure they've learnt their lesson big time.
Is he on a grain free diet?
Again, not making suggestions.
Please keep us updated with his progress and I wish him well.
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Just curious...has anything changed pertaining to what your hardwood floors are being cleaned with? My sister inlaw started using this different cleaning solution on her hardwood floors (faster just to spray and mop). But her dogs started getting sick and come to find out, it was that new cleaning solution she was using. Maybe this could be something to look into.
Ok I can only speculate & am not a vet but some thoughts. Does he ever scavenge? The sudden stomach upset could have been from eating something that he shouldn't have, then if he had been vomiting & having diarrhea in the house he may have either wanted to stay outside due to the association with being ill indoors, or simply for the fresh air? Alternatively, could he have been bitten or stung by something in the house? This could explain his reluctance to be inside, the sickness & diarrhea, then issues with movement potentially? I have known dogs who lost mobility after being ill due to acute dehydration & electrolyte depletion - you mention Calvin being on IV fluids at one point so this seems less likely but I wasn't sure of the timing so worth mentioning just in case. Finally, my own dog Rosie suffered a pinched nerve in her lower spine around 18 months ago & she had very similar symptoms to what you're describing with Calvin from when you got home. I wonder if with the exhaustion of being ill/not eating/surgery he could have laid down awkwardly & pinched something in his spine? The super stiff & shaky back legs & seeming like he's aged 10 years sound just like what we experienced but of course this is entirely anecdotal. With Rosie, we noticed she would arch her back when standing still & this is apparently a very common symptom of a pinched nerve so could be something to look out for. I hope you manage to get to the bottom of things - it is so awful dealing with sudden illness like this, especially when your dog is usually so lively.
Thank you for your thoughtful response!! Those are some theories I hadn’t thought of yet, so I appreciate it! What was Rosie’s recovery like? ❤️
You're welcome 😊 Immediately afterwards she regained use of her back legs (I would say after 20 minutes or so) but was extremely stiff & weak & obviously in pain. She got painkillers from the vets & a pain relief shot that made her pretty high. The first 6 weeks we saw gradual but pretty slow improvements - we had her in a pen or being held/on our laps all day other than very short toilet walks, which we increased by increments of a few minutes every few days. After that she seemed to improve exponentially & she was back to more normal walks at around 3 months (on lead) & then off lead around 4 months I think. She is small so we would carry her if she got tired which made things easier, but I think Calvin might be a little too big for that! She is also 10 so her recovery may be slower than you experience (if it is even the same thing that happened with Calvin). She is back to normal now & you would never know if happened other than an occasional tremble in her back leg.
My beagle had the same thing as your pup. She had a random pinched nerve and couldn’t use her hind legs. And one time she ate food she shouldn’t have been eating and she wouldn’t eat as well. I had to syringe feed her smoothies and blended meat.
Bless her little baby heart 😔
My first thought was xylitol. OP, what are the chances that Calvin got ahold of sugar-free gum? Check your peanut butter to make sure there is no xylitol as well.
This isn't xylitol toxicity
Was any testing for Lyme done?
I *believe* so, but I will double check that with them asap.
Certain kinds of paralysis can also be tick-borne if the instability he has came on kind of suddenly. If that's the case, it's reversible as long as you detach the tick. Good luck, OP. I hope Calvin recovers from whatever's going on with him.
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-in-dogs#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20cases%20identified,have%20contact%20with%20infected%20ticks.%22
One of my friends K9s just went through Lyme. They went weeks without answers. Ended up at the University Vet Center. They ran the right tests to identify Lyme. Stayed for 2 weeks in their ICU and beat the odds and came home. More weeks of fluid loading and slow appetite recovery.
That was my thought, too. My AmBull foster in 2016 suddenly developed weakness and pain in his back legs. I thought he blew a CCL trying to jump up on the bed. It was very sudden. Vet suspected tick borne disease, drew blood for titer, and immediately started him on docycline while waiting for results. I thought she was nuts. Turned out to be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. It nearly killed him. Once he recovered, he had to go through heartworm treatment.
Sorry to hear, OP. I don’t have any answers for you, but I hope Calvin gets better soon.
Thank you so much. I appreciate the support.
Ask on r/askvet
Thank you!!!
Has his spine been xrayed?
Not yet, I’m thinking after the upcoming Friday visit that is the next step at a different vet
CT & MRI needed
Not to nitpick, but more likely MRI
Edited
Yeah x-rays are fairly useless for looking at the spine and spinal cord unless you have an overt fracture or dislocation
Correct. But OP confirmed the vet had Xrayed so was checking if he included the spine
Hey OP, I'm no Vet and these are just my thoughts, so no guarantee it's the same situation but your story lines up with one I had from last October, and again these past few weeks almost to a T. TLDR at bottom. My dog is a healthy lab, loves food and was consistently a healthy weight and loved playing/ being active. Suddenly he had the exact same symptoms. Quickly turned downhill with vomiting, diarrhea (soft to liquid, very dark color), and peed in the house in the middle of the night out of nowhere. Also very lethargic and hardly wanted to move. If we did walk him, it would be to a house or two next to ours at a slow pace and back. Refused food, even peanut butter and treats (it had been days without eating by then, we just wanted him to eat something.) Went to the vet on and off, and they couldn't pinpoint anything either. Bloodwork was normal, no cancer or disease. Tried anti nausea shots but it made him even more lethargic. Tried appetite stimulator meds, nada. Tried antibiotics, didn't help much. Many vet trips, many IV fluids, many dollars spent. Ultrasound showed a TON of gas buildup like yours. Even tried exploratory surgery after they thought they saw something lodged, but it came up nothing (now the poor fella was recovering from surgery on top of whatever the main issue was). What they did see during the surgery were his intestines were super inflamed/ irritated. We ended up getting him on steroid shots to kickstart his system. They got him eating again and acting more like himself. Also got him on a round of probiotics, and once they ran out we got more on Amazon to keep giving him. In the end, they ended up pumping his stomach (can't remember what led to this, its a blur) and we gave him steroids for maybe 3 weeks (every 48hrs, then there's a tough wean period where they get sick again withdrawing). This was all last October, he made a near full recovery and we never really knew what it was. Vet suggested he ingested something toxic, I swore he wouldn't have but a dog is a dog and they eat things sometimes. That brings us to today, he began showing similar symptoms. Vet remembered us, got him steroids, probiotics, and hoping he gets better. The similarities from now to then are: Last time he got sick was right after we dogsat our friends puppy for 1.5 weeks. Last month we brought home our newborn (first baby) and he got sick again. Leads us to believe my dog, when stressed, goes into this terribly sick phase that is hard to kick. Our vet agrees. Could be IBD, friend said he might get stomach ulcers which I will want to look into, or its something else entirely. Your dog started getting sick after being left with a friend/ dogsitter. Nothing against them, but maybe simply not being with you stressed your dog into getting crazy sick and made their system shutdown. Even if it's never happened before, dogs get new issues as they get older. TL; DR Some dogs have crazy poor reactions to stress and yours might be like mine. Last time, steroid shots helped us along the way and he's currently responding well to them again. Good news is, your dog might not have any terminal issues. Bad news is it's just a hump to get over that they need to work towards, might not be an overnight fix.
This sounds extremely similar to Addison’s disease. My parents lab would often have vomiting and diarrhea as well as lethargy after periods of stress (playing hard with other dogs, seeing lots of people). Their vet did an ATCH stimulation test and ended up diagnosing him with Addison’s disease. He is on a regimen of daily steroids now and his disease is well managed, but getting it under control is super important. I would strongly, strongly consider bringing this up to your vet because addisonian crises can be deadly. It seems like more labs recently are being diagnosed with Addison’s disease, I know three people with labs who have it.
The vet actually did bring up Addisons, if his condition continues like this I think it would be the next option. Interesting that you're noticing a trend of labs getting it too, wonder if they're more prone to it. Our (and the vet's) main hesitations were how he bounced back so well and didn't need steroids for months following the events last October. Seems like Addisons is something to treat constantly, but his problem went away. I do think that we shouldn't rule out Addisons though, appreciate the insight!
Did your vet ever do an acth stimulation test for Addison's? Might be worth chatting about
Wow. So interesting but sounds stressful
This course of events sounds pretty strange to me. Escalating from only X-rays to exploratory surgery without an ultrasound or attempt to treat the digestive upset with something like probiotics or even metronidazole makes me think there’s either additional information that made the vet believe it was a foreign object or that this vet is maybe not keeping up with their continuing education. Stomach upset can take weeks to fully recover from. Alternatively, the stomach upset could be a secondary symptom of something else, or there could be two separate issues going on here. It’s quite possible that the gastrointestinal symptoms are due to high levels of pain caused by something else. Has your vet discussed seeing a specialist? The inability to walk is very concerning and could warrant a trip to a neurologist it could be hip dysplasia, IVDD or host of other things that a neurologist could be more equipped to handle. At the very least I’d seek a secondary opinion of a vet completely unassociated with your current veterinary practice. I’m very confused by the completely unnecessary surgery when all imaging indicated that wasn’t the issue. Get your dog’s records and read through them.
So the lack of info there is my fault. They did do ultrasounds, probiotics, AND metronidazole before the surgery. It feels like so much info and this is all so new to me, so my brain is on overload mode and I left out details lol. I apologize. We still weren’t thrilled about the exploratory surgery, but assumed they were just trying to be very proactive. We are considering a second opinion as the next step and then going from there. I so appreciate you reading this long post and responding!
I’d definitely consider getting a second opinion. Since it sounds like your vet went through all the standard treatments before surgery, it doesn’t mean that your vet is doing anything wrong—but a set of fresh eyes can help since your vet doesn’t seem to be able to get to the bottom of it. If your dog continues to decline in their ability to be mobile, I’d absolutely consider that an emergency and I’d try to go to an emergency vet with a neurologist on staff if that’s available to you. Even if it’s a bit of a drive. Neurological issues can be very time sensitive. Keeping my fingers crossed that it’s just that your pup needs some time to recover from the stomach pain and surgery.
Hello, I haven't read through every comment, but this "exploratory surgery" is very concerning to me. The worst vets I've had were the ones who tried to do everything themselves. The best ones know which specialist to refer you to. If you haven't already, please try to get a referral to a specialist...from a different vet if necessary.
Exlaps can be diagnostic as well as therapeutic, and not everybody has access to abdominal ultrasound. It's not an unreasonable thing in some circumstances. This dog clearly was scanned first anyway
... Do you have a Carbon Monoxide monitor? ... Have you noticed your plants are looking sad by chance? Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms in dogs: -Irritable behaviour: watch for sudden or unusual behaviour such as aggression or anxiety. For example, they may suddenly become more fearful of noises, children and other animals -Resisting or refusing to enter the house after being outside -Vomiting -Uncoordinated movements -Drowsiness -Difficulty breathing -Bright cherry red lips, ears, and gums -Unusual intolerance to exercise they usually partake in. The refusing to go back inside set off alarm bells while reading this. AND the fact that he does SO much better every time he stays overnight at the vet. I know someone who died of CO poisoning, his partner almost died as well, and she's a nurse. She thought they had food poisoning. Carbon monoxide has NO odor. It is the silent killer. PLEASE open all the doors and windows in your home immediately, and buy a CO monitor. Edit: formatting 2nd edit: often times diarrhea is a common stress symptom, so it is entirely possible that because he's feeling nauseous he is stressed and having gnarly BMs. Poor guy I hope you get this sorted asap!!!!
My (layman- no veterinary or other medical experience) thought was something in the house, too. It seems odd that he recovers and then regresses again at home. OP, any changes to household products? Plants? Personal products that you or your husband are using?
This! Any new glade plugins or scented home items? Essentials oils being diffused?
I'm not a vet but our 12 year old boy has been dealing with gastrointestinal issues; vomiting, diarrhea (some times straight bloody goop/mucousy poop), he's also lost a total of 30kg since last August but it was a rapid 3kg(6.6lb) weight loss from February until May, our boy had really started to refuse his kibble and I had introduced wet food to h and he happily ate it but then he stopped for a bit. It's been a rollercoaster ride with our boy, Max, but we slowly finding out what is going on with him. He's had x-rays done and they show a potential mass in his abdomen that is pushing his stomach up towards his spine and his intestines towards his bum, the x-rays show that it's cloudy looking, so our next step with Max is an outpatient ultrasound and see what the mass is and if its attached to anything. His blood work from February showed one of the liver enzymes in the 300's, his recent blood work showed that same liver enzyme is just over 1,000. So I have been worried about Max
Hi OP, vet here. I tried replying on askvets but you know they pretty much deleted all but one comment especially if you give too much details. I’d definitely get a referral from your GP for specialist advice. They are better equipped with diagnosing and treating complicated cases, and this is probably going to need further diagnostics that specialists can offer but not a GP. I had a golden retriever as well who presented with vomiting initially, and his back legs started having issues after. Back then I was just a vet student but some differentials that we suspected were myasthenia gravis (could be secondary to hypothyroidism), or other forms of polyneuropathy. Not saying of course that’s what your baby has, but I would closely monitor your dog between vet visits especially seeing how quickly the signs progressed. Mine unfortunately developed aspiration pneumonia and passed away.
Oh no.
Definitely not a vet but my parent’s dog had the same symptoms, including the “strawberry jam poop.” I read that this was a clear indication of “hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE).” He was taken to a doggo urgent care where they did a blood test and confirmed it was HGE. Its onset can be very quick but also easily treated. He was treated with aggressive intravenous fluid therapy and antibiotics. He was back to himself in about a day. I’m guessing your vet tested for this, because of the “strawberry jam”, but maybe double check? Give him some pets for me. He sounds like a very good boy. ❤️
Trouble standing up and the shaking legs sound like hip issues. But that wouldn’t sporadically occur unless there was some kind of injury. This is all so odd. I’m sorry you guys are going through this I hope you get answers for your boy❤️ also it sounds like you have an amazing dog sitter for her to do all of that while y’all are out of town
I thought of hip issues too which wouldn’t be rare for the breed, so if this hadn’t been so spontaneous I wouldn’t even question that! But like you said, without injury it just seems too sporadic I feel. Thank you for the kind words and yes our dog sitter is AMAZING. Spent her holiday weekend in the vet’s office ❤️ she’s an angel!
I only thought of that because my friends dog has hip issues and her legs tremble like that. Seems very odd but doesn’t hurt to have the vet check! Anything is possible honestly. He could’ve gotten an injury simply running on it odd in the yard🥺
Tick paralysis is a thing I just recently learned about.
No advice from me (you already got some great ones from other comments), but just wanted to say you are such a great owner. Thank you for taking care of Calvin so throughly ❤️
Has there been any changes in flea and tick treatment over the past few months? My brother's vet insisted on changing his dog to Simparica and he started having all kinds of issues with his hips and hind legs. Then skin issues later. It happened slowly over a few months but once they tried a different flea and tick med he started getting better.
You are living one of my biggest nightmares. It’s a little bit of a relief that you’re able to handle all the medical interventions but I know that’s not really a consolation. I hope you guys pull through though and that he gets better soon.
It has truly been an absolute nightmare. First and foremost obviously the well being of our baby, but also financially. It’s been so stressful but Calvin is doing a bit better today and we go back tomorrow so I’m hoping and praying for the best!!
Have they been able to find a prognosis? Sorry if you already described in another comment Hoping he only gets better from here. He’s such a young pup!
Since the paralysis appeared post op did the vet screen at all for blood clots or embolism? Paralysis and coughing made me think of this.
I’m going to mention this to the vet!!
***UPDATE*** First of all, thank you to everyone who commented. Whether you offered advice or just positive words, both have meant SO so much to me. I’m sorry if I haven’t responded to all comments, I’ve been on round the clock Calvin watch (I’m a helicopter dog mom lol). I wanted to make an update comment (I’ll also add it to the bottom of the post) to hopefully answer some frequently asked questions and to share some positive news! 1- I accidentally left out some details leading up to the exploratory surgery. This has caused some (very justified) confusion among people replying. That’s my fault so I want to clear it up! While we still feel like they jumped to do it pretty quickly, there was close to 48 hours between first vet visit and the surgery. They also kept him for 24 hours before deciding on surgery. Within that total of 48 hours, they did abdominal ultrasounds, multiple X-rays, probiotics, meds to treat the nausea (can’t remember the name of the medicine, oops), and blood work. I’m not saying that they didn’t rush it by any means, I just wanted to give more info so that it *hopefully* made a bit more sense to people! I also think they may have been quick to do it because they were worried that he had gotten into something while dog sitter was there and maybe she didn’t want to admit it. This is just my theory, so I don’t know that for sure! (I know dog sitter well though and I’m confident she would have told us if that had been the case, but I think the vets could have been skeptical). Sorry for leaving those details out, my brain is on overload and I’m new to a lot of the vet related terms since he’s never been sick before ❤️ 2-The vet did recommend us seeing a specialist, but as heartbreaking as it is for me to say, and as much as I will do EVERYTHING I can for Calvin, I’m not sure we can afford it on top of the thousands we already owe for vet bills up to this point. I think our next step is a second opinion with another vet depending on how the appt goes tomorrow. 3- Now for the good news!! So yesterday(Wednesday) Calvin was continuing to do a bit better but was still having lots of trouble getting up and seemed to be in pain with his back legs (the pain meds helped but not just a ton). He was also peeing on himself a lot (which he NEVER ever did before but this was still within the 24 hours of bringing him home so could have had to do with the IV fluids). I called the vet and she consulted with another doctor and decided to call him in an anti-inflammatory to go along with his other pain meds. She was initially hesitant to do this because of the concerns she had mentioned about his liver, but she said she really wanted him up and moving and just to keep a close eye on his stool. She said if we noticed any vomiting or diarrhea to not give him any more of that medicine and to bring him back in before Friday. I gave him his first dose around 5:00 yesterday and we noticed such a big difference in him last night and throughout today! I don’t know if it’s due to the new medicine, or just time. Or if it’s his antibiotics or just a mixture of all of the above that have made such an improvement 🤣 but he’s doing SO much better. Still having trouble getting up if he’s laying on the hardwood and still walks a bit stiff, but he’s not peed on himself since yesterday afternoon, is in much better spirits, and seems to be in no pain. He’s wanting to play some even though I’m making him take it easy and he’s totally regained his interest in food lol (still feeding him soft food from the vet though and we start weening him tomorrow). He’s not had any problems with any vomiting or diarrhea. Obviously we are still very concerned about the initial cause of the problems and are hoping and praying that his progress continues, but we finally feel encouraged for the first time since this all began ❤️ I’ll update again after Calvin’s next vet visit tomorrow. I’m going to mention a lot of the things that were said in several comments posted on here! If we still aren’t getting answers soon we will go elsewhere for a second opinion. Now I just need everyone to send good vibes, thoughts, or prayers that I don’t have to sell everything I own to pay for these vet bills! 🤣🤣 (I’m a kindergarten teacher and my husband is doing an unpaid internship, so safe to say we are broke LOL. We will be doing pet insurance in the future for sure). Again, thank you to everyone for caring about Calvin. You don’t know what it’s meant to me. I’m so appreciative!! ❤️ Editing this comment to say that it won’t let me add the update to the post, so I will still be trying to respond to people and answer questions as best I can!
Thank you so much for the update! Please update us tomorrow ❤️
Has he had an mri, ultrasounds or endoscope? I had something similar with my pup, we went through many tests and so I'm familiar with many things it might be or at least how to rule out things. MRI would rule out spinal issues like pinched nerves, herniated disks, disc disease. Ultrasound and endoscope would rule out things like potential tumors in pituitary and other glands, as well as bad inflammation or ulcers. Best of luck to you
Thank you!! He did have an ultrasound which looked good, but no MRI and I’m not sure about the endoscope. We are waiting for Friday visit (as long as nothing escalate before then) and I will mention those things. I appreciate you responding!
No worries. For background, my dog suddenly started having intermittent pain issues in his stomach/hind end, with gastro issues. Every now and then he would have a few days where he would not eat (also a food monster), vomit and diarrhea, not want to move, and yelp in pain randomly. Blood work found anemia and high gastrin levels, and some other oddities. With vets, we did the tests to rule out Lyme disease, addisons, IVDD, slipped disk, impoundment, hip displaysia, various cancers, and neurological disorders. His would also randomly come and go, every couple of weeks/months. We ended up going to an internal med specialist (as well as neurologist, and other specialists). While we still don't 100% know what triggers it, IM found bad ulcers through his guts/stomach, and super high gastric levels. We've since been on a modified diet, sulcrafate, gabapentin, and omeprezol, and haven't had a major issue since. He still gets checked every 3-6 months. I'd suggest getting a referral to IM, and request a gastrin test and endoscope if nothing else is being found.
Poor baby! Just wanted to say you are being an amazing pet parent and sending you all hugs. It’s great that you’re being so attentive to his energy levels and I know it’s so difficult to relax at all especially without answers, but if it relieves a tiny bit of your anxiety— specifically in regards to the lethargy and not doing things he normally likes to do (sleeping in the bed, running to you, etc) it’s very normal for him to be out of sorts for a bit given how much he’s been through. My pup takes quite a few days to bounce back from much less severe illnesses so I can only imagine the poor babe is exhausted 🩷you are doing everything right so give yourself a little bit of grace!
I have no advice, but wanna give a get well soon Calvin ❤️
I’m so sorry you and Calvin are going through this, I hope he recovers soon 🩷
I had a dog with chronic erlichiosis and when it flared up suffered from parálisis that started with weakness in the hind legs.. But erlichiosis should have appeared in the blood work because it produces anemia.
I’m sorry I can’t help but I would suggest that you take Calvin to see a specialist. My vet kept saying it’s this it’s that costing me money all the time, when I took him to a specialist they sorted it straight away. Found the problem. It was cheaper than the vets with all the test etc when all I cared about is trying to get him well again. It breaks your heart to see them suffering so I hope your able to get to the bottom of this soon. I will be thinking of you all. Best wishes Please let us all know how he’s getting on. ❤️
We had something very similar with our dog a few weeks ago, sorry if I missed it but have you done a stool culture? Our dog was suddenly incredibly ill in the same way and I took a sample of his strawberry jam poops for testing. It came back as a strain of campylobacter that neither our vets nor the testing lab had seen in a dog before. They think he may have gotten it from eating something contaminated with human poop. His tests were all clear, apart from the stool culture and it seemed to get better and then worse! He was hiding in our room and struggling to stand or walk (turned out to be from dehydration and inflammation). He's 100% back to normal now after a very scary week!
Tech at an ER, tbh right off the bat, it sounded like classical HGE (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis). I have no idea of location, but if you're in the midwest/central USA, the cicada explosion we've had near daily cases of HGE. The cicadas are loud and noisy and tantalizing even for dogs who don't usually eat bugs so everyone is out there having sick dogs. The exploratory seemed an odd choice. Usually, we don't do those unless there's a higher suspect of an obstruction like little out put or near impossible to control vomiting. Even then, some doctors opt for barium study before an exploratory because the patients health isn't great for surgery sometimes. That said, I've seen exploratory surgery recover going both ways, sometimes their knocked on their ass for a while, and others are up and ready to go the same day. It's hard to determine with your pup. It could be medications also keeping him rather sedate. Stuff like gabapentin causes drowsiness. If you can share what meds he's been on with mg and frequency, it might give more insight. That said, being overweight can lead to hip and leg issues and could be where the pain in the back end is coming from. That on top of any straining/posturing during the diharea episodes could have strained those possibly weak joints/sore hip problems that he might've been hiding.
It’s also been hella damp in some areas which has caused in our area a huge mushroom bloom - which definitely could contribute to HGE! The other thing I immediately think of is…any chance he got into something very fatty? Our Weimaraner ate an entire tub of coconut oil once and the biggest worry after was whether she’d experience acute pancreatitis from the fat.
I’m in TN and yes an INSANE amount of cicadas! I really appreciate your response. They did the exploratory after more testing than I included in the original post (another comment brought it to my attention lol) I’ve had medical term overload and left things out, plus I’m all totally new to so many of these phrases. I also think they were quick to do it because they thought maybe dog sitter wasn’t wanting to say if he got into something or not. I don’t know that for a fact, but a couple very brief comments they made to me sounded like them maybe slightly hinting at the fact that they’ve had dog sitters not be completely honest in the past about whether a dog got into something while they were sitting them. So I think they were trying to be extra cautious because of that? But that’s just my theory lol. He is doing much better today, but I’m screenshotting your comment (and several others) to mention at our next vet appt tomorrow!
Just want to send some good energy to your boy. I lost my 10 yo golden a few months ago. I know how much they mean to us...
Thank you for the kind words and I’m so very sorry for your loss ❤️
See what people say in r/askvet
so cute dog
This is very interesting op. I am so sorry your family is going through this. I would cross post this into the r/askvet subreddit if I were you, along with any additional documentation + test results you have.
I'm not a vet, but am a retired Vet tech and I'd be very concerned about erlichiosis. Please be certain he's been tested for tick borne disease. I hope he feels better soon ❤️
I'm not a vet but could he have eaten something he shouldn't have during a walk? Whatever is going on with Calvin, I hope he will make a full recovery and will be back to his old self soon! Keep us posted, OP!
I really don’t think so however the only thing I could think of is that before we left I cleaned the toilets with a toilet cleaner (but I flushed them) and if he maybe took a sip from the toilet bowl with the dog sitter?
What about some other kind of poisoning, either direct or indirectly (like a dead rat that had been poisoned) that would ultimately affect his nerves and muscles? I really hope not, but thought I would throw that out there. Though I would think bloodwork would show any kind of toxicity.
This is so heartbreaking OP. I don’t have any answers for you but I am sending all of the good vibes to you and Calvin. He is precious! I hope you get your sweet boy back to his usual happy self.
Thank you so much for the kind words. We are very appreciative for any and all good vibes!
Our puppy recently had an upset stomach, was off his food, vomited a few times & had bad diarrhoea (some with blood). Vet checked him over (temp, felt stomach & checked his bum) then sent him home with a probiotic & told us to come back if it didn’t improve. The blood stopped but he still had diarrhoea and was not feeling himself so we took him back and they did a poo sample. Poop sample came back saying he has giardia & another bug of some kind which we think he picked up from puppy socialisation classes. He’s now on antibiotics and extensive worming meds to combat it but without the poo sample we wouldn’t have known. Might be worth requesting an investigation to see if there’s anything gut related.
I hope he didn’t eat anything ( scavenging ) sharp and maybe his inside intestines were scratched in a nasty way ….. sending prayers and much love to darling boy and yourself. 🙏♥️🥲
….A cooked t-bone or something might cause problems. Bbq chicken carcass could be woofed down and woukd cause internal damage and tummy pain . ?? Did he raid the garbage can ?? I’m just going in the scans here …
I forget the name of it for dogs but what about vertigo…. In dogs? My moms dog has it right now. It came on suddenly and randomly. Granted she is 16 so she is a senior dog with previous health issues.
Did he have a fever or other signs of infection (abnormal blood cell counts etc.)? Viral and bacterial infections can cause absolutely crazy symptoms and very quickly. If they travel to the brain, they can cause neurological issues. Given the array of symptoms your dog displayed seemingly out of nowhere and which progressed rapidly, I would think some type of infection could be the culprit and curious what they did to rule that out.
Is it possible that the back leg issues stem from an injury that happened during sedation? Happened with my dog, went in for routine dental and to have some masses removed, woke up with gorgeous teeth and great looking incisions but all of sudden couldn't walk. He had some other issues crop up in the same time and would not eat, looked depressed. Slowly fixed the things we easily could while he was on crate rest for a couple of months, started very slow walks with zero expectations and now he's walking and happy, albeit a little stumbly.
This was my thought as well. Typically legs are strapped to keep them stabilized on the table during surgery and I was thinking he could be sore from that. Exploratory surgeries are not usually quick, so he was probably like that for an extended period of time. He may have been scared to squat to pee because he was sore.
I’m definitely going to mention this with vet tomorrow!
My first thought is that he's a goldy, whom are more susceptible to cancers. Has that possibility been investigated at all? I had a keeshond mix who was full of piss and vinegar, passed her wellness and blood exams with flying colors 6 months prior to her passing away. Suddenly one day she couldn't move too well, still a great blood test so they suspected arthritis due to her age. A week later she can't move at all. We rushed her to the ER and an ultrasound indicated she was full of cancer. Maybe you should look into that option further.
This sounds like what just happened to my friends dog - back pain, that led to gastro problems. She spent a week taking him to countless vets, getting the best specialists in London. & he would yo-yo between looking fine & not. Finally 1 week after the back pain symptoms & 2h after leaving a vet, that said he was totally fine & wouldn’t even need a follow up consultation, he crashed & she had to take him back in, but he didn’t make it… She got him autopsied & all they found was that in the end his stomach had twisted on itself… No understanding of what was originally wrong or why it happened or how. Just very sad
I'm not sure if you're describing intussusception or GDV but either of these would have been noticed with the exploratory surgery (and since intussusception doesn't always show on radiographs or ultrasound, may have been what they were looking for). I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend's dog. 😞
That was my next question- would they have found something like that with the surgery? Thank you for answering that!
You're welcome 😊
Wow. I am so sorry for your friend’s loss. That’s my nightmare 😢
Tick fever and pancreatitis would be my first concerns but I’m just a dog owner who has been through a lot of dog sicknesses. I’m not a vet. Did they do an abdominal ultrasound? Or just X-rays.
They did do abdominal ultrasounds (multiple over the time he was there) and nothing looked abnormal. Thank you for your response!
Any chance he is getting into something poisonous?
My dog got into a compost pile. Those sound like mitotoxin consumption symptoms. Need to have liver checked and monitor to see if they get better.
The vet seems to be keeping a good eye on the liver reading up
Maybe take him to see a neurologist if he does not get better. Might be an issue with his spine.
Have they done any x-rays of your dog's legs? My dog had a lot of similar issues and turned out he had valley fever, which can cause bone lesions and similar symptoms that you've been describing.
My first thought is that it could be a neurological issue...like possibly had a stroke. Hope you find out what it is. Good luck and beat wishes.
What pills, food, injections, vaccines did he get recently
Have they checked his blood platelet count? Look up Immune mediated thrombocytopenia (ITP). Blood in stool can be a sign of internal bleeding which is the risk with this disorder, spontaneous bleeds can be life threatening. My dog suddenly got ill and had some of the symptoms you mention and it turned out it was ITP. The diagnostic plan the first vet took was blood analysis, lyme test, pancreatitis test, urinalysis with him. All came back normal, or so they said. Turns out his platelet count was critically low on the first blood test and they ignored it. Over the next several days of me trying to find out what was wrong his condition declined and he could have died. Emergency vet caught the ITP issue and started treating right away but he had to stay hospitalized for 4 days and it took more than two months for him to get his energy and mood back to normal once he got on the meds. It’s treatable but they need to catch it! Hope you get answers soon whatever is going on with your pup!
Our golden retriever would eat chicken bones left by people that bbq’d in our local park. The bones would rip her intestines. It was so sad!!
What pain meds did they put Calvin on after the surgery? Our dog has bad arthritis & she was started on pregabalin. With this med we thought she was getting much worse. She didn’t want to get up or walk. When we could get her up she was super shaky, almost like she was drunk. We switched meds & she’s 100% better. I don’t know what caused the issues with the stomach obviously but the movement could possibly be that if that is a med he is taking. Hope you guys figure it out, I know it’s so scary when our babies aren’t feeling well & have no idea why.
I'm sorry I have no guesses or answers. I just wanted to say what a handsome boy he is and hope he recovers soon and you get to the bottom of what happened. My heart goes out to you all. I hate to see of think of any animal suffering. I've read most of the comments and a lot are just repeating what your vet has already done. It sounds to me like your vet has done an excellent job and been very thorough to me and you should trust them. Most of the suggestions like Lyme disease etc your vet will have already tested for. Personally I do think your babysitter is too afraid to admit something. However nothing they would have done with malice obviously. Maybe he banged his back accidentally? Spinal pain can cause leg problems, which in turn can lead to bladder and bowel weakness. It looks like the vet explored already for internal bleeding from ulcers or poison. You can't accuse people and if the sitter did accidentally do something I'm sure they've learnt their lesson big time. Is he on a grain free diet? Again, not making suggestions. Please keep us updated with his progress and I wish him well.
Did Calvin have any recent vaccinations in the weeks/ months prior?
No, he was actually about to be due for his next set so it had been about a year.
what a shame your ridiculous antivaccination hysteria can't get any legs here.
Sometimes dogs get very sick unexpectedly. Unfortunately previously being healthy is not a guarantee for the future
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Just curious...has anything changed pertaining to what your hardwood floors are being cleaned with? My sister inlaw started using this different cleaning solution on her hardwood floors (faster just to spray and mop). But her dogs started getting sick and come to find out, it was that new cleaning solution she was using. Maybe this could be something to look into.