Last night I understood where this phrase "sick as a dog" comes from. Poor Snowie, he was so nauseas. It was just horrible to watch. He's been out of sorts for a few weeks, although only in hindsight do we realise this. He's been very itchy, and the vet said she has lots of itchy dogs at the moment -- drought, very dry and dusty. I've bathed him quite frequently in antifungal shampoo (relieves the itch) or used a weak betadine mixture on him cos he was rather smelly (like an old shoe that's been wet in a dark cupboard). Drinking more than usual -- although again, put it down to sleeping with aircon at night, very dry during the day. A couple of weeks ago we gave him a cortisone tablet because he was so, so itchy. And then next day a 1/4 tablet. But then he had a few drops of blood from his penis for two or three days, and this was the same pattern as 14 months previously: he'd had cortisone and drops of blood -- thought to be a correlation at the time, although vet said cortisone can cause a dog to drink more, therefore dilute the urine and be more prone to UTIs. A few days ago he vomited. Thought it was a bone he'd stolen from a doggy friend's house. Next evening he had diarrhea on our walk, not too runny, but extremely soft and smelly. Then, yesterday, when I got home from work, my husband said Snowie had been out of sorts all day, eating the tree fern (means he wants to vomit). But he was fine on our evening walk. Came back for his dinner, ate it all up. And then lay down. And I knew he was not right. And that was just the beginning. For 2.5 hours we sat outside -- from 8pm till 10.30pm -- keeping an eye on him, comforting him, making sure he didn't have a fit and fall into the swimming pool (he's medicated for epilepsy, but hasn't had a fit in almost a year). Lay on the lawn (not much lawn, mostly sand due to drought) and then would leopard crawl to another spot, trying to get comfortable. Then would get into a digging frenzy -- clearly to self-pacify, so we let him dig up the ground (looked like a moonscape this morning!). Finally vomited all his dinner up. I gave him some yoghurt thereafter -- silly, I know, but I was worried his blood sugar would drop and he'd have a seizure -- and he lay down, leopard crawled, dug up the garden, walked around aimlessly, in and out of the pool, too many times to count -- I guess it made him feel better and he drank when he got in, although by the end he didn't even bother shaking himself off, just lay down drenched in the sand, white coat blackened from the soil. Finally vomited up the yoghurt. We went through so many towels, drying him off each time he got out of the pool cos he was shivering at times, like the rigors. He didn't want to come inside, so both my husband and I sat there wrapped in blankets (first night it has been chilly!), leaving our own dinner to get cold, but we both didn't have any appetite. I was worried about bloat, but feeling his tummy, it wasn't hard and full of gas; but I could feel his intestines were cramping. Finally I gently massaged his stomach and perhaps that was helpful, because at 10.30 he eventually wanted to come inside -- only to walk through to the back courtyard to lie on the cold pavers, but that was better -- no pool to worry about, we could be inside and keep an eye on him. I phoned the 24-hour animal hospital to ask when this would be considered an emergency. They didn't want to say anything without examining him. But after the call he finally settled down! And came inside to lie on his bed where I could properly clean him up -- full of black soil. At midnight we all went up to bed and we slept the entire night!!!!! Much better this morning. I wonder if he's had a low-grade infection all this time. Maybe last night was the fever that broke (although his nose was cold the whole time). Or he ate something (very easily could've -- he did disappear into the bushes on the mountain the other day and who knows what he found!). I'll see how he goes tonight. If he's fine, then no vet visit. Otherwise vet tomorrow. But I'm hopeful: hardly itchy anymore, normal (tiny) poo this morning.
What a frightening evening for you all. I really hope he's over it and it was a one off. Poor Snowy x
Oh no that sounds really horrible. You must have been so worried. Poor Snowie... he clearly felt very unwell indeed. I would have been just like you, terrified he was going to have a seizure. Maybe he was close to the threshold, but having you nearby helped him, I'm sure. Fingers crossed whatever it was is past.
Poor Snowie, I hope he is feeling better, good luck for the rest of the day and night, hopefully no vet visit although I would want to know why he behaved that way. Maybe ring and ask for advice anyway.
I did wonder that. When I realized he was outside while I was cooking dinner, I found him just lying there. As soon as I knelt down next to him and stroked him, his whole demeanor changed from stiff to happy I was there. I also think cooling off in the pool throughout was good for keeping a seizure at bay.
He’s been tossing his after-dinner carrot around the kitchen for fun. And begging for tidbits as my husband cooks dinner. I think he’s quite ok now!
I don’t think they would be able to tell me now that he’s fine. If he was still sick, they could diagnose based on symptoms and tests. I’ve taken him in before when he has been sick, but fine at the vet visit, and they’ve only be able to surmise.
I had this a month or so ago with Poppy - I was pretty sure she had that seizure 'aura', but was able to calm her and get her focus on me, and it passed with just a bit of a wobble. Makes me wonder whether she may have had seizures in the night that we don't even know about... I'm pretty sure this is the case actually, although not recently. Anyway, fingers crossed things are ok for you and Snowie now.
Poor Snowie, his behaviour sounds like me with gastro (minus the frantic digging), he must have been incredibly uncomfortable/nauseous. I'm glad he's better now, it must have been so worrying for you.
Just seeing this now - poor Snowy and poor you. I was very glad to read that he's now feeling better and having a play with a carrot.
I sometimes think Snowie has that aura, too. Then I tickle his back near his tail, which he loves, and he perks up and gets all waggly, and I think I might’ve just diverted a seizure. But who’s to know if he was just being normal, and there was no aura, and I was just being my usual worrying self?!
Thanks. He’s back to normal. Right now he’s gently snoring away - that lovely sleepy relaxed sound. Had a lovely walk in the forest this morning and he ran all over the place, met lots of Labs!, explored a lot - very energetic. Hopefully it was just a transitory tummy bug. Unfortunately the itchiness is still there - but not nearly as much as before this episode.
