My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

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chowmia2
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My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowmia2 »

Hi all...My boy is 3 years 8 months old. He has been completely healthy his whole life...except for the eaten lizard and subsequent diarrhea ( antibiotics treated that) He got some comfortis last Saturday evening. Some time late Sat night he vomited up his dinner. Sunday morning he very forcefully vomited a couple of times, it was awful. Later that day he vomited again. I did not feed him Sunday night to give his stomach a rest. We thought he was fine Monday and I fed him Monday night, he only ate 1/2 of it...Tuesday morning he vomited up everything again. By tues afternoon he was quite lethargic and depressed. I scheduled a vet appt. for him Weds. morning. On Weds. morning I gave him a small piece of chicken...which he vomited. Now during this time there were no loose BM's at all. The vet pulled blood on him and did a liver panel...all looked very good. They have done a complete blood screen, pancreas, and kidney function. all looked normal, except for elevated WBC indicating an infection or inflamation. He was sent home on Baytril and an antiemetic. Later that day, a liquid stool was just leaking from him as he was laying down resting. Thirty minutes later he was coughing...a very deep congested cough. We took him back in to the vet. She did x-rays of his chest and abdomen. The abd's showed a suspicious mass and the lungs showed a pneumonia. She feels it is an aspiration pneumonia. Flagyl was added for the diarrhea and Baytril was left for the antibiotic. We gave 200 cc's of subcu fluids twice daily weds and thursday. There was only the one time a liquid feces leaked out of him...he is passing a formed stool, much smaller in size and quantity (I'm sure due to no food). Today, a recheck and x-ray showed the abdominal mass has moved thus eliminating much concern over that. However, he is still vomiting, eating only very small amounts, turning away from most foods. Generally unwell and not himself, at all. He is now on Reglan for the nausea instead of the previous antiemetic,Ondansetron. We are now giving him until Monday to see if he rallies. Then he will have an abdominal exploratory surgery..
We are so scared we are losing our boy, and we don't know why. I don't really believe the comfortis is the cause of this? It is perhaps a bit too coincidental that it was given right before this cluster of problems. Any ideas? what could this be???
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chowmia2
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowmia2 »

Sorry...I don't know how I posted this 3 times...admin's please remove 2 of them leaving one?
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by wokman »

I can only wish for a good outcome for your Chow. At least your Vet is actively attacking the problem. A mass does not sound good. Bloat is the only illness I have known that has caused vomiting and not eating like you are seeing. Loose stools were not part of the symtoms of Bloat though. Keep us informed of the surgery results. My prayers are with you, my Chows paws are crossed. O:) [-o|
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chowmia2
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowmia2 »

One of our concerns is a gastric cancer? Anyone know if they initially present like this??
Rory's Dad
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by Rory's Dad »

not to try and present any diagnosis, but if the abdominal mass has moved, perhaps he swallowed something he shouldnt have. that would cause the vomiting and explain the loss of appetite.

once had a peke pup that swallowed a penny. similar simptoms, and too small to pass the object.
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chowmia2
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowmia2 »

Rory's Dad thank you for the response. The suspicious area is gone...it was seen on Weds. and on Friday it was no longer evident on the x-ray. They are thinking it is some sort of gastric motility problem. He vomits partially digested food 12 hours after eating anything, as though it can't pass thru to the intestines properly...
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by wokman »

My first Chow died of Cancer that came on suddenly. She could not keep down food though I do not recall diarrhea.
My two current Chows both had a motility problem though the X-Rays clearly showed feces in the intestine. There was no vomiting, though the one dog had diarrhea at first. They both acted fairly normal during the event. Medication restarted their digestion process after several days.
What is Comfortis :?:
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chowmia2
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowmia2 »

Comfortis is an oral flea medication. Well, my boy had emergency surgery on Monday morning to remove an 8 inch, mostly unstuffed toy...for a dog who has never eaten his toys before, his first time (and last...) was a doozy! He was very fortunate in that the fabric kept moving and so didn't cause any tissue death. It did remain a partial blockage as well as he was still having BM's however small they were. We estimate that this was in his GI for about 5 weeks. That is how long ago it was that he took this toy from a visiting dog friend, and how long ago it was that I saw it. I suppose he felt if he couldn't have his toy no one else could. So he ate it...He is doing very well thus far and I am so grateful I have my boy. Even if his toy, named "Bobo", turned out in the end to cost $1,400!! No more stuffies for him!
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowpups »

I hope everyone is doing better! Welcome to what my Vet calls the zipper club, but I only heard about this elite group when I got my current pup bella a golden retriever ( better known as bella the want to be goat) my chows were not chewers or ate everything in site! Now this morning I rushed Bella to the vet also because of diarrhea ( blood) and vomiting. We were given IV fluids and meds and waiting also to see what's going on but looks like stress from daycare eval could be what brought it on? It came on fast and furious this morning , still under observation for possible HGE also. But I didnt doubt Bella digested some thing she's not suppose to..( even though Shes never out of my site for long being a puppy still) X-rays are tomorrow if she doesn't eat or doesn't seem to be getting better! But so far she doing alittle better! And here I thought she would love playing with another dog instead of me!!!
Again hope everyone is doing better and glad I read your post it made me move quickly this morning !
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Cocoa
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by Cocoa »

Chowmia2, good to hear that you figured out what was wrong and get it taken care of. I'm glad that he is doing better now.

Nancy, I hope Bella is okay and it isn't anything serious. My thoughts are with you and Cocoa sends purple get well kisses.
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chowmia2
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowmia2 »

Oh, Chowpups, I am so glad my post helped you to decide to bring your baby in. It was the most awful time with my boy not knowing what was happening to him. I just knew he was very serious. I told my husband I felt I was looking at a dying dog. I just felt it...Tao would look at me and I could see him beg for help. I am so very grateful he is doing so well now after the surgery...I have my boy back.
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by Rory's Dad »

Sad to hear that it was such a pricey diagnosis, but glad that it wasnt genetic or a serious disease. Puppies will be puppies on occasion. Having experienced a similar situation i can definitely relate but in our case we were able to get a fairly immediate diagnosis.
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by reddog »

I breathed a sigh of relief for you! So glad the medical mystery has been solved and you pup is going to be OK. =D=
Times and things like this are such a worry when you don't know what is going on and what the cause is and what the outcome will be. The waiting and uncertaintity are a big time worry. Really knocks the wind out of your sails.

Sending you a big comforting hug from me and purple kisses from Whitby
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chowpups
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by chowpups »

Bella has bounced back she is being a typical puppy again it seems . Iam still being overly cautious and canceled our flight today and just keeping an eye on her. the vet thinks it was stress and over activity at this point. She's eating her rice and boiled ground beef and looking for more and being a little pest( that's a good sign). The day care has called to see how she is doing and the Vets office has called 2 times so everyone is keeping tabs on her! Trying to get her to drink more though, but not flood her tummy ,she doesn't seem interested in water, but maybe her camels hump from yesterday's liquid fill was enough for a day.....Vet said to put an Ice cube in the bowl to play with..to get her interested in drinking!
I still wouldn't put it past Bella to eat at toy though!
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by Cocoa »

So happy to hear that Bella is feeling better Nancy and that everyone is looking out for her. =D=
DuaneDiggins
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by DuaneDiggins »

Hello guys. My chow is sick too. It's been 3 days and does have similar symptoms as what chowmia2's chow have too. I hope somebody can help me this out because I am so worried :(
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Ursa's daddy
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Re: My Chow is Very Sick...Cause Unknown...Help?

Post by Ursa's daddy »

@chowpups, we have a Drinkwell 360 fountain in the kitchen. My two will come inside and drink it dry, so I guess they prefer it to the bowls we have outside.

@DuaneDiggins, I would take my pet to the vet's if it had been much more than one day.
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