Dog with pain when opening jaws
My 8yo male neutered bulldog started showing pain opening his jaws,and started to get fatigued 2 days ago.This morning his right eye swelled slightly ,and turned to the left(like a lazy eye)and turned bloodshot,and the right side of his face was swollen,and he was very listless.He is normally very healthy,we feed him baked chicken thigh meat,and alpo or pedigree premium turkey or chicken(we were told he was allergic to beef a few years ago).We took him to the vet and the vet checked his lymph glands,looked inside his mouth for a bad tooth,took his temperature and it was 102,and he was dehydrated and she gave him an IV,and an antibiotic shot,and a prescription for 750mg of cephlaxen,and an antibiotic cream for his eye.The vet was not sure what was wrong with him,she thought maybe he was bit by something,but could not pinpoint the problem.We also have two cats but they all pretty much get along and the vet checked his eye for any scratches,with a dye solution and found no scratches.He has a hard time opening his mouth,I did hand feed him some chicken breast meattoday and he ate it gingerly.His bowel movements and urination seem regular.This tenderness opening his jaws started a few weeks ago but it was very minor,I attributed it too his oversize rawhide bone which he played with all the time.The only health problem he has had was roughly 2 years ago,he suddenly could not walk,and we took him to the vet,and he diagnosed it as arthritis and gave him a cortisone shot and he has been fine ever since.I massage his back ,shoulders and hips every night,and he has been as healthy and playful as a puppy up until the last few days.The vet said to wait a few days and if he is not better to bring him back in.We have the ceplaxen and were told to give him 750mg (1-500mg capsule and 1-250mg capsule).It breaks my heart to see him like this,he is like my son,and a true gift from god.I was wondering if there is anything breed specific,or anything you might think of from the symptoms I described.He is an inside dog,and is walked 3 to 4 times a day on a leash.Any help would be very much appreciated. |
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Dog with problems walking
When I came home from work yesterday, Sparrow(6yo female neutered mix breed), who stays in my basement with access to the crawl space under the house, was having trouble going up the stairs. She seemed sick - hot nose & depressed. She has a knot midway up her tail about the size of a quarter. Her hindquarters are slightly swollen and tender. Her behind was dirty with dust, some fecal matter, and little black dots that looked like flea eggs (she doesn't have fleas - she's on med from the vet.) It seemed she had been dragging her bottom on the ground. My gut feeling is that she may have been bitten by a spider or god forbid a snake (in my basement?!!) but I'm also worried that she's hurt her back. She can still walk - even jump on the bed - but she is not moving correctly. She is still eating and drinking. She's not any worse this morning, but no better. She's not limping, but she acts stiff - is not moving her hind legs with ease, but I don't see where they look out of whack. For example, when she goes up steps, she just goes one step at a time, very slowly and carefully when she usually bounds & skips steps. It doesn't look like she's knuckling over, and her feet and legs look normal. Another thought after babying her this morning - she has had trouble in the past with her anal glands being blocked. Usually I try to massage & expel them when I bathe her. I haven't noticed her dragging her butt, which usually happens when her glands are filled and need expelling, but is it possible this could be the problem? Or constipation?
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