Dog with shallow breathing
Rusty has short shallow breathing and is lethargic. He had heartworms when we rescued him and congestive heart failure. He has been on Lasix and Enacard for 6 years and has done well until this point. He recently had orthepedic surgery to repair his left shoulder (broken). The Louisiana Vet School repaired the shoulder with a plate. We took him to the emergency vet last night his temp was normal his heart and lungs looked good - he did have otitis externa and excessive tearing in his eyes which is now being treated. He may be constipated as well as the x-rays indicated feces in the bowel, but he only used the bathroom this morning and not very much. He did eat a very little bit last night. The vet checked his leg because he was limping a little (on and off), but she did not feel anything unusual - she gave him Rimadyl for pain, but he never moved when she was checking the leg so I don't know if he is in pain. She did say that she saw something unusual on the x-ray on or near his liver. She said it could simply be a nodule or it could be cancer. Is there anything that the vet may have overlooked last night? I love this dog and I want to do what I can to help him - he is like my child. He is not himself, a typical hyper terrier and he seemed to go down overnight - please help! |
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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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