Joker Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 Our 8 year old terrier/Beagle mix had a growth removed Wednesday. It turned out to be just a cyst. He was sent home with many stitches, pain meds, and an antibiotic. He's been fine until today, so four days later. He wouldn't get up for food or water. When we tried to move him, he yelped. We were able to get him into the car to go to emergency vet clinic where he proceeded to act fine. They did give us an extra pain med based on what we described. We are back home and he is back to not moving. He had to go up a step to our house and he made it look really painful. I have to bring him the water bowl and he will drink but he won't eat. He will not move unless we make him (like to go potty). When he does move, he starts shaking and panting. Is this just probably pain? Why would he be fine at the vet? He was really excited there, as he always is to see people, so I don't know if that could block out the pain. I'm probably going to have to take him back to vet in morning but if he acts fine there I don't know if there's anything to do. He's never done this before either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isabella Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 Goodness, that sounds strange. Is he still on antibiotics? I would imagine it's pain, and maybe it's that he will show it at home where he can be himself, and there is no extra stimulation, but then the stimulation of the vets was enough to over-ride the pain. Who knows! I'd see how he goes and take him in again tomorrow if he's worse or no better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted May 9, 2016 Author Share Posted May 9, 2016 Dh just reminded me that this is the same dog that became sick several years ago but acted fine when we took him to the vet. Fortunately, this had been our vet for a long time and knew we weren't prone to overreact so he did a few tests. He actually ran them twice because he thought it was a mistake. This same dog had a bad case of pancreatitis and needed to be kept there on IV fluids for several days. So, I think dh thought he was helping but now I'm just more worried that our dog is sicker than he appears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 I would definitely think pain. video tape his bhvr. When my old (now gone) dog was very ill, I was taking some video of weird bhvr and emailing to my vet (or just upload to youtube and send them the link). My vet was very helpful at looking stuff like that over. Dogs do act quite different in areas they don't feel safe. There is huge pressure to not look weak or sick or you can become prey... When is the last time he has gone pee? If he's had something to drink it's ok to just give him pain meds & let him rest but I would worry if he hasn't peed. If you are heading in tomorrow, I'd consider grabbing a urine sample just to make sure he didn't get a bladder infection. They could also run blood just to make sure there's not a large infection going on internally. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted May 9, 2016 Author Share Posted May 9, 2016 We helped him outside and once he hit the grass he did pee. He's drinking water as long as I bring it to him and he's taking his meds when stuffed inside a treat. No real food and no moving unless forced to, though. I will tape him next time we have to move him so they can see how he's moving and his shaking/panting. Thanks for the advice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted May 9, 2016 Share Posted May 9, 2016 The shaking and panting are what my dogs do with pain. Just like with people, you will want to try and stay ahead of the pain if you can - by keeping meds up whenever they are due to be given. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joker Posted May 9, 2016 Author Share Posted May 9, 2016 Well, he's not any better today. I took him to the vet this morning. The vet could tell he was in pain and saw his trembling. They gave him an injection and took x-rays. The only thing he noticed on the x-rays was arthritis in his hips but he doesn't think it is enough to cause what's going on. The vet is having someone better look at the x-rays tomorrow to see if he's missing something. Still no moving unless he has to, which is only when we take him out to potty. No real food and only water if we bring it to him. Even then, he won't drink every time. It's horrible. I really wish he could talk to tell us what the heck is going on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted May 10, 2016 Share Posted May 10, 2016 Poor thing! I had one of my cats into the vet last week and that vet was commenting how much easier his job would be if only the pets could talk! FWIW -- My vets have always said that you can't judge the level of pain a pet feels from arthritis based on how the x-rays look. From what they've told me some x-rays look horrible and yet the animal seems to have no or minimal pain, and other x-rays don't look bad at all and yet the animal seems to have quite a lot of pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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