# *UPDATE* on Not eating, Lethargic, and vomiting



## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

Well I liked to thank those that gave support ad advice during this trying time. To recap in Jan, Eve wouldnt, eat, was lethargic, and vomited once.. she was losing weight very quickly.. down to a skeletal SPCA weight, and altho only 8 she behaved and looked like she was 14. I took her to the vet, and they did bloodwork, an ultrasound, and subq fluids. She improved by the time we left the room to go pay for our visit.. Her bloodwork and ulltrasound were good.. I thought it might be Pyo but it wasnt. No medical reason was found as to why she was ill.

Well altho she improved she still wasnt herself and she sarted to get a potbellied appearance, so took her in again, and vet #2 did an addisons test, gave her a vit b shot, gave us high calorie food and nutrical. Then the Addison's test results came back and she was high normal.. LIke 0.3 away from being cushinoid so I figure maybe she is starting to show the symptoms.. and we did a lets wait and see. Well she improved with her eating and behavior, but again not still right. YOu can tell she was uncomfortable about eating cause she would bloat even more.. But she would play with her toys now and interact with us etc.

Well, a week ago she started licking herself as if she were in heat which worried me as she had just been in season in Dec. I had just groomed her and never given her clipper irritation there but she was relentless about the licking and left it rosy irritated pink so I coned her and put her girl pants on. The next evening she had a small discharged and decided to take her in the next morn. The next morn she was discharging a red brown with a clear liquid and lots of it. More than my mini would and she's a bleeder. In the time brought her in from potty time she had a small puddle on the floor.

Well it turned out to be exactly what I thought it would be.. she had an open pyo. *sigh* So she was set up for surgery the next morning.. They typically hold them overnight after such a surgery but I was adamant she come home that day since no one was going to be there overnight. The vet calls me to tell me she did very well, and that I can pick her up same day.. he also tells me that her uterus was the size of a forearm which doesnt suprise me due to the "bloating".. that nobody seemed to take me seriously on.. mind you Pyo was already ruled out before.

When its time for pick up, the tech apologizes for the vet not being there to talk to me since some emergency came in. She tells me the surgery went well, she helped in the surgery. She said that her uterus was huge, about the size of the forearm. She has seen pyo in other breeds and it was the size of a pyo in a dog 4-5 times her size.. She even poked at it and it was the worst infection she had ever seen. She couldnt wait to Weigh Eve as her presurgery weight was 4.7lbs.. even when she was young and picky about food she was never been smaller than 4.8lbs... she had previously been 5.6lbs before she got ill. The tech also mentioned that her presurgical bloodwork came back great and altho she had a horrible infection her white blood count was barely elevated. *sigh* she is a Special dog and yes the vets have told me this, and I hate her for it lol! Definitely makes life with her difficult sometimes.. ok a lot lol.

When the tech brought her out she was noticibly doing well. Very bright eyed and happy as if she never been thru such a surgery. She was weighed and turned out to be 4lbs even, so that means the pyo weighed .7lbs which is 11.2 oz!! She showed me her belly and asked if this is how her tummy normally looks and Im like yeah, but no one would believe me.. she smiles and says well we believe you lol. I gave her her pain meds but really I dont even think she needed it as she was been super energetic, bright eyed.. she was floor surfing again. And food.. when she came home she looked at me with that hey B wheres my food. I gave her a treat in her bowl and she dove for it. She had her cone on and when I reached to handgive her the treat out of her bowl she snatched the treat before I could and ran to her bed and devoured it..... Yup she was feeling good. Its day 7 after surgery and she is still doing great slowly gaining weight and eating like a cocker lol.

Thanks again gang ! Sorry so long, but figured some of you may like to know how Eve is doing.. I have before and after pix if anyone is interested.


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## jfo (Nov 19, 2010)

I'm so glad that finally the cause of Eve's illness was revealed and that she is on the mend!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

What a relief that you finally found out what the problem was (glad it wasn't Addisons). I must admit I never heard of pyo and had to Google it. The first hits (pick your own vegetables did not enlighten me) but when I added dogs I discovered what her problem was. What did your vet say about missing this before (especially since you thought this was the problem)? It is scary to hear that her infection was so bad and the pyo was so large. I am so glad to hear she bounced back so quickly from the surgery. I would be interested in seeing the pictures if you get a chance.


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

Glad Eve is so much better and on the mend!


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

Well she saw 4 diff vets from the practice.. the first vet from the first visit, the second vet from 2nd vist, the 3rd vet that confirmed pyometra, and the 4th vet/surgeon. 

The second vet called her an interesting lil dog after reading her medical history lol. It is a part of her history, her picture would be next to the statement Dogs cant read the txt books.. as per the vet that first discovered her elevated liver enzymes. I blame her for not being able to read lol.

It was 2wks from the 1st vet that did the bloodwork and ultrasound with no signs of pyo, and the 2nd vet that did the addisons.. I noticed her bloating maybe one week after the 1st vet.. they had no answers for me when I asked them. She may have felt like crap, but was not showing the signs at that point either in her bloodwork or ultrasound. I cant really blame them as her WBC were not very elevated even after 3-4wks of a bad infection at time of surgery. I'd count my blessings that it was an open pyo and not closed.. but I think its some cruel joke she likes to play on me lol.

Lets see she has a heart murmur that doesnt affect her.. lux patellas that went from grade 2 and 3 to 1 and 2 just on supplements, and that dont bother her even when she pops them in/ out.. liver disease and seizures that cured on the right food/meds/supps for about a year and is now liver dysfunction/ seizure free.. Or the fact that I could totally neglect her teeth, feed her soft food, and not have hardly any of the probs that most toys do.. Oh and starting to lose her coat on her hocks since she was 3-4months old and be just outside hypothyroid.. ANd of course now having a pyometra infection for 3-4wks and barely having elevated WBC... I hate her lol.

Im glad she is doing better too.. Lets see what cruel joke she will play on me next lol. I will post pix soon..


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## plumcrazy (Sep 11, 2009)

Ladyscarletthawk said:


> Its day 7 after surgery and she is still doing great slowly gaining weight and eating like a cocker lol.


OMG!!!! :lol: :lol: You must know my foster-cocker, Cricket!!! I've never known a dog to love their food quite as much! And not only does she love HER food, she loves Meau's and Lucy's and Hannah's and Juliet's, too!!! Oh, and she likes new AND "used" cat food (if you get my drift...) :doh:

I'm so glad you got everything sorted out - how scary! You're a good mommy to keep an eye on things and go back in even though the vets misdiagnosed to begin with.

I'm sending healing thoughts to Eve, but it sounds like she barely needs them!

Barb


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

*PIX- kinda gross.. no not cut open*

Well here are the pix

The first you can see how bloated she looks almost looks healthy but you can feel all the bones in her body even her tail.. The you can see the discharge, and what was on that overnight pad after maybe 3 hours if that of discharge. All day of surgery, right before her appt. The 2 afters are after she came home

Then a pic of her tummy after surgery.. you can see how small it is now. Plus no redness..of course.. shes's not going to start reading now.. and of her in the cone of shame upset that I made her go lay down.. . And only lil lickin is ok, but she was licking too much mainly the discharge that was comming out, but didnt want to take any chances.


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

plumcrazy said:


> OMG!!!! :lol: :lol: You must know my foster-cocker, Cricket!!! I've never known a dog to love their food quite as much! And not only does she love HER food, she loves Meau's and Lucy's and Hannah's and Juliet's, too!!! Oh, and she likes new AND "used" cat food (if you get my drift...) :doh:
> 
> I'm so glad you got everything sorted out - how scary! You're a good mommy to keep an eye on things and go back in even though the vets misdiagnosed to begin with.
> 
> ...


Yeah Eve likes new and used cat food too.. found that out when we visited a friend's house that had a lot of cats and snuck off to the litter room lol. She didnt feel so well after that episode lol.

Thanks I feel so much better now that its over with... This should be a lesson to us all WE know our dogs best and know when something is up.. dont take no for an answer!:angel: Im glad we found out in time and before the vet bill went up any higher lol!


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Thanks for the pics, your little girl has really been through the mill. The butt shot really shows how skinny she got - I can see her bones. Good thing she has you for an owner it sounds like with a combination of great food, medicine and supplements you have dealt with all these health issues so she is overcoming all these issues. It is great that she has such a good cocker appetite; she will be back to a fighting weight before you know it. She has such a sweet face - it kills me to see them in the E collar - they always look so sad. You are right - we know our dogs and can't take no for an answer.


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

Thanks CT Girl,

I also wanted to add an after pic so you can really see the diff in how big she looked. I hat4e to post her looking crazy lol, but here goes.. notiticed in the before pic I scissored her chest and belly pretty tight, flush, and straight.. in the after pic you can see just past the elbow just how much tummy she lost.. even tho part of it was shaved, but not horribly high.


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

She looks so much happier in the after picture. She has that little Mona Lisa smile going on. Her hair does not look bad and it will grow back before you know it. What a beautiful face she has. I love a nice black poodle.


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## Fond of Poodles (Feb 1, 2011)

I wish I'd been around when you were going through this as I'd just gone through the same thing in Dec. It sounds like Eve had closed pyo which eventually changed to open. Callie's case was quite similar. She did have slightly raised WBC, but not enough to say pyo, and no indications on ultrasound either, in fact she had live pups. Callie's pyo was the same in terms of size. The vet actually sent me pictures after the surgery of her uterine horns and abdomen, one horn had ruptured, and the other was as tight as a sausage. Horrible disease!

I know how hard it is to watch them fade though and not know what's wrong, a completely helpless experience. I'm so glad to read of Eve's recovery! Callie (my girl) sends her love and sympathies, .

Colina


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

That is what is great about this forum. Hopefully, when another dog suffers from the same illness someone will remember this thread and ask their vet to check for this. That is one reason I wanted the pictures to be posted and LadyScarlettHawk posted great ones. You documented all the stages which I think is really helpful.


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

Fond of Poodles said:


> I wish I'd been around when you were going through this as I'd just gone through the same thing in Dec. It sounds like Eve had closed pyo which eventually changed to open. Callie's case was quite similar. She did have slightly raised WBC, but not enough to say pyo, and no indications on ultrasound either, in fact she had live pups. Callie's pyo was the same in terms of size. The vet actually sent me pictures after the surgery of her uterine horns and abdomen, one horn had ruptured, and the other was as tight as a sausage. Horrible disease!
> 
> I know how hard it is to watch them fade though and not know what's wrong, a completely helpless experience. I'm so glad to read of Eve's recovery! Callie (my girl) sends her love and sympathies, .
> 
> Colina


See that is something new.. I thought you either got a closed pyo or open.. never knew it was possible for a closed to go to an open. Very interesting. Thank you for the info.. nothing like experience IMO. As far as Im aware nothing ruptured.. thank goodness. I did notice that she still had drippy stuff comming out that day of surgery and maybe the next. 

She just got her stitches out yesterday and she's doing great! It really does suck not knowing what is wrong with them and not being able to help them. She has always been low normal for hypothyroid and was high normal for cushings.. now that she is spayed.. we'll see if it puts her over into those diseases.. Seems like she has been losing hair and ithcing more since the spay, but it could be coincidence lol.

Oh and Eve says thanks for the kind thoughts to Callie


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

CT Girl said:


> That is what is great about this forum. Hopefully, when another dog suffers from the same illness someone will remember this thread and ask their vet to check for this. That is one reason I wanted the pictures to be posted and LadyScarlettHawk posted great ones. You documented all the stages which I think is really helpful.


I knew I wanted to document what was going on esp if it turned out to be Pyo. I have been ready for 8yrs for it to rear its ugly head, and I would read everything I could on the subject. I only saw one pic of open pyo discharge and it looked like what she had in the pix I posted.. but it didnt look like that till that morn.. it looked different. When she started to discharge I kinda knew it was pyo, but with the tests saying no.. I needed confirmation.


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## Fond of Poodles (Feb 1, 2011)

I'm glad to hear she's doing well. Callie's hair went a little wonky after the surgery too (but that may have been because of the pregnancy too).

I will be nervous about it for all time now as well. I really hope neither of us has to cope with another incidence, !


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## CT Girl (Nov 17, 2010)

Ladyscarletthawk - why were you waiting for Pyo? Is this common? I never have heard of it but I have always had male dogs. I wonder if fish oil as a supplement would be helpful for her itching and hair loss? I know my Aussie had the same issues after his surgery but he soon got back to normal. Hopefully that will be the case for Eve as well.


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## Liafast (Apr 9, 2011)

I had a newfie that had metris. I took her after she whelped and told the vet she was acting weird, the vet touched her briefly and said she was fine. Took her back 2 days later and then they told me she had metris and needed an emergency spay. I asked if we could do some tests and treat medicaly . The vet did the bloodwork and ultra sound and said she was a good canidate for antibotic. Told me to bring her back tomoorow and they would give her a 'strong clean out' shot. Took her back 2 more times and gave her the medicine as instructed..When her puppies were 5 days old, I had to euthanize her because she was so septic. What I found out was a pyro/metris dogs white blood count can be normal because the WBC are centralized fighting the infection and not in the blood stream. BTW I raised all the puppies by hand.


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

Good heavens! I am so happy your girl is on the mend! Scary, scary stuff!


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

Fond of Poodles said:


> I'm glad to hear she's doing well. Callie's hair went a little wonky after the surgery too (but that may have been because of the pregnancy too).
> 
> I will be nervous about it for all time now as well. I really hope neither of us has to cope with another incidence, !


Eve has always had hair issues *sigh* I just hope it doesnt get worst now that she's spayed.

I hope not either girl, it was rough.. I wa prepared before, but more so now with the experience. Fergie is still intact and hope to have a litter as soon as she finishes her grand Ch in AKC.. well obviously not as soon as lol... you know what I mean. So far she is the only one I have to worry about as of now and none of her close relatives have Pyo and they are like 6-9yrs old now.. hopefully wont worry for a while.


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

CT Girl said:


> Ladyscarletthawk - why were you waiting for Pyo? Is this common? I never have heard of it but I have always had male dogs. I wonder if fish oil as a supplement would be helpful for her itching and hair loss? I know my Aussie had the same issues after his surgery but he soon got back to normal. Hopefully that will be the case for Eve as well.


Pyometra is a uterine infection that can be fatal in intact bitches. You can have closed and open pyo.. open is better because the infection has a way out.. which is what Eve had. Closed is worse because the uterine horn can rupture and quickly can become septic.. which is where the fatality can come from. The only way to avoid Pyo is for a bitch to be spayed.

Eve has allergies, but has always had coat issues.. prob due to being bordeline hypothyroid and no vet wanting to put her on low dose thyroid meds. Fish oil and many other supps dont really help. I bathed her in chlorhexidine shampoo.. sugar scrub, and yogurt soak, Seems to help better than any supp I have used.


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

Liafast said:


> I had a newfie that had metris. I took her after she whelped and told the vet she was acting weird, the vet touched her briefly and said she was fine. Took her back 2 days later and then they told me she had metris and needed an emergency spay. I asked if we could do some tests and treat medicaly . The vet did the bloodwork and ultra sound and said she was a good canidate for antibotic. Told me to bring her back tomoorow and they would give her a 'strong clean out' shot. Took her back 2 more times and gave her the medicine as instructed..When her puppies were 5 days old, I had to euthanize her because she was so septic. What I found out was a pyro/metris dogs white blood count can be normal because the WBC are centralized fighting the infection and not in the blood stream. BTW I raised all the puppies by hand.


My condolences.. that is very sad to hear.. Atthe same time very informative thank you. That would explain no WBC at first and low WBC at time of spay.


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## Ladyscarletthawk (Dec 6, 2011)

ArreauStandardPoodle said:


> Good heavens! I am so happy your girl is on the mend! Scary, scary stuff!


Thank you Arreau
I am so glad too.. she is back to her old self.. floor surfing and all


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