Dog sick. Advice needed

Heatwave

I don't usually post about my personal life on the internet, but in this instance I'll make an exception. I tried googling for the past half hour or so but couldn't find specific results, so I decided to make a thread here as I don't think the vet's open (it's past midnight).

My dog, a 13 year old Maltese/Pomeranian, began coughing in the hallway and then collapsing, where he then urinated. I didn't see it happen, though when I arrived he he didn't seem to be able to get up again. After taking him outside he seemed to regain his ability to walk and now seems relatively fine.

The symptoms leading up the the event included shaking and (I think) disorientation. At the time I thought he might just be cold as he had his fur clipped earlier in the day. He also apparently ate a couple peanuts, nut after searching the net they're basically harmless.

I'm thinking right now that this might be related to his heart murmur he's had since he was a puppy. He's been on medication for a few years though and seemed alright, so I don't understand why this would happen so suddenly. Regardless, I scared shitless.

Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Enc

Go to a vet ASAP. With how old the dog is, plus the combination of symptoms, it could be anything. Liver failure is the immediate thought, but really at 13 years a lot of things can go wrong and snowball quickly.

Only a professional could tell you for sure. Don't chance it.

PeregrineFalcon

Enc wrote: »

Go to a vet ASAP. With how old the dog is, plus the combination of symptoms, it could be anything. Liver failure is the immediate thought, but really at 13 years a lot of things can go wrong and snowball quickly.

Only a professional could tell you for sure. Don't chance it.

This. If a human coughed, collapsed, urinated, and then wasn't able to get up, you'd take their ass to a hospital, right?

Do the same for the pooch, pronto.

Heatwave

I will definitely taking him to the vet. That was the first idea I had when it happened. The problem is that the vet's been closed since 8pm and it's well after midnight right now. The best I can do right now is keep an eye on him for the rest of the night.

Enc

If you live in a major city, the should be at least one 24 hour vet. Check your yellow-pages. Sometimes these are a lot more expensive, but generally the doctors doing it truly care for the animals and will give your pet serious care.

If not, just stay with him and do what you can to make him comfortable until morning.

Djeet

Sounds like your dog had a seizure. Why? It could be many reasons, but when our goldie had one or two over the course of a few months it turned out to be a thyroid imbalance. Take him to the vet as soon as you can, only you can really determine whether you need to take him to a 24hr place or wait til morning.

It's always the safer thing to do to take him in ASAP, but if it were my dog, and he seemed fine now, I'd probably wait til morning but be at the vet waiting as soon as they open.

Thylacine

IANAV, but coughing is a sign of a heart problem in dogs. Ironically I was just reading about MVD in dogs yesterday, which is strange that I read this today.

Anyway, the MVD is what causes a heard murmur. Meds can help, but as far as I know, it can't be cured.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/187225/mitral_valve_disease_in_dogs.html?cat=53

Anyway, the best thing you can do is take your baby to a vet...hopefully you already have.

Figgy

Get thee to a vet?

These "my pet is sick threads" are pretty silly most the time, in my opinion, because the best advice is always to take it to a vet. Time reading this is time you could be having your dog treated.

VisionOfClarity

There are emergency vets that are open outside of normal business hours. Try your vet, they might have an emergency number on the machine.

Dman

I agree on the heart problems.

also, no one wants to hear this but:
Maltese lifespan = 9-11 years
Pomeranian lifespan = 15 years

My family spent $1000-$3000 on each of our last two dogs towards the end of their lives. In each case we got about 18 good months. It was a lot of money for us and it wasn't spent lightly but I think it was worth it. YMMV.

VisionOfClarity

That being said, my Pom's 16 with no signs of slowing down and Poms have been known to live past 20 so don't plan his funeral just yet.

wunderbar

Go to a vet, now.

When our dog had symptoms that were not all that different from yours, well, we'll never know 100% for sure but the vet was 90% sure it was a stroke. He was fine thursday night, gone by sunday morning. Not trying to scare you here, but you really, really need to be at a vet about 5 minutes ago.

Heatwave

I took him to the vet in the morning and had a blood test taken. Won't know anything until tomorrow though. BTW I just noticed the typo in my first post about his age. It's 12 actually.

Heatwave

Yesterday the vet called and said my dog had some enzymes and that their was either something wrong with his liver or he had cancer. It was decided he'd be put on antibiotics and inflammatory pills for a week. Sadly, they were of no use and he died later that night.

I've requested for this thread to be locked. Thanks for the advice, guys.

PeregrineFalcon

Sorry to hear that.