Sick shih tzu

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, the poor little guy. He sounds very uncomfortable.

I think I can see what may be happening here. When we see a dog for vomiting and diarrhea, there are many possible reasons for these symptoms. The most common is that this is some mild intestinal upset. And, if this is the case, then the treatment that Eddy got should have done the trick.

However, given that he is still not well there is likely something more serious going on.

One possibility is that Eddy has a condition called pancreatitis. The pancreas can become inflamed by eating something fatty (or often, we don't find out the cause). Pancreatitis causes severe abdominal pain which can definitely account for the fact that he is snapping when you try to touch his belly.

There are other possibilities such as a foreign object in the intestines. Extreme weakness can be a sign of a life threatening disease called Addison's. (However, there is not usually abdominal pain.)

In any case, what you are describing sounds very serious. I would highly advise that you get him in to see the vet tonight if possible. They will be able to give him some intravenous fluids and good pain medication and hopefully can get to the bottom of this.

I really hope he is ok!


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Dr. Marie replied:

I'm mostly concerned about the fact that his abdomen is so sore. This can be a sign of something quite serious (i.e. pancreatitis or intestinal obstruction.)

Now, if you feed him and he eats ravenously then this is great and you can likely wait till the morning to have him seen. But, if he doesn't want to eat at all, or slightly picks at the food then he is still not feeling well.

It's not a bad idea to offer him some food now and see how he does (just a tiny amount). If he doesn't eat it then I would head in to emergency tonight. For some of these serious conditions waiting another 12 hours or so could make a huge difference in his outcome.

The vet will likely do some blood tests to determine if this is pancreatitis. They may check amylase and lipase levels, or if it is available to them they'll do a test called a PLI which is usually quite good at telling us if a dog has pancreatitis.

Every dog is different when it comes to recovery for pancreatitis. I've had some that take 24-48 hours of treatment in the hospital to get better. Others can take a week. And sometimes it can be serious enough to be fatal.

I will be online for about 15 minutes more if you have more concerns.

I hope he is ok!

Dr. Marie.

Dr. Marie replied:

It's always best to follow the advice of your vet who has seen Eddy in person. The only reason I would say to try the food now is if you were using his reaction (either will he eat the food or not) to determine whether to go to emergency.

With his belly being so sore though, I really think you should head in tonight if you can.