Hello everyone. I'm new here and am looking for help from people who really know JRTs. My boy Russell is 6 years old and he has always been fit and healthy. On Sunday just gone he went into the garden, was outside a few minutes, came in and vomited. It was foamy, white stuff that he brought up. He vomited twice more in a fifteen/ twenty minute time period. He was pacing around and his sides (not sure if it was stomach or chest) were moving rapidly in and out - as if he was either breathing quickly or his stomach was really churning and he was shaking. It was not a normal bought of sickness and I took him to the vet to get him checked over. The vet said his chest was clear, heart sounded fine, teeth and ears were fine. She said his gums were tacky and he was very tense around his abdomen - he did react when she examined him, he was in some pain. She said he was a little dehydrated, clearly uncomfortable with the pain and it was possibly a stomach bug/virus or a foreign object? She didn't think she could feel any obstruction but it could be. She gave him a pain killer injection and an anti sickness shot. Told me to watch him and call if he got worse. He wasn't great on Sunday but on Monday he had a little bit of water and a very small amount of chicken. About 30 minutes later he had a bought of diarrhea and he vomited again twice. He started to pace again and would wander around and then stand and stare, sides were still moving quickly, he started panting. I took him back to the vet. Different vet this time, she did a full exam and said he was dehydrated, it was very painful around the abdomen, his temp was slightly up and he was definitely not well. She said it would be better if he was admitted so they could do blood tests, give him fluids etc. So he stayed in. He was in all Monday night through Tuesday up to 7pm. In that time they gave him fluids, sodium, anti sickness meds and they started him on anti biotics. The blood tests showed no sign of Pancreatitis, higher than normal red blood cells and white blood cells and low sodium. The ultrasound was 'unremarkable', no foreign object, no blockage. However, he had eaten a tiny bit of chicken but wouldn't eat anything else, hadn't had a poo at all while he was there and was still uncomfortable round his middle. When she brought him to me, he was shivering and panting still. She said she knew he wasn't right but he might get better at home - she said he could be stressed? She then said they'd started him on anti biotics in case there was an infection and if he didn't improve they would have to do x rays and possibly surgery? Open him up to look at the internal organs she couldn't see with the scan? Apparently there could be a foreign object/obstruction somewhere, they just haven't found it? I took him home. He didn't settle last night, is pacing and then is standing, nose down and falling asleep- he loses his balance and jolts awake. He hasn't had any food and I can't get any meds into him. I'm worried sick - any ideas what could be wrong? I feel like this is really serious but the vet hasn't got to the bottom of it. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
It sounds as if the next step is to have your dog's abdomen X-rayed. Preferably before he loses more condition. If there is a foreign body it will need to be removed as soon as possible.
I agree to get the xrays as the next step. Exploratory surgery might be necessary - they could visually see any inflammation, damage, etc, to his organs that don't show up through a blood test or ultrasound. Good luck. I know it is disheartening to not have answers right away, but it can be very difficult to find the cause.
Thank you. I'll arrange to have the x rays done, he hasn't got any worse but he's no better either. Fingers crossed they work out what's going on with him.
