Yesterday morning my 6 year old pit mix woke up listless. She isn't
eating or drinking. Her stool is normal and she isn't vomiting. She
must be running a fever, because she is panting all the time. This is
a dog that is never sick. Average walks - 5 times a week, 4 miles
each time. Top quality dog food. She also is a 100 lb couch potato
the rest of the time.

DH isn't crazy about spending money on vets. (of course she was
spayed)

AW wrote:
Yesterday morning my 6 year old pit mix woke up listless. She isn't
eating or drinking. Her stool is normal and she isn't vomiting. She
must be running a fever, because she is panting all the time. This is
a dog that is never sick. Average walks - 5 times a week, 4 miles
each time. Top quality dog food. She also is a 100 lb couch potato
the rest of the time.

DH isn't crazy about spending money on vets. (of course she was
spayed)


I'm sorry your dog is sick, but tell your DH that if you rely on free
diagnoses over the internet, you'll get what you pay for...

Please take her to a vet right away! With those symptoms, it could be
poisoning, it could be pancreatitis, it could be a lot of other things.

FurPaw

--
We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.
-Eric Hoffer

To reply, unleash the dog.

AW wrote:
Yesterday morning my 6 year old pit mix woke up listless. She isn't
eating or drinking. Her stool is normal and she isn't vomiting. She
must be running a fever, because she is panting all the time. This is
a dog that is never sick. Average walks - 5 times a week, 4 miles
each time. Top quality dog food. She also is a 100 lb couch potato
the rest of the time.

DH isn't crazy about spending money on vets. (of course she was
spayed)


In the absence of an obvious reason, panting
is a VERY bad sign. It may not be fever, it
could be acute pain. Dogs often pant when
they are in pain.

I'm never crazy about spending money on
testing, but if this was my dog, I'd have
been on the phone with my vet to ask what she
thought yesterday, and if it persisted the
way this has, I'd have had Annie in to see
her this morning.

Not drinking = bad sign
Panting = bad sign
Listless = not a good sign

There are enough red flags here to be of
concern, as far as I can see. I would at
least call my vet to ask what they think. One
of my first thoughts upon reading this was
"bloat"....but its my understanding that she
would be near death (or dead) by now if that
was the problem. Even still, partial torsion
would be a concern to me.

This is where making sure I have a really
good relationship with my vet comes in handy.
When I call her for something like this, I
don't just get the "I can't tell without
seeing her" response. My vet knows me really
well and knows my dog really well. While she
would often prefer giving me advice after
laying hands on my dog and *seeing* what's
going on, she trusts what I see enough by now
to be able to tell me when it sounds safe to
wait, and to tell me when she's uncomfortable
saying anything without seeing her first.
Bringing my pets in or not is still a
judgment call on my part, but having good
access to her makes that call a lot easier to
make.

This last bit doesn't help you now, I know.
But so few people put the effort into finding
a vet they can trust and then building a
relationship *with* that vet (it does take a
conscious effort) that I think it bears
mentioning.

I hope your dog is ok.

AW wrote:
Yesterday morning my 6 year old pit mix woke up listless. She isn't
eating or drinking. Her stool is normal and she isn't vomiting. She
must be running a fever, because she is panting all the time. This is
a dog that is never sick. Average walks - 5 times a week, 4 miles
each time. Top quality dog food. She also is a 100 lb couch potato
the rest of the time.

DH isn't crazy about spending money on vets. (of course she was
spayed)

She needs to go to a vet. I fear the news will not be good.

If you want an Internet diagnosis I think she has a faulty heart valve.
She is panting because her lungs are filling with fluid and she can't
breathe. Sorry.

If I am right, which lets face it, is less than average. Medication
will give you another 1 good year together

Hope I am wrong.

Today she quit panting and she doesn't seem as hot.
We are giving her small plungerful's of water. She still isn't
drinking or eating on her own.

AW wrote:
Today she quit panting and she doesn't seem as hot.
We are giving her small plungerful's of water. She still isn't
drinking or eating on her own.

Oh for ****'s sake.

She STILL isn't drinking on her own? and you
haven't taken her to a vet yet?

Three days of refusing everything including
water and you haven't gotten her medical care?

Really not good.

AW wrote:
Today she quit panting and she doesn't seem as hot.
We are giving her small plungerful's of water. She still isn't
drinking or eating on her own.

Oh. My. She's still not eating or drinking, but you still haven't taken
her to a vet.

What is her temperature? What is her heart rate? Are her gums pink or pale?

When you pinch the skin on her back, does it snap back into place quickly,
or does it slowly resume its configuration? When you press on the gum,
does the white spot left by your finger become pink again within a second?
If the skin doesn't snap back quickly, or especially if the gum doesn't
become pink again quickly, it's a sign of serious dehydration. It's hard
to provide adequate water in "small plungerfuls" to a dog who isn't
voluntarily drinking. Dehydration (a symptom of an underlying problem) can
be fatal.

http://www.vetinfo.com/symptoms-canine-dehydration.html

Well, for your sake, I hope she survives without any more suffering than
she's had for that past few days.

FurPaw

--
We can be absolutely certain only about things we do not understand.
-Eric Hoffer

To reply, unleash the dog.

AW wrote:
Today she quit panting and she doesn't seem as hot.
We are giving her small plungerful's of water. She still isn't
drinking or eating on her own.

She really does need to see a Vet immediately.

I know Vets are expensive but it is part of the responsibility of owning
a dog.

No, she doesn't have these symptoms and her gums look normal and the
skin snaps back. No drooling or vomiting.

On Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:29:50 -0700, FurPaw
wrote:


http://www.vetinfo.com/symptoms-canine-dehydration.html

"AW" wrote in message
...
Today she quit panting and she doesn't seem as hot.
We are giving her small plungerful's of water. She still isn't
drinking or eating on her own.

Poor baby is suffering. She's in a huge amount of pain. Why you haven't
taken her to a vet is beyond me. It's like if you had appendicitis and
stayed at home - THAT's what you're putting her through. TAKE HER TO A VET!