Dog question?

[Thewife]

My helper, buddy and the best dog on the farm in the whole wide world may have a problem.

Today he was sent off to check out what was bothering the guineas.
He went a 100 yards, did a couple of yelps, like he was in pain and came back?

We checked his feet, they seemed fine, but when I fed him, he acted like it was painful for him to put down his head to eat?

I tossed some food on the deck for him tonight, he still acted like it hurt him to put his head down to eat and left?
He did eat out of a dish tonight, putting his head down, but something ain't right!
I don't have a rig tomorrow to take him to a vet and I need to start cutting hay.
Any ideas?

 

[ORChick]

Just a wild guess ... have you checked around his neck to see if he might have got stung by something? Sounds odd that this came on so suddenly. And, is he having trouble eating, or only putting his head down to eat? If the latter maybe you could find a way to place his feeding dish at a higher level.

 

[SKR8PN]

Get him to the vet and have him check his neck and back for a slipped disc or a pulled muscle. We have had that problem with Ginger Snap from time to time. If it is just a muscle it will take care of itself after a few days of rest, but if it is a disc he may need adjusted, and you don't want to put that off to long or it may require surgery to fix.

 

[sylvie]

Snakebite?
We supposedly have no poisonous snakes in my area but someone was walking their Golden Retriever down the sidewalk to get the morning paper and the dog was bit by a small rare rattlesnake. They identified the snake as a Massasauga rattlesnake. Dog was treated and is fine.

 

[Henrietta23]

Get him to the vet and have him check his neck and back for a slipped disc or a pulled muscle. We have had that problem with Ginger Snap from time to time. If it is just a muscle it will take care of itself after a few days of rest, but if it is a disc he may need adjusted, and you don't want to put that off to long or it may require surgery to fix.

This was my first thought also. It happened to my first Golden Retriever a couple of times. In his case it was a pulled muscle. Hope your buddy is okay soon!

 

[HiDelight]

ok other side of the coin advice

unless it is a true emergency I have a three day rule on anything for my dogs

I do what would do for a kid ..if you check everything and there are no bites swelling or other symptoms of concern ...elevate the food bowl ....if they are eating ..pooping and peeing ..otherwise acting fine just do comfort measures for three days.. ..I would call the vet and check the iburprofen dose (yes they can have some for short periods of time ..with our risking GI bleeds..and do not need expensive vet nsaids just make sure they eat a good meal with it like you do with people and do not use it for more than three days in a row )

a simple pain med (no tylenol of course it is poison to dogs) and rest is ok and will not hide anything life threatening and do what you would do for yourself for a strain ..if they do not get better go see the vet or if they worsen or develope more symptoms go ..but for the time being you are ok to

rest Ibuprofen and wait and see ..the other thing it could be is an ear infection so smell the ears and see if there is a stink in there

really I am more relaxed about running to the vet than most folks because I think it is stressful for the animals ..costs a ton of money and even though I love my dogs like kids ..I did not run my kids to the doctors either I "nursed" them at home

trust yourself if you think it is emergent then it probably is ..if they are doing everything ok as mentioned above ..waiting and seeing is ok too

good luck and I hope your dog does fine and this is just a simple strain ..but lift up that food bowl ...one of my dogs really has to have it up to be comfortable anyway

ps my vet will make a tentative appt a couple of days out ... give me things to do in the mean time and then I can call and cancel if the home care works

 

[Henrietta23]

Lifting the food bowl is a great idea. We started feeding all our taller dogs with elevated bowls after the GR's issues. They really seem to prefer it. Even our pug has his bowl in a stand a few inches off the floor!

 

[Thewife]

Thanks guys, he seems better this morning, but still not right!
Hopefully I am just being paraniod!

The guineas cut loose with their screams a bit ago and he did go out to investigate. But he's also a good farm dog that will work even if he's hurting.

I didn't think of bees! No snakes to worry about. Ears are fine!
I'm not a rush to the vet person either, I will try the iburprofen for a few days and try to make him stay home today.

As for raising his dish! I did yesterday, but normally he loves to eat laying down! That's how I figured out he had the problem, he did not lay down to eat!

It's almost comical to watch him eat! He knows his food dish is his and he can do what ever he wants to protect it! So he just lays there and slowly eats at his own pace! It's like he really enjoying his meal and his one moment of peace!

 

[freemotion]

Here are some thoughts from a massage therapist's point of view:

When I read your post about your dog, I immediately thought "bee sting" and it was said, so I didn't post.....Because he yelped like he did, with no visible reason, that would be my guess. It can be hard to find the sting sometimes, it could even be a spider bite between his toes. If so, he will be better by tomorrow, I would think.

If not, then you could gently and systematically "feel" him. Just probing gently with your fingers, feeling and exploring all the structures you can feel, can do a lot of good. Go extra gently with dogs. The tend to respond well to lighter work than humans tend to need. Also, if it is in his neck, you don't want to go too deep.

If you can find a picture of a dog's skeleton, online, especially if you can find a couple of views, then you can feel his body and try to feel the contours of each bone, one by one. You won't really feel them all, but if you look at the picture and think about each bone, your "intention" will get to all the layers of the muscles, even if you don't know them. Be systematic and thorough. Use very, very light pressure where the bones are close to the skin. Your dog will let you know what is appropriate.

Don't move his joints or stretch him when you don't know what the injury is.

Dogs respond better to short sessions, 10-15 minutes, but individuals vary. So you can try to get to all the bones quickly, or you can do quadrants of his body and do several sessions throughout the day.

If it is muscular and fixable, you will see big results. If you don't see big results in one or two sessions, chances are he subluxated a vertebra in his neck.....and will need a chiropractic adjustment, if you can find a vet who does this. I watched one work a miracle on my dog a few months ago, he was in so much pain he was shaking and I could hardly touch him. If my pantleg brushed against his curly hair, he would yelp in pain. In one session, I saw him release and be his old self again. One of his neck vertabrae was off to one side, pinching a nerve and causing severe pain. Keeping him quiet for a few days was a challenge, since he is high energy and finally felt good!

Keep us posted....

 

[Thewife]

Thank you Freemotion!
Excellant idea!

He hung out with me most of today, hunting the big field mice while I cut hay.
BUT, he wasn't as "into it" as he was a couple of weeks ago and all the other hay seasons past.

He did run off a coyote!

I've heard of chiropractic adjustments for critters! I know they help Hubby so why not critters too?