BigGameHoundsmen.com

Hello to all,

I have a year old full bred plott hound that has gotten sick in twice in the past two months. Symptoms have been lethargic, won’t get up, won’t eat or drink, drooling, seems like death. After receives antibiotics she’s fine again a couple days later. Any ideas what’s causing her sickness. Vet can’t give an answer to what she had. All help appreciated.

Read earlier on another forum where an individual had a dog displaying very similar symptoms and his vet said his dog tested positive for clostridium, if y'all haven't looked down that avenue it may be a possibility...

I really don't know but I did want to ask why she's given antibiotics for this if it's not known what the causes is. Have you correlated any of this to anything possibly related… heat cycles (I know she's young), after meals or exercise, ingesting something?

Is she a yard or house dog? I ask because you'd obviously see and notice more from a dog that lives in the dwelling you also occupy.

What do her gums look like when she's in this state?

Has the vet checked her for Lymes?

Not trying to be rude about this but if your vet hasn't told you why or what he is treating the dog for then you need another vet. If the dog has been that sick twice in the last two months then something needs to be done that is effective or you could easily have a dead dog and nobody wants to see that. It is good to get opinions but before you try all the internet suggestions the dog may not have that much time. Just because the guy has a vet's license doesn't mean he is a good one because there are sure some sorry ones out there and there are some that don't give a hunting dog proper consideration. Hope it all works out for the dog. Keep us posted and good luck.

No matter if she is purebred or a mutt, have a vet pull a urine sample & check for infection in the urinary system. Yes some vets seem to know less about dogs health than we might think, but some are very good & the honest ones will tell you they sometimes have to guess a little. Urinary infection is one of the first things a good vet would check for in your dog. If I sound like a vet, it is because I have been lucky to learn from an open, honest, vet over the years. Also you may not be giving the medication enough days in a row & that can create a resistant infection that can result in kidney failure. Al

Thanks all for you advice and opinions. The dog has pyrometra, the vet is taking out all female organs now.

Had a female die of that this summer, glad to hear they caught it in time to treat. Hope she recovers well.

Highlife wrote:Thanks all for you advice and opinions. The dog has pyrometra, the vet is taking out all female organs now.

I suspected that might be the case. I am very glad you guys are able to deal with this and save her now because it probably would have eventually killed her. My experience is that this can and does tend to run in lines. For what it's worth, I'd give this feedback to her breeder.

Highlife,
Glad you found out what the problem was. I took a dog, at my wife's insistence thank goodnesss, to the vet late one afternoon rather than waiting till the next day. The vet diagnosed pyrometria, she called me at home and informed me. I OKed emergency surgery which is what the Vet advised. Surgery was performed and the dog lived and was a top notch dog for years after that. When the vet called after the surgery she said the dog would not have lived till morning. Dogs are tough but some things can't wait. I learned a lesson then that I would rather be out of an extra vet visit than lose a dog. Glad all worked out for you and hope the dog does great.