[The Syndicate]

I've posted on here before and you guys were great. I'm now in more distress with the same dog. If you guys could help I would greatly appreciate it. I'm so worried about her. Here's the situation:

I have a pitbull that I picked up off the road about two years ago. She's a very energetic dog that follows me everywhere I go (literally). I noticed about three or four days ago that she was crying every once in a while; mostly when she moved. It wasn't too loud, but it was noticeable. I decided to keep an eye on her to see if it was anything major (because there were no other signs of distress) or if it was just a pulled muscle or something of the sort. Yesterday afternoon, I went to take her outside and as she stood up on the couch she let out a rather loud yelp. I moved her over to another couch and began examining her body. I applied pressure to many different areas to see if I could locate what was causing her pain but I was unsuccessful. I've noticed she's lying down more than she used to. She's not lethargic, but she's definitely not all that interested in moving either. I'd say it's because she's afraid to move. She shakes (as if she's really nervous or cold) from time to time (usually right after she yelps or we start paying a lot of attention to her). Aside from that though, there are no other major signs that she's in distress. Her gums are fine, she's still eating, she hasn't vomited, she's still using the restroom like normal (no diarrhea), she isn't hot or cold, not a thing.

I'm clueless. I might ultimately have to take her to the vet, but I'd prefer to avoid being stuck with expensive tests to find what's wrong (I can't afford it, I'm a broke college student). Does anyone have any ideas as to what it could be? Any idea on what I might be able to do to see if I can locate the source of pain? At least that way if I do end up taking her in I can have it narrowed down enough to where I might be able to go on a payment plan that isn't too outrageous.

Please please pleeeeeeeeease help. I have no idea what to do for my poor baby.

 

[spotted nikes]

Does she ever chew/eat non food objects? have you given her any bones? I'm thinking foreign body obstruction. You really do need to see a vet.
Have you taken her temp? You should.
Can she still jump up on furniture/climb stairs w/o yelping?

 

[The Syndicate]

Does she ever chew/eat non food objects? have you given her any bones? I'm thinking foreign body obstruction. You really do need to see a vet.
Have you taken her temp? You should.
Can she still jump up on furniture/climb stairs w/o yelping?

She did as a puppy, but now she doesn't really get into anything she isn't supposed to. She eats bones but I rarely give them out (though I gave her one yesterday afternoon to see if she would act normal, which she seemed to eat fine). She is capable of jumping onto or down from furniture without crying and she's done so several times now. If I tell her we're going outside ("come on, lets go outside! come on!") she'll jump down and follow me to the door, she'll even jump up on the door or myself. In fact, she gets up and moves around on her own (I left the room to take a shower, she got down and followed me normally) without too much trouble. But again, she's not getting up as often and every once in a while when she does, she'll let out a cry.

Does this still sound like foreign body obstruction? I guess it would make sense considering I haven't been able to replicate her pain by applying pressure on her body, but I haven't any idea what she'd get into that would get lodged in there somewhere. She's never outside my reach when I take her outside, so she didn't get anything from out there and there's no evidence she got into anything in the house. The only thing that she might've been into is some peanuts, walnuts, that sort of thing?

 

[spotted nikes]

She did as a puppy, but now she doesn't really get into anything she isn't supposed to. She eats bones but I rarely give them out (though I gave her one yesterday afternoon to see if she would act normal, which she seemed to eat fine). She is capable of jumping onto or down from furniture without crying and she's done so several times now. If I tell her we're going outside ("come on, lets go outside! come on!") she'll jump down and follow me to the door, she'll even jump up on the door or myself. In fact, she gets up and moves around on her own (I left the room to take a shower, she got down and followed me normally) without too much trouble. But again, she's not getting up as often and every once in a while when she does, she'll let out a cry.

Does this still sound like foreign body obstruction? I guess it would make sense considering I haven't been able to replicate her pain by applying pressure on her body, but I haven't any idea what she'd get into that would get lodged in there somewhere. She's never outside my reach when I take her outside, so she didn't get anything from out there and there's no evidence she got into anything in the house. The only thing that she might've been into is some peanuts, walnuts, that sort of thing?

Certain nuts are very toxic to dogs and deadly.
http://www.petinsurance.com/healthzone/pet-articles/pet-health-toxins/Nut-Dangers-to-Dogs.aspx

 

[The Syndicate]

Certain nuts are very toxic to dogs and deadly.
http://www.petinsurance.com/healthzone/pet-articles/pet-health-toxins/Nut-Dangers-to-Dogs.aspx

While I hadn't any idea nuts could be dangerous (without regard to obstruction), she doesn't (nor has she ever) eaten them on a daily basis. She might come across one once in a blue moon, but I don't think that's the cause in this case. Thanks for the information, though.

I'm assuming I'm just going to need to take her to a vet.

 

[sassafras]

I would be very, very suspicious of neck pain for this dog. Definitely should take her to a vet and have a thorough pain exam.

 

[hanksimon]

Yes to the Vet. No matter how experienced we are, the Vet has to examine her.

 

[meglor]

This sounds a lot like what was happening with my toy poodle last August, and it's exactly what sassafras said.. neck issues. At first they thought it was a slipped disk but it ended up being a pulled muscle. It was causing her so much pain, it was breaking my heart.

And I hear you on being a broke college student! I'm a 21 year old college student myself. I love my momma to death but she doesn't see animal care as a top priority and Frannie is my baby, so I'm taking care of her myself. If your vet accepts Care Credit, do it if you have to. I did not want a credit card but there was no way Fran would have gotten the care she needed if I didn't open the card. There are different payment options, and if I got mine all paid off in 6 months no interest was charged (varies from vet to vet I believe). It's something to consider when you're desperate with mounting vet bills (Frannie's ended up being about $800 bucks) and I could NOT have done it without Care Credit.

 

[Pom_Mom]

My little pom started yelping in her sleep out of the blue and would wake herself up. Over the course of the weekend it got worse, to where she couldn't lie down without difficulty, and her tail was drooping, and she'd yelp when something jarred her, or while just lying there without anything bumping her at all -- just a random yelp of pain. Thinking it was spinal disc or nerve problem or something of the like (because she had been walking stiffly for several weeks and not wanting to jump up on the furniture without help), I took her to the vet as soon as the weekend was past, but the doc couldn't find anything wrong -- he pushed on her legs and back and nothing seemed amiss. He did say one knee was popping in and out of place, but that was common with poms and would only need to be dealt with if it made her lame; that wouldn't account for the pain. I asked for him to take an x-ray to be certain there was nothing wrong with her spine, and the only thing that showed up was that she was constipated -- nothing else looked wrong on the x-ray. As I got to thinking about it, she hadn't pooped that day at all, and I wasn't sure whether she had pooped the previous day. He gave me some pain meds and anti-inflammatory medication to see if that would help, and he also said if she didn't poop by the next day to either bring her back in for an enema or give her one ourselves at home (warm water mixed with soap). By evening she still hadn't pooped, so we used a small syringe (lubricating the end with olive oil) and gave her the enema. Sure enough she finally pooped, and we haven't heard one yelp of pain so far since then (and that was last night). So ask your vet if constipation could be the problem -- that seems to be what was wrong with our little Daisy.