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Four days ago, my 5 1/2 year old Chihuahua started behaving differently than normal. She wouldn't jump up on the couch like she always does. The next morning I went to feed her and she usually runs right to her bowl and starts eating immediately. She did not go over to her bowl at all. I took her for a walk and she had a normal bowel movement, and when we got back, with some encouragement, she devoured the whole bowl of food faster than Iv'e ever seen her eat before. She then proceeded to vomit the entire meal about 5 minutes later. I had not seen her drink any water since the afternoon of the previous day.
For the rest of this day, she still wouldn't jump up on the couch, and I could start to notice that her hind legs were a little weak, she started acting depressed and lethargic, and still wouldn't drink any water (I have been watching her every move). She had a tick on her about 6 weeks ago, which I did remove entirely about 5 hours after the time that the tick attached to her leg, so I was thinking lyme disease. The site where the tick is looks normal. There was never any signs of infection. Brought her to the pet ER where they did a physical exam with no unusual findings, (temperature was 102.7 which was not concerning to the vet) and some basic bloodwork which came back normal except for showing that she was very dehydrated. She got some subcutaneous fluids. The vet wanted to do abdominal x-rays thinking maybe it was an obstruction, but I did not think that was the case, so I declined to have the films taken. The vet was not overly concerned about lyme so she did not get tested for that at this time either.
Brought her home where she was still acting the same as she had been, still not drinking water at all. I did not feed her this night. Got a good night's rest and the next morning, nothing changed. Wanting to prevent dehydration from occurring again, I decided to give her some chicken broth (no sodium) diluted with water. She would not drink that either. I boiled some chicken and rice and put that in with the broth and with a lot of encouragement, she did eat and drink the whole bowl. Still not drinking all day, I fed her the broth/water/chicken/rice a few more time that day. I also substituted pedialyte a few times for the water. I started to notice that she was urinating a lot more than usual. A lot more than I feel like she should have been based upon how little I could get her to drink.
The next morning, same thing. Called the vet. He tested her for lyme which came back negative and did a complete blood workup on her and urinalysis. All which I will have the results of tomorrow. Her temperature is the same as it was at the previous vet visit. He said she felt stiff and he might give her an anti-inflammatory. He palpated her abdomen and is not concerned for an obstruction (plus she is moving her bowels and only had the one episode of vomiting) She got some more subcutaneous fluids as she is still dehydrated. He has no idea what could be causing this. She is still urinating a lot and won't touch her water bowl. Her urine is very dilute. She has now had two episodes of urinary incontinence. She had another bowel movement which looked like it had some mucous in it. The vet is stumped. He said if all of the labs come back normal, his best idea is to give her a four week course of doxycycline (the treatment for lyme disease) and see what happens, thinking that maybe it's some other tick borne illness. But it really doesn't make sense to him, or me, that she refuses to drink water, but is peeing excessively.
She's at home now, and has a little more energy than she has over the past few days, but not much. If anyone has any idea at all about what this could be, I would appreciate your response immensely. Of course I'm thinking the worst. This is my baby and without her, I don't know what I'd do. The vet bills are already adding up and there'll be more to come. Please help us!
I know this is long, but I wanted all of the information to be here. Thanks for any replies.
For the rest of this day, she still wouldn't jump up on the couch, and I could start to notice that her hind legs were a little weak, she started acting depressed and lethargic, and still wouldn't drink any water (I have been watching her every move). She had a tick on her about 6 weeks ago, which I did remove entirely about 5 hours after the time that the tick attached to her leg, so I was thinking lyme disease. The site where the tick is looks normal. There was never any signs of infection. Brought her to the pet ER where they did a physical exam with no unusual findings, (temperature was 102.7 which was not concerning to the vet) and some basic bloodwork which came back normal except for showing that she was very dehydrated. She got some subcutaneous fluids. The vet wanted to do abdominal x-rays thinking maybe it was an obstruction, but I did not think that was the case, so I declined to have the films taken. The vet was not overly concerned about lyme so she did not get tested for that at this time either.
Brought her home where she was still acting the same as she had been, still not drinking water at all. I did not feed her this night. Got a good night's rest and the next morning, nothing changed. Wanting to prevent dehydration from occurring again, I decided to give her some chicken broth (no sodium) diluted with water. She would not drink that either. I boiled some chicken and rice and put that in with the broth and with a lot of encouragement, she did eat and drink the whole bowl. Still not drinking all day, I fed her the broth/water/chicken/rice a few more time that day. I also substituted pedialyte a few times for the water. I started to notice that she was urinating a lot more than usual. A lot more than I feel like she should have been based upon how little I could get her to drink.
The next morning, same thing. Called the vet. He tested her for lyme which came back negative and did a complete blood workup on her and urinalysis. All which I will have the results of tomorrow. Her temperature is the same as it was at the previous vet visit. He said she felt stiff and he might give her an anti-inflammatory. He palpated her abdomen and is not concerned for an obstruction (plus she is moving her bowels and only had the one episode of vomiting) She got some more subcutaneous fluids as she is still dehydrated. He has no idea what could be causing this. She is still urinating a lot and won't touch her water bowl. Her urine is very dilute. She has now had two episodes of urinary incontinence. She had another bowel movement which looked like it had some mucous in it. The vet is stumped. He said if all of the labs come back normal, his best idea is to give her a four week course of doxycycline (the treatment for lyme disease) and see what happens, thinking that maybe it's some other tick borne illness. But it really doesn't make sense to him, or me, that she refuses to drink water, but is peeing excessively.
She's at home now, and has a little more energy than she has over the past few days, but not much. If anyone has any idea at all about what this could be, I would appreciate your response immensely. Of course I'm thinking the worst. This is my baby and without her, I don't know what I'd do. The vet bills are already adding up and there'll be more to come. Please help us!
I know this is long, but I wanted all of the information to be here. Thanks for any replies.
But I'm not a vet. 
