# Heavy Panting, Lethargic, Not eating, Squealing



## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

Oh, wow, I am so sorry that your furbaby is not feeling well.
Have they done an ultrasound on him? I think an ultrasound might show more than x-rays alone. After ultrasound, an MRI might be useful, if available. 
Having had my Golden test positive for tick borne disease, you might want to add a tick panel that goes out to the lab. Just a thought, never know. 
Did the senior panel include a thyroid check? Might be an idea also. Cushings disease comes to mind also because of the heavy panting. But the test for that is more involved with staying at the clinic for a day with several blood drawings and injections. Were his liver values okay?
Other than that, I have really no suggestions for you, but good luck and I hope that he will improve and feel better soon!


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I'm not a vet... but what I see mentioned on here frequently is that thyroid disease causes all sorts of trouble in Goldens. Many people put their dogs on thyroid medication even if the blood work comes back as low normal and it helps a lot. 

The other thing I've seen mentioned is a fungus/bacteria/whatever something that grows in ponds in different parts of the country that is toxic. It blooms in the summertime when the water is warmest. I don't know if it occurs in Colorado. But if you search on here, or on the internet, I think you'll find it. 

I think other people on here with years of experience with GRs will chime in an doffer you other ideas. Good luck--I hope your boy bounces back soon.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Because he yelps when the backpack or purse whacks his head, it makes me think that jolting those bones in head/spine cause pressure on a nerve? Not sure how that fits in with the eating (except bending the head down to eat might do something similar?). This doesn't explain spitting out treats though, unless chewing itself causes pain in jaw or neck?


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## kczachor (Oct 26, 2012)

Update: All - thanks for the reply's thus far. 

We took Golden to a friend of ours who is an emergency vet. Did some more xray's and still nothing firm has been diagnosed. This vet said that Golden exhibited some range of motion issues in his neck (we have heard this from our primary vet as well). We are now on a new regiment of drugs. A higher dose of Rymadol, an anti-nausea medication and doxycylcine. He is also on Chicken and Rice and still taking fish oil and glucosamine.

He is eating a bit better and is acting a bit more chipper. Which is good. The plan from here is to see if over the course of 2 weeks he continues to improve from the pain meds. If he improves, then we may continue meds indefinitely. If he doesn't improve, we are going to do an MRI and go from there. 

He actually wanted to play with some of his toys yesterday - so - I have my fingers crossed!


In response to some of the questions asked:

cgriffin: He has been tested for tick borne diseases and has come back negative. The senior panel did include a thyroid test which also came back fine. Liver was fine too. Vet said nothing looked "off" on his results.

OutWest: thyroid came back good. I will ask the vet about your suggestion to just put him on thyroid meds anyway. Your thought on the fungess/bacteria is valid, I have been thinking the same thing. Was there something in the water that day, did some bug crawl in his ear and lay eggs....I will do some more research to see what I can find out. 

lgnutah: Based on the last vet visit, they are thinking something is up in his neck, his range of motion was poor. Pressure on a nerve could definitely be it. Hopefully the meds are helping if that is the case. His food bowl is up off the ground in a raised feeder, so its not like he has to bend his head down far to eat, so not sure. The vet did poke and prod his teeth and gums and that doesn't seem to be the issue.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I found the thread about the pond issue. Had to do with toxic algae. Here it is: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...-discussion/113231-pond-dogs.html#post1689758

Hope you can sort out what's going on. Glad to hear your dog is feeling better with the meds, etc.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I am glad to read that he is feeling better!
I hope the vet can get to the bottom of it and your furbaby will be well again. 
Good luck!


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Kcz*

KCZ

Glad he is feeling better. Sounds like raising his water dishes is smart!
HAVE they xrayed his chest?
Will he still walk up stairs?
It seems they should do an xray of his neck.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

I know this could be way off base but my boy suffered a severe deep inner ear infection that had spread in behind his jaw, it left him unable to chew anything, he really did not want to eat, and would yelp if he tried, (my first indication something as wrong) and really was not himself (slept alot). There were none of the 'usual' ear infection symptoms -no head shaking or scratching at his ear so I was quite stunned that it was so bad. The vet actually suspected myositosis? but decided to try Metacam and antibiotics for close to a month which fortunately resolved the issue.
It is possible that while he was swimming he got something deep in his ear, have your vets been able to have a good look? Just a suggestion - hope you find out soon what is going on.


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## kczachor (Oct 26, 2012)

*Went back down hill.....*

After Golden was feeling better - the holidays approached. Over the last couple of months - things have gone drastically down hill. The time I posted on this thread - he was finishing up the pill regiment and was doing great. I am not sure if the medication was just covering up the major problem, or if somehow - over the last two months a whole new problem developed. 

2 weeks ago we were on vacation and my mom was watching Golden. She kept telling us that he was not eating very much and was acting very sluggish. When we picked him up last weekend - you could see he was very lethargic and slow and had lost some weight. That same weekend i gave him a bath and he was nothing but skin and bones and was having a hard time standing up. We immediately went to the emergency vet (we have our friend who works there) and we met with an internal medicine vet. She did his blood work again and we had an ultrasound. 

They came back and believed to have found cancer and he was in liver failure and anemic. We proceeded forward and had a couple aspirits done to very the cancer and type. Once they saw the aspirits they were 99% sure it was lymphoma. Uncertain still about the liver and possible chronic liver problems - we started a chemo therapy protocol that was safe for him as we waited on the results regarding his liver. We started Elspar. He got the shot yesterday afternoon and so far today - he is not moving, very tired and lethargic and he has no appetite at all. The plan is to see how he accepts the drug and wait for the test results that will possibly be back on Monday or Tuesday next week. If the results still don't provide all the information we need regarding the liver - we press on and he has another chemo appt on Friday and they will test his blood again to check where his white and red blood cell count are and hopefully that will give us an indication if the drug is beating the cancer down and it is allowing his liver to function properly. If the cell count isn't better - we will have to look at some more testing to see what is happening with the liver. Worst case scenario is that it is the Lymphoma and it is also Liver Disease. 

If it is just the lymphoma - they said we can hope for 6 months. If it is the lymphoma and the liver disease it is very hard to treat both and we will have to make some hard decisions at that point. 

Does anyone have any advice? I did a little research on the Elspar drug and it seems that it is only used in certain cases. They chose this because Golden was already soo sick and it would have a lesser chance of harming his liver anymore than some of the other drugs. Are there any other vitamins or homeopathic items I can give him? They say he is not in pain from the Lymphoma - but I am still worried about the liver and if that is causing any type of pain or suffering. Anyone have any recco's on how to proceed? Has anyone had these two diseases at the same time?


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I am so sorry that you and your loved friend (I couldn't see his name, or is Golden his name?) are going through this.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*So sorry*

I am so very sorry that your baby and you are going through this.
Did they do a chest xray and stomach xray?


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I don't have experience in this area, but wanted to say I'm sorry your dog is so sick. I wanted to suggest you start a new thread in the Cancer section (perhaps with a link to this thread) so you get experienced owners commenting on your questions.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

I'm so very sorry that your boy is sick. Constant panting is a sign of pain, so I hope he is on Tramadol or some similar medication that is strong enough to control it. Depending on the type of cancer, Rimadyl and other NSAIDS can be a problem because they increase the risk of bleeding.

Has an abdominal ultrasound been done? Some of the symptoms sound like what I have seen in my dogs when their spleens were enlarged with tumors. While a splenectomy was in order, each of them blessed me with a pathology report that was benign.

Please keep us posted.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I'm sorry to hear about your boy. Sending positive wishes.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I am so sorry to hear that your baby got worse again and then have such bad news.

To strengthen his liver, ask your vet/oncologist about Denamarin. It is a supplement consisting of SAMe combined with milk thistle. It strengthens and protects the liver. Denamarin is made for dogs.
I use it on both my seniors. You should be able to buy it at the vet clinic if the vet gives the okay. If they don't carry it, you can order it online from 1-800petmeds or other pet pharmacies without needing a prescription for it.
Keep us posted, good luck.


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## Shalva (Jul 16, 2008)

lymphoma is one of the few cancers I WOULD treat for ... it goes into remission fairly quickly and easily for many dogs and can give you alot of good quality time so don't rule that out... the denamarin is a great idea along with liver diet and other treatments to help cleans the liver... sorry to hear your kid is sick ... I am glad you did get some answers though at least now you know what you are dealing with


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## KathyL (Jul 6, 2011)

As I began reading your first post, I kept thinking this sounds like cancer. I've lost 3 goldens to cancer and it always seems to begin with very vague symptoms. 

There is a forum member named Danny with a dog named Andy who has successfully lived with lymphoma for some time now. He posts a lot and is just really positive and helpful. I'll try to find his thread for you.

Good luck with Golden.


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## KathyL (Jul 6, 2011)

Here you go. If you haven't already seen this link, you might want to take a look or contact the member.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...scussion/107006-please-pray-andy-lymphoma.htm


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## kczachor (Oct 26, 2012)

All - thank you so much for all your kind words and advice. Over the weekend Golden went downhill fast. He could no longer walk or hold his head up was not eating or drinking. We had him admitted back to the hospital. They we were filling him up with IV fluids and antibiotics and nothing seemed to be perking him up. They did a blood test and his red cell count was down to 16% - the anemia was really bad. The vet suggested doing a blood transfusion to by him some time to see if the prednisone and chemo would start working or not. The numbers were looking pretty bad. The vet gave us a 50/50 chance that he would be able to leave the hospital prior to our next chemo treatment which was next Friday - and if we made it that long - we had a 1 in 3 chance that he would make it through the chemo protocol for the next 18 weeks and maybe get 6 months. And all of those numbers were solely based on him NOT have the liver disease as well. We went to the hospital yesterday morning to see him and make decisions. They had to carry him into the room so we could visit. He kept trying to sit up and just couldn't - he would raise his head and it would just fall back down to the ground. Every time I looked into his eyes - all I could see was sadness. He was not on anything for pain as they kept telling me he wasn't in pain with the lymphoma but I really do believe that there was more than the lymphoma. My husband and I decided that this was definitely not the quality of life we wanted for Golden and we believe that Golden wouldn't want to continue on like this - living in and out of the hospital and not being 100%. We have a second dog who is 12 - and thinks he is 2. After the first chemo shot - we brought him home and he just laid there and couldn't move. It made me so sad because Casper was running around and playing and having fun and Golden just watched and I know he wanted to be playing too and just couldn't. We put Golden to sleep yesterday and he is now up in doggie heaven playing with all of our beloved friends. I am confident we made the right choice - but of course I feel so guilty and sad at the same time. Again - thank you all for your posts and words of wisdom.


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## Mayve (Aug 21, 2012)

I am so sorry for your loss. Even when we do the right thing it can be so hard to deal with all the emotions. Sending you hugs and prayers....


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I am so sorry for your loss. But, for what it is worth, I think you made the right decision for him. 
Again, I am sorry for your pain, I am sure Golden was a great dog and family member.


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## Capt Jack (Dec 29, 2011)

So sorry for your loss.I think you did all you could & in the end made the right choice.I know that doesn't make it better praying for you strenth


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Kc*

KC

I am so very sorry to read about your sweet Golden, but I KNOW you made the right and kindest decision for him!

I put him on our 2013 Rainbow Bridge List. May he rest in peace! I know my Smooch and Snobear have greeted him!!
http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...f-goldens-passed-2013-list-3.html#post2042306


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