Sparky's not well...

[Sue and Kids]

Dear Canine Centric folks,

Our half Wire-haired, half Jack Russell terrier, Sparky, is not himself.

I don't know how to describe his symtoms, just kind of a "gut" feeling. He still eats and drinks and does his business, but he's been listless for the past few days. He does eat grass on his walks, but I keep him from drinking from puddles on our gravel roads. He also has all his vaccinations up-to-date and each month gets his Heart Guard.

My husband made a mistake (unintentional, of course) of giving Spark a couple pieces of cookie (with M&M's inside). He thought he picked parts with no candy but I reminded him after he told me that some M&M's could be hidden in the cookie dough. Could this have caused this problem?

I just wondered if anyone has any comments or ideas. We're keeping an eye on him and if he goes downhill quickly, will call our Vet. But if he's the same till Monday, we'll take him in then.

I'd appreciate any help. I have 3 cats and have had cats for over 20 years but Sparky is our first dog, so we are pretty ignorant.

Thanks!

Sue

[Traci]

Sue..is Sharon not available til Monday? If not, I'm not sure I would wait, as you did say this has been going on a few days. Each day you wait that doesn't show improvement is not a good sign.

I doubt that the cookie had anything to do with it. Sparky would have had to ingest a fair amount of chocolate to even have caused vomiting, there isn't enough in a few m&m's to have caused GI tract upset. Could he have gotten into something else? Has he been having normal bowel movements? If not, don't wait, get him to another vet as soon as possible.

[k9Karen]

I doubt the tiny amount of milk chocolate left in the cookie pieces would be enough to do any harm.

This could be almost anything, or nothing at all.

Some thoughts:

You don't mention how old he is. Is he an older dog? If so, does he show any signs of arthritis - taking longer to get up from lying down, more reluctant to jump up on the furniture, etc.? Sometimes when a dog appears listless he is feeling pain somewhere. Arthritis is common in dogs, and can set in early in some. Weather front just come through with a major change in the weather? That's how I found out my Angel had hip dysplasia. Soon after I adopted her, she was acting listless - the drastic change in the barometric pressure made her ache and she was very listless. (I'm not suggesting your dog has hip dysplasia, the same type of achiness can be weather-related with arthritis).

Another possibility is that he's 'pulled something' - a sore muscle or tendon that's causing him to be less active. Have you felt "all over" - moving joints and pressing to see if he responds as though he's in pain?

Does he have a fever?

Any change in your household? Somebody visiting; somebody left? Dogs can be very sensitive to change and also to the moods of the people they live with. Is someone experiencing any kind of unusual stress or distress? New baby or other pet?

Critters - any chance there are 'wild things' nearby that he can smell and may be disturbing him (bears, cougars, wild dogs, etc.)?

I'm sure others will come up with other possibilities - like with small children who can't talk, all we have to go on is our gut instinct. If you can't figure it out, I agree with you that it's a good idea to have the vet take a look at him.

Hope he feels better soon.

[Sue and Kids]

k9Karen,

It seems like a coincidence to read your post. I took Sparky for a short walk this afternoon after my first post. To answer your question, the vet's best guess (we adopted him from our shelter) is 6 years old.

I noticed that he had a hard time getting up our (sadly) too many steps from the ground to our deck. It seemed that his back legs had very little strength. This is the first time I've seen this, and I've walked him several times. The listlessness happened a couple days before. Normally, like about four days ago, he could run and bounce for a dog treat about three feet high. He ran all over the house with his favorite dog toy. Is it possible that he could have developed arthritis so quickly (much less hip dysplasia)? There have been no other changes. The weather has been a beautiful warm Indian Summer for over a week.

Traci, I haven't seen him have a bowel movement when I walked him today, but on nice days like today we put him on a long rope so he has a fairly big area to walk around the house. He might have had a bowel movement during the day out there that we might not have seen.

Well, I'll quit my post here and go downstairs and John and I will feel him over. Wish us luck.

Sue

[k9Karen]

It sounds to me like he might have a back injury (or something in the hips). It could be something serious, or simply a pulled muscle. Try to keep him quiet until you can get him to the vet. If he is indeed demonstrating a weakness in the hindquarters, it would be best to have him checked out ASAP.

[Cindy]

Have him tested for Lyme's disease. My dog has it but hasn't shown any symptoms. Arthritis is the common symptom. I've been watching for signs and sometimes his hind end does seem weak, but 99% of the time he's fine. My dog is a JRT, too