[sarahcals]

Hi everyone,

I found this forum while searching the internet for information on what may be going on with my sweet 5-month old yorkie, Violet. I'm sorry my first post is such a depressing one, but everyone here seems so knowledgable about yorkies that I'm hoping someone might be able to offer some insight.

Until about 10 days ago, Violet was a healthy, hyper, sweet puppy. Ten days ago, she started throwing up so violently that I rushed her to the animal hospital here in DC. She was treated with fluids and pepcid, and some tests were done. She was also put on a special low-residue prescription food. She was sent home and I was told to bring her back right away if she had another vomiting episode. She was just fine for several days. Then, on 2/13, she had another severe vomiting episode that lasted about 2 hours. I took her back to the animal hospital. All in all, she threw up about 20 times, first her food and then foam and bile. She had been perfectly fine that morning, ate her lunch around noon, then started vomiting around 3:30. They admitted her for the night, did x-rays, did lots of blood work, etc. They could find nothing wrong with her, so concluded it was likely a virus. They told me to keep her on the prescription dog food, and gave me a liquid pepcid to give her twice a day.

She came home on the evening of Valentine's Day appearing a lot better. On Sunday, she slept a lot and wasn't very hungry, but didn't throw up at all. She would not eat the prescription dog food anymore, so I started feeding her boiled chicken with lots of water added in. Monday morning she seemed to be doing very well, and I thought we were in the clear. But Monday afternoon the vomiting started up again, pretty much just electric green and then yellow bile. She only threw up a couple of times, and was willing to drink some water and eat some nutrical and honey, so I did not take her to the vet. On Tuesday, she again was pretty good in the morning... she wanted to play a little, wanted to snuggle, seemed less tired... She ate and kept down breakfast and lunch. She had dinner (boiled chicken and rice) around 6:15, and kept it down until about 9:30, when it all came back up. She refused to eat again, but I figured we'd try again in the morning. She did drink a little water, and just wanted to go to bed. Around 3 am I woke up because I could hear her vomiting in her crate - all yellow liquid. I called the vet (they are a 24/7 animal hospital) and made an 8am appt. for that morning (Wed.). We went in and the vet was very concerned that this was still going on. We had been thinking it was a virus, but the waxing and waning and the extended time period made the vet suspect a partial bowel obstruction that hadn't shown up on the x-rays. They did some more blood work to rule out all sorts of problems. By then, they had ruled out pancreatitis, Addison's disease, liver problems, including a shunt, kidney problems... and probably some other things I'm forgetting right now.

They kept her for the day yesterday and observed her. The vet confirmed what I've already said, that she just wasn't acting like a normal puppy. She told me that because Violet is old enough to be spayed, they could perform a surgery, spay her, and then check her intestines for obstructions. This was an alternative to an expensive barium series, in an effort to save me money, since I'd be paying for her to be spayed in a few weeks anyway.

It was an agonizing decision. I didn't want to put her through surgery right now, but if she did have an obstruction, it was only going to get worse as it moved further down and her intestines narrowed. She spent last night at home and had the surgery this morning. Last night was BAD. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't lick any honey off my finger (and honey is her favorite). She didn't even want to sit with me - she just went into her crate and layed there with her eyes open. Her eyes were very glassy. This morning she threw up again, yellow bile.

The vet just called. No obstruction. The vet said her intestines are very irritated and "angry" and her lymph nodes are swollen (though Violet does not have a fever at all). So we are back to the "really bad virus" theory. They did take some biopsies of her intestines and sent them off for testing. They also put a tube down her nose and gave her some amino acids to help her intestines heal. They are keeping her at least until tomorrow morning, or until she shows some interest in food again. The vet said she feels very strongly that this is a virus that just needs to run its course, and that Violet will make a full recovery. But I am scared for her. It is going to kill me to see her with a tube down her nose when I go visit her tonight.

Has anyone ever dealt with a situation like this, a mystery virus that has lasted such a long time? I am terrified for Violet - she has lost 7 oz. of body weight - she was up to 4 lb. 12 oz. and is down to 4 lb. 5 oz. as of yesterday morning. She has probably even lost more by today. I can feel all her bones when I pet her, and it's scary. I just want to know that she is going to be ok. Though it was killing me to think I had let her swallow something that caused an obstruction, it is worse to have no idea what is causing this. She is the sweetest little girl, and has brought such joy to my life over the past couple of months. I feel very helpless. And this is all taking quite a toll on me emotionally - I am going to have to miss my brother's wedding next week because I can't leave her, and I'm devastated. Between worrying about her and worrying about missing his wedding, I can hardly sleep at night.

I'm sorry this is so incredibly long. I'm hoping someone will respond that they went through something similar and their little sweetheart eventually recovered and is now healthy.

Thanks in advance for any advice.