[crawmer8]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum. I have a 7 1/2 year old female Yorkie, Paris, who's been pretty sick this weekend. We "think" we have in narrowed down to a back problem, but I wanted to see what you guys think.

Some history: I've owned her for about 3-4 years, since we adopted her from a breeding kennel. For about the last year she's started having these "episodes", mostly at night, where she will tremble and pant like crazy. I took her to the vet and she could find nothing wrong with her. We suspected low blood sugar, so I tried to give her extra food at night, or nutra-cal if she had a bout. The military vet thought it could be seizures, but it didn't look that way to me. Also maybe anxiety as some dogs in the neighborhood have had it due to some small explosions that have been going off (orchards scaring away birds) lately. The episodes were 1-2 times a month at first, but recently had increased to maybe 1-2 times a week.

Oh and she's been hard to potty train, and strangest of all, sometimes she will be laying in my lap on the couch and will pee on me. It's as if she has no idea she's even doing it - it just comes out. I've suspected that was due to a health problem, but wasn't sure. I've been trying to get her in to the base vet for tests and teeth cleaning, but hadn't been able to yet.

Then on Friday she began having and episode and it got VERY bad and did not go away. She also had no appetite and wasn't pottying or drinking much. She was obviously in a lot of pain and distress, so Saturday I took her to the vet. He did a full blood workup and x-rays, and found nothing wrong with her, except that her teeth needed cleaning. He thought she was having pain from the teeth, so he gave her an antibiotic and I was going to take her in this week to get cleaned. (I'd been trying for months to get her in to the base vet for cleaning, with no luck.) We also suspected a gastrointestinal upset, since she had been in the kennel a few days previously, and I had forgotten to take her food for her.

Well by Sunday she was even worse, so I took her to the ER vet. The did all the same tests, and found that her "pipes" were very clogged up. He gave her an enema and she immediately started feeling better. BUT by Monday AM she was distressed and anorexic again, so back to the vet we went. This time I asked him to check her urine, which he did. He suspected either kidney stones or back pain, as she is very tense in her abdomen and hesitant to jump around or even go over the back door threshold.

He took a urine sample and gave her a pain shot and pain pills. He also told me NOT to let her jump around, even if she wants to because the pain meds are working, as it could cause more damage. Well after the shot took effect she was a new dog! NO more trembling or panting and she had her appetite back. She was good all night, until about 10:00 this morning, when , I assume, the shot wore off. Then it was back to as before - shaking, panting and not eating.

I gave her the pill and within an hour she was good again. So definitely some pain going on - the question was, where. Then he called to say the urine was all good. So it must be her back, after all. So now we think we have the answer, the question is, what to expect next. And have other dogs with back problems had this history: intermittent pain that increases over time, occasional loss of bladder control, etc? And will she get better or worse? only time will tell, I guess.

I'd love some input from other Yorkie owners. I am a long-time Cocker Spaniel owner - I've had nothing but Cockers for 30 years (used to breed them) - until one of my (adult) kids got this little Yorkie and I fell in love with her! My daughter soon discovered that she actually doesn't like dogs (must take after her dad), and that they aren't just cute little stuffed animals, and so Paris became mine. I actually discovered I liked this breed more than Cockers in some ways. (So much easier to groom! And I can carry her around like a baby, which I can't do with my fat old Cocker!) And I certainly love this little dog, as bad as she can be sometimes! (She is a chicken and duck killer!) So I want to know how to best care for her, but I'm not as familiar with the health problems of Yorkies as I am with Cocker concerns. I've read about it, but not experienced it yet like I have with my Cockers over the years, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Kim