Acting weird...

[dryoasis88]

So I should preface this with the following two facts:
1. It snowed today and Hepburn hates snow
2. Hepburn, despite being a boy, is a drama queen

Hepburn has been acting strange since I took him out for his morning walk. We only went out for 3 minutes and then he didn't want to walk anymore (due to the 2 inches of snow on every surface). I decided not to push it, the sidewalks would be cleared in a few hours and we could take a walk then. Now he is holding his head funny, down, as if he is always looking at the floor. He doesn't want to cuddle or play and when I gave him a treat, he picked his head up, took the train and then screeched at me like I hurt him. He also screeched at the box from Amazon that came today like it hit him, even though it didn't come close to him. A few weeks ago, he screeched a few times when I wasn't touching him and he had a limp for a few days. The vet said it was just a strain and ordered rest and some pain meds. He has been fine though for over a week.

He also has some matting around his face from a new harness I got him (I went back to the old one because I hated the matting!) and he won't let me remove it, even just with the scissors.

Has anyone had their dog act like this before? He is sleepy a lot and when he does walk around, it is like he can't get comfortable. He is currently sleeping against my body on the couch. The vet is open today only until noon (it is 12:37 here right now) and then again from 4-7pm. Should I call out of work for this afternoon to take him? Or go tomorrow morning when I have off?

[dryoasis88]

And now that a dog is walking by our building, he is up and running about, head up, no screeching... Can I call drama queen?

[rubymoon2072]

honestly my thought is it may be something neurological but im no vet and only you know ur drama queen best..hehe so i would go with your gut feeling.

[Verbena]

I would say the same thing. Go what you feel

[dryoasis88]

Thanks for the support, that was my feeling too. He tends to get stiff when it is cold outside anyways, so I am going to see how he is in the morning. He is still sleeping, but he was also up and playing for a bit, so he is acting more "normal". I have to take him to the vet in the morning anyways because I noticed (in inspecting his head and neck carefully) that his one eye has some discharge that is abnormal. I can ask the vet then what he thinks since I am already heading out for a visit. I will let you all know what he says!

[bobohyde]

How old is Hepburn? When my Columbo was 4, he started walking around with his head down. Almost like he had a stiff neck or neck injury. Sometimes, he would shiver in pain and cry when I picked him up. Sometimes he would wince when I put his harness on. This would only last a short time and then go away. Sometimes massaging his neck made it go away after a bit. I couldn't tie it to anything (like a certain time of day, after sleeping, etc.) I took him to the vet and they took xrays. They really couldn't find anything, except possibly a very slight disc problem that might be causing a bit of arthritis. I later had the xrays evaluated by a second vet years later and he said the same thing. Ok, so the first vet gave him rimadyl and that helped a lot. However, there are bad long term side effects to rimadyl, such as liver failure, so we didn't want him on it as a maintenance drug. We started giving him Dasuquin with MSM every day. It took about 2 months to kick in, but it worked. He is now 9. It is rare to see him with his head down now. Rarely, he will slightly wince when I put on his harness. Dasuquin is a chewable tablet which contains glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM. The MSM has mild pain relieving properties. He takes 1/2 tablet of the small dog chewables each day and thinks it is a treat. There are 150 in the bottle, so by cutting them in half, it lasts almost a year. If you read about Dasuquin on Yorkie Talk, you we see many members use it and also think it is a miracle worker. You also will only read good things about it in online reviews. It lubes up the joints and helps with cartilage. It is great for Yorkie knee issues, too. I hope your baby doesn't have anything serious. If it is something like what Columbo has, I would recommend you get him on Dasuquin.

[dryoasis88]

Originally Posted by bobohyde

How old is Hepburn? When my Columbo was 4, he started walking around with his head down. Almost like he had a stiff neck or neck injury. Sometimes, he would shiver in pain and cry when I picked him up. Sometimes he would wince when I put his harness on. This would only last a short time and then go away. Sometimes massaging his neck made it go away after a bit. I couldn't tie it to anything (like a certain time of day, after sleeping, etc.) I took him to the vet and they took xrays. They really couldn't find anything, except possibly a very slight disc problem that might be causing a bit of arthritis. I later had the xrays evaluated by a second vet years later and he said the same thing. Ok, so the first vet gave him rimadyl and that helped a lot. However, there are bad long term side effects to rimadyl, such as liver failure, so we didn't want him on it as a maintenance drug. We started giving him Dasuquin with MSM every day. It took about 2 months to kick in, but it worked. He is now 9. It is rare to see him with his head down now. Rarely, he will slightly wince when I put on his harness. Dasuquin is a chewable tablet which contains glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM. The MSM has mild pain relieving properties. He takes 1/2 tablet of the small dog chewables each day and thinks it is a treat. There are 150 in the bottle, so by cutting them in half, it lasts almost a year. If you read about Dasuquin on Yorkie Talk, you we see many members use it and also think it is a miracle worker. You also will only read good things about it in online reviews. It lubes up the joints and helps with cartilage. It is great for Yorkie knee issues, too. I hope your baby doesn't have anything serious. If it is something like what Columbo has, I would recommend you get him on Dasuquin.

This is exactly how he is! He just turned 3 last month. He winces with the harness (I thought it was the matting which is why I was keen to remove it. He just appears to have a stiff neck, nothing else. This is the first time he has had this, although I did notice last winter that he would be stiff getting up and take a bit to really get moving. Can I get Dasuquin over the counter? I would like to start him on it now so he can get feeling better. He is a drama queen and I think he makes a big deal out of it when he is just a little off (since we have had lots of runs to the vet when he is fine) but since all of his symptoms match what you said, I think it is worth a try. Are there any side effects from Dasuquin?

[gracielove]

I would take him to another vet that will do some tests on your dog. He has a problem and i don't think it is "drama.' Sadly, dogs cannot tell us exactly what is bothering them and it takes some investigation to pinpoint some issues. I have a very hard time with vets that guess at the problem and send a pet home with a medication when they are unsure of what the actual issue is.

[jeane]

I would take him in also

[bobohyde]

Originally Posted by dryoasis88

This is exactly how he is! He just turned 3 last month. He winces with the harness (I thought it was the matting which is why I was keen to remove it. He just appears to have a stiff neck, nothing else. This is the first time he has had this, although I did notice last winter that he would be stiff getting up and take a bit to really get moving. Can I get Dasuquin over the counter? I would like to start him on it now so he can get feeling better. He is a drama queen and I think he makes a big deal out of it when he is just a little off (since we have had lots of runs to the vet when he is fine) but since all of his symptoms match what you said, I think it is worth a try. Are there any side effects from Dasuquin?

Yes, Dasuquin is over the counter. I buy it online as I can usually save money. I don't think it has any side effects. Be sure to get the one with MSM. They make it without MSM also and the labels look the same. It is a good joint supplement to take even if his issue is something else. I still think you should take him to the vet to rule out anything serious. Also, there is nothing wrong with rimadyl now and then. I keep some on hand and if he seems to be having a bad day, I will give him one, but that is usually only once a year, if that. Also, an old pet (13, 14, etc.) can benefit from maintenance on rimadyl and they will probably die of old age before they would have liver damage on it. We just didn't think it was a good thing for a 4 year old to take every day.

[bobohyde]

Originally Posted by gracielove

I would take him to another vet that will do some tests on your dog. He has a problem and i don't think it is "drama.' Sadly, dogs cannot tell us exactly what is bothering them and it takes some investigation to pinpoint some issues. I have a very hard time with vets that guess at the problem and send a pet home with a medication when they are unsure of what the actual issue is.

I just wanted to clarify with Columbo. The vet did see a tiny bit of arthritis between two discs in his neck. He said that he (the vet) had the same in his own foot, but he didn't feel it, but that everyone (including dogs) reacts differently to pain and what bothers one may not bother another. So along with his physical, bloodwork and xrays, he determined it was the cause and that is why he prescribed the rimadyl. I switched vets a couple years later and had the new one look over his xrays as well and he was in agreement with the first vet about arthritis. There were a few things that bothered me about the first vet, though, and prescribing rimadyl as a maintenance drug to a 4 yr old dog was one of them and added to the reasons I switched vets a few years later. My husband and I had to find out the bad side effects of rimadyl ourselves on the internet.

[gracielove]

I have had to deal with arthritis in a dog in the past. It is a progressively degenerative disease. Your guy may be having more severe symptoms when he moves certain ways or if he over does some movement. If he has degeneration in the neck it would be very easy for him to stress the vertebra in that area and cause swelling around the nerves and connective tissue. The anti inflammatory will help some but it can be hard on their stomach.

My little guy could not take the most common supplements for arthritis. It almost killed him when we first tried the combination supplement.

Being an arthritis sufferer myself I can tell you that some days are better than others. There are a lot of variables as far as the pain threshold. It would seem that if your guy is looking down at times he may have stressed the area that is effected with arthritis. I can testify it really hurts.

[Ellie May]

The first day or teo of a problem most vets aren't going to run up hundreds in xrays, esp. if the can't isolate the area of pain. Now it has been weeks. He should be seen today. His legs and spine/neck need to be looked at, a neuro exam done, probably neck xrays, etc. This is not normal. I would not wait.

[lillymae]

I agree, this is nothing to guess about & NEEDS to be taken seriously. There are conditions yorkies are prone to that can start to appear at just this age & without prompt & proper treatment can be life threatening. Also I would NOT give any over the counter pain meds without the ok from your vet.

[LILBIT1]

You should take him to the vet