We are at wits end with our Yorkie Kassie?

[sashajade]

im sorry to hear your little one is ill.
have you tried doing a video of her when shes doing it to show your vet?
there is a site that im a member of that has a vet who you can ask stuff to for free.
its www.alfieslostterriers.com
hope you find out soon whats wrong.

[hartygirl]

I am so sorry that you and your yorkie are having to go through this. I can't even imagine how it must feel. However, I am happy you have found this forum, it has helped me in more ways than I can count. I pray that you find answers and that your baby finds peace.

[SandyTXn]

Originally Posted by sherrijmkassie

Hi Everyone, I just found this forum out of desperation in trying to diagnose what is wrong with out yorkie. Hopefully I am posting in the right place if not please accept my appologies.

My 8 year old yorkie Kassie has been sick off and on since June and still has not been correctly diagnosed. We have made 4 trips to the vet in the last two weeks alone. We know for sure she has food allegies and she was on antibiotics to clear up her itchy paws and has cream to clean her ears up. On top of that she was vomiting for a solid week and lost almost a whole lb. She has gone one whole week without being sick.

The problem is she is still being bothered by something and it is heartbreaking to watch . It is hard to describe but she acts like she just cant get comfortable. She will take off running through the house and it is like her feet are all going sideways. She drives her face into the bed, bathroom mat or whatever is closest. It comes and goes and she just acts all crazy like something is terrorizing her. Sometimes she will fetch up in the middle of one and just cry or whimper. She hides out in our closet pretty much all the time and doesnt even greet us at the door when we come home from work. Her appetite hasnt changed nor has her water intake. I probably havent done a great job explaining but if anyone has any suggestions we are desperate.

Thanks in advance
Sherri

Hi Sherri! WELCOME TO YORKIE TALK! I am really sorry to hear about your little Kassie. Our Dinkey boy is in the hospital right now with Pancreatitis. We were also at wits end as to what was wrong. We took him to our vet and she did blood work to check his pancreas enzyme levels and they were very very high. He was in the hospital for a week and his pancreas levels came down. He was eating and feeling wonderful or so we thought! We brought him home on a Wednesday late afternoon and he started vomiting again Thursday morning. We took him back to the vet and she sent us to a specialist for an ultrasound and to make a long story short our little fella had an abscess on his pancreas that had burst. He had emergency surgery last Thursday afternoon and they cleaned the abscessed area out and cut out 9 inches of his bowel. Before all of this he was eating fine, pooping fine, playing fine...all was good....until one morning he started throwing up. I agree to have a second opinion, but also check out the pancreas. Sounds to me like she is in pain also. Our vet told us that Dinkey had one of the highest pain tolerances she'd ever seen. He's a brut!!! LOL!!! I'm happy to report that he is doing much much better and we hope to have him home by the end of the week. Hang in there......don't give up! Keep the faith!

[sherrijmkassie]

Again thanks for everyone's replies. My husband is already off to the vet with her this morning. He is going to have the vet call me and I plan to ask her to do the bile acid test. Is it possible to be her age (8) and have LS without it ever being a problem? We dont have a vet school here but can travel 5 hours to take her to one. It is something we plan on doing if we dont get results today.


I am glad your dinkey boy is doing better Sandy , he sounds like a real trooper. I will update everyone later today once I know more.

We havent taken a video to the vet but it is an excellent idea , thanks.


Sherri

[Ellie May]

It is possible to be diagnosed with LS at 8 years old. Even more possible is MVD (Microvascular Dysplasia) which is tiny/microscopic shunts. If that is the case, the things that she is doing with her head is called Hepatic Encephalopathy. I believe those symptoms occur when the toxins aren't processed by the liver correctly and go to the brain. There is no cure for MVD but dogs can do well with supplements and a diet change. By the way, itching can be caused by the liver along with digestive upset (vomiting/diarrhea). Has she had any of these symptoms ever: UTI, vaccine reaction, picky eater, lethargic/depressed?

[sherrijmkassie]

She is very lethargic, put a little piglet when it comes to both eating and drinking. No vomiting other than a week ago for a solid week. She does have some diarhhea at times and it can be very dark at times. I so hope it isnt liver shunt or anything serious but at this point will be happy with a diagnosis of any kind so we can start to help her.


Thanks
Sherri

[spr377]

Welcome to YT, best wishes for Kassie and your family!

[yorkiesmiles]

Originally Posted by sherrijmkassie

We have had her to five vets since June and three of those vets got repeat visits too. I have another appointment for her tomorrow but hold little faith we are going to get any answers. It has been a frustrating four months. Our other yorkie Kenji lived to be 18 and never had any health issues. It is the worst feeling in the world to watch her and not be able to help.


Thanks

I'm wondering if the vets can't find any of the other conditions already suggested here by yters -- I'm wondering if you have taken her to an acupuncture vet?? Sometimes they can work miracles with our furbabies -- I had a miracle of my own.

I realize you are in Canada, but here is a link to my vet's site - this is actually a link to some case studies, a couple speak of allergy problems or kidney issues http://www.apvet.com/case.html

He has a lot of good general information about holistic care & accupuncture treatment, also he has links to finding an accupuncture clinic - here, I found this for you too that lists acupuncture vets in Canada http://www.ivas.org/members_search2_pub.cfm

Welcome to YT & yes, it's very addictive

[Buddy-licious]

First of all, welcome to YT...the best website ever!!! No advise for your sweet furbaby ...just my prayers!!!! Keep us posted!!!

[sherrijmkassie]

My husband just called. Once again they say it is food allergies. All her tests were fine other than when they swabbed her feet they were full of yeast. They put her on a dry dog food and made us promise not to give in and give her anything but for the next ten weeks. The vet said her feet were swollen and a real mess. I have been making homemade dog food that they suggested but apparently she was allergic to something in that as well. I so hope that we can stand tough and not give in to her over the next ten weeks and get her fixed up. It is hard to stop giving a dog treats and table food after 8 yrs.

I didnt expect them to say allergies again since she just finished taking antibiotics for 14 days to clean her feet up.

It is going to be so tough if she starts feeling better and bugs constantly for treats again. She is persistent and will stand at the treat door literally for hours squeaking at it.

Thank you wonderful ladies so much for all your help and advice, I will keep you updated.

Sherri

[yorkiesmiles]

Perhaps if she is begging for a treat, you can offer her pieces of the dog food, sometime, it's just habit when they want their treats -- although she may just let the food lay & look at you like you're not tricking me

If the food doesn't make a difference, then I would definitely look into acupuncture, because it can help. It's amazing what the treatments can do - I had a Bichon who had a stroke and was paralyzed on 1 side & I was going to have to let him go, when I found acupuncture and he got up & started walking after 2 treatments - he lived for almost 2 more yrs, a long life he had because of the treatments

[SevenGirl]

I hope she starts feeling better. You will have to keep us updated on how the new food does for her.

[sherrijmkassie]

I will definitely check out all your suggestions if she isnt better after we starve her for the next ten weeks lol. Seriously she is so head strong we are going to have our hands full. I can just picture her leaving the food for a week and making me worry she isnt eating.

Thx

[Buddy-licious]

Poor baby!!!! I hope she feels better soon!!!! Thanks for the update....keep us posted!!!

[Ellie May]

To be honest, those symptoms with her doing what she is doing with her head are not a good sign and I would not wait ten weeks to figure out what it is. The itching could be allergies but there is obviously another problem going on here with what you describe.

What kind of dry food have they put her on?