I took Pixie to the er vet tonight.
 

Pixie has been acting strange for close to 2 weeks now. She started not wanting to be confined to the back end of the house. I use a little gate to keep them all in the back where we are. If we go to the front of the house they go with. If we are gone they stay in the back. I have never had a problem. Pixie started 2 weeks ago getting scared of the thunder storms for the first time ever. Then last week she kept acting like she needed to go out to pee but wouldn't go out. I took her to my vet and they did a urinalysis and said she may have the start of a UTI. They put her on an antibiotic. That was Friday. Now she goes crazy if she can't lay on the other side of the gate. Today she started barking and crying even though she was on the other side of the fence. I let her outside 4 times in an hour and she wouldn't settle down. I called my vet near closing time and they said take her to the ER to check for bladder stones. 3 hours, an ultrasound and xrays later they can find nothing wrong with her. They gave me Tramadol for pain but no one knows what pain she is in. I am so frustrated at not being able to find out what is bothering her. I bought a Thundershirt today and put it on and she settled down for 2 minutes and then was back to acting strange. Please keep Pixie in your prayers to get over what ever it is that is causing her to act like this. Thanks

Oh I hope she feels better soon. It is so hard when you don't know whats wrong.

I'm so sorry, Patti. I understand why you are so worried about Pixie, and I will pray for both Pixie and you. You are so loving and such a wonderful mom. I hope you find the cause of Pixie's behavior and that she gets well very quickly. She's a little doll.

OMGosh Patti! What is up with Pixie? Is there anything in your house above or below or adjacent to the area where she becomes fearful, like any appliances that may doing something abnormal? water heater, washer/dryer/fridge? Maybe lay down on the floor and have a look-see from her point of view? Maybe something fell in a closet that she now fears? Anything on the outside of that area? It sounds like she's sensing something....

There was an earthquake in Southern Illinois yesterday, June 7... looks like some storms coming your way by Friday...

I know this is so frustrating. Hope nothing is seriously wrong with Pixie. My daughter's furbaby Cole acts the same way when he is spooked about things. He has anxiety with storms. High pitched noises affect him the same way. The ding sound on microwaves, washer/dryers, alarms, etc. We couldn't figure out what was wrong one day & finally realized my dh's cell phone had a beep to alert him for msgs.

Could there be anything like that to possibly have spooked Pixie? Hope she is better soon & this is all figured out.

Gosh, I wish I had answers for you. I feel so bad for you and Pixie. I really thought you would find something out when you took her in tonight. I've googled and googled, and not coming up with anything. I'm praying this somehow goes away and she'll be back to normal. Hugs to you!

Ohhhh I am so sorry!! It is heartbreaking when we don't know exactly what is wrong.... wish they could just come out and tell us!!
Keeping you in my prayers and hoping for a speedy recovery/diagnosis.... etc.

Oh poor Pixie:( Sending prayers that what ever is bother Pixie gets sorted out soon. It is so frustrating when you know something is wrong and you and the vets can't figure it out. Bless her heart I know it is so hard to see her so anxious.

aww poor Pixie, dont ya hate it when you just cant figure out whats going on? Cricket acts that way if a fly gets into the house. I hope you get it figured out soon. hugs and prayers for Pixie.

so sorry Pixie is having these issues....:confused: How frustrating when you know something is bothering her and you cant figure it out...much less, fix it!! Sending prayers for you to get to the root of it! :)

I hope Pixie is doing better soon. It's difficult when our little ones aren't themselves. Sending hugs and prayers for you both.

sending prayers and positive thoughts for you and pixie. i know you must be going crazy not knowing what is wrong with her. i am sorry you're going through this with her. i really hope she is all better soon!

So sorry to hear Pixie is not doing well. I'm sorry, I have no advice. Will keep Pixie and you in my prayers.

I'm sorry to hear Pixie hasn't improved, Patti.

Is there anything new in the house? A new piece of furniture, a new rug, anything at all? Or something new in the yard?

Did the vet do full body xrays to look at her spine and joints?

Has she been eating well? Normal BM's?

How old is she?

Did the Tramadol seem to help any last night?

I'm sorry to hear that Pixie is not feeling well. I hope that she is feeling better this morning.

I was reading your post and something caught my eye. You use a little gate. My little Emmie is scared to death of the baby gate. Everything was fine until my daughter let it fall. It did not hit Emmie but she doesn't want anything to do with it. She will go out of her way to stay away from it.
This is just a thought. Maybe the gate got dropped and the noise scared her.

I do hope she is feeling better.

Patti doesn't live in Southern IL..........she is way north probably 7 or 8 hours by car.

So how old is Pixie? I'm not sure what to think of what has been going on with your little girl. I'm wondering if you took a really good look all over her body to see if there is something that might be causing her pain. Her collar, a knot, little sticker? :confused:

Patti I'm so sorry about Pixie. I know how frustrating this must be for you. Keeping your little girl in my prayers.

I'm so sorry about Pixie. I hope the source of her discomfort is discovered soon. Sending thoughts & prayers.

Hope You can find out what is making Pixie afraid. Racking my brain for other stories I have heard about this kind of thing. KJC covered almost everything I thought of. Keep us updated. Prayers and hugs

Sorry to hear Pixie is not herself. Could one of your other dogs done something to scare her. My Tessie is very nervous and easily scared. Her thing now is to hide under the kitchen table on a chair because our new little girl Sassy picks on her. Hope you find the cause of her discomfort.

How frustrating for you, Patti. Sending prayers for Pixie that whatever is troubling her can be identified and fixed soon.

Thanks for all the support. I am trying hard not to panic. Pixie slept well last night. I did give her the tramadol though. First thing this morning she wanted to be on the other side of the gate. I don't think she is afraid of the gate as she sleeps right up against it on both sides. The vet did a very thorough manual exam and full body Xrays and an ultrasound. She has her yearly blood work last month and all was good. Her Xrays showed no back/spine issues, no stones, FB etc. She had a lot of gas/air in her tummy but he said since she has been panting that could be why. Her bladder looked small (normal) lungs, heart etc normal. The only thing that showed up was a slight rt hip degeneration. She is eating normally and pooping normally. But not as enthusiastic about eating and treats as usual. Yesterday and today I saw her bite at her but and then scratch her belly but that isn't really that unusual. I left early to do my volunteer day at the shelter and I came back early to check on her. I left the gate open and put another little animal ex pen up so she could stay where she has been wanting to but not go into the rest of the house. My husband said she was acting pretty normal and spent some time on both sides of the gate. Since I have been home she has been on the other side of the gate and not coming back by me and the rest of the dogs. I don't have a clue what is going on. I am thinking of getting them some type of special chew to see if that distracts her. I have a couple with sensitive tummies so any suggestions on what type of chews may be good? Thanks

Did she get the Tramadol this morning?

Unfortunately, disc issues don't exactly show up on xray. It really doesn't sound like that is the problem anyway, but it always has to be a concern when they are acting strange and painful. She isn't stretching more than usual or laying in odd positions, reluctance to jump or climb, right?

Did they run bloodwork?

My little Cricket had sensitive tummy issues since a young dog. She would act like she was in pain, the only thing that would show was air in intestines. I eventually went to boiled chicken and rice for quite some time. The vet would give short-term pain meds to get her through it.

I'm not sure that is what is going on, but I thought I'd put it out there.

I will continue to keep her and mommy in my prayers that it will pass or will get some answers.

I think it should be redone also. Can't hurt and you don't want to miss anything.

When they act weird and painful, along with the back, the intestines are the other concern. Something to talk to the vet about. Tramadol should theoretcially help the pain wherever it's coming from (for the most part).

I am sorry to hear that Pixie has been acting strange. I hope you and your vet can figure out what is bothering her. I will keep Pixie in my thoughts.

The other thing I'm thinking is this: She's feeling off, not 100%. Sometimes in multidog households, the other dogs may try to attack the one not feeling well. Don't know if you've witnessed that type of behavior, but I have. I would recommend that you assist her in any efforts she's making to isolate/protect herself (as you have by putting up the extra pen outside the gate for her), but I'm thinking maybe something a little more secure, like a spare room with the door closed so the other dogs cannot get to her. At least until you discover what's going on with her. This may sound drastic, but it's worth doing.

How is she when it's just you and her together?

I just noticed blood work was done a month ago. You might want to have some blood work repeated. Things can change in a month, especially if there is an acute process going on.

Just a thought with the air in the intestines, a pancreatitis test - it could be early onset. (It is a blood test)

I don't know anything about how they diagnose disc problems in canines. Crystal says they're not always seen on x-ray. I'm not sure what tests it does show on in vet med?