Beanie can't chew her food and is very lethargic
 

Hi all, I am hoping someone can help me. I did take her to the vet today, but she doesn't know what is wrong either. I took Beanie up to my friend's fenced in yard on Sunday afternoon to run around and she ate EVERYTHING, leaves, grass, flowers, sticks, bugs etc., etc. Yes, I tried to stop her, but you all know how fast our Yorkies are. She has a blast running around and being a DOG, so I love to take her up there.

Anyway, she conked out early Sunday night and didn't budge all night, didn't even want to get up on Mon. a.m. I had to get her out of bed. I tried to give her a little crunchy treat and she couldn't chew it, she just kept spitting it out and trying to eat it again. She wouldn't drink any water or even chew on ice (which she LOVES). I thought I would take her out and get some fresh air, but she didn't want to walk either. She was extremely lethargic. I took her home and fed her, but she had a really hard time trying to eat the food, and after she ate it she kept opening and shutting her mouth like she was trying to get something out of it. She did this on and off all day and night.

I called the woman I got her from and she asked me a bunch of questions to see if I should take her to the animal ER, but she thought I would be fine until this a.m. I took her to the vet and she examined her body, looked in her mouth, etc., and couldn't find anything wrong. I even brought a little crunchy treat so she could see how Beanie tried to chew it. She ended up giving her a fluid injection (because Beanie hadn't had any water since yesterday) and a Pepsid injection. She seemed to think she may have eaten something that made her sick. I tried to explain to her that she wasn't SICK, she wasn't puking, her poop was fine, she was peeing, it was more like her tongue or something in her mouth was hurting. She won't even lick me, which she ALWAYS licks me, she is a total licker dog. She won't take the ice or lick the spoon or anything that she normally does.

I had to go our for awhile today and I had my landlord stay with her and when I came home she actually seemed better, wanted to play with the ball (which she couldn't keep in her mouth yesterday). But now she is conked out on my lap again.

I am so distraught, I don't know what to do, she is doing the opening and shutting thing of her mouth again and again and she is looking at me with scared eyes, like please help me!!

The woman I got her from suggested I get children's Benadryl and try and give her that, that maybe she ate something and had an allergic response in her mouth, so I am going to try it.

I feel like going to the vet was a total waste of time and money, although I guess the fluid shot was a good thing, but I can get water in her by mushing her food and adding a lot of water to it.

Anyway, has anyone else had this experience? Do you all have any suggestions? I am so afraid that something is really wrong with her mouth or tongue and she will end up with an infection.

By the way, I just fed her and she is all hunched over with her tail down and she is shaking. This is what happens after I feed her.

Pleas help!!

Did she maybe crack a tooth or get something stuck in her tooth, tongue or gums? It sounds like she might be in pain.....:confused: Maybe try another vet and get a second opinion!

Did you or the vet look in her mouth?

First, get another vet.

Second, I agree - check out her mouth really well. Several times. Something is in her mouth and is bothering her. Is it possible she was stung by a bee?

Sorry you are having to watch your baby feel like this and feel helpless. Take a deep breath and start calmly searching her mouth..slowly..inside cheeks, around and between teeth, and tongue. If you can't figure it out..get her to another vet.

Did the vet check her for pancreatitis?

With her acting that way after eating I would check further for tummy issues. I hope he feels better soon,

Could she have cut her tongue or the inside of her cheek with something she ate? See if she will let you take a look. Hope she feels better.

Hi guys, yes, I checked her mouth, the vet checked her mouth. She isn't my normal vet at this place, he wasn't in.

I gave her some of the Benadryl and she conked out. She then woke up and seemed fine, so we went for a little walk. When we came home, she sneaked past the gate and got to the bag of garbage and got out a spare rib bone and ran around the house with it. I bribed her with a raw, semi frozen patty thinking I could get the spare rib bone AND the patty. I miscalculated. She grabbed the freakin patty and ran around with THAT in her mouth trying to eat it. I sneaked up on her to try and get it out of her mouth and she swallowed it whole.

She is now conked on the couch. I am hoping that the Benadryl is what worked and calmed down whatever was going on in her mouth because she appears to be o.k. now. Either that or the lure of the bone and then the patty overrided everything, but the food didn't work earlier.

I guess I will know tomorrow when we get up and see how she is. Based upon her behavior tonight after the Benadryl, she appears to be back to her little monster (OH GOD PLEASE MAKE THAT BE TRUE - I WILL NEVER COMPLAIN AGAIN ABOUT HER) self.

Anyway, I will post tomorrow and if she isn't any better, I am going to call the vet's office and see her regular vet.

They are fast, aren't they? I'm glad she feels better. If not, I agree with you about letting your reg. vet see her.

Checking in for an update... hope she's doing well today.

Hi, actually no she isn't. I cried my eyes out this morning (not in front of her). She wouldn't even finish her breakfast. I give her some greek yougurt in the a.m. with her fish oil in it. I put a lot of water in it to try and get some water into her because she won't drink any water or chew any ice. She is SUCH a food pig and for her not to finish shows me there is something wrong,

I have her in work with me so I can watch her. She is totally lethargic and her mouth stinks. My dog does not have a smelly mouth, so I know something has to be going on. She also keeps opening and closing her mouth over and over and kind of makes a sound in her throat. She did lick me a tiny bit this morning, but again that is not her. She is a big time licker and she licks me up and down my arms every morning.

I know the vet said to wait a couple of days, but I really don't want to. What do I ask/demand they do to find out? Blood work, x-rays? I am at a loss to know what to do and it is breaking my heart because she just looks at me with these sad eyes.

Anyway, thanks for the support.

I am sorry but I would have my baby at the vet and I would tell the vet, "If I was a vet, I wuldnt need to bother you with this, but I CAN tell you there is something major wrong with my dog and YOU need to find out what is going on before she dies on me. If YOU cant come up with what the problem is, then I need to go find a vet that can help us." I would NOT be calm when I told him this!

Bloodwork and xrays would be a good place to start. Dehydration can be deadly by itself, so if she's dehydrated the vet can at least put her on IV fluids, or SubQ fluids depending on the severity. If it's not a tooth causing the smell, something may be stuck in her throat or further down... this should show up on an xray. I would not wait too long to have her checked out. (That means I'd go right away)

Praying for you both...

Poor little girl. I would maybe get a different vet to look at her and then if they don't find anything ask for certain tests. My vet always says the owner knows there baby better then anyone. Keeping her in my prayers.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I bet its a tooth

Hi guys, I just got back from the vet. She did a COMPLETE workup, bloodwork, x-rays, another thorough mouth exam. Nothing. Everything is completely normal. On paper, she looks perfectly healthy. They gave her another fluid injection, more Pepcid and told me to give her a bland diet or plain baby food for awhile. She said that if anything was wrong with her tongue, gums, etc., they would be swollen. I again told her about the opening the mouth over and over and kind of sticking out her neck and making the noise. And she is eating very gingerly, like SOMETHING hurts. The vet is at a total loss and said they could knock her out and scope her to see if something is stuck, but that would just irritate her even more. I have to call her tomorrow and let her know how Beanie is. She also said she could send me to someone one else to see if they had any ideas.

I talked to the breeder a couple of times today and she said that maybe Beanie DOES have some kind of cut or something and it is irritating her. I mean, there is nothing else I can DO. Oh, they also did another Lyme test on her and that was negative. EVERYTHING is negative, yet something is freakin wrong. The vet said her stinky breath might be that her stomach is irritated and it is making her breath stink.

I am so upset, I mean I am really glad that nothing showed up like her kidneys, etc., but I still don't have any answers as to what is wrong with my baby. I feel like a big baby myself over this dog.

Anyway, I guess I just have to wait it out and see if she gets better, maybe whatever is bothering her WILL get better and this will all be a really bad memory!!

One of my dogs just recovered from something called a retrobulbar abscess. The early symptoms were about the same. It can be caused by anything from a broken tooth to getting something stuck in the roof of the mouth. Our vet didn't see anything in the mouth, but there must have been something there because she didn't have a tooth issue. A tell tale sign is if she has pain on opening her mouth wide. Within a day or two she had swelling under and around her eye. I only thought of this because you talked about your dog running around in the yard eating leaves and stuff. Even a small piece of a leaf stuck there can cause this kind of an abscess. It's at least a direction to think about. You can read up on it. There is a lot on the net about it.

Diana and the Scoobster

I did have a beagle that was fetching and when he grabbed the stick and started running with it, he tripped and jabbed that stick down his throat....he scratched the roof of his mouth, all the way down the back of his throat with that stick...nothing broke off in there, but he had a very sore throat and roof of his mouth for aweek or so....he was acting alot like your baby is described as acting....

She tried to gingerly lick my legs tonight, but just couldn't do it. I think that is why her mouth stinks. I know this will sound gross, BUT because she licks so much, all the bacteria is basically scraped off. It is just like a human that scrapes their tongues (God that word looks funny). She hasn't been licking anything like she usually does so her tongue has a ton of bacteria on it.

On a much better note, even though she was exhausted from being poked and prodded again at the vet, when I took her home, she ate the baby food and then wanted to play with her rubber ball. She was able to keep it in her mouth and not have to put it down. She ran around a bit, SO maybe whatever is going on in her mouth (and I KNOW it is something in her mouth) is getting better???

If and when (I am saying when) I swear I will NEVER complain about her being too hyper. I was so mad at her over the weekend for being such a little monster because the weather was so awful and we couldn't go out, I had to throw the ball for HOURS. I will never, ever get mad at her again. I just want my little monster back!!!

As long as she is able and willing to eat and drink I think it would be okay to wait, but check her mouth daily for any new signs or lumps. If she starts acting worse, I'd get her back in for the scope, or even take her to a different vet for a 2nd opinion (which I would probably do anyway as I have no patience with this kind of stuff, lol)

Glad she is acting better though... Praying for her to completely recover!

I am not sure if she is getting better. Alright you know that air licking is a sign of "something" is wrong. Especially if this is a new action.

And one thing I want to clear up; did she actually swallow that rib bone along with her food patty? That if so, is of concern, separate from her earlier symptoms.

At this point if she is not back to her very normal self in all ways tomorrow, I would be heading to a vet hospital, or if you don't have one close, a fully equipped vet clinic with at least some specialists on staff.

Let us know how she is doing. Hoping for a good outcome tomorrow

Checking up on Beanie this am......hopefully, she is returning to normal.....

I have really, really good news. Beanie was actually running around after her ball this a.m. I have her in work with me and I gave her a piece of ice from my boss' ice machine. It makes kind of soft ice and she loves it. I thought she would just ignore it, BUT she ate it!! And 2 more little pieces, with no problems. Oh my God, I am so happy, I think she is getting back to her self. Maybe whatever was going on her mouth is getting better.

I think I did do the right thing by taking her to the vet again and having a complete workup done. I guess if I waited another day, I could have saved myself almost $400, but I don't care, at least I know that all her blood values are normal and her x-rays as well. Now they have a good baseline of tests.

And to answer the question of Gemy, no she didn't swallow the rib bone, it was way too big and I grabbed it from her before she had a chance to even try and chew it.

Anyway I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will start to lick me again and then I will know she is fine.

Thank you all for your support, it really helped me. Unless you are a Yorkie owner, you don't know what it is like to see these tiny creatures sick and imploring you to help them with their eyes.

Thrilled with your baby's improvment!! Maybe it was a scratch in her mouth/throat and it is healing and not hurting....whatever! Like you said, you have the peace of mind having all labs and xrays, within normal limits, and they are your baseline! and she is obviously getting better! Job well done!

Just reading your post and was glad that Beanie is doing better. Yes I do know what it is see your baby suffering and in pain. Not being just a yorkie owner but being the owner of shih tzus, shorkies, basset hounds and one mixed breed, I know how you feel believe me. I just finished paying $3400 for my shih tzu to have a cataract operation because he was going blind. So as I said believe me I know the feeling of watching your baby suffer and in pain. Well God Bless Beanie and I'm thrilled he is feeling better.

Better safe than sorry... glad she's doing well!

Yes, you are right, I am sure that it is the same with any breed. They can't talk to us and they depend on us to be everything to them. It is an awesome, albeit scary responsibility, one I would not change for the world.

Wow, that is a lot of money, I take it you don't have pet insurance??