I don't mean to scare you, but please, have bloodwork done.  My Sandy, who was ordinarily a very voracious eater, stopped eating for a few days.  I finally took her in and my vet did bloodwork, and her kidneys had stopped working and were down to 25% usage.  She had contacted leptospirosis somehow (very rare and thank god only her as I had 5 other dogs at the time) and thanks to my vet, Sandy is still alive.  This was over 2 years ago.

Have they checked her anal glands too?  Maybe they're full and infected.  When dogs scoot and lick their coolie a lot, that's a good sign that there is something wrong with their anal glands.

I know you've probably spent a lot of $$ on vetting, but please, just have them run bloodwork just to be safe.   And you'll have a baseline to go on from this point forward.

Just to be on the safe side, I would take her back in.   Do you have an ear thermometer?  (I'd be afraid to try a rectal at this point.)  Is she running a fever?  Do her ears feel hot if you don't have a thermometer?  Are her gums still normal in color?  And, does her abdomen seem tender when you lightly hug her?  What did the vet say about her throwing up the underwear?

I don't mean to scare you, but if there is an obstruction caused by a soft material, it may not show up immediately on an x-ray.  Neither will latex toy parts.

I'm a very cautious person.  I'd rather have an office visit bill than lose my kids.

It was scary, Sarah!!  We have no idea how she got it because I was in such a low risk area.  Normally it's found in rural areas and is transmitted by the urine of infected animals (squirrels, rats, etc...) and then the infected water is ingested by the animals. I'm in a village setting, and my yard is completely fenced in with a wooden privacy fence. The only thing my vet can figure is that because I was close to a river, an infected critter got into my yard somehow and peed in my yard and Sandy came into contact with it. When I took her in, on a hunch, he gave Sandy IV fluids and he mentioned that she could possibly have lepto but it was highly unlikely, but he wanted to play it safe until we had the blood test results. The next day, we found out she was positive for lepto, and those fluids saved Sandy's life. They kick started her kidneys when they were failing. And for 6 months after that, Sandy could have spread lepto to the other dogs through her urine. It was a nightmare!!

How my vet explained it to me is that there are SOOOOOOOOOOO many strains of lepto (titers), that the vaccine can't vaccinate against all of them.  And it's highly likely that a dog will become infected with a titer that's not covered by the vaccine if the dog does come in contact with another infected critter.  It was a very complicated situation, but thank GOD Sandy is OK and for the past 2 years her bloodwork has come back normal and she doesn't seem to have any long term effects from it.... so far anyway!!

I agree with you 110% and I'm the same way!!

Poor little girl!!

It's a good sign that she hasn't thrown up again, but I would take her back to the vet just to be sure. He might not charge an office visit since it's a continuing problem. And it never hurts to have blood work done.

It kind of sounds like an impacted anal gland, but with Tinkerbelle's recent history of eating  foreign objects ??????

Sami got sick a week after Bob passed and we completely freaked out. She vomited, was lethargic and wouldn't eat. She also was kinda hunched over and wasn't pooping. We took her to the vet. He took her temp. and she was wailing. I looked at him and he said that it wasn't hurting her she just felt it.  (She is sensitive but it sure seemed like she was in a lot of pain.) Well we ran all the tests, bloodwork, xrays, etc. 'cause we were so scared. The vet gave her fluids and she perked up.

Nothing showed on the tests and when I went to pick her up the tech handed her to me and she started crying in pain. We checked her out and she stopped. I took her home and later there was blood all around her anus! Turns out she had a severly impacted anal gland that was basically making her septic. It wasn't protruding from the outside. (She probably had not been feeling good for a while but we were so concerened about Bob at the time. And she never scooted or licked her butt till after the gland ruptured.)

The vet did reduce his bill but never really apologized or talked about missing the problem. And I really like him. Usually he is very conservative. I had to bring it up and he semmed genuinely sorry about it. I hope he learned from the experience. I know we were all very anxious after losing Bob and I'd rather be safe than sorry, but start with the basics first and be very thorough. (All the crying when he put the thermometer in should have been a clue. Typically a dog might cry a little when the therm. is first inserted, but they should not be really crying a lot after it's inserted.)

I just hope Tinkerbelle feels better soon.

I did take her back to the vet this afternoon.  I thought about the anal gland issue since it was so swollen and sore and she was scooting and crying.  I also thought about Daisy's Mom  saying that moles had sharp claws and I just couldn't wait and see anymore.  He did express her anal gland and he stuck his finger up there and felt all around.  Tinkerbelle bit the tech during this little procedure.  Then he squeezed her bladder and she shot pee out everywhere...he couldn't believe the smell and caught some for a uninalyisis.  He also did blood work because i mentioned the lepo stuff..

Anyway, blood work came back good.  Urine came back with Nitrogen, lots of it.  So then he started asking me about poisons and I did do some planting this weekend with Miracle Grow Garden Soil.  It has 10% Nitrogen.  So, we think she must have eaten some soil or dug in it and then cleaned herself and that is her main problem.  She has a bad bladder infection, so he gave me another antibiotic to use in addition to the gastro antibiotic.  He said the Nitrogen will just have to work its way out of her system.  They said to call if anything else happens and we all laughed because they pretty much are expecting me to call now!  He said if she isn't completely better by Monday than we will have to do more drastic measures.  Please pray she is better.  It's my Mom's 77th birthday and I am hostessing her party here on Saturday and then Sunday is Easter.  I really need my baby to be well.

Thanks for all of your advice and help.

Carol

Prayers and good thoughts so Tinkerbell gets better soon!!    Glad it's nothing too serious!!

I really hope she is feeling 100% by tomorrow morning.  The additional antibiotic should start working soon, too.  Poor little girl, she just hurt in one too many places at once.

thanks everyone.  I don't feel quite out of the woods yet.  I googled nitrogen poisoning in dogs and came up with a lot of fatal stuff.  He didn't tell me what her nitrogen level was or  what is normal...dogs do have some nitrogen in their pee... that is what turns the lawn brown.  So, I'm thinking it must have been really high to have alerted the vet.  But,  he didn't mention that she was going to die and he didn't ask to keep her overnight or put her on IV's, so I'm going to have to trust in the Lord and in the vet.  It's easier said than done!

Thanks for all of your support.

Carol

All the vet has to do is put on the glove and Sami starts up. You've never heard such a noise from such a little dog!! Poor thing, she's had enough of the vet messing around back there!!

Glad things are a little better and you have a diagnosis. We'll keep you all in our prayers tonight.

I hear high nitrogen and I think kidney failure.  I would call them and ask what the numbers were and if you should be trying to get more fluids into her.  I didn't with Oscar but I ended up going back and getting a copy of the blood work results.  Oscar was on diarrhea and ulcer meds, along with anti-nausea meds and antibiotics and something else when he was sick, but perked up considerably when given iv fluids.  I'm probably just paranoid, and your vet would have recommended it if it was needed, but I would try to get more fluids in her, like pedialyte or something.  Are you withholding food now?  I know they told me Oscar's stomach/intestines were inflamed and had me withhold food for about 18 hours to let his system rest.  After that I gave him very small amounts of food every 2 or 3 hours or so.  Your story just reminded me of when Oscar was ill, (except he never seemed to be in pain) so I know the awful feelings you're having.  I hope Tinkerbelle is feeling better soon.

Wow. I use Miracle Grow all the time. I never thought of its toxicity. Hopefully she will get better soon.

Glad to hear your are getting to the bottom of this Carol.  I'm not sure what the anti-biotics will do for the problem,  Probably like elsewhere, just a precaution should bugs start to grow.  We learned that anti-biotics can have a side effect of destroying the natural bugs, er, flora in their stomach.  This can lead to diarrhea since the natural bacteria are missing and disgestion is affected.  Someone mentioned probiotic and our vet gave us something called GE something or another (can't look it up right now cause I've got a baby ratball in my lap).  A week of this stuff and Cameo is doing great!  It must be horrible tasting though because she really doesn't like it.

We hope Tinkerbelle continues to improve and this will all be behind you soon.

Oh, GE Suspension, that's what it is called, but it didn't translate to anything when I googled it.

I have been giving her yogurt, but I'll try to find the GE stuff that Rattagan used.  She is such a different pup now.  She just wants to sleep and she didn't even get in bed with me last night.  She stayed in her crate with door open...I left it open so she could get water and do whatever else came along...but I was hoping she would come snuggle.  When my hubby was getting ready for work this morning, I asked him if she was dead.  He said no and picked her up and laid her next to me.  She is just so pitiful.  She has eaten a little yogurt this morning that I spoon fed her and I gave her the 2 antibiotics  one is Clavamox and one is Metronidazole.  I shot a couple of tsp of water in her mouth with a syringe because she isn't drinking.  She isn't yelping in pain today, so I guess she is getting better.  I'm just worried about the lack of drinking.  You know me, I'll probably call the vet and ask if they will give her IV fluids.  I feel so crazy.  But, I know you guys are crazy about your animals also, so I can be honest with you.  Thanks!

Carol

One other positive that I can see is that yesterday she was hiding under beds and couchs.  Today she is trying to stay with her people.  She's not in my lap right now, but she is in the room with me.  Normally she is in my lap while I'm on the computer and she sticks like glue to me all day, so yesterday was particularly worrisome. I thought she was going to hide to die.

Poor girl ... my heart goes out to you and Tinkerbelle. I would be worried sick as well. Hopefully she's on the mend. Vinnie sends her big puppy kisses!!!