[Morgang61]

Our 5 year old dog (mixed breed) has not been the same for the past three months. He has been to our vet numerous times and also to a specialist. They performed a few different blood tests, urination and stool tests. Tested for Addison’s also. So far we do not have an answer.

Here are the symptoms..
Lethargic: Energy is a fraction of what it was. He use to come to the door when we came home. Now we have to find him.

Tremors: When he is at rest (awake but lying down) he has a repetitive tremor like symptom.

Pacing: Paces around the house to the point of exhaustion. He will be so tired he collapses.

Thirst: He is drinking a lot more water

Urination: A lot more urination. Very dilute. Probably because of the excessive drinking.

Weight loss: Last some weight. Seems like his skin is hanging at times.

Appetite: Until recently (past two days) appetite was OK. Now he has not eaten much over the last day.

Other things we noticed: Does not lift leg to urinate anymore. Tail use to be curled up 90% of the time. It now hangs 100% of the time. Does not bark much (things that use to make him bark do not cause him to bark anymore).

[Dash]

Hi,

I am sure you will get more advice from experienmced guys like Corky max and others. I would suggest an Ultra sound scan( full Body) may find the problem. The Dog seems to be in some kind of discomfort/pain.



Best of luck

[lulusmom]

I agree with Dash. An abdominal ultrasound would be a good idea. They don't always show up on imaging but there is an adrenal tumor called a pheochromacytoma which can cause all of the symptoms you have described. When you say your dog has seen a specialist, I assume you mean an internal medicine specialist (IMS) as they are the experts when it comes endocrine disorders such as addison's. I would recommend that you discuss the possibility of a pheo with the specialist and definitely ask for an ultrasound. If your dog saw an IMS, I would be surprised that an abdominal ultrasound was not already one of the diagnostics on the menu. Blood pressure should also be checked.

Adrenal Pheochromocytoma

[Morgang61]

Thanks. Yes it was an IMS we spoke with. I forgot to mention she put the dog on Thyroid medicine for 30 days and then we would re-evaluate. She said the Thyroid levels were very off very slightly. She said we could start there as it was a more reasonable place to start. They did check his blood pressure too. It was normal. However, he is not getting better. We will be going back to the IMS. I will speak to her about pheochromacytoma. Thanks again for your reply.