Help Me please :)

I adopted a pit/lab mix 3 weeks ago from the local pound, "Meatball" was a very sweet and caring puppy and still is, he is now 7 months old or so and still extremely friendly to everyone he meets. I keep him on a leash at all times because I am still not 100% sure of his personality as it changes slightly day to day as he gets more comfortable being away from the pound, he was there for 3.5 weeks. He is very loving to me and I think he understands who I am now. He still will not come when called though alot of the time. OK. enough babbling here is my porblem....
about a week after I recieved buddy i noticed he has nasal discharge or snot. I figured it was Kennel cough or a cold, I took him to the vet and he was given "Clavamox" twice a day for 7 days. he finished his last pill Wednesday morning. He still has some sneezing and a runny nose. my main concern is that he eats very very little, and after he left the vet 2 weeks ago I was told that because he can not smell his food it is normal that he is not eating. well it has been almost 5 days now and he is getting skinnier and skinnier, he sleeps all day but when he is awake he is very very active and will run and jump everywhere. Also at the vet he was given his last set of shots and a shot for rabies. I feed him alot of treats because he will eat them and I figure those are better than nothing. Tonite I bought "pedigree" little champions wet food and he is loving it he ate 3 bags of it in a row. I am wondering if this could explain the constipation and very very wet diherreah. I was told i should mix dry food with the wet food, but I am very new to the whole dog owning pleasure and I am taking all possible advice. please help me what can I do to make Buddy better? is it ok that I feed him only wet food? what can I feed him to fatten up? why does he drink 20 liters a day? why does he urinate and sit like a bitch? what is with the constant erections? why does he never ever ever bark or cry? why is he so lazy? (he sleeps about 18 hours a day), does he need to go to the vet again tommorow? could he still be sick? why does he pee for minutes at a time? is 10 walks a day enough for him?
thank you
Jonny S

 

welcome and wow you do have a laundry list of problems. First off is Buddy fixed?? that could be the erection problem if he is not. A lot of males will sqaut all of their lives so that is not a problem. My amle squated until he is was 4 years old and then we had company for 4 days that had a males dog that taught him to lift his leg. As for the sneezing/runny nose. My cat has had respitory problems and they are a pain to get rid of. The vet put him on a 3 week coarse of antibiotics, so Buddy may not be on the antiobiotics long enough to clear up the problem. As for food. for a dog that size I would not feed him pure canned food, but a mixture of kibble and canned. You will need to find the one he likes. It took me foreever to find a food my Wylie will eat. And eatng that much canned food will disrupt their digestive system. I would ask the vet about resiptory infection and if he shouldnt be on a different antiobiotic for a longer period. As for sleeping and such, he is probably gettng used to his surroundings. As for the thirst, I would also mention this to the vet

honeybear

 

Buddy: I have alos replied to you in the Pit Bull section.

 

Hi & Welcome,
Sorry to hear about your pup.

Food change is inclined to cause soft/loose stool in most dogs. It isn't good for a dog to eat solely wet food, especially pedigree which is not a balanced meal. I would go to your local pet supply store and look into a premium brand of kibble. If your dog is eating now, could just be fussing (wet meaty food is much more appealing than a dry kibble). Mix the wet with the dry and gradually wean off the wet or that particular brand of wet (most of the premium kibble companies also make a wet).

You know this is what makes me angry about vets; why on earth do they give dogs shots when they are not 100% healthy? It is clearly known that a dog should never receive a vaccination unless they are in perfect health. This compromises an immune system already working overtime leaving the dog more susceptible to a vaccine reaction or sickness. Lethargy, dehydration are signs of a reaction. Also since your dog was from a shelter - didn't he already receive his vaccinations?? Rabies? He would not have needed more vaccs in this case. Could be that his system is just over loaded and should get better each day now.

Young dogs do not always lift their legs right away. I'm not sure what you mean by sitting like a bitch? I didn't realize there was a difference!! :mrgreen:

 

Oh boy, you've got a handful.

He's still apup, so he's going to sleep alot, but it could be that he's got Upper Respiratory problems as well, so he's not feeling too good and sleeping it off.

I would take him in and have him checked again.
Straight canned food can do a number to a dog and your carpet. Try buying the regular dry pedigree, and moistening it with the canned. Eventually you can gradually take it away and switch him to straight dry. Or if you like mixing it all the time, go for it!

You can also try the raw diet, there are many sites about it. My dogs eat pedigree and purina as a snack (when their home) but get two meals aday of raw.

 

I would take him back to the vet .Was he checked for worms ?

 

canned food

He was eating dry Eukaneuba but then after we went to the vet I was given a sample of another dry food, he loved it and ate it once after i ordered it, but since then he was not eating any dry food unless i wet it down with water and still he was only eating it to get to the water, so I now have him on 50% wet 50% dry and he seems to be doing well with it, he is still picking out the wet and he left some dry food but I will try again tonight
thank you for all your help so far

 

I would take him to a DIFFERENT vet. As Jas said, I am appalled that a vet would give shots to a sick dog. And I, too, wondered why he gave shots at all when the shelter vaccinates dogs so he should have received them the month before!

One thing you need to realize with food issues it that a dog can play on your insecurities. Feed him what you want him to eat, and leave him alone. Most dogs won't starve themselves. It may take a few days, but he will decide to eat.

The exception to this, of course, is if the dog is truly sick. It can be a hard line to walk.

As for the water consumption - mention that to the new vet. If he is drinking 20 liters, that would surely explain why he pees for such a long time!


Jamiya

 

Jamiya, I was just thinking that. If I drank that much. Whew!!!!

 

He has awful Gas today

He is eating now and seems alot more excited today, he is almost back to himself but he still has awful wet diherreah and alot of gas, i was driving with him for quite a few hours today and he must have farted 20 times, i am wondering if this is normal for a dog to have terribly wet poo and gas?
thank you

 

I am betting that his poor system was overloaded with the respiratory infection combined with an overload of shots. Add the shock to his system of first going to the shelter and then going to your home and a trip to the vet, and the poor guy was in a bad place!

I'd give it more time. If the gas and wet poo doesn't get better, try a different food and/or give your vet a ring.


Jamiya