Our German Shepherd facing mysterious life-threatening symptoms - Page 1

Our German Shepherd stopped eating and drinking and started acting lethargic.  We took him to the vet hospital, which started immediate subcutaneous hydration, antibiotics and sonograms.  We're waiting for the rest of the blood work.
Leptospirosis has already been ruled out.  Biliruben remains high.  He hasn't eaten in 5 days, but yesterday he drank alot and then vomited up the water, as if his stomach had shrunk and this caused him to vomit.  Yesterday, he showed signs of coming out of the lethargy a little.  He started to look more alert and was getting his personality back.

I'm concerned about some form of poisoning, but without a source toxin, we can't give the vet any information.  Sono hasn't revealed anything definitive, but vet theorizes the gall bladder (because of the biliruben count) could have a blockage.
As stated, we're still waiting for the balance of the blood work.  It is clear that Noah came close to death.  Looking for any comments where similar experiences can lend another voice to our fight to keep him alive.

Thanks, GCF

How awful for you and you dog.I hope he gets well soon . I am wishing you two the best .Please let us know how you make out .I will be following this thread and sending good thoughts your way .

Where do you live, GoldCoast? Did he chew on any plant material? What plants do you have in your backyard? Yew? Or if you live more southern, oleander? These two plants can kill quickly. A twig of oleander would be enough for a horse.
Another nasty one is wisteria, especially the seed pots which would be ripening up right now.
A lot of people do not realize this but hydrangea, azalea and rhododendron can cause nasty symptoms as well, although not quite as potent as the aforementioned.
Chris

 Hi Wazzup and Chris/Silbersee - Thanks very much for the sentiments and knowledgeable input.  You obviously know how precious Noah is to us, as your GSDs are to you.  The GSD, Noah, is located in Staten Island, New York.  My name, Gold Coast refers to the California coast, much like Australia's Gold Coast.  I am aware of the strong toxins in Yew and Oleander, but we are going through the back yard to see what environmental concerns may be there.  I was just informed today that a package of hot dogs were found in the backyard with a few of the hot dogs missing from the package.  This is not a brand used by the family, so it is clear that it came from outside the household.  

Now, it is possible that neighborhood children found a discarded package of hotdogs in the trash and thought it was be fun to feed Noah.  Then there is the more depraved act of someone intentionally attempting to poison Noah.  Tossing hot dogs in a dog's living space is a common method of poisoning.  So toxic sources can be whatever bacteria could proliferate from discarded hot dogs, or as stated, a poison.  There is no Oleander or Yew but I will check for the 3 flowers you mentioned. Noah has been known to eat weeds and grass like many dogs, so we will have to identify whether an otherwise common weed may be toxic.

The vet continues to hydrate Noah with an average of about a liter per hour.  They continue with 1000mg of antibiotics (Not sure which at the moment.  At first it was an injection of Amoxicillin).  I do not know if identification of a toxic substance will cause the vet to change the course of treatment, but I will investigate.  There could be 200 species of plant life in the back yard, so we will have to narrow it down to what we have seen Noah eating.

Thanks again for the kind wishes and advice.
Bart

Not much else to say but to hope your fellow pulls through and we all know how you are  feeling at this time
Steve

was he on any other meds before this? 

Sorry to hear about Noah. I hope he recovers quickly.

I did a google search on High Bilirubin in dogs and  found this information.
 https://www.vetconnect.com.au/5min/data/02020203.html

I hope it helps.
I have my fingers and toes crossed for you. Good luck

Oops sorry, copied the link wrong...here it is again

https://www.vetconnect.com.au/5min/data/02020203.htm

How is Noah? I hope he is doing better?