Louie, our 6-y/o Bull terrier, has stopped drinking pretty much anything. The last time he drank on his own was Saturday night. We took him to the vet, who gave him subcutaneous IV fluids and ran blood/urine/stool tests, and she has no idea what's going on. Any time we try to offer him a bowl of water (or pedialyte, or chicken broth), he backs away. I'm wondering if maybe it's an attention thing, because we're obsessing over him? Any ideas? Has anyone here ever experienced anything like this?
I've had cats and dogs that did the same thing when they got a urinary tract infection (UTI). It basically hurt like fuck for them to pee, so they didn't. They were able to do the "it hurts when I pee, and when I drink I have to pee" math, and didn't drink. I can't think of anything else... except may some sort of throat infection. Do dogs have tonsils?
Doesn't rabies have something to do with being averse to drinking water? Not to panic you, but if we're grasping at straws I know that rabies - in its late stages - makes people and animals afraid to drink. I would imagine he'd have a host of other symptoms if that was the case, though. Edit: Do you know anyone with a 'normal' dog that doesn't have this problem? If he can hang out with regular-drinking dogs for a few days, that will answer the question pretty quickly if it's behavioral or physical.
Thanks for the responses. I like the idea of socializing him, maybe we'll try that this weekend. Rabies was one of my thoughts, but a) Still have my throat and b) he's current on his rabies vaccine. The vet has started him on a broad spectrum of antibiotics, hoping one of them works. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime, we're getting him fluids via Pedialyte popsicles, and switching to wet food instead of dry kibble (which he eats like a starving Ethiopian, so I don't think it's a throat/mouth problem). Thanks again, and I'll keep y'all posted!
I guess a chicken isn't REALLY a pet, but here is my 3 year old with one of our new chickens. We have 7 - 4 Rhode Island Reds and 3 of these speckled ones. Her name is Helen.
Tonka was beating up the Corgi, and looked up at the perfect time to make his head look about twice it's normal size. Still a cool picture, though.
Was over at my parents place for dinner last night and got some good shots of my dog, Tyrone, and my parent's Cairn, Bandit. Tyrone: Bandit:
My "little" boy, Chowder, crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge today. Wait for me, my baby. 11/26/96 - 5/23/11
This fat little shit just loves to barge in and make himself comfortable. He can be such a pain in the ass sometimes, but it's impossible not to love the little guy.