# limping, lethargic, vomiting and diarrhoea



## lozachops (Mar 24, 2007)

Its 11pm here in Australia so not really vet friendly times unless its an emergency. For the last 4 hours my dog has not wanted to move. I first noticed when I got food out for the dogs (Im babysitting 2 others) normally Scooby bounds over and can hardly wait for me to put his food out, tonight he only lifted his head. When I put the bowl in front of him he did eat though. When I am petting the other two dogs Scooby normally cries and carries on, even pushing them away from me, tonight though he didnt get up, he just whined from where he was was lying. I tried to coax him over to me to see what was bothering him and he found it really hard to get up, and then when he walked he was limping really badly. I checked his paws and couldnt see anything in them or no cuts etc, and he didnt whimper at all when I gently prodded around all four legs. Then half an hour ago he vomited, and while cleaning it I also noticed poop inside the house, which he never ever does. Nor do the other dogs. Then right in front of me he had diarrheoa. Does this sound serious? Should I contact the vet like it is an emergency or just watch him through the night and take him tomorrow? What would u guys do?


----------



## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

Let's be honest here. The quick easy answer (and certainly the safest) would be, "Go to the vet right now."

I found myself in a similar situation with Esther last June and we rode it out. We went to the vet after the worst of it was over and they gave her an antibiotic. If I had it to do over, I would have probably have taken her in sooner (and made the 50 mile drive to the E-vet) so that she could be feeling better much sooner.

How are you going to feel if it turns out to be serious and early treatment could have made the difference? Even if it's not so serious, the peace of mind would probably be worth the cost of the visit.


----------



## lozachops (Mar 24, 2007)

We are thinking he may have been bitten by a snake. He seems to be pulling through it now, is not limping anymore or vomiting however he is not moving as much as normal.


----------



## AppleCow (Nov 6, 2007)

Could it be parvo? Check it out with the vet.


----------



## lozachops (Mar 24, 2007)

Thanks Apple. It was a snake, my friends dad is a vet, and she is a vetinary school student herself and she had a look at him and was quite sure that it was a (Australian) brown snake. My brother had been gardening and had piled up all the branches/sticks/leaves in one spot which is something that can attract snakes. We had neglected to get rid of this pile quickly and Scooby had been running through it picking up sticks to chew on and we think this may have been where the snake was. He is actually fine now, back to normal. It could have been bad as this type of snake is deadly to humans (the second most deadly in the world!) and most small dogs. Scooby is about 45 pounds, if it had been one of the two we are babysitting for (jack russell and king charles spaniel) they probably wouldnt have made it. We didnt even need to antivenom him as he recovered on his own. He was pretty sick though!

Oh I should add, we dont know for sure it was a brown snake, but this was likely due to the symptoms, the area we live in (what snakes are found in this area) and especcially the progressive paralysis of the back legs, starting with a limp, the a dragging behind him and then a reluctance to move. All this passed on its own by day 3. He was already recovering by the time we discovered the possibility of a snake bite.


----------

