# Stomach spasms Hiccups?



## FX4Nick

Hello,

New to this forum. My wife and I got a new puppy 3.5 weeks ago. He is a Husky mixed with Mastif we think. He is now 24 lbs. The shelter we got him from gave him 1st round of shots. Immediately after we bought him we had our vet check him out. 2 weeks ago he got his second round of shots and 1st borditella. A few days later he had greenish yellowish discharge from his nose. Our vet was closed for the weekend so we took him to emergency pet care. They diagnosed it as an upper respiratory infection and perscribed dioxicilion (7 days). Almost a week later, (this past friday night) about 9PM he started shaking. He is having stomach spasms. He has not been eating or drinking as much. Yesterday after this had gone on for 12 hours my wife took him to the emergency pet care again. She said the vet did a very thorough check, listening to his lungs, take his temp, and touching and feeling his stomach. Evidently the infection is still there, so they perscribed him amoxicillion(7 days). The vet said that it's common for large breed pups to have these "stomach hiccups" especially as they go through a growth spurt. His back legs did get a little longer this past week. His stomach has been twitching and spasming for about 36 hours straight. They have not stopped. We already have a lab/chow. My wife are I are no strangers to med/large breed dogs. I have never heard of this. The vet at emergency care said that he looked happy and healthy. He called these hiccups even thought they do not come up the throat or into the mouth. We have been diligent about giving him the meds. I know he is not shaking because he is scared and we don't think that he is cold. When possible we try to wrap him with blankets just to be sure. This is the first time we have seen this. I think it does disrupt his sleep. He seems to have a hard time finding a comfortable position. His stool is solid and looks normal. 

Has anyone seen this? Is this common? We really just are not sure what to do. The spasms just seem to be more than "stomach hiccups"


----------



## Cracker

It's hard to say without seeing it, but I have to say that Cracker had mega hiccups all the time when she was a puppy. Hiccups look/sound different than with us because of our upright stature.
If he didn't have a fever and is still eating (when he's not hiccuping...hiccuping makes eating hard to do) etc I would give it a day or two. 
BTW dogs also have growing pains, just like human kids, but go with your gut. If you think you need a second opinion go get one.


----------



## FX4Nick

I have seen Aston with hiccups before, they just sound and feel different than this. The hiccups have been non stop since friday night 9PM. No fever, his temp was 101. We have no options until Monday when our vet opens. There is only one emergency pet clinic here. All vet offices close by 5Pm and all weekend long.


----------



## spotted nikes

The nasal discharge and the stomach spasms make me think of Distemper. Check his temperature. It should be around 100-101 degrees.

Even though may have been vaccinated for it, dogs can still get it if exposed to it in high amounts. Some breeds, esp Huskies (according to my vet) may never develop a full immunity to it.


----------



## FX4Nick

My wife called the emergency clinic this morning to express our concern. Aston is very uncomfortable. They are sticking to their diagnosis of "hiccups". Hiccups just doesn't sound right to us, at least not when they lat 36 hours straight. His stomach spasms constantly. Hiccups are usually in rhythm. I guess if it continues tomorrow I will talk to our regular vet and see what they recommend.


----------



## FX4Nick

So after a day at our regular Vet. Aston has a mild case on pnemonia. Some gastrointestonal distress and gas that is trapped in there. They had to do X-Rays. They did take blood samples and are testing for distemper just to be safe. The Vet is pretty sure that distemper can be ruled out. The perscription for Reglan and Gas-X to help relieve gas and pressure, temperarily use of vet diet food to reduce gas. Also there was an ear infection. The vet at the emergency clinic satruday said we could stop rx ear cream and use alcohol with Q-tips. our regular vet "vetoed" that and gave us another perscription for ear medicine.

The "vet" saturday was a miss for 3 for 3. Spending $130 satruday pisses me off enough. But the gross misdiagnosis of all of these issues is what really boils my blood. The look on our vets face and even the techs face when they saw him and I explained that we were told that they were "hiccups" and to use alcohol to clean his ears that he was "fine" said enough. If we had not questioned his "prefssional opinion" the pup may have died from pnemonia. We are still waiting on the results from the blood tests, but in my experience, this guy (from the visit sat.) has no business examining our pets. I know you might say that conditions may have changed. The visible symptoms did not. and this morning his nose was nearly completely clogged with discharge makeing breathing very difficult. What angers me the most is that our pup sat here in pain, and uncomfortable for 3 days. The clinic vet said that he was not in pain. With some help from our regular vet and pain meds he is now sleeping for the first time in over 3 days.

Lesson is: question everything. You know your pet, if something doesn't seem right get a second opinion ASAP. 

Thanks for reading my rant.


----------



## spotted nikes

Poor little guy. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon. good for you, that you went with your gut that something wasn't right.


----------



## 5 s corral

hope your fur baby feels better soon 
the em clinic should have a bord of directers i would wright to them and tell them what happend we have a bad em clinic also they charge way to much and dont know what they are doing 
keep us posted 
jamie


----------



## Cracker

FX4, I'm so glad you followed your gut and you are getting your pup treated. Poor guy.
You CAN report the other vet to your Provincial or State Veterinary Association if you wish, it is important that veterinarians, as medical professionals, be held to a high standard and this is what these associations are for. 

I hope your little guy is feeling better soon.


----------



## FX4Nick

Last night Aston woke me up at 330AM have difficulty breathing. One nostril was completely block with crusting discharge. the other was 50% clogged. It took me 20 minutes to clean it out so he could breath better. His spasms were back but not as pronounced as they had been. After cleaning his nose I took him out for a bathroom walk. By 6AM discharge was building again. He spent all day in at the vet today and is now hospitalized in isolation. Our vet did some research and called the rescue kennel where we got him. Their "puppy room" was full of distemper. Only one pup has survived. Fortunate for us, Aston and his siblings were with the adult dogs because of their large size. They were able to contact one of his siblings owners, his little sister has no signs of health problems. The other siblings owners has not been contacted yet. Due to the distemper with several pups from this kennel Aston's distemper test has now been sent overnight. We should get the results by friday at the latest. Right now he is on IV for fluids as he was becoming dehydrated. Also our vet decided to up his doasge of Clavomox. His Rx was for a 20lb dog. He weighs 24lbs. His temp did go up a little today. Our vet said that he was on the high side of normal at 102.3 then by noon it was at 102.8. She said his spirits are still high, he wags his tail and comes to the front of his cage when the girls go back to check on him. As bad as it sounds, I am hopefull it's a case of Pnemonia and not Distemper. All we can do now is wait. 

The maker of the distemper vaccine that the kennel that rescued him is paying for the distemper test. But overnight treatment with IV and other tests and radiographs will be at least $400 through friday. Although he had no high temps or fever until this morning, I still feel that the em vet should have had a clue that these were spasms and not hiccups and may be caused by a larger underlying health issue.

Big thanks to spotted nikes!!! because you mentioned distemper, I did some research for the symptoms and asked the vet if there was any possibility. Yesterday they took enough blood for the distemper test, so we decided to send it for testing even though we were pretty certain it was not distemper. Thanks to this forum!

I hate to cost anyone their job. But as I said if we had listened to his "professional opinion" and not questioned it. Things could be a lot worse. My wife spent all afternoon throwing all dogs toys away and washing all blankets, bedding, bowls etc all while crying because there's nothing we can do, and we can't even see him. There's nothing worse than a tense waiting period. My wife feels like the em clinic just saw $$$ when she walked through the door.


----------



## spotted nikes

This is one time that I REALLY hope I am wrong.

I'll keep you and your puppy in my prayers. I lost a dog to Distemper even though he was vaccinated. I used to take him to the barn where I had my horse. A boarder there would bring her dog, and let him come up to my stall/paddock area and play with my dog. She knew her dog had Distemper, and still brought him, never saying anything to me. Only after my dog died, did I find out that she had known her dog had it. I was ready to kill her.
My dog had spasms of his hind end and abdomen. Eventually they made him so weak he couldn't get up. It was heartbreaking.

I truly hope that it is just pneumonia and he gets well quickly. It's awful when one of our "babies" is sick.


----------



## FX4Nick

That's about where his spasm were. Our vet said that looking at the radiography he did have a lot of gas in him. I'm really hoping thats the cause for the spasms. The vet also said that he was not displaying some of the usual symptoms of Distemper, meaning total larthargy and neurological (spelling?) issues. 

Thanks for your prayers, much appriciated.


----------



## spotted nikes

Just checking to see how Aston is doing...


----------



## FX4Nick

Aston is doing great. The discharge from the eyes and nose has turned from greenish to milky/clear. Has no been caughing or hacking. He is eating 1/2 can of food 3x per day. drinking OK. Temp is back to normal Still finishing the last bag of IV. Spirits are up. We choose to leave him at the vet for 1 more night just be sure so that they could watch him as they have the means and knowledge. Distemper results came back negative, YAY!! Reports did show that he was vacinated. Vet checked to see what the odds were of a false neg. She feels pretty confident to say that it was a good test and odds of a false negative are very slim. Vet still is not sure what to make of the spasms. The tech watching him last night said that he did have a breif seizure where he picked his head up at a wierd angle, snapping at the air, but did not seem responsive. Has not displayed anything like that all day today, and to the best of my knowledge that was the first time. 

All signs are looking good, vet said we could run additional tests but we don't know what to look for (for the spasms). At least they are not as bad as they were monday when he first came in.

He is on eye ointment, ear cream, dioxocycline, clavamox, gas-x, reglan... I think that's it. It looks like some viral or bacterial illness.

I will pick him up tomorrw afternoon. What a week. 

The vet that has been working with him even came in on her day off yesterday morning just to check on him. She even told the girls at the front desk if they results for the distemper came in early (yesterday) to call her and she would come in. She may not know what the spasms are from, but I think she has gone above and beyond for our pup. She has been pretty good about calling with updates too. This is all far more than I can say for the twirp that evaluated him last saturday.

Thanks for the prayers and concerns.


----------



## 5 s corral

glad to see things are looking better thanks for the update
jamie


----------



## spotted nikes

Ohhh, so VERY happy he is doing better and it's not Distemper!!!!


----------



## FX4Nick

ugggggg.. 2 hours after I brought him home he wass back at the vet. His feet are spasming and padeling. Of caorse they were getting ready to close for the weekend. But the vet checked him out again. They think something neurological causing his muscles to twitch. They don't know what. She gave him an anti inflamitory, but no steriod because that might make it difficult for his immune system to kick the virus. If the spasms continue we may have to see a neuraologist......Of coarse the closest one would be 2.5 hours away.... Let's see what happens over the weekend.


----------



## Cracker

Oh no. I'm sorry, especially after he was seeming to rally. Sending good thoughts your way.....


----------



## spotted nikes

Have they tested for tick-borne diseases. See this link-
http://www.mirage-samoyeds.com/tick.htm


----------



## FX4Nick

Thanks for the link. He has some of the symptoms, but only the ones I listed. I'm guessing they probably won't display all symptoms listed on that site. I doubt they have tested for that, but I will ask the vet monday or if she happens to call over the weekend.

Aston can't even sleep right now, the discomfort and spasms now in his legs bother him too much. 

The vet did just call and said that Very high doses of clavamox can cause "neurological symptoms" but said it was not specified if that could be the spasms that Aston has. We are going to try reducing his does of the clavamox for the weekend and see if that eases the spasms any. Guess we're not out of the woods yet, and it looks to be a long weekend for my wife and I. 

If there are any Vets out there please weigh in. Thanks for the ideas so far.


----------



## FX4Nick

Th spasms never stopped. They disruppted him so much that he could not sleep. At 1030 last night we left for Raleigh (2.5 hours away) as they have very good 24 hr pet clinics. Went to one clinic only to find out that he needs a neurologist and they dont have one. Had to go to the second clinic. Aston was put back in isolation at the NC State Vet school. The board cert. vet and neurologist have been evaluating him and say that he shows every classic sign of distemper and that it is now effecting his neurological system. 

Odds that he will fully recover and be a normal happy healthy dog are now very slim. A good prognosis is that he will be fairly happy and still have the spasms but quality of life is questionable. The worst case he doesn't survive. The vet up there suggested to try steriods for a few days to protect his brain from the virus and see what happens. My wife and I have been a wreck all day. We didn't get home until 7AM and I left to do a couple of jobs that I had scheduled right away. I am going on 1 hour of sleep. And since the vet called my wife this morning she hasn't slept anymore. 

The odds don't seem good here


----------



## spotted nikes

I'm so very, very sorry. I have really been pulling for him, but ever since I heard that other dogs had Distemper where he came from, I've had a feeling in the back of my mind. But I was so sure/hopeful when the vets said that it wasn't Distemper, that I was really feeling more optimistic that it was something else that was treatable.

It really does suck.

I know there are a few people who have dogs that survive it. I made the decision to euth, when my dog was so exhausted from the spasms that he would cry because he wanted to get up and couldn't. He used to go run out to the mailman when he heard the brakes on his truck squeak, and bring our mail in. If we didn't have any mail, the mailman would give him a change of address card. Then you'd have to trade him a treat for the mail. If you weren't fast enough, he'd bring it out back and shred it.
When he got Distemper, he would hear the brakes of the mailtruck and just cry pitifully as he could no longer get up. The vet didn't feel he would regain muscle control.

So I do know what you are going through. I'm sure you'll make the best decision for him whichever way you decide. You, your family and Aston are in my prayers.


----------



## Cracker

I am so sorry to hear this Nick. I too had my suspicions but was sincerely hoping there was something else going on.
Whatever your decision, we support you and know you have done and will do whatever is best for Aston. 
My thoughts are with you.


----------



## FX4Nick

We both know what is likely coming. We just want to exhaust every possible chance for him to recover. I have been wanting a Husky for years and my wife was absolutely in love with him. This is the first time either one of us have had to go through this, which makes it that much harder. 

Thanks for the prayers!!! Much Appriciated.


----------



## FX4Nick

The neurologist call about 20 mintues ago. Thee steriods are working. Aston is more responsive today. He was able to get some sleep last night. At this point Aston might be able to come home tuesday if the progress continues. The vet did say this, to him, looks like "excellent progress" and not just getting a little better each day that in the big picture does not amount to much. We will see what the report is tomarrow when the vet calls. For today the news is about as good as we could have hoped. Thanks for those that continue to check this thread and pray for Aston.


----------



## beach_angel05

So glad things are starting to look up! Hopefully he will keep getting stronger and fight this thing. I'll keep you all in my prayers


----------



## spotted nikes

Sending more good thoughts for Aston, hoping he continues to improve.


----------



## FX4Nick

Not much of an improvement yestereday. We are going to get him this afternoon. He is much more alert, he can rest, some tremors in in back legs and can only take a few steps, he eats and drinks well. We will have to continue anit-biotics and stereiods, for how long, I don't know. He's not "normal or well", but healthy enough to contintue the fight and he is not in pain. the Neurologist wants to see him again in a month. 

We are currently seeking a neurologist that will administer an "experimental treatment". Several vets/neurologists in the US and other country have been trying this since the 1970's and have had great results treating the symptoms of distemper. Many dogs recover with in weeks and are full happy healthy dogs with very little to no lasting neurological damage. Many begin showing signs of recovery with in 1 day. Unfortunately this procedure is not published so NCSU will not do it for us. I will create another thread for those interested in reading about this procedure.

Thank you all for your continued support


----------



## Cracker

Good luck, Nick. I'm pulling for you and Aston! And yes, I am very interested in this experimental treatment protocol.


----------



## FX4Nick

We got to visit Aston this afternoon. Unfortunately he regressed this morning. He did not want to eat much. The neurologist changed his iv and fluids this morning. He had very bad tremors, worse than what we expected. The muscle contractions were so severe that they pushed on his diaphram causing him to vocalize most tremors. He could not stand or walk and could only sit up for about a minute before he collapsed. This was the most pitifull sight I have ever seen. My wife and I could only make one choice. Of coarse there is the chance that he may get better tomorrow. We could not do it anymore. Sadly, the infection, tremors, and lack of rest was too much for us to bare and we felt that was no way for a dog to live and that he deserved better. We decided to have him put down. At 5:40 this afternoon he was gone. My wife and I thank all of those that kept him in their thoughts and prayers.


----------



## Cracker

I am so sorry. You did everything you could for Aston and in the end made the best decision for him. It is a gift of love to end the suffering of our loved ones and takes a brave soul to face the pain. 
My sympathies.


----------



## spotted nikes

Oh, Nick, I'm so sorry. My deepest condolences to you and your wife. I know you gave him every possible chance.

I know things are very raw right now, and you may have already done it, but please make sure the place you got him from knows about it, and his sibling's owners get told.


----------



## FX4Nick

The shelter did have an outbreak of distemper in their puppy room which is spearate and enclosed from the rest of the animals. All dogs in there but one died. The adult population was supsoedly not effected. We will be calling the shelter. Unfortunately they never called us to let us know that there was a potential for Aston to have distemper. We have also contacted a local new channel to help raise awareness that animals adopted from this shelter in the month of Feb. may have distemper. I finally changed my avatar, the pic is our boy Aston chewing on his favorite nylabone.


----------



## Cracker

He was a beautiful puppy, Nick. You gave him a chance for love for the short time you had him. I am sure he appreciates that. You will see him again sometime. My kitties will welcome him at the Rainbow Bridge. They loved puppies.

The adults likely had some immunity from previous vaccinations, puppies, even with boosters can have compromised immune systems due to physical immaturity. 

I do hope this doesn't sour you on eventually getting another dog to love. You and your wife are very special people who deserve to have another dog or puppy someday.


----------



## FX4Nick

As hard as it is, we have already discussed getting another dog. We love the though of getting puppies and being able to go through the pains and joys of training and housebreaking and watching them grow. We feel strongly about adopting from shelters to give these dogs a chance. We had been talking about adopting another dog for years but didn't think it was the right thing to do. Several weeks ago we searched through local shelters on petfinder.com. We knew he was our dog when we saw his picture, the one blue eye and one brown eye grabbed our attention.

There will be more, for now just to be ultra safe we are taking Oak, my 5yr lab/chow to get blood work done to make sure he didn't get distemper and that his health is alright. I know the chances are slim with an older and vaccinated dog. We can't go through this all over again.


----------



## Cracker

Good for you.
I hope Oak is well. Most likely he is. If you do plan on getting another puppy please discuss with your vet the sanitizing protocol/timing that will be necessary before you bring another pup into your home. 

Give Oak a good bum scritch from me. THis must have been stressful for him too.


----------



## CerbiesMom

I'm so sorry for your loss. My Cerbie in my avatar is a distemper survivor. He was sick for probably 3 months, and he has mouth twitches constantly. I Know how hard it was for you 2 to watch your baby go through this. The shelter I got him from also knew about the outbreak, but didn't tell us about it when we adopted him, and were very rude and not compassionate at all when I called them to tell them about it. I hope your older dog is ok, and I hope you try again one day to get that second dog. And I wanted to say that you're great ppl for trying so hard to help Aston, many ppl would've put him down sooner without even giving him a chance to fight it.


----------



## FX4Nick

We honostly consider our dogs our kids. We are coming up on our one year wedding anniversary at the end of this month. We just aren't ready for kids just yet. We are both hudge animal lovers, especially dogs. After talking to our vet the other day we discovered that most shelters around here do not vaccinate at all. She said that many of the shelter dogs have some helath issues early on. However, distemper is still rare around here. We are going to look at other pups in a couple of weeks. Although I would love to get a shelter dog, if many of them around here have health issues we may have to drive to get a rescue or foster dog. I'm proud of Cerbie for being able to fight and overcome this nasty disease.


----------



## CerbiesMom

My husband and I were very hesitant about adopting another pet after our experience with Cerb. But, our next 2 dogs haven't had any problems, and they're both rescues as well. Let us know and show us some pics when you get a new pup. And good luck with the search


----------



## FX4Nick

Good News!!! We got the results back for Oak, my 5 yrea old lab/chow distemper results and they were negative. Anti-bodies were high indicating that he was fully immune to distemper and that he had not contracted any illness. This is what we expected to hear, but a relief all the same


----------



## beach_angel05

That's such good news! I'm so glad that he's a healthy dog


----------

