Bad Odour/ Coughing/ Off Food

[Leema]

I am posting this on behalf of a friend whose account needs to be approved. :p

Hi all,

I’m new to the forums, but was hoping to get any suggestions I can on what might be up with my dog. She’s an 8 year old Border Collie / Labrador cross called Tessy and is quite overweight, but is usually fairly healthy. The last few weeks she has been unwell however. Some of her main symptoms:

* she’s developed a really bad odour which was initially just the result of bad breath we thought, but now it seems to be hovering around her, so to speak.

* She's been coughing and gagging a lot.

* She has been off her food a lot too. She eats the occasional bone, but primarily dry food (Purina) in the morning and at night and lately she has been leaving most of her biscuits.

We took her to the vet recently suspecting that it may be tooth decay or something similar, but he couldn’t find anything with wrong with her, but he suspected it was perhaps an upset stomach and so prescribed some antacids (which we investigated online and found out were actually anti-depressants and had some serious side effects, so we gave them to for a few days and then stopped once we found out the possible side effects. (They didn’t seem to be having much of an effect anyway). So, we are a little lost as to what could be up with her. The fact that the vet didn’t have any idea wasn’t very helpful either. I guess it could just be a passing thing, but the fact that it seems to be lingering is a bit of a worry and she hasn’t had this sort of thing before.

So if anyone has any ideas then I would really appreciate your feedback – she is usually a quite energetic dog and has a lot of personality, but she really isn’t herself at the moment and we really want to find out what is wrong.

Thanks guys!

Jen

Edited August 25, 2008 by Leema

[Nekhbet]

depends where the odour is coming from - mouth, skin, ears, anal glands etc

could be an infection, something stuck, abcess etc I would definately go get a second opinion. Dogs dont need antacids ... also have her hearth checked out and get them to knock weight off ASAP. Either the hills r/d or Royal Canin medium breed light, either way this dog wont live long if very overweight.

[Dogsfevr]

yep many thing even bad tonsils,heart,heartworm,abcess etc etc.

[piper]

Did the vet check for tonsilitis? It can be nasty in dogs, cause them to cough or gag, have a really disguting breath and go off of their food.

I would go for a second opinion and full examination, also check for any skin infections as they can be quite smelly as well.

[gareth]

I'd be seeking a naturopathic vet.

[persephone]

Another vet sounds a very good plan

It may well be a throat problem- as said above- something , maybe a splinter of wood, or a grass seed, is maybe stuck, and infected :p

Sounds as if she may need a new diet plan, as well... poor girl- hope she's smiling again soon!

[spoja05]

Thanks for all your responses! I will definitely look in to taking her to another vet for a second opinion. She is actually a lot more smiley today and seems like she's getting back to her old self, but the smell is still around and she isn't really into her food - especially not considering how much she usually is!

We are looking to put her on another diet - we've started cutting down her portions a little, but the main factor is that we often take her to Grandma's to visit and even though we constantly set down the ground rules that she isn't to give Tessy treats, Grandma is actually losing her memory, so tends to forget from day to day! We would stop Tessy from visiting, but Grandma loves the company and so does Tess (as the rest of us are out of the house a lot of the day). So we are working on that. She is finally getting it - I think.

As far as seeking a second opinion, we have actually been looking for another vet anyway as our current one has been really gone down hill - pushes you out the door, but still charges you a huge amount for not a lot of advice! So, anyone in the Adelaide area, any suggestions on a good vet? We live down Glenelg way and certainly price and location and expertise would be the main factors (probably for everyone!). So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for everyone's responses - I really appreciate it! We really love our girl and want to get her completely well!

Edited August 12, 2008 by spoja05

[Leema]

For those that are interested (as I'm unsure if my friend is going to reply), they took Tess to a different vet. This vet found a tumor/growth in her throat that is inoperable. She is on pain relief and can only eat 'soft foods'. He has given her 3 months to live but it may be less than this is she is in too much pain.

[Nekhbet]

:rolleyes: OMG how terrible! Ohhh what a horrible thing to find out So sorry to the family

[Dackel]

Hello,

OH :rolleyes: I am so very sorry for your friends doggie and hope she is on a very good painrelief.

All the best from

Felix and Petra

[Charles Kuntz]

Hi, sorry you are going through this.

This tumour is probably a tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma. Unfortunately, they are fairly common and as your vet has suggested, they are pretty invasive. I have had some that can be removed at the base, but the other issue is that many have spread to lymph nodes by the time of diagnosis. If you are keen to pursue it further, chest x-rays should be performed to help rule out distant spread. The lymph nodes should be checked by fine-needle-aspirate to see if the tumour has spread there. If not, primary tumour treatment can be considered. This would involve surgical excision and possible radiation therapy to clean up residual tumour cells. Radiation therapy unfortunately is a bit limited in Australia and the only two deep-therapy machines are in Melbourne and in Brisbane. Given all of this, the prognosis is still pretty guarded.

If there is any question about the diagnosis, I would consider getting a biopsy and consider seeing a specialist.

Charles

[Bjelkier]

Oh i am so sorry to hear that! :rolleyes: