Well....things are just a big mystery. This is day 5 from when Fraser woke up in a sad condition and trembling. He saw the vet on Friday when it started, physical exam revealing nothing--no tender abdomen, vitals normal, but he wouldn't open his mouth enough for vet to check it for lesions or signs of an insect sting. Sent home with pain pills and instructions to give him Benadryl on the theory that he may have been stung in the mouth. There has been no vomiting or diarrhoea that would suggest poison of some sort. Since then, his behaviour has been inconsistent. Sad, no greetings in the morning, moping during the day. BUT, he's keen on his walks, trots, sniffs about, leaves his mark and he is keen on his food which is small dry kibble in warm water with pumpkin. He's able to move his jaw enough to be able to slurp that up, but he no longer wants his treats that he used to demand at routine times of the day. The treats are larger than the food kibble, about the size of a small grape. It seems it hurts his mouth to open just that little bit further. I wrap his pills in a little ball of cream cheese and he's hesitant to take it, but gives it a try as he loves cream cheese and gets it down.
The vet has been in touch daily to see how he's doing and the idea was to see if he improves and if not, examine the mouth under sedation. However, on Sunday, Fraser was still acting the same in the mornings. Hunched, no greeting, sad dog, obviously not well. And when he was let outside, he went down to the end of the garden and sat hunched under a bush shivering. That's been happening each morning since the start of this. So, back to the vet, another one in the practice, who gave him a thorough examination and then put him under anaesthetic to have a good look inside his mouth. Nothing. Could see no problem with teeth, was able to open his mouth which eliminated a possible problem with maxillary (?) muscle at hinge of jaw, no signs of lesion, stings or below gum issues. Did an X ray which she enlarged to see as much detail as possible, but still could see no cause of the inability to open his mouth. The only option short of going into Vancouver to the vet clinic for more major investigation, is treat symptoms. So he's still on pain pills plus antibiotic in case there's an underlying infection somewhere. However, blood tests were normal, white count normal.
It's a complete mystery what's wrong with him. He did seem more normal yesterday. Same slow start, but he was actively enthusiastic about going out for a walk later in the morning got into position to get his harness on, tail wagging and had a long walk, trotting, sniffing, generally being completely normal. I thought, this might be the turn. Then, this morning, hunched dog, no happy greeting, let him outside where he disappeared down the end of the garden. After a few minutes I went looking for him and found him under the bush again, shivering. This is day 5 of whatever's wrong with him with no diagnosis, inconsistent behaviour, two vets have examined him and he's still not right. Needless to say, I'm very worried. And this is on top of his 'holding pattern' for the IBD, hoping the vet who can do endoscopies comes back from med leave.
Sorry about the long, long post, but if anyone is likely to have a clue about this new mouth/jaw issue that has him so poorly, they're likely to be here. Some kind of plant or herbicide poison seems out of the possibilities as there has been no vomiting or diarrhoea and he's eating happily as long as he doesn't have to open his jaw much. But WTH??
