Liz Buchanan BVSc MRCVS
Keymaster
Hello - it sounds as though this poor dog has had some level of symptoms from virtually every body system; GI tract (vomitting), musculoskeletal system, airways (coughing). I wonder whether one of these is a 'main' problem and the others are secondary to stress / age / a struggling immune system. A good question for your vets is, 'Can we make list of symptoms / clinical signs together' (this may include vomitting, coughing, limping etc - and if some of the signs are short-lasting, date them). Then, "what explanations for each of these signs could there still be? (I guess that quite a few things will have been ruled out by now)." If the vomitting / abdominal pain ×/- diarrhoea is still a presenting sign, I wonder whether pancreatitis has been ruled out? This can present intermittently or continually as is frequently overlooked in young dogs. Can pain or internal bleeding be ruled out? Has a pyometra been ruled out if your girl is intact? In the UK it is unusual to give antibiotics as a firstline treatment for bloody diarrhoea because the cause is rarely thought to be bacterial, so I wonder if it was definitely an antibiotic and if so, why this was chosen in that case.
It is unusual for a GA to caused GI (gasterointestinal) signs and while it happens sometimes, in cases where the signs predated the GA it is often not the most likely suggestion. However, stress and GAs can both add to GI signs at times. It sounds to me as though there is a lot going on to get your head round. Therefore to reiterate: we would reccommend a consultation simply to talk things through, and would encourage you to concentrate on the symptoms and 'What could be causing them / what have we ruled out' approach. The next question of course, is 'What is now the most likely' and 'How would we rule it out?' I hope that something there is useful.
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