Good thoughts needed please (in-laws dog)

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

My in laws have a fantastic dog. She is a 14 year old husky mix who basically sleeps for 23 hours a day and begs for food the other hour. Chelsea is a lovely dog but spoiled a bit rotten. She's always eaten like a bird, sometimes her food will sit for an entire day before she finally eats it in the middle of the night.

But Monday she didnt eat, or Tuesday. Or Wednesday except for some scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. Then Friday she started to strain to defecate. Then Saturday she had a normal poop. Then yesterday she started vomiting and had blood around her tail.

So my in-laws are taking her to the vet today (it's a holiday here) to figure out what's wrong. My differential diagnoses were (best case scenario) an anal gland abcess causing discomfort and inappetance which is then causing tue vomiting. Or pancreatitis, low grade and chronic but exacerbated by the eggs and hash browns. Or some kind of tumor that's bleeding. (worst case scenario).

I'm taking the boys for a hike today, close to where they live, so I'm going to stop in and see what the vet says.
She is a great old dog and my in-laws have done geriatric work ups on her every year for the past three. Her blood has always been normal excePt for some mildly elevated liver levels. She's always been a very healthy dog so this has my MIL very worried.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

So no idea what the inappetance and vomiting is all about but she does have a ruptured anal gland abscess. Hopefully once the convenia kicks in, she will be more comfortable and will start eating.

[suzanne]

Did the vet run any blood work? I'd be worried the lack of appetite could be kidney related? If she doesn't improve after a few days I would definitely run a blood panel. An anal gland abscess shouldn't really cause a dog to stop eating. I mean, she could just be sensitive like that but we've seen several dogs/cats with anal gland abscesses and the owners had no clue their pet was having a problem.

Sending good thoughts her way!

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

She has a full geri-screen once a year in may. We know already that she has elevated liver levels but her BUN/creat have always been fine. She isn't a good eater at the best of times so I'm wondering if the pain from the abscesss caused the inappetance and then not eating caused the vomiting.

Either way, if she isn't eating by tomorrow, they are going to take her to their regular vet.

[patty]

Good thoughts for Chelsea to feel better soon! She sounds awesome.