something is wrong with Bandit

Bandit is not feeling well. Strange behavior/symptoms. We are leaving for the vet in 5 minutes to be there when they open. He is shivering, looking scared/worried and is restless. He pooped this morning and it was normal, but he kept acting like he still had to poop, but nothing came out.
He is stiff and won't relax and acts afraid.

I am, needless to say, worried. It started last night with him having trouble settling for the night and resulting in me finally putting him in the crate instead of in bed with me. (He was sitting up in bed, looking worried and refusing to settle down). I thought something had scared him when we were outside going potty, because he was very spooky outside...jumping at every shadow, nervous, yet not wanting to come back inside. this morning he wanted to go outside and sit on the back porch, and just shivered (it is very cold...hard freeze this morning). He would stare in through the doggie door, but not come in. When he saw me pick up my keys, he came in (he always wants to go with me if I grab my keys) and he got straight into the kennel I had by the garage door. He sits in there now just looking around and sniffing, shivering, refusing to relax.

Well, gotta run and get him looked at. I'll report back.

Sorry I have got no advice but I just keep my fingers crossed :xfngr: that everything is ok with Bandit.

Sabby

Prayers, crossed fingers and big hugs to Bandit. I hope everything will be ok. :hug:

Hope everything is ok with Bandit :xfngr:

Hope all will be well. Could he have eaten something/ have some sort of intestinal blockage? Hope all will be well. :xfngr: You are right to get him in right away.

Just a thought but I'm wondering if it could be anal glands needing care. Freckles had some of those symptoms 2 weeks ago and the Vet found the glands full. After emptying he was fine.

I hope Bandit is doing okay. Please let us know what the vet says as soon as you can. :hug:

i've got my fingers crossed that Bandit is ok! hope he feels better x

Hi everyone and thanks for your concern. We are back. The doc found his belly to be really tender to palpation. A fecal showed nothing amiss. He felt it is colitis. All the recent changes (new puppy in the house, plus I am dogsitting for my exhusbands two vizslas for two weeks and they have been here a week already) are what the vet feels like brought it on. He put Bandit on metronidazole and said he should be much improved by tomorrow. If not, or if he gets worse (other than some diarrhea, which the vet said is possible will happen), I am to come in tomorrow (or sooner, or course, if things seem critical) and then they would do xrays and bloodwork to rule out a blockage or something else.
So, cross your fingers that he feels much better quickly and that it is nothing more than colitis brought on by the new stresses he has endured this last week.

:xfngr: that Bandit will be ok xx

Oh poor fella, all that extra company and he won't feel like playing now. I thought it was colitis when you described it, Dylan used to get this. I hope he is better soon.:flwr: Sometimes this can make his bottom sore so that might be another reason he is looking frightened.

:l*v: Get well soon Bandit.

We are with you 'Positive Thoughts'

Awww....poor Bandit!
Hope he gets well soon.

Poor Bandit, I hope he's all better soon:flwr:

Glad you got Bandit checked out ok. I hope the meds help and he starts feeling a bit better by tomorrow :xfngr: . Please keep us posted cos we all love the little fella.

Hope bandit is feeling better soon

thanks everyone. All the support is so good to have.

I am still worried...but puzzled. Clearly, something is wrong. He trembles in waves (trembles a few seconds, stops a few seconds) and is very tense. He even avoids me, though he wants to be in the room I am in. He avoids being touched. I haven't done anything to make him feel nervous around me, not even accidentally, like tripping over him or anything. (and he acted like this with the kids this morning, too) He did sit on my oldest daughters lap while she was waiting for the bus (on the couch). Usually he lies down beside her and sleeps. This morning he only wanted to sit, and he was very tense, trembling and unwilling to lie down.

On the way back from the vet I brought home 4 bales of wheat straw to spread under the back porch for the doggies to lay down in while they are outside (do this every winter because Kaya and Laddie get too hot in the house with their big coats and love to be outside in the straw better). Bandit and Lizzie came outside while I spread the straw around. They thought it was big fun. I sat and studied while they played and Bandit acted like he felt fine while playing for a good 45 minutes to an hour. Lizzie came to the steps to come back inside, but Bandit laid down in the straw. I don't like to leave him out unsupervised (after the hawk situation) so I went to get him. Immediately he was tense and trembling. I brought him in and he just sat by himself staring at me with his back legs tucked tight into his sides and under him and his tail curved around and tucked tightly up against his side. He looks all around nervously at sounds that are normal (like the heater cutting on) and that he is used to. He will even jolt out of a light sleep to the sound of something he hears and look nervous and confused. Right now he is asleep beside me on the couch (I put him there and encouraged him to lie down) and his trembling stopped once he reached a deep sleep.

He also was excited to see the vet techs and vet, so he wasn't trembling when they were looking at him. He was actually being friendly and wagging his tail. Normally he is WAY more gregarious when meeting people, so he wasn't fully himself, but he wasn't acting like a sick dog either.

I haven't observed him eat or drink anything all day either. It is possible that he drank outside during that 45 minutes to an hour we were out and I didn't notice (when I was busy with the straw spreading), but he isn't interested in food at all.

I am just worried about the fella. He clearly is not himself at all. I hope I am doing enough. should I go back to the vet and request an xray and bloodwork at this point? I don't want to take chances, but don't want to overreact either.

I have just noticed he is congested and is swallowing hard, too. He has clear drainage from his nose.

I am a firm believer in "if it makes you feel better, then go." If you are stressed worrying about something else being wrong, sometimes that stress can transfer to Bandit and then you are both a mess. There have been times when I have taken mine to the vet only to find out everything was okay, but it made me feel SO much better to have it checked out.

Pippin used to suffer from colitis, but he never reacted in this way(scared of things) and always had runny stools with it,usually with a bit of blood. He did act similar to this when he had an anal gland absess (the sitting away from us). If you are worried maybe you could call the vet? Hope the little boy is feeling better soon. I hate when they are sick and can't tell us whats wrong.