Hello all, I have been a member for a while but usually only read the posts, but now unfortunately I have a problem with my Bulldog, Kimi. She is almost 2 1/2yo, and on Sunday she started crying as soon as she got up, I thought she hurt her jaw when yawing, or her ear was inflamed- I have been bathing her every week because of itchy skin and I am sure some water got in her ear about a week ago...anyway, she was back to normal soon, being crazy as usual. However, today, after coming back from her morning walk I gave her a tripe stick and she started screaming soon after eating. She was panting so much, I was worried about overheating as Kimi wouldn't drink! I had to put little water drops in her tongue.  I then had to wait for my husband to come home and we took her to the vet; when Kimi was being examined she cried when the Vet tried to lift her tongue, and the Vet thought she had something stuck inside the mouth. She said Kimi had swollen lymph glands and a slight temperature. We were told Kimi would be sedated and we went back after a couple of hours to get her. The vet said there was nothing in the mouth, ears looked clean, and gave us painkillers and antibiotics. The vet told us if she was in pain tomorrow to bring her back and they'd x-ray her and do blood tests. My husband and I were so stressed out about Kimi, we couldn't bear to see her in pain, but as soon as we got home she cried a little, and now is on the sofa exhausted. Then we started wondering why the Vet didn't do all necessary exams on her today, instead of waiting to see what will happen. We are very worried and don't know what could be the problem, and want to call the vet tomorrow to say do all exams on her anyway, but she would have to be sedated, again. Does anyone have any suspicion what could it be, we can't bear to see Kimi in pain again. Sorry long post & thanks.

hi sorry to here your dog kimi is feeling unwell.  It is difficult to know what may be wrong, and it is a shame your vet could not have done an xray when he had her in today :( i would def take her back to the vets in the morning to have her checked again, :)

This is probably a long shot but one of my Chows had an episode of suddenly screaming and then the next moment being ok. 

After a thorough examination of his mouth it appeared that there was a puncture wound right through his top lip and every now and then his canine was slipping in and out of the hole. If I hadn't seen the tooth go through I would never have seen the hole as it was impossible to see on it's own.

HTH
Mel

I had a Beardie screaming with mouth pain while on holiday years ago.  Fortunately I found a vet that specialised in dentals, and he was very thorough in examining inside her mouth.

Although it was never found what she had gotten hold of, there were 2 puncture wounds in the back of the throat, and inside of the cheeks swelled up with haematomas.  Did he look right into the back of the mouth?

Hello all, we have spoken to a Vet at the Royal Vet. Hospital, and she couldn't really say a lot by phone, just the same thing, if she's still in pain tomorrow to take her back. She was in pain about 40 min ago, when I tried to give her some cooked chicken- she won't eat. I gave her some water with a syringe, and she cried at first, I changed side and she was OK, drank a little; she is so tired she collapsed on the floor, but if we try to put her in her bed she cries. The medicine she was given is supposed to be strong and last 24 hrs, but she's still in pain.
The vet did look inside her mouth and said there was nothing, only thing they can feel are the lymph nodes swollen. But it must be something in her mouth, or maybe very inside her ears? But I'd have thought the vet would've spotted any infection there. Maybe the vet didn't look right in, I don't know. Kimi was seen by 2 different people, not my usual vet. I am hoping the medicine I give her tomorrow will stop the pain completely. I was also given another medicine to start on Saturday(?). I realise we should've asked many more questions, but we were so in shock, tired and stressed out, we just wanted the pain to stop, which we thought would've happened.
Kimi is sleeping now and not panting like before, so maybe the medicine is starting to work- 4hrs later, I hope so. I am so worried, she loves her food and haven't eaten all day, apart from the tripe stick in the morning.

ask them to check for masticatory myositis. Not always obvious.

Fingers crossed for you, and hope that you get some better answers tomorrow.  Let us all know how things go.

Bit of a long shot but have the vets ruled out disc problems in the neck.Just a thought as i once had a terrier who cried on eating and being picked up.

Hope you have some answers soon.

Ali x

> I gave her some water with a syringe, and she cried at first, I changed side and she was OK,

Could there be a tooth problem, a cracked tooth for example, it could be such a small crack/hole that it isn't obvious but is still enuogh to cause pain?

Sorry, adding yet another possible cause probably doesn't help your mind atall....
I hope you can get to the bottom of things today. Best of luck with Kimi.

Swollen nymph nodes are going to cause her difficulty whilst trying to swallow, she obviously has an infection to cause the swelling in the first place, so if she has a sore throat too she may well be feeling very sorry for herself and eating and swallowing are going to cause her pain. If your vet has checked her ears, nose and mouth with no obvious signs of anything there, it may be that she  just does not handle pain very well and so cries when offered food as she knows it will hurt to try and swollow it.

Antibiotics and pain killers should help whlist the infection is cleared, but it never really takes all the pain away.

The way that you describe it, it does sound as though she has a tooth or ear problem, but your vet has had her under a general so I'm sure they must have had a good and thorough prod around, it's not that she has just had an exam on the table she's been put under for a proper look.

Fingers crossed that it is just an infection, when are you back to the vet? I hope that she is soon feeling better and it is nothing more serious needing further examinations. Give the poor girl a (((hug))) from me.

Gosh Gracie when Whistler was bad last week I left the vets in tears telling the nurse not to let him die!! you are over reacting at all. Sounds like teeth if its when eating and chewing absess or something Im sure the antibiotics will help. Keep taking Kimi back and they will find out something. Its awful when they cant tell you where it hurts.

Bear up, in about 3 days she will be fine and you will be wreck!! I know I was.

Hugs to you and Kimi!!

Hello everyone, thanks for all replies. We had a bad night, I went to bed when Kimi finally slept, around 10:30 I think- don't even remember falling asleep. I woke up around 4am with Kimi crying, not a long cry as before, but still terrible. My husband was sleeping downstairs with Kimi, and we both got up then. We tried to make her comfortable and I gave her water(syringe), and I called the Hospital again, the vet told me better to take her back to the vet around 8:30, as she'd only give Kimi a shot for pain and send her back again- ??? Anyway, we opened the back doors and Kimi did walk to the garden, then outside and went to the toilet, she even trotted a little. But she wouldn't comeback by herself and had to be carried back by my husband. After that she settled nicely for a few hours; I then went to feed the chihuahua and Kimi got up, wanting to eat, I got the chicken and put the smallest bit on her tongue and she started to cry again, so I got a cab to the vet- husband had left to work. I was relieved to see my usual vet, and- forgot to say- Kimi woke up with a lot of gunk on her right eye, the side which seems to bother her mostly, also where she was scratching. So the vet said she had a dry eye, and he thinks she had surgery for cherry eye- I didn't even know that!! I was thinking then how my chihuahua always keeps Kimi face's clean, specially that eye, and Kimi let her, but always winced a bit when the right eye was being "cleaned". So, maybe Kimi always had a bad eye and I never knew because the chihuahua keeps it nice and clean for her! I though it was great, but now not too sure! Still, the vet said it could be a tumour behind the eye(although it is not bulging), and they mentioned the masticatory myositis that STARRYEYES  suggested. I had to sign a consent form for general anesthetic, and I'm so worried, but the vet had not called me yet, so she must have had it done already and is awake. Blood exams will be done, too. The vet said there's nothing wrong with the ears or teeth, he was a bit puzzled and said she might have to be sent to a specialist. When I left Kimi the vet put a collar on her and she cried, then went with him without complaining, the poor thing. Kimi is such a lovely, harmless dog & happy dog, it's heartbreaking. I will update here as soon as I hear from the Vet. I am knackered but can't sleep, my eyes will not close! I am hoping Kimi is crying so much because she can be a bit over-sensitive to pain sometimes- one day she was howling and crying and I got downstairs so fast but my husband said one of the cats smacked her back leg, playing, and it sounded as if she was being beaten up or something!
Thanks everyone.

I hope its fine she is lucky to have such a kind Mum I will check in when I an and keep my fingers crossed.  HUGs

Viv
XX

Oh no, poor you, still one-the wiser :(

Fingers firmly crossed for Kimi.

Hello all, Kimi has died. I have been online but couldn't write until now. She died early Saturday morning. We had left her with my vet on Friday morning and he called us to pick her up around 7pm the night before, and she was almost back to normal, wagging her tail, she drank loads and eat all the chicken, we were so happy. The vet said they did x-rays of her head, spine, did blood exams, he looked into her eye, nothing, all seemed normal, he said she didn't have dry eye after all. I am so angry writing this. The vet said it was probably muscular pain, and said if she had pain again, to give a relaxant, called Diazepam, rectally, if she was in too much pain, to give her 2. She was great until around 11pm, when she started crying again, so I gave her the medicine, only one, and she quieted down almost straight away- the vet did say it'd work fast. When it was 4am I woke up with my husband, who was sleeping downstairs with Kimi, screaming her name, and crying. She was dead, looked like a toy, her big brown eyes closed, as if sleeping. Well I think I killed my dog. I am quite sure that medicine put her to sleep. I don't think she could handle so much analgesic and her little heart stopped. I am so angry because, again, we trusted the vet, but, although I know he had good intentions, I don't think he knew a lot about bulldogs and should have sent her to a specialist, or the hospital. The vet actually said if he didn't find out what it was he would send her to a specialist...we should have insisted. But I think, because she recovered so well, initially, we all thought he was doing the right thing by Kimi. Nobody knows what she had, why all the pain she had. I have been online looking for every type of disease but she didn't have all symptoms of anything. I thought she might have had distemper, because her eye was full of gunk, but only one eye, and no diarrhea, no vomiting. Also thought maybe kidney stones, as she was peeing drops when in pain, but the thing is, how come she was almost back to normal after coming back from the Vet's surgery?? I suspect she had a brain infection, one side of head, and that's why that eye was that way. Also, she was scratching that side of her face, too. And when crying, she would sometimes turn to that side of her head, or, more often, she would lift her head up and was quite stiff, I though it was a mild seizure, but can it be possible? I really wanted answers, and Kimi's body is still at the Hospital- we took her there at 5am on Saturday, as the Vet was closed. I wanted an autopsy but was told it'd cost me £600- the vet should pay, I think! So, after thinking about it, we decided to just have her cremated. My husband is in pieces, so is my Daughter. My Son cried but is OK(although he said he doesn't want another bulldog, ever). I couldn't break down because of the kids, as my husband couldn't help it but cry a lot, so now I am really stressed out, can't even sleep properly. If someone suspects what could have happened, please could you contact me, or someone had a bulldog with a similar problem. 
Thanks everyone for your kind words.
Val(sorry, Gracie is my chihuahua's name)

Oh Val, I am so sorry for your loss, I don't know what to say....

Rest in peace little girlie x

Oh my gosh, what a horrible shock for you :(

Rest in peace Kimi
xx

How awful! It is always a shock to lose such a young dog, I guess there was something else going on that your vet hadn't yet found. I am so sorry you have lost your beloved pet. Sleep tight Kimi. Thinking of you all.

Val I'm very sorry for your loss too.  What an awful time for you and your family.  :(

I hope somebody can come along and offer you some possible answers as to whats happened with Kimi. 

So sorry Val to read of your sad loss of Kimi. Poor girl
what a terrible shock for all of you.
Hugs
Anndee

Desperately sorry to hear of the outcome of your youngsters illness - I know it is difficult to think straight at a time like this but the only way you will know for sure is to have a PM - difficult to consider or accept at a time like this.

So sorry for your loss-no words xx

So so sorry, I thought of you over the weekend and was going to send a private mail.

I am someone who needs answers, when my girl passed on I knew what it was and had her pm'd to prove to the breed club this was the case, I know this was 6 years ago but it didn't cost anything like what you have said.

I hope you find the answers you are looking for.
Hugs.

sorry for your loss x

Hi Val, first can I say how very very sorry I am about Kimi. You obviously loved her very much. 

I lost my soulmate, Stavs, a few months ago, and I totally understand the pain you are in.  Please though, dont blame yourself.  Im sure you didnt cause Kimis death, she was obviously a very unwell girl.  You will torture yourself with  "what if's"  if you blame yourself.  I know from experience, as my staffy boy Stavs died in my garden after a massive fit, I saw him rolling around the floor from my kitchen window and simply thought he was rolling around on the grass, (which he often did), it was only when he didnt come back in that I went out, and he was already dead :(   The guilt I felt was HUGE, could I have saved him if Id gone straight out, what If Id done this, or that, etc etc.  It really messed with my head (and heart) for a long time, and still does sometimes. 

You are grieving, dont add to your grief by blaming yourself, you sound like a caring, lovely person and shouldnt torment yourself with "what if's",  no doubt Kimi was very ill and nothing you did caused her death!  You may have had a short time together but it was filled with love and Kimi was lucky to have you.  My thoughts are with you all. RIP Kimi. xxx

Oh Val I am so sorry, what a dreadful thing to happen. I have no advice, a PM would have been the only sure way of finding out what happened but I certainly appreciate the cost was prohibitive for you.

i am so so sorry my love,i know how the pain feels as i went through it as well. All i can think of is BAOS, as my pug had this.He did all the screaming episodes,my vets thought it was pain,but referred me to cambridge who found out it was this BAOS,he also had stage 2 larynx collapse.My pug had surgery and has recovered,but he can  not have sedation or anesthetic unless it is life or death as this can cause his larynx to collapse completely.It is a condition that is mainly found in flat faced breeds,so you may want to google it,
Take time to grieve,but one day you will remember her with the good memories and not these sad ones.
lots of love and hugs
jo

I'm so sorry to hear that Val, big hugs. Don't blame yourself - your girl was obviously very ill, and you followed the vet's advice, you did all you could for her.

so sorry x

so sorry for your loss Val, you didnt do anything wrong, you simply followed the instructions given by your vet.  Don't blame yourself, i think you have done everything you could have for Kimi.  I would have insisted on a post mortum just for piece of mind, surely the vets could have come up with a payment plan for you after everything you went through?? 

Thinking of you and your family at this very difficult time.

Tc xx

I'm so sorry for your loss and the traumatic time you have had with your girl :(
Please do not blame yourself, you did everything you could for her x

so sorry to hear of your los of Kimi ,dont know what to say ..completely shocked..but as others have said you did the best you could with what you knew ...dont blame yourself  at least she is not in any more pain.

RIP

Roni

Gracie,

What a heartbreaking time you have been through. In time you may draw comfort from the fact that you stopped Kimi dying in pain by giving her the medication. With pain like that one would have to give her something to stop it and I'm sure Kimi was relieved not to have to endure more of it. You did the right thing and the humane thing by ensuring she did not continue to suffer. She was obviously very ill, so please do not blame yourself, you did everything possible to help her- it was absolutely necessary to give her pain relief.

I don't have any suggestions for what this might have been but I wanted to send all our sympathies and thoughts to you and your poor family at this awful, awful time.  You must be absolutely in pieces at the moment, but please don't blame yourself for what happened to poor Kimi - you really did EVERYTHING you could.  Now possibly isn't the best time for recriminations, maybe look afterwards at whether the vets acted incorrectly, for now just look after yourselves and little Gracie too. 

I'm sure Kimi knew how much she was loved by you and your family and even though she didn't spend long in your lives, I'm sure she brought much to you as you gave lots of love to her.

Big hugs to you all.

I am so sorry for your loss please do not blame yourself you did every thing possible it is hard when they are so young we lost one at 10 months thinking of you

Hello everyone, many thanks for all your replies and comforting, thank you. We had Kimi cremated, I know maybe I should have had the autopsy, but was also worried at the same time, if it was inconclusive, or worse. I looked everywhere on the Internet but Kimi never had many symptoms to pinpoint one illness; Joanne(thanks) I looked at BAOS but Kimi had no problem with her breathing at all, she didn't even make noise when breathing and she seemed so fit, could walk 3x day, she ran with my other dogs- I also have a DDB(almost 4yo), but Kimi spent more time with the chihuahua, because, if I left her alone with the DDB inside they'd go crazy playing and banging on everything, but it was quite funny to watch. Kimi would go on top of the sofa to be at the same height as the DDB. They all really loved each other, and I actually got Kimi when she was 18-19 months old as her breeder didn't want to breed from her any more as she had lost her only litter, so we only had Kimi for 8 months! She fitted in with the family straight away though, and my DDB doesn't like all dogs. Kimi seemed like she was always ours. She was so funny, her expressions, the way she wobbled her body when she wanted a treat, and when she romped our legs, especially my husband's, when he was on the phone! We got her a cage to sleep at night otherwise she'd wake up and go to the toilet on the floor. She loved her cage, would go in to sleep, chew her bones, it was her little place. She never had another accident(actually she did when she was on heat but it was back to normal when it finished). We will never forget Kimi, she was so special. But I have to confess, we have put a deposit for another bulldog girl, already. That's the only way we have always found to cope, to get another dog ASAP. We found a 9mths old white with tan patches little girl, from a good breeder in Norfolk, went to see her yesterday, she is so lovely. We will be getting her in 2 weeks, as we are going away next weekend for a week. We can't wait and are looking forward to the new addition, so we are happier now. I will have a bit of a challenge as the girl is not lead trained and I never trained an older puppy on the lead, but also looking forward to it. Will do another thread on the subject when I get her, but I think I'll be OK, I hope!
Thank you so so much again, you all made me feel much better. Thanks a lot.
Val

Hello, I would like to edit the post above about the age of the new puppy, she is 8 months- but we did see another puppy that is 9 months, I wrote about her on another thread (general) xx

i am so sorry for your loss,god bless you all!