My 8 year old Bernese has been on and off his food for a few days, I have been tempting him to eat by offering him his faviourite foods but this morning he just refused.
He has lost a bit of weight, and on Friday I tried to take him for a short walk and he walked at snail pace, I thought any minute now he was going to collapse, but we made it home.
He also has a dry nose?

Today he has eaten a little rice and chicken, and he messed on my kitchen floor (very unlike him) it was a very dark orange and dark brown Diaherea which had a very strong smell to it and has stained my wood flooring.
I phoned the on call vet this afternoon and she feels it may be a Gastro virious and we are taking him to the vets tomorrow, but if things worsen to take him today.
Can anyone give me any ideas of what may be wrong with him, I know the average age for this breed is 8 but I do not want to right him off yet and am hoping it is just a bug

Could be anything I think you will have to see what the vet says.  I would take a sample of faeces.  It may help with the diagnosis.
As you have pups in the house I would be extremely careful about infection control.  It would be better if the same person does not have contact with both your Bernese and the puppies but if that is not possible a complete change of clothes between each exchange might suffice or at the very least a good cover over with something like a boiler suit, a change of footwear and thorough washing of hands.  I certainly would not let them in the same areas of the house or garden.

Hi Isabel, yes we are taking measures to make sure that if my boy has an virous that it does not spread to the pups.
I have a suit that I am putting on when I go into the pups, and washing hands and changing footwear, they do not share the same part of the garden as pups are penned in.
I am so worried about my boy, this will be his first time in going to the vets in 8 years, apart from his boosters and castration. :((

You cannot be sure until you see the vet but common things are common and gastric upsets are common :)  As it stands the biggest hurdle for you is keeping it away from those pups.  Good luck in your endevours but if you see any sign of them catching anything please see the vet sooner rather than later as dehydration will affect them much more quickly than an adult.

There does seem to be some sort of nasty gastric bug going around at the moment. Our Bernese had it a few weeks ago and the vet said they had had to keep a few dogs in to be rehydrated because of it. Ours didn't need to be kept in fortunately and recovered quite quickly. I've seen a few posts about it on here recently too.
Hope he is better soon.
By the way, our Gordon who is with the Bernese 24/7 didn't get it so i don't know how it is spread.

Hi thanks for your reply, hope you don't mind me asking, but how old is your bernese, and how long did he stop eating for?
I am so worried, he is laying in our lounge with us at moment, but seems very tired even though he has barely done anything for the last few days.

If it was me and because it's a Bernese I would have it at the vets.  I'm sure you know all too well what the reasons may be?  My friend has had many a Bernese die at 7 and 8 years which seemed well one moment and then unfortunaely took a turn for the worse only for it to be cancer.

I truly hope it's nothing like this but unfortunately has to be considered.

As I have said in my first post, I am taking him to the vets tomorrow, after speaking the the vet today.

In the back of my mind is the big bad 'C' word, but I really hope this is not the case, and that it is just a bug.
He so far has given me 8 fantastic years of companionship, love and loyalty and I am not about to let him suffer in any way, he is my life and soul.
I pray that he will be ok

I hope he will be alright and it's something minor -got my fingers crossed for you.

Hi she was nearly 3 and it lasted for a few days, she was taking herself off to her bed and just looking miserable but was better within 24-48 hours of being at the vet if I remember correctly.
Marion

What's his temperature?

How is he doing this morning?

We are back fromt the vets.

He has a temp of 39.5c and his gums are pale.
The vet has given him two injections as she thinks he may have some sort of Gastro infection, he has also got Pro Kolin plus to take.
If he has not improved within the next couple of days he will be going back to the vets for blood tests and an Ultrasound.

The vet felt around him, and said his bowel feels a little 'squeegy' and although we did not actually weigh him, you can feel his bones and his spine, it is so upsetting as he has always been a 'meaty' dog muscle and fat!
We will see how he goes, got to try and tempt him to eat, so will be in the kitchen this afternoon!

i would have him back  for x rays of the liver and spleen.

if his gums are pale he may be bleeding inturnly plus he lost weight to.

been down that road with two fcr.

take care

UPDATE:
My boy has perked up a bit since this mornings visit to the vets.
He has got up and about more in the house, meeting friends that have come round, sort of nearly back to himself.
He has eaten a little food, vet told us to try little and often.

His gums are still pale though, I will see how he is in the morning if no great change then I will take him for blood test, :(

Glad he is a bit better - as i said above, Bramble was better after she had seen the vet. Hope he continues to improve

Marion

Sorry only just caught up with this thread. 

My dog was very poorly about a month ago (did post on here).  One minute she was fine the next day she started diarrhoea, the next day she was very loose so starved her but that night she was sick and then sick twice more in the morning once with blood in it.  I'd given her a little rice and it came straight through her in very dark diarrhoea.  When she tried to drink some water and then threw that up I took her to the vet as I was worried about dehydration.  She was very dehyrdrated and she was kept in and put on a drip.  The next day the vet said she was very poorly and passing just blood.  Things were looking pretty grim and we were fearing the worst.  The next day though she perked up and by the end of the day she was allowed home having managed to eat and drink and keep it all.

When she got home she was still passing very dark red runny stools but with all the jollop the vet prescribed she soon got better.  I had to give her zantac then some other medicine that lined her stomach half an hour after the Zantac then 1 hour later a little food.  I did this 3 times a day and also gave her antibiotics twice a day. 

I did see her pick up something in the park the day before she started being ill so guess it was that although you can never be sure.  The vets didn't really know what it was either and just said Gastro enteritis.

She's right as ninepence now and I sincerely hope your dog recovers the same way

UPDATE :D
I am so proud of my boy, he has eaten 3 little meals today and has been in the kitchen when I am preparing food waiting for something to drop of the worktop ie. piece of cheese, carrot etc! :D
He is starting to get back to normal, just going to keep an eye on his weight and make sure he puts some on, now he is eating more hopefully hes gonna be fine !
I am keeping my fingers crossed that he is on the mend! :D
Thanks for all your replies to this topic,

Ahh glad that he seems a bit better.

Good news :) 

I was talking to a guy I meet on walks who has a 9 year old boxer bitch.  She has been quite poorly too recently and the vet told him that they'd treated more dogs than usual for some sort of gastric flu bug so there must be a lot of it about.

Very glad to hear he's on the mend :)

My boy has been admitted today at the vets.

He stopped eating again, and just seemed to lay around, so took him to vets and they have put him on a drip and took blood test.
This afternoon they called to say that his blood showed signs of Bone marrow cancer, possible liver failure and anemic.
THey are keeping him in to do more blood tests, but it really doesn't look promising.
we are so upset and depressed here, we are trying to make a dicision.
If we live him at the vets he is just going to be stressed as he never been away from us in his 8 years of life, we would love him home but don't want him to be suffering anymore, I can't believe what is happening. It is so difficult to know what the best thing to do.

I'm so sorry to hear this bad news. :(

Be strong, you will know what you have to do, I am so sorry that you have to be in this position.
My love and thoughts are with you.
Karen

Really sorry to hear that :(

Sorry to hear that it is bad news.

Oh dear - I'm so sorry - my thoughts are with you.

Margot

Really sorry to hear that he is not so well.

So sorry to hear this :( 

I am really sorry to hear this; just after things were looking up. What an emotional roller coaster.

Oh no :( :( :(
{{{{{Hugs}}}}}
Be guided by the vet, but do whats best for him.
Stay Strong.
Lea.

Oh I am so sorry to hear this :( You must be besides your self with worry :(

Lucy
xx

I am so very, very sorry to hear such bad news. :(

I am so sorry, I was really hoping that it would be something simple. Poor boy.

Marion

Oh dear! I am so very sorry.

sorry to heard your sad news but i did write up about what i thought it could be, bernese are very much like flatcoated retriever with their health issues and cancer,
but be brave for him if you need to chat or email p please do so.

My boy is home, he is on steroids and we have to take him back to the vets in the morning for more blood tests to confirm his illness.

Cant write much as it is so upsetting, but we have decided that as he is 8 years old and would not survive a general to take Biopsy and it is not 100 per cent that he would survive a blood transfusion we will see what the next step is.

We have been told he is not in pain, but the illness is making him very tired and he is only eating because of the steroids.
This will be a sad ending to a adorable loyal friend, but we don't want to watch him suffer.
x P.S. thank you for all your messages on this topic x

I'm so sorry to hear that Gemini, thinking of you xxxx :(

Hi Gem - I'm glad that he is home with you again.   

Last October/November, we were extremely worried about our 8 1/2 year old Aussie, Thor, who was very very low - we had all sorts of tests, bloods were taken on a regular basis, and our vet could not pinpoint the problem.    We were referred to Davies Veterinary Hospital, and he was put out again, more xrays taken, and fluids taken from all his joints, and eventually, he was diagnosed with poly-arthritis - an auto immune disease.    We brought him home, and he was put on massive dosage steroids, and metacam as needed.

Now 6 months later, he is still with us, and doing - relatively - well.   He is still on 80mg of steroids (prednisolone) per day, but he is quite bright, enjoys his food (although he has taken up bin-diving :rolleyes:) , he decides upon how much exercise he needs - sometime he will come for a long walk, other times he turns round at the top of the lane, and makes it clear that thank you very much, that's far enough.   Sometimes he will do all three of the "short" walks (15 mins each) that we do with the others in the middle of the day.   Sometimes he will just potter in the garden.

I know that without the steroids he might not be with us -and I know that long-term use of steroids causes problems.   Thor is now 9 - and I would far rather think that we might be priviledged enough to be owned by him for another 18 months or so - of good quality life - than withdraw the steroids and see him go down hill and maybe just exist for two years.

So don't despair - just enjoy him whilst you still have him - that's what we're doing with Thor!   As long as he is not in pain, and enjoys his food, that's enough for us.

{{hugs}}

Margot

So sorry to hear this.

I don't know if this is good news or not.

Been waiting all day today for the vet to call us with the last blood results for my boy, she phoned at 12pm to say they not got results back yet should be couple of hours, then we phoned her at 430pm but she was in theatre.
We had to quickly pop out to collect my son from a friends house and SOD law, she rang! even though we had left the vet with our mobile number she left a message on our home phone!
She said that my boy condition may not be a serious as they first thought??????  What does that mean??  What else could this be???
She is going to call us in the morning (I will be standing by the phone!)
We know we may not be out of the woods yet, but we are a little happier that it may not be as serious but are picking our brains to think of what is wrong with our boy.
He has been a bit more mobile today, eaten little and often again.

Its always the way, the minute you go to do something whatever youve been waiting for happens.
Try not to let it worry you too much and get some sleep tonight.
Ill be keeping my fingers crossed for some good news for you all in the morning :)

Oh I do hope its some better news for you - it certainly sounds positive, keeping my fingers, toes, paws and everything else crossed for you and your boy.
Marion

I do hope you have some good news this morning.

Margot

I hope you have good news this morning too, fingers and everything crossed for your boy xx

I do hope that you have some positive news on Mika, fingers crossed.
}}}}}}}}}}Hugs{{{{{{{{{{
Yvonne

Hi everyone and thank you for your kind posts.

The vet phoned!!
She thinks Mika has a case of Hemolytic Anemia (sorry about the spelling) I am going to look on the internet for what this actually is.
We are taking him back to the vets tomorrow for yet more blood tests to see if his red blood cells have increased, the last blood test showed that the red blood cells had fractionally increased which is a good sign.
Poor chap, I had to be put the steroids down his throat this morning as he just plainly refused to eat the food with them in, after I had given his tablets and made him some fresh breakfast he then ate some of it, he has been out in the garden quickly this morning for the longest wee wee I have ever seen!
We are trying to keep positive, but is so hard, the unknown.
My home phone and my mobile are near enough constantly ringing with friends and family asking how Mika is, although I have 3 Bernese, Mika has always been the one that everyone falls in love with as soon as they meet him, he is a my life.

There's a reference to it on a previous Champdogs thread. From what I've read the prognosis is quite optimistic. :)

Hi,

I come on this site more times a day than i care to admit, i don't always sign in so am really just an invisible lurker. I just wanted to say hope all is well with your boy, ive been thinking about him over the past few days and was glad to see that he's (fingers crossed) on the mend.

Thank you for those links, I have myself be reading up on this.
We are really feeling down, wanting to do the best for our boy, hes skin has turned a yellowish colour and his last blood count was 12 which had dropped from 20 to 12 within 24 hrs.
He seems really tired today, his heart is pumping fast.
We want to know what would be better for him, keep him alive with hope the medication helps him perk up, he has been on the steroids now for 4 days, we are also worried about the side affects of the steroids.

Or would it be better to let him go, oh this is so upsetting we only want the best for him, I want him to stay with me but if he carrys on not perking up much at all and this condition could cause heart attack, liver or kidney failure oh god ,,,,,,,

I know you don't want to hear this, but I think the best thing to do, if he IS deteriorating, is to end his discomfort. To be honest, having had Bernese in the past, I have rarely found any to survive longer then 8 years! My last, Kerry, made it to nearly 7. A friend who breeds in Scotland, he has about 6 or 7 Bernese, finds it really hard to keep them going beyond 7 or 8. I'm sad for your pain, I hope happy memories presevere and keep your heart warm XXX Much love, Dawn XX