Since last Saturday (the 18th), my dog (6 year old male Goldendoodle) has been acting a little strange. Starting Saturday, he would only walk around with is head down and tale not really tucked, but not extended or up. It was almost as if he had gotten into something he wasn't supposed to or had a very rare accident in the house, so I took a look around the house and found a spot that I thought looked like he may have peed. I called him, he walked up to me and I asked if he did it and he seemed to react like he normally does when he makes a mistake so I gave him some pets and scratches and he seemed fine.
I left for the evening and came back the next day and he seemed totally fine, back to normal still. Then starting again on Monday, the head dropped, the tail fell and he is walking a little awkwardly. Not like a stumble, but with less balance and speed than normal. I thought maybe he had an ear infection, it's been a bit since he has had a trim so he's got really long hair right now and he loves rolling around in the grass outside, so getting dirt stuck in there isn't abnormal. I checked to see if his ears were warm and they felt fine and didn't look too dirty, so I assumed no infection was present. However, he also stopped eating and drinking.
He's been eating less for the past couple of weeks because my mom is in the hospital and he's been understandably sad without her around, but he was still eating, just not as much as normal or at irregular times. For most of the past few weeks I would wake up to an empty bowl, so he was clearly eating while I was asleep. Now he won't eat at all. He ate a small piece of grilled chicken earlier, so I'm gonna try just making some chicken breast and cutting it up for him, or refrigerated dog food with real ingredients. The not drinking is what's really worrying me though, and I'm considering getting a syringe or something to try to quirt water into his mouth and get him drinking.
I checked his ears again on Tuesday and noticed they had started warming up a bit, checked for dirt again and it was worse than I thought. So I got some ear cleaner and have been treating his ears to try to get rid of any infection that may be present. He's had ear infections before so I'm not super worried about that part.
He peed earlier today (outside) so he's not completely dehydrated though I'm sure he has to be running pretty low. I don't know if I should assume that this is just major separation anxiety because my mom has never been gone for this long at once before, or if it's a bad ear infection or if it's something else or a confluence of all of these things. Maybe a tick? I've felt around on his body and given some light but firm pressure. No yelping or acting discomforted, so I would think it wouldn't be an injury.
I don't know how to take all of this because of him acting fine on Sunday, but we had some family come into town so maybe his spirits just got lifted being around people he hasn't seen in a bit? I'm guessing this needs to end in a vet visit, and probably quickly, I guess I'm just too worried to admit that something may be really wrong.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/hw9jl5/im_sure_i_know_the_answer_but_i_have_questions/
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