old sick dog/ suffering

Question
Just wondering if you would no what would be causing my 11yr old black lab to howl in pain having some sort of stomach contractions where his whole body tenses up as he lets out growns.my vet is a add and keeps playing games. Wish I had a gun to end his suffering... Thanks mattyg

Answer
Matthew,
I am glad you do not have a gun.
If you cannot go to a vet, please take your dog to a humane society as they may be able to treat him and find him a home.

There are so many things that could cause a stomach pain that I would strongly recommend finding an integrative veterinarian with whom to work because they will be less likely to be ADD. This is a person trained in many different approaches, including using conventional drugs only when absolutely needed. Working with one can increase the chance that your cherished companion can live a long and healthy life after recovering from this current problem. There are good ones and great ones, and a few homeopathic veterinarians will consult by phone or email. You can go to the web sites for each type of holistic practice and use their referral list to find one near to you. Many practitioners are members of only one or two of the organizations, so you do need to go to every site to find who is near you:
1. Wide range of other treatments: www.AHVMA.org, American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and www.civtedu.org.   
2. Homeopathic veterinarians (these can often help you by phone if no other holistic practitioners are nearby that you like): www.theAVH.org and www.DrPitcairn.com.
3. Chiropractic and Osteopathic - www.animalchiropractic.org; http://equineosteopathy.org/ (they treat dogs, too)
4. TCVM (Acupuncture and Chinese medicine): www.IVAS.org, www.aava.org & www.TCVM.com
5. Herbal - www.VBMA.org

Possibilities: ulcers, severe worm infestation, tumor, diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disorder, bloat, twisted stomach (many of these can kill fairly quickly but I can't tell how long your dog has been doing this).