Dog - sick after surgery-

Question
Hello,

My dog is a silky yorkie maltese and he is 6 years old. Five days ago he had two teeth extracted and his booster vaccines. It took him two days to be back to normal,  however by the third day he regressed. He vomitted and had diarrhea.  He did not want to drink or eat. We took him to the vet but all they did was give him fluids and more anti- diarrheal medication even though he only vomited and diarrhea once. He is still really lethargic eating and drinking a bit more. This morning he started smelling where the wall and floor meet and would nog stop...corners as well. I am running out of answers and all the vet wants to do is stick him with needles.

Thank you

Answer
Hi Arcadia,

It's pretty normal for a dog to feel punk after these types of treatments. I am glad that they gave him fluids, but he might even need more. Yes, they want to stick needles in him because that's how you give a dog medications and fluids. It doesn't hurt them the way it hurts us. Their skin is very loose in most places and that's where they inject him unless they use an IV right into a vein.

I wouldn't worry about the wall smelling, he might be just a bit out of it still, or he found something that smells good. Sometimes they can smell ant trails that way.

If he isn't eating or drinking still then you should take him back and have his kidney and liver functions checked. Dogs with impaired liver, kidney or even heart functions are going to have a much harder time coming out of anesthesia. The vaccinations might also be making him lethargic anyway, so it appears that both are when it might just be the vaccinations.

Hopefully he is on heartworm prevention. That's another way to keep his heart healthy.

I hope he recovers quickly and is back to his old self. If not, call your vet again.