lethargic yorkie

Question
since this afternoon, my 5 yr old yorkshire terrier has been acting lethargic.  He will walk but with he looks funny, almost drunk and with a hunched over back.  He ate ALOT of dog food and water this evening but I had to hand feed him.  All he wants to do is lay in my lap and sleep (which is not normal for him until bedtime).  He lives indoors and is only outside about an hour a day.  This happened 3 weeks ago but the vet didn't know what was wrong (he said he had a fever) and prescribed him antibiotics (amoxicillin).  He got well after I gave him the meds, but the reoccurrence makes me think it wasn't the medicine that helped. please help!!! Thank you.

Answer
First of all, no Yorkie should be eating a LOT of food of any kind. They are small dogs and should be fed accordingly. Secondly, what are you feeding the dog that it has to be fed by hand? How could it eat a lot if you are hand feeding it? And why are you hand feeding the dog?
It sounds like your dog is suffering from a very painful condition called pancreatitis, which is very common in Yorkies and it caused by them eating too much, or eating human food or eating bad dog food that is full of fat like might dog.

Dogs with pancreatitis will have a fever and the antibiotics will help. Steroids are sometimes given for the inflammation of the pancreas. The liver might even become inflamed. Pancreatitis is VERY serious and can be fatal. It will cause a dog to walk hunched over and not want to walk at all.

This dog is very ill and needs to see a vet soon. You need to stop all food tonight and leave very little water out for the dog. We usually recommend you just leave out some ice cubes so they can lick at those.

So no food tonight and to the vet in the morning right away. Then you need to stop feeding what ever is causing this and stop ALL human food and any treats the dog is getting also.

I hope he recovers. Please let me know what the vet says he has.