Boxer with open mouth!

[Winnie Poo]

Hi

Winnie our 8 y/o bitch has just developed a problem where she has her mouth open a little bit most of the time and is really struggling to eat and drink effectively. She seems unable to get the food over her throat and is dripping for a while after drinking. She is also licking around her mouth frequently and is making some strange noises occasionally whilst breathing almost like a snoring noise. We've been to our vet 3 times with her over the last few days and she is now on a variety of antiboitics but it doesn't seem to be getting much better. The vet sedated her today and did a more thorough exam of her mouth and throat but hasn't found anything conclusive. He does report that her blood tests show signs of a chronic inflammation/infection of some sort. Just wanted to know if anyone else's boxers had the same symptoms and whether or not treatment by antibiotics were effective. Other thing worth mentioning is that her water is always "scummy" after she drinks and that she seems to have raised glands also.

Sorry for the long post, thanks for taking time out to read this.

Winnie's Dad!

 

[mmichaelson]

Wow! Poor Winnie! Sending <<<healing vibes>>> and slobbery boxer ~~kisses~~ to your girl.

If I were you and this vet has found nothing out of any use, I'd try another vet. See if a 2nd opinion can find out what's bothering your gal!

Hope she's better soon - please let us know how she's doing!!

 

[Winnie Poo]

Thanks for your kind words - I'll pass them onto slobbery chops.

We've been using the same Vet all of Winnie's life and he's got a good reptutation and we've not had any probs before. Was thinking of asking him to get another one of the vets in the practise to take a look if things don't improve in a few days.

 

[Slobber Baby]

Poor Winnie! Sending hugs and slobbery kisses!
If your vet is really good he shouldn't take offense at wanting another vet to look at your baby! Good Luck!

Laura

 

[courtney323]

Poor Winnie, I hope you get some answers very soon.

Please take a second to post your Introduction. This is required of all new members
www.boxerworld.com/rules

 

[crowpete]

Sorry I have never been through anything like that. But I am sending lots of ~~~~HEALING~~~~ Vibes your way. I hope they find something out soon. Keep us posted.

 

[Lancerella]

Did you ever found out was bothering Winnie? Is she better?
Sending a lot of ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~healing vibes ~~~~~ to your girl.

 

[Winnie Poo]

Winnie update.....

Winnie still not good. The mouth is kinda closed at the moment so long as she is on some steriod tablets. She has had loads of tests and has been on steroids, off them and then back on them again. Our vet thinks either a stroke or possible brain tumour, not sure which but seems convinced it's definitely something neurological. She's a bit unsteady on her legs, although that improves a lot on the steroids. She is eating like a horse and is pretty much like an older, less stable, version of her old self. She's definitely not in any pain and seems happy enough, although a bit sorry for herself. Really not sure how this will progress, seeing my vet again tomorrow to discuss. It may be we'll have to keep her on a low level dose of steroids and see how it progresses, although I'm a bit concerned by the possible long-term effects of steroids....anyone any experience on this or on any alternative non-steroidal treatments?

Will update......

 

[Winnie Poo]

forgot to mention....

She seems to have lost a lot of muscle mass from the top of her head, with the base of her head becoming a lot more prominent and her face generally has lost weight. Has anyone seen anything like this? Also worth mentioning that she has not had any fits at all (apparently a sign of brain tumour). Also worth noting that this seems to have been a fairly quick onset illness which doesn't seem to be progressive, although she did worsen a lot during the week we took her off the steroids. She is back to the same condition on the steroids that she was 2-3 weeks ago when she was on them the 1st time. All very puzzling, would be very interested to hear from anyone who has any experience of these symptoms....I want to be as armed with info as possible when seeing my vet to try to give winnie her best chance. Apologies for the long posts, thanks for taking the time to read

 

[Winnie Poo]

Hi there, thanks for your kind words!

To be honest if the alternative is a progressive tumour I'd be happy to take the stroke option!

I saw another vet in the same practise and all he'd say is it seems neurological....covering his bases I'd say!

Just checked in with Winnie in the lounge and she is working her way through a large chewy bone so I guess that's good!