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My Chihuahua has been a little lethargic over the last 2 days, He is eating and drinking fine, and his stool is normal. He sleeps with us at night and just this morning he threw up in the bed and urinated. Both are very rare for him. He doesn't have a fever, but his body seems to hurt a little bit. any ideas?
How old is your chihuahua? How did you check his temperature? Why do you think his body hurts?
He is 6 years old, we checked his temp rectally. every once and a while when you pick him up he will yelp a little like he hurts. When I check the area out though he shows no signs of pain anywhere.
Yelping when you pick him up can certainly be a sign of abdominal pain. Has he eaten anything out of the ordinary recently? Will he ever eat foreign materials such as toys?
Not that we have noticed, He usually isn't one for chewing on strange items, even going as far a not taking a different brand of chewy than his normal type. He is still eating fine. He is usually a very sleepy dog, napping most of the day, So it is difficult to tell if he is more sleepy than normal. He is also going to the bathroom normally as well.
Has he been evaluated by a veterinarian recently? Is he up to date on vaccinations? Is he on heartworm prevention? Has he ever had blood work performed?
He is on heartworm prevention, we just moved to Denver 3 months ago, he hasn't been to a vet since moving here. Never had a reason for a blood work up before. Yes he is up to date on Vaccinations. however he is very allergic to the rabies vacinations so our old vet said to stop getting him that vacination. He is an inside dog, so he has little contact with anything that would give him rabbies.
Thanks for the additional information. What temperature did you get when you took it? And I know he ate up until this morning, but did you offer him food this morning too? Did he eat it? The lethargy and 1x vomiting are pretty non-specific symptoms, and I would call them mild at this point. I don't think it is essential that you take him to a veterinarian, however with 2 days lethargy it certainly wouldn't be wrong to do so. Back pain and abdominal pain can be very difficult to differentiate and treatment for each would be completely different. Both often result in a yelp when picked up and generalized discomfort. Based on physical examination by a veterinarian, sometimes it is possible to differentiate between the two, but sometimes further testing is needed such as x-rays and potentially blood work. The episode of vomiting makes me lean towards abdominal pain more so then back pain, however that is not definitive. Causes of vomiting and abdominal pain could include foreign material ingestion, gastritis (from eating something out of the ordinary that has inflamed the GI tract), pancreatitis, and cancer, to name a few.
Experience: significant surgical and medicine background, currently working as emergency clinic veterinarian