German Shepherd with mysterious health issues
I have a bit of a mystery of a health issue with one of the pups I bred and wanted to ask if anyone knows what it might be.
I bred this pup (now dog) from my near perfect German Shepherd bitch who has no underlying genetic conditions, and the same for the stud.
He has had several trips to the vet for this 'condition' and they are at a loss as to what this could be.
Here are his symptoms:
Low cortisol levels
Weight loss (1.5kg this week alone)
Lethargy
Lack of appetite
Visual disturbances
High white blood cell count but no infection
No signs of swelling
Gums appear normal
Not urinating often sometimes as much as 16 hour gaps
Water consumption is normal
No vaccinations since 4 months.
Not sensitive to touch.
Here are the tests he has had:
X-ray of his bladder - nothing reported unusual
Needle in the bladder for direct samples to look for infection - negative
Full blood work - returned nothing out of the ordinary
Urine - negative for anything unusual
Kidney scans - negative for anything unusual
Liver test - negative for anything unusual
Deficiency tests - waiting on results
Things that have been ruled out:
Addisons disease
Bladder infection
Poisoning
Background on the dog:
Male
Now 34.4kg
9 months old
This has progressively gotten worse
Foodwise, he is fed kibble and is a bit of a grazer (eats when he feels like it)
My theory is it could be hormonal - but I'm not 100% sure and I'm not a vet.
Has anyone ever come across anything like this?
Or know of anything that can produce the symptoms above?
UPDATE/edit: The vet has found he has an allergy to cheese, chicken, turkey and potato. They use cheese to train with him so they are exploring if this could be the cause.
further edit 01/05/29: The vets confirmed he has a serious intolerance to Chicken, Turkey and Cheese after the allergy tests from hair samples.
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Honestly, I would get a second opinion from a different vet.
I know you've probably built up a strong rapport with your current vet but without further reasoning as to why your vet has ruled out Addinsons I can't happily provide alternative information.
Low cortisol levels - Typical in addisons disease,
Lethargy and Weightloss also related to addisons disease,
Lack of appetite - Addisons disease can cause inflammation of the oesophagus which would definitely affect appetite,
Visual disturbances - I'm unsure what you mean by this however dogs with addisons can seem depressed or "down",
High white blood cell count - Abnormal white blood cell counts are also typical of addisons disease.
No signs of swelling - This is good. However, the swelling with addisons can be so slight that they do not appear on scans. E.G heart and oesophagus swellings.
If your dog becomes stressed you may see these signs or behaviours escalate. This is because cortisol increases with stress and if your GSD has addisons disease they will not be able to increase their cortisol levels to cope.
Alternative options could be:
Primary kidney disease - Frequently mistaken for Addisons disease
Tumour on the kidney (Although you have scanned and it seems nothing is directly wrong.)
If you haven't vaccinated and your GSD has been in water then definitely check for leptospirosis. It should have been raised in the blood test but it can never hurt to double check.
Some other questions:
What is his Gum colour?
How frequently does he urinate?
Water consumption,
Has he had is vaccinations/boosters?
Would you be able to provide images?
Is he sensitive to touch anywhere? E.G abdomen?
Would you be able to provide more information on what you mean by visual disturbances?
Update: The vets confirmed he has a serious intolerance to Chicken, Turkey and Cheese after the allergy tests from hair samples.
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