Need Help, Please!!!

[LabBreeder]

Tira is acting very strange. She usually loves having the top of her butt and the lower part of her back scratched, but not tonight. Well, as of around 11pm at least.
When you rub/scratch (even lightly) she hunkers down to the ground (basically sitting), turns her head around towards your hand and starts trembling.
There is no noticeable change in her appearance. No swelling, no red skin, no bite marks. She walks normally (as far as my unprofessional opinion can tell).
What could this be???
It has me worried. The vet doesn't open til 7 or 8am and the nearest emergency vet is 70 miles away. That wouldn't be a problem if we had gas money, but his workers comp check doesn't come in til tomorrow. Our friends/neighbors have kids that go to school and one of them gets up for work at 5am so they are not an option.

She's not whining, yelping or anything. She just 'looks' like something hurts. She's never flinched like this before or acted like there was any kind of problem until almost 45 min ago.

Again, what could this be??? Arthritis, back pain, HD (hips in pedigree have been good/excellent)???

 

[juliefurry]

Is she coming into heat? She may be coming into heat and that she is thinking you are a male trying to advance her and she's showing you she's not ready. Or Has her and Gunner been playing rough? Maybe she hurt her back a little bit while her and Gunner were playing. Hannah's got a bad hip and we noticed it months ago because her leg on the bad side will swing in when she walks.

 

[LabBreeder]

She's not coming into heat until December. I've seen her previous heat cycles; she acts like this hurts...I just don't know why.
Yes, her and Gunner play rough at least 2 or 3 times a day. They jump, run, tackle each other, stand on their back legs and "box", etc. The last time they did that was around 2pm though. Tony scratched her (in the same spot) about 30 minutes before and she went to the ground, but she didn't act like it hurt (trembling, turning to look).
Could we have scratched to hard or something???

 

[poodlesmom]

Is she holding her tail normal? Is she holding it up & wagging it like she usually does or is it kind of hanging down with little movement? What comes to my mind is a tail sprain. They can be painful but will gradually clear up on their own. Another telltale sign is that when they sit they usually do so quite gingerly in an attempt not to affect their tail.

 

[juliefurry]

maybe it just felt odd to her for some reason. Hannah's got a specific way she likes her butt scratched and if you don't do it right then she gets all annoyed with you. As long as she seems to be doing better then I would just keep an eye on her, although I would take her to the vet just to get it looked at if it doesn't start improving.

 

[LabBreeder]

I'm going to check and see if I can get her to wag her tail, sit (normally), etc. See if maybe it's something with her tail.

I'll be right back.

 

[LabBreeder]

Ok... here's the results.

She sits normally.
She will wag her tail, starting about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down. The bottom part wags like normal, but she's not "swishing" the top part like when she's really happy. I don't know if it's cause her tail hurts or because she's afraid/worried that we'll mess with her lower back/butt area again.

Should we check and see if she does the same thing in the morning? or Immediately go to the vet in the a.m.?

 

[LabBreeder]

BTW...I've looked at all the hereditary/genetic health problems for Labradors and can not find anything that matches (or comes close to matching) her current symptoms. The only thing would be "hypothyroidism" for the scratching/shedding/dry *possibly* skin. Even that could be bad food or an allergy.
The only thing I could see it being right now is a strained/sprained tail....even that I don't know about.

 

[poodlesmom]

You'll have to play it by ear and see what the morning brings. It is possible it's just a tail sprain especially since she isn't moving the upper portion as normal. If she is walking OK I'd just let her be tonight and see how she is tomorrow unless she really seems to be in distress or seems to be getting worse. You know your dog better than anyone else, especially those of us who can't see her and you'll have to trust your instincts. I hope she has her happy wag back soon & is feeling better! It's so hard when we know something is wrong and we don't know what to do for them.

 

[LabBreeder]

Tell me about it!
She was perfectly fine and now, out of the blue, she acts like she hates to be scratched in a place that she loved earlier. Hopefully she'll be wagging normally in the a.m. and won't be 'sensitive' to that particular spot.
Would it be o.k. to give 1/2 an aspirin???

 

[LabBreeder]

UPDATE:::::

Well, now that she's been left alone for a bit she's wagging her whole tail, acting happy, still walking fine, jogs the same...I don't know what is/was wrong, but she seems to be o.k.
Maybe she was just tired of having her butt scratched? Or maybe we scratched to hard? I don't know. I'll check again tomorrow and see how she's doing before going to the vet. I don't think it's a sprained tail, but possibly something else. She's going to be getting "Pet Chef" (the local, more natural, home made dog food) starting tomorrow. Maybe that will help with the excess shedding/hair loss as well as any itching or allergies she may have (or be trying to get) with the commercial dog food.

I'll let you know if she's better or worse tomorrow and if we have to go to the vet.
Thanks everybody.

 

[Caren+Bailey]

Glad to know that she seems ok
Maybe she was just tired and a little grouchy and wanted to be left alone?

 

[MomOf7]

I was going to say it sounds like cold water tail or limber tail. Basically it is muscles that are damaged as a result of many things. Too much exercise, temperature changes, too much tail waggin.
Its very previlant in labradors though I have had only one occurance. He seemed to be very tender on the back end but quickly recovered a day or two later.
Although it could be many things.
My suggestion is to
Keep Tira quiet. Crate her or keep her confined away from Gunnar untill she recovers quickly or you get to a vet. Dont want to irritate or re-injure.

I hope Tira is ok this morning.

 

[DragonYoga]

Aww. Hope Tira is OK, do let us know how she is.

 

[LabBreeder]

Well, I still don't know what was wrong but she seems 100% better this morning. She is even wanting us to scratch the spot that she didn't want scratched last night.

Last night we checked her temperature 3 times - 103.5, 103 and 102.4, the temps went down after we put a cool wet towel over her back and the top of her head/ears. Checked her heart rate - between 115 and 120 (avg is 80-120). Checked her gums for pinkness and the ability to change from white (when touched) back to pink quickly. Also checked her eyes for any yellowing/jaundice. Other than the slightly elevated temp, her vital signs were normal.
We kept the cool, wet towel on her back for a good half hour or more. She was wiggle-wagging this morning. Jumping on the bed and acting like her normal self. She even pushed her back end towards Tony WANTING him (and me) to scratch that one spot.

We still don't know what was bugging her last night. As long as it doesn't come back today, we'll just keep an eye on her.

Thanks for all the concern. MOM - I was wondering if it could have been something with her tail as well. It just seemed like her tail was pretty much o.k. and right above her tail was bugging her (kind of lower backish). Hopefully, whatever it was, won't rear (pun intended ) it's ugly head and scare us like that again.

 

[poodlesmom]

Glad to hear she's back to normal!