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.