Dog with intense, random pain

[ksmsantana]

Hi everyone,

Two days ago my 5 year old female Husky/Pit mix met me at the front door when I arrived home from work and out of nowhere started yelping/crying in pain and lowering her head.  It only lasted 2 or 3 seconds and then she stopped. I petted her and pressed all over her body, looked in her ears, moved her legs, checked her paws and even her mouth and nothing looks wrong or causes her pain when pressed.  She was moving around normally and except for 1 or 2 more random yelps she seemed fine.

Yesterday these random bouts of pain happened a few more times, but our vet was already closed so I couldn't take her in.  Today she is yelping and crying out very frequently.  It is hear wrenching and when she "screams" it is very loud and sounds like she is being tortured. She is eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom normally and seems happy except for when the pain comes on.  The yelping seems to happen mostly when she tries to get into a sitting or lying down position, and this morning she was scared to go down the stairs and yelped every time she tried.  It doesn't seem to be a pain in any of her limbs though.  She seems like she is keeping her head low and when I very gently tried to move her head and neck to either side and tilt it to the side she started to yelp.  This morning she didn't want to try to poop, and I am thinking it hurts her to be in that hunched over position.  

We have an appointment at the vet later today, but I am so worried I don't know what to do with myself until then.  Does anyone have any idea what this could be or have you had this happen with your dog?  Thanks so much.

[Ghilly]

The one thing that I KNOW will cause a dog to behave in this manner is a bout of pancreatitis.  The pain is so intense that they just yelp out of nowhere.  When they are not feeling the pain they will act normally, but when that pain hits them, they just cannot help themselves.  

Get her to a vet ASAP because if it IS pancreatitis, it is life threatening unless treated.  She will need to stay at the vet for at least a week because she will have to be put on IVs since the first line of treatment is absolutely NO FOOD FOR A WEEK.  The pancreas must have complete rest in order to begin healing, so please don't wait.  Get her to the vet and see what the source of the yelping is.

If it turns out that it's something structural, like a disc in the spine or a muscle spasm, crate rest and an anti-inflammatory will do the trick, but if it is pancreatitis, you do not want to delay.  It could mean the difference between life and death.

Ghilly

[ginger899]

I don't know what this is, and obviously only the vet can help here. But it may be a cervical or spinal prolapse, or something similar. I would restrict her movements as much as you can until she can be thoroughly examined. Don't let her climb steps, jump into the car etc. Keep her as still as possible.
When you go to your appointment, lift her into the car, keeping her as straight as possible, with one arm around her chest in front of her legs, and one around her back end, so you support her spine in a straight way. Lift her out of the car this way too.