HELP. Sick Dog - Desperately Worried Owner!

by Lorraine O' Shea
(Ireland)

Firstly, my extreme apologies for such a long post, but it is a long story no matter what way I put it so here goes: I'm hoping someone can help me out. I have a female JRT approx 1.5 yrs old. Her name is Nell. 2 weeks ago she was making hacking noises so I took her to the vet. He said she had Kennel Cough/Bronchitis and an elevated temperature. However, I said I felt this was strange as she does not play with other dogs where I live and the other only dogs she has contact with are my Mums and they are all fine. However, he gave her a steroid injection and then gave me antibiotics and other tablets for her. She was very lifeless after the injection but later improved. Before finishing the course of tablets, I had to take her back to the vet again as she started shaking and her stomach was making strange churning noises all the time and she was just not herself. The vet said her stomach was probably upset from the antibiotics and gave her an injection to supposedly replace the friendly bacteria in her gut. He said that there was no need now for her to take the antibiotics any more. He also took blood and said everything was fine and her temperature was normal now also. He has just put the shaking down to the fact the dog is sick so may be feeling the cold. She is very much a house dog and the house is nice and warm. He has now given her Cimetidine 200mg twice per day. She is a 5.2kg dog. I googled these tablets and although they are human medication, vets are allowed to prescribe it. I found a thread that said 5mg per 1lb of dog - which would mean my dog should only have approx 60mg for her weight? He has her on 400mg per day. At the end of all of this, Nell is just acting very strange and doing a lot of things she would not normally do. She normally would follow me everywhere in the house and is a very active dog, playing with togs, jumping all over the furniture, hiding pigs ears all over the house, barking at anyone that passes by the house etc. She has now stopped most of this with the exception of the barking now and again. A few times when I have rubbed her she has moved away whereas normally she would be glued to me. This morning I took her for a walk which she just loves (sick or not) and by the time we got back to the house she was shivering! She sits down the other end of the couch from me now just starting blankly at me sometimes. She seems to be eating normally but is drinking lots of water. Initially I wasn't sure if this was the steroids but she is still the same now (almost 2 weeks after the injection). So now that the Vet has said there is no need for the antibiotics, I am at a loss to understand what is going on. I am reluctant to go back to the Vet as I think the constant injections and tablets the last couple of weeks are making her worse, not better. Can anyone help here or has anyone experienced similar? I have her on Science Plan dog food now (Vet said plain and best for when sick). Her normal diet is dried dog food, I cook her Mince Meat and treats of dental sticks, pigs ears/rawhide bones and the odd bit of Doggy Chocolate. I don't feed her scraps. Both myself and Nell would be very grateful for any help you can give us. I'm sure she wants to be back to her normal self as much as I want her to be!