HELP- What is wrong with my 6 week old pup?

(QLD, Australia )

Okay,my 6 week old border collie dog (boy) is sick. It all started 2 days ago, when the puppies were due to be wormed.

We were going to worm them in the afternoon, but when i was playing with the puppies the biggest puppy was acting different. After he started running round he got really hot. So i made them stop and was taking them up to their cage when the pup would not follow (not like him). I just kept walking, so i could get the other pups up to there cage. Once the pups we in the dog run, i looked back and the pups legs were shaking.

He then stuck his nose on the ground and started to shake more. I picked him up and cuddle him, he then stopped. this went on on all day, where he would get to hot and just start doing what he did above. i also checked his gums as he was a bit bloated and they were white, so i wormed them all start away.

It has now been 3 days. He is okay when you first get him out of his cage, but once he is running around he legs start shaking and he pants really bad. Then he will not move around, just sit there. This is not him (he is from my litter). He brothers and sisters are fine. He is bloated and has white gyms, but as said above we wormed them.

It is really scary and I really need help, he is also having trouble pooing, but is pooing every so often. Please help!

Thanks Nia







Hi Nia
This is a situation where you need to get your puppy to a veterinarian right away for evaluation. There are several possible causes for the symptoms that I can think of (and I'm not a vet) and I'm sure others that a professional will come up with.

The symptoms indicate that this little guy is having some serious issues and you absolutely need to get him evaluated by a veterinarian asap.

A severe worm infestation can cause weakness and white gums due to internal blood loss, and unless you have had a fecal exam on this pup by a vet and the de-wormer was prescribed in response the results of that test, then there's no way to be sure that it is effective at all. Plus over-the-counter dewormers can have unwanted, even serious, side effects. SO... it could be worms causing the problem.

However, if it's hot where you are right now (and I believe it's summertime), then heat exhaustion or heat stroke could have caused the initial symptoms, and possibly still be causing them.

A heart problem, either a temporary one as a result of the heat, or illness, or parasites or one that is hereditary, is another possibility... and I'm sure there are more.

Only your vet can make an accurate diagnosis and help this puppy to recover. From what you say I don't think he's going to get better by himself or that there's anything you can do to help him other than get him to a vet immediately. However, I would say to encourage him to drink more water to make sure that dehydration isn't making things worse.

I hope this helps and that you get him to a vet soon so that he can get to feeling better. Good luck to you both.