My dog's 104 fever won't break after vet visit. What's wrong?

A fever this high is usually indicative of a bacterial or viral disease going on. Your veterinarian will need to run some tests to try and determine the cause of the fever. Once the cause is identified the proper antibiotics, antifungals, or antipruritic drugs can be prescribed. The tablet given to your dog is basically a fever reducer but will not treat the cause of the fever. I would recommend taking your dog in for a recheck as soon as you’re able to. The exact cause of the fever cannot be determined without further workup and diagnostics. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

!03.6 is still high but not very high, Sam is probably fighting an infection, i am sure the vets also gave him antibiotics , it will take 2-3 days until they start taking effect against the bacterias, until then Sam will probably have mild fever.

Poor guy. Not every pet with a fever has an infection, so if the antibiotic isn’t working it’s either because there is no infection, the infection is internal, or the antibiotic is not the right kind of antibiotic for the infection. Your pet needs additional testing to sort this out and make sure we are on the right track with treatment. I would start with baseline bloodwork and a urinalysis. Best to take your pet back in to your vet or to another vet for a second opinion here so that we can get a proper diagnosis and tailored treatment based on your pets specific problem. I hope that your pet is able to make a full and speedy recovery soon! Best wishes and take care.

I am so sorry to hear that your pet has a fever of unknown origin I’m assuming. The vet has to run labs to try and find the source of the fever. Has she had any testing done? Bloodwork and urinalysis would be the first place I would start. If she has a high white blood cell count, then antibiotics can be started on her to treat for a suspected infection, which can then be assumed to be the source of the fever. Fever in pets doesn’t happen randomly, and in most cases antibiotics prescribed by your vet are needed. I would highly discourage you from using any over the counter human fever reducer medicaiton, as these can be quite toxic in pets. It’s best to feed Ava as normal and offer her plenty of access to water until she can be seen by your vet. I hope this helps. Best wishes in getting Ava’s fever to come down. I hope she feels better soon. Take care..

The gum color looks normal. I do not see any evidence of jaundice. Don't give milk. It is not going to help and it may make her sick. Just give water. If she is not better you need to go back to the vet for some blood testing.

If your dog had been exercising or out in the heat it is possible his temperature could have increased due to this, but 104.1 is a pretty high temperature if you feel it was truly an accurate reading. We can see dogs temperatures get that high if they are really hot/excited/stressed and they are overweight or brachycephalic (smoosh faced) but I am concerned that his energy level was decreased. If he still doesn't seem himself tomorrow then I would bring him in for an exam. If overnight his temperature gets very high again, or he becomes weak, has trouble breathing, or his gums become pale in color or he starts having other symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea then I would consider bringing him in to the emergency vet.

This presentation could be due to a variety of possible reasons, such as infections, possibly intermittent, intoxications, immune depression or even tumors. Without more clinical informations it is difficult to give you more detailed informations. I would recommend an immediate veterinary check up. A blood test may be needed to start investigating this problem.