My dog has recurring fevers, lethargy, and won't eat. What's next?

Maxi certainly sounds quite sick, but I am glad to hear that she is eating and drinking normally. As I'm sure your vet discussed, tick borne diseases are one of the more common causes of a fever of unknown origin (FUO). However, FUOs can also be caused by other infectious diseases (toxoplasmosis, Bartonella, Brucella, mycoplasma, fungal diseases, etc.) as well as immune-mediated or cancerous causes. To answer your question, yes, you will need to do some more diagnostics to get to the bottom of this issue. Different causes of the FUO will require different treatments. Maxi's vet will be able to guide you as to their next tier of diagnostic testing based upon their clinical suspicions. I hope that all goes well!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor girl! General tests to consider include bloodwork (CBC and chemistry panel), urinalysis, thoracic radiographs and ideally abdominal ultrasound. This would be a good place to start to see if the cause can be found. An infection is possible though other things like inflammatory diseases or cancer can also cause a fever. This can be done stepwise which may be more cost effective. Good luck and best wishes for your girl!

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.

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.

The problem here is to establish the underlying cause of thrombocytopenia (low platelets). Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia is one of the most common causes. This process usually occurs in the spleen although the liver also plays a role. Thrombocytopenia develops as platelet destruction exceeds compensatory production by the bone marrow. Immune-mediated thrombocytopenia can be classified as primary or secondary. Secondary processes can be caused by infective diseases or tumors very commonly. Usually to determine a diagnosis more tests needs to be performed like abdominal ultrasound and chest x rays. Infective diseases like Ehrlichia, Anaplasma spp for example should be ideally evaluated as well. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum (where you can post pics of the blood tests) or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

There is a very high white blood cell count that is mostly neutrophils so there is definitely an underlying infection somewhere in the body. She is also very anemic and her chloride is very low. Unfortunately, her symptoms are non-specific. Anything disease process or illness can cause lack of appetite. You can not use feel to assess body temperature. They often feel warm to the touch but their body temperature will be normal, however, in this case, with the underlying infection I suspect she is feverish. You would need to take a rectal temperature to get a proper reading. The first thing that always comes to mind in a an unspayed dog is a uterine infection (pyometra) so I suggest you speak to the vet about that possibility. If it is not that you will just have to continue testing for things until you find something. The list of possibilities is very long from tick borne diseases to cancer and anything in between. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to diagnose her via the internet. I hope this clarifies a bit and I wish Stephanie a speedy recovery.

This sounds like a pretty complex situation, and I'd agree that an infection of some sort seems likely with a high WBC. I'd be worried about something viral, perhaps even meningitis, especially if it seems that she has neck pain, but that's basically a guess on my part. She should be tested for tick-borne diseases (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, ehrlichia, babesia, Lyme) if that hasn't been done. I'm not sure how far you are from a specialty hospital, but it sounds like she's still not out of the woods, and in the absence of a definitive diagnosis, I too would be worried. I would recommend taking Sky to a specialty hospital, where they might be more capable of diagnosing the problem and getting her the appropriate treatment.