Tell them to get him to the vet immediately. If this is bloat, and the symptoms sound like bloat, every moment counts. Please. Do not wait.

The dog is currently at the vet and has been since 8am this morning. They are running tests. I am just trying to get some ideas about what could be wrong with him as I need to prepared for the worst.

I am so glad he is at the vet, and I hope it is not bloat, nor anything serious. I worry about blockage, because of the bloated stomach, but I am sure Meghane and other experts here will weigh in.

Best of luck.

Ellen

That is a very worrying symptom ...all the possible causes I can think of are very serious. I'm glad to hear he is at the vet and I hope they are able to catch this early enough.

Sounds like bloat. Getting him to the vet is the best thing they can do. Here's a website that describes bloat in dogs in easy-to-understand terms.

Hoping for the best for him!

Here is a link that might be useful: Bloat in Dogs

The vet did not call my parents until 7pm last night to pick their dog up. They never called with an update as to how he was doing or anything and they dropped him off at 8am. They told my mom that they didnt' even examine him until after 1pm!!! That really upset her as she thought he had something that was life threatening wrong with him and they didnt' seem concerned and told her because she didn't have an appointment (it was an emergency how was she supposed to have psychic abilities and make an appointment ahead of time?) that they could only wait till they had time to examine him. They did xrays and found a mass in the dog's stomach. Referred her to the same specialist that my vet referred my cat to (that I didnt' go to). So my parents are taking their dog there this morning. They took him home last night and all their vet told them is that his white blood count is elevated and he has a mass (they think it is blood) in his stomach. They dont' know if it is caused by his heart or if he has cancer or what. She said they never mentioned bloat. They told her to feed him as she normally would. She said when they took him home he was eating fine and loving on them like normal. I know the news they are going to find out today is not going to be good news.

I really hope everything turns out to be ok with the dog, but it doesn't sound too good. Hopefully it's just a blockage that can be removed. I am so shocked that their vet didn't look at the dog until 1pm - that is unacceptable. The dog could've died in that time. If it were me, I'd be calling every single hour until they told me something. I hope your parents never go back to that vet.

I am a pain at my vets. Before I take my dog I do my research, and well now I know my breed. I do not leave her with them unless I absolutely have to. I insist on being there for any tests they take....my vet does not seem to mind as I am a calming influence on my dog. With my old bulldog I even insisted on being in the room while they shaved her and did the ultrasound and x-rays. The vets were happy to have me too...at least they didn't say otherwise. But I was able to keep my baby calm and turn her over so they could do her test with very little stress to her. I think if I took my dog in with symptoms of bloat there is no way I would just leave her there. The vets would take care of her just to get me out of the way :-) The only time I leave my dog is for surgery, if she has to stay for a bit I would visit everyday. I just don't trust others to treat her as well as I do.

Ha...I'm the same with with my dog. They must hate me. I have even stayed in the waiting room while she had minor surgery until they were done, and then stayed with her when she was waking up from anasthesia (spelling?) because I didn't want her to wake up alone. Sick! Same with going in with her for her ultrasound and countless other things...and if they don't like it, bye! Thankfully my vet knows how crazy I am.

The worst was when she had her spinal tumor removed, and I had to leave her at the specialist for five days. I visited every day. And I agree...I can't trust others to treat her like I do. But when she had radiation treatment for 3 weeks, I felt content leaving her for a few hours each day because she would wag her tail as soon as they came to take her from me - that's a good sign.

As for the above [possible] bloat issue (or any serious issue for that matter), I could never just drop her off. But I guess it's hard for people who can't miss work. The thing I don't understand is how one can sit and wait 12 hours for a phone call - I'd be calling every hour...or every minute!

I guess most people just aren't as pushy as we are Gabro :-)

My mother did call the vet's office several times that day. All they would tell her (she called after they had examined him at 1pm) was that they were doing xrays and didn't have an update yet and someone would call her back. I don't think it was possible for her to stay there the entire time. She had taken another one of their dog's in that day to be spayed but didn't have an appointment for the sick dog. She even suggested cancelling the procedure for her dog that did have an appointment so they would see the sick dog right away but they told her they had time for both of them. I know if they would have told her up front that they wouldn't be able to examine him for HOURS she would have left and tried to find another vet to take him to. But she was never told this and thought (mistakenly) that since it was serious and possibly life threatening that he would be seen right away.

I think your parents did what they could....but I would suggest another vet. Vets are supposed to be caring as they know how much people love their animals. Giving her cursory answers while ignoring her sick dog is not a good sign. Now granted sometimes vets are very busy with other animals or in surgery and can't talk. But when that was the case and my dog was deathly ill, the receptionist would go speak to the vet and then come back with answers. And if my vet was doing any thing other than surgery they came to the phone. And I know they did this for other clients as well, I never minded the vet taking a call if I was waiting for something routine.

True, but unfortunately neither myself nor my parents have been able to find a "caring" vet. If you read my posts (when do you stop trusting your vet) you'll see the exhausting saga I went through with a sick kitten and all the frustration caused by the vet's office. So while most of the vets around (and my parents and I live two hours apart so we are not in the same area) are pretty good with routine things such as shots and check ups but dont' really seem to do anything but the bare minimum with anything else. At my vet's calls were NEVER returned or given even when promised. No follow up is ever done. The only reason I like them is they have one of their vets on call all the time for emergencies, otherwise I'd have to drive an hour to get to an emergecy vet.

Wow - it's terrible how hard it is for some people to find a good vet! We left a bad vet - and I LOVE the vet we use now.

I am completely comfortable leaving my dogs with them alone, for anything. My beagle is just for whatever reason, in love with going to the vet. She gets SO excited - so that right there tells me they treat her very well. They call a few times a day if they've had surgery, to update. In surgery, out of surgery, awake, eating, etc. I get all the updates.

When we took big guy in, he was shaking like a leaf, and put the breaks on. He'd never been to this vet yet since the switch - and he was not happy. But my SO HAD to leave him alone. We went to pick him up together and he was sucking up to all the vets and techs, and happy and wagging - didn't even seem to notice we'd come to get him. And all the girls went on and on about how good he was and how much time they spent petting him, and how much they loved him.

I wish everyone could have such good vets - it's really made a difference in the stress levels when they have to go to the vet. And I trust them to treat and care for my dogs as good as we do - and in turn that builds my confidence in their diagnosis.

I hope your parents are able to work things out with this vet - or find a vet who's even just a bit better. I couldn't handle a vet not calling me, or looking at my dog for so long.

I guess it is hard in some parts of the country to find a good vet. My old dog also loved going to the vets, the techs and the office girls would come and visit her while we were waiting. Everyone loved her and paid her so much attention. When she was there for the week they fed her canned food, they actually would wait for our afternoon visit so that we could feed her too and see how well she was doing. They knew I was worried about her. They actually put us in a room with her so we could spend time, even though they were busy and could probably use the room. Newhomeseeker where do you live? Just curious...I would hate to move where you are...no offense...but DH and I have been thinking about moving and I would like to know where to stay away from poor vet care is just not an option for people with bulldogs.