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Fever That Won't Go Away and Changes in a Dog's Eyes

by A reader

Reader Question
Two weeks ago my 6-year-old yellow Lab/Golden Retriever cross stopped eating. The emergency vet found she had a high fever and put her on an antibiotic. Four days later, with no improvement, I took her to her regular vet, who gave her IV fluids for 12 hours, changed the antibiotic and added a steroid. On the fourth day I took her to a specialist, who did a joint tap (it was clear) and raised the steroid dose. After 3 days her fever was still high, and the steroid was lowered again. She has had blood work, 3 X-rays, a blood count and more antibiotic and steroid injections. In the last couple of days her eyes look strange. She has another appointment with the specialist this afternoon. She just slowly gets worse. She eats sometimes, drinks a lot of water, urinates fine and her stools look normal, but she is more and more lethargic. Nobody seems to know what's wrong.


Answer from Our Team

A fever that doesn't respond to antibiotics, with eyes that start looking strange, suggests a whole-body problem. In dogs, this can include tick-borne infections, fungal infections, immune-mediated disease, infections of the heart valves, prostate or spine, and some cancers. Eye changes can give your vet important clues, because many of these diseases cause inflammation inside the eye.

Questions to ask the specialist: Has she been tested for tick-borne diseases and fungal infections in your area? Could a urine culture, chest and abdominal ultrasound, an echocardiogram or a blood culture help? And would an eye exam by an ophthalmologist help with the diagnosis? Drinking a lot of water can be a side effect of steroids.

Keep the specialist appointment, and go to an emergency vet if she stops drinking, collapses, breathes fast, or her eyes become cloudy, red or painful.

See red eyes and eye changes in dogs.

This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.

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