Desperate for help/Sick dog!

[April]

If anyone has any ideas of what may be Lily's problem I will be grateful.
She has a cyclical illness that has been each year Nov-Feb.
It starts with pain in her hindquarters and she stops eating. It progresses to increased generalized pain, depression and dehydration. She must be on IV fluids and all her bloodwork shows elevated white cell count. She has been treated with antibiotics and pain meds. She eventually comes out of it. This year it is much worse.
She is lame in her shoulders and hinquarters and I can feel knots in all her muscles(one can actually see the knots) The vets do not know what is wrong. All tick born diseases are negative. We are trying to rule out giardia. There is blood in the small amount of stool she produces. (She has been able to eat yogurt and rice) If anyone has any thoughts PLEASE let me know. I have three other dogs. They are all fine. Lily is a 6 year old Belgian Malinois.
Thank you.

[VdogLover]

Since this happens each year Nov-Feb only I would have to wonder about environmental factors??

Is she vaccinated yearly around this time frame?

[April]

I have done titers for the dogs in lieu of regularly vaccinating them. Great thought though. Because of the Nov-Feb timing, I have considered the movements of deer in my area. We have a large number of deer that winter on and around my farm. I have wondered if there is a connection there.

[kathryn]

There is a wasting disease in some of the herds of deer, elk, etc in the States.  I don't think it can be transmitted to dogs but it's worth having your vet check with the local Wildlife guys to see if there are any reports of transmission other than to other deer.  Especially if she likes to eat deer poo and you think it might be related to the deer herds movement. 

[April]

When I took Lily in today , I asked about babesia. The vet indicated she had made an error and all they checked for was Lyme Disease and NOT the other tick borne diseases.They will run a full tick panel with the blood they drew today. Thank you again soooo much. I think you were right on the money! When I got Lily she was around one year old with questionable care. I want everyone out there to know that all my dogs are treated with preventive tick/flea control. If she in fact does have a tick borne disease she may have contracted it early on. Thanks again.

[People Whisperer]

I want everyone out there to know that all my dogs are treated with preventive tick/flea control. If she in fact does have a tick borne disease she may have contracted it early on.

Dogs can tick borne diseases even while being on preventatives. Due to absolutely no rain last summer ticks in our area where REALLY bad. Our vet told me they had more dogs infected than he ever saw in his career.