[Dailydrool] Swelling Help

[Siobhan Daniel]

Hello to all! I've been a long time subscriber to the Daily Drool, but I don't post frequently. I consider the Daily Drool like a true friend...someone you don't have to talk to all the time, but when you do get in touch it's like a day hasn't passed. It has always been great to get the advice of basset hound experts. So I'm calling in your expertise...

Hershey is a 8 and 1/2 year old male tri-colored basset. We got him as a puppy and for the most part he has been a very healthy doggy. A few weeks ago the family and I went on vacation. My in-laws doggy sat like they always do when we go on our yearly trip. The day after we got back we noticed Hersh was not putting weight on his left rear paw. Checked it all out and didn't notice anything, so we just assumed it would pass with rest. About a week later his entire leg/thigh swelled. It is twice the size of his other thigh. So of course we took him to the vet. No temperature and was at a great weight (55 pounds). They did an x-ray and said no broken bone/fractures and that it wasn't bone cancer. She recommended testing blood for valley fever. A week later the results came back (I was so angry it took so long because she said it would be 3 days. I was calling everyday!) and the results were negative. So she recommended a week of antibiotics and an
 anti-inflammatory. Now we are done with those and there has been zero change in the swelling. There are a few behavior changes - doesn't want to play with his brother, sleeps most the day (We are in AZ and it is hot out here though, even inside with the AC on it's easy to sleep the heat of the day away), and won't eat his normal dog food. We bought him some wet dog food and he has taken a liking to those, but will only eat one small can a day. He takes a few of his doggy treats, but normally he gets so excited for treats and would eat them as long as I would give them. Checked stools and they seem fine. He is going out to use the restroom, but only twice a day. He doesn't drink too much water either. I'm at a loss!!! The vet says she doesn't know what to do and says maybe we should see a specialist. I don't know if I should see a specialist or switch vets. She didn't try to aspirate the swelling and she didn't do a general blood exam to see if something
 else was coming up. Any advice would be helpful. I hate seeing him like this. I miss my old hyper doggy who loved to play and get snacks. If you know what I should check for. If you think I should see a specialist or switch vets. If these are signs of cancer. Any advice from the fabulous basset experts would be AMAZING. 


The Daniel Family 
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