11th Birthday Blues

Here is my post from the Forum today:

I am going stir crazy in the house today…..trying to decide what to do for Nesta.  Of course, it’s Sunday, and I can’t do anything without taking him to Emergency Vet which will double the cost, and I can’t really tell if this is an emergency or not!   He has not been eating normally since Thursday.  And usually he is drooling for his food at meal time, with a huge appetite.  He eats delicious food, I would eat it (if I ate meat).  At meal time, he turns his head away from his food, the only thing I have gotten him to eat the past few days is scrambled eggs and sardines, and this equals about 1/2 cup at each meal.  He has been very tired, not wanting to go for walks, and also has been drinking A LOT more water than he usually does.  His belly seems really bloated and taut (but I don’t think it’s bloat), and he seems to be having a difficult time standing on his one back leg.

What has happened??  We just celebrated his 11th birthday on Friday, and he didn’t even show interest in the frosty paws I made for him.

Can someone tell me if they would take their dog to the emergency vet over this?  Or should I wait until first thing in the morning and call my regular vet?  I feel like I’ve waited long enough, hoping he would get better, but he hasn’t.  And now it’s Sunday!!  Ugh. There are so many thoughts and worries going through my head about what this could be.   I’m ready to find out what it is.  But I really hate going to the emergency vet, it’s so sterile, and we have lots of sad memories there.  But what if I wait and something really bad is going on inside Nesta, and then it’s too late by the morning? – See more at: http://tripawds.com/forums/treatment-and-recovery/need-advice-quick/#p109328

Now, a little while after writing this, I have been doing research, and am starting to wonder if it is pancreatitis.  They say it is more common in dogs with hypothyroidism, which he has had for about half his life.  I think I might stick it out for another night, and take him to our regular vet in the morning.  Pancreatitis does not look like a fun thing to contend with….this is just a wild guess in the sea of a million other possibilities of what it could be.