Dog In The City: Let The Fever Be (Dogs And Ibuprofen Do Not Mix Well)

As a city dog parent I thought that it would be fun to occasionally feature something about dogs and the city. Mostly it has been because of today’s craziness that I wanted to start this “Dog In The City” segment which will be blog postings from the world of a Chubby Bear dog parent point of view. Apartment dogs face different challenges that backyard dogs even if they are the same breed. For example a Jack Russell Terrier or (aka Jack Russell Terrorist as some may know them), or any dog for that matter, that’s kept in a big backyard will behave and have different needs than a New York City dog kept in an apartment. New York City dogs need to be taken to the local city dog park for play and exercise. Plus dogs in the city have things like doggie daycare (yes, daycare dog style which I’ll write about more another time) and get pet services from dog groomers that work in mobile pet groomer vehicles offering pet spa experiences that rival human spas. Those are just some of the things I’ll write about in future “Dog In The City” blog postings.

The idea for the “Dog In The City” segment came to mind because Dash, my Jack Russell, has been with a fever of 103.8 F all-day Sunday last weekend. What I found out was that the normal body temperature for a dog falls within the range of 100.5°F to 102.5°F (about 38°C to 39.2°C). It’s actually well above normal and the first time I know of that he’s been with fever symptoms and quite panty as well. The worst part has been that I was not sure what caused my dog symptoms of this kind, or what to do for him. One day he was all energy and fun but the next morning he just wasn't himself. Unsure what was causing it definitely warranted taking him to the vet Monday morning. In the meantime I was getting ready to give him some “baby ibuprofen” but not being sure what the dosage should be I started to search online. Good thing I didn’t just give him some because it could have killed him. I thought all baby meds would be okay for my dog if needed but some things are not that simple. "Ibuprofen can poison a dog or cause serious or deadly complications such as heart failure, liver failure, kidney disease, dehydration, diarrhea or urinary obstruction," according to Dr. Peter F. Ullrich, Jr.

I had to feed him water throughout the day hoping that his fever would come down and not become more serious. It was a long day of watching him and trying to make him as comfortable as possible. In the end it was all caused by something completely unrelated to anything I thought it could be. Apparently he hurt his back and the fever, panting and shacking was all caused by the pain. It all makes sense now but it was nothing that I would have thought was causing these symptoms.

FACT: Dogs should never be given ibuprofen or acetaminophen or aspirin for any reason without the vet’s advice. Baby or otherwise of either three of them, call your vet before you give your pet anything new that you have not cleared with them.