Honey wasn't acting herself today and my nephew noticed later in the day that she was breathing funny.

I took her to the Emergency vet and they said her temp was 104 and she was de-hydrated. They wanted to keep her overnight to admin fluids via IV and give her anti-biotics but they told me I could take her home and they could inject her with water and the Anti-biotic.

I chose that route.

My questions - How do you keep a dog hydrated if it won't drink?

How can you tell if the fever is getting worse (or better) without a themometer?

I have actually trickle fed my dogs water from a 60cc syringe when one of them wasn't drinking. It can be a little messy but it kept him hydrated. Fevers I don't know about. I would invest in a digital thermometer that reads from the ear? Or any regular digital you can use rectally. The regular digitals don't cost much and they take about 30 seconds to register and are pretty accurate. I hope Honey is ok.

There is no sure fire way to tell about a fever in a dog without a thermometer. You can use a ear one but they are not as acurate as the rectal type. I'd recommend purchasing a digital rectal thermometer. Syringing water is a good idea another would be to add something enticing to it to make it taste better. I've also heard of people using chicken noodle soup. It's liquid and because of the salt content it makes them thirsty afterward.
Keeping my fingers crossed that she feels better soon

We went to our regular vet today and her temp is down to 103 (which is good). She's taking a little water now and then (which she wasn't yesterday) and she seems to be a bit more active. Not much though considering her fever.

They've ruled out pancreitis (sp?) and so far her x-rays look normal and don't show any obstructions (which is also good).

I'm watching her like a hawk. If she vomits or starts acting even less energetic it's off to the hospital for an overnight stay.

I would give her some pedialyte with electrolytes. That way if she isn't drinking as much as she normally does, it'll help keep her hydrated with not drinking so much. You could add a little milk or low sodium broth in it to entice her to drink too. Hope she gets better soon!

Well, she's not getting any better. Her fever is down, but I can't get any fluids into her so I think I'm going to admit her to the vet and let them admin some fluids and monitor her fever and see if anything comes of it.

"I would invest in a digital thermometer that reads from the ear?" These do not work on dogs because their ear canal is so long and curved --the temp is read from the eardrum.

your dog could have a foreign body causing an infection and fever some kind of weed has migrated to an area where the fluids from the infection cannot be drained out, so the fever persists and the antibiotics can only do so much if the infection is sequestered---just a guess.

Also the fever is the cause of the reduced thirst and appetite --so if they reduce the fever the thirst will return---of course