Poor Obi has been unwell for the past couple of days. The night before last he had a bit of a midnight spew (after telling us he needed to go outside) and the next day he was a bit flat. In the afternoon he started to lose interest in food so we called the vet and made an appointment. Before we could get to the vet he had another big spew, poor man, but seemed to perk up a bit after that (it can make you feel better as we all know!). At the vet's he was very bright as going to the vet's is super exciting All his vital signs (heart, hydration etc) were good and he had no tummy pain evident on palpation. The vet said to feed him bland food (good ole chicken and rice) and just keep an eye on him. He ate some chicken and rice for dinner and seemed improved, so we hoped he'd got rid of the nasties with the big vomit he'd had earlier. Then this morning he was not at all interested in food or drinking (he even refused milk, which is normally a top shelf treat). He was very restless, kept looking at his tummy and was whining a lot. He also ate and then vomited up some grass and, most worrying, did a very runny and very bloody poo. Stress!!! And so we were at the vet's door when they opened at 8.30am. At the vet's he was again very bright and waggy and also ate some liver treats with gusto and drank some water (phew!). We told the vet about the bloody poo and she asked me 'if I was one of those wonderful people who photograph poo'. Of course I am, so I presented the poo pic. The upshot is that he has a bacterial infection in his large intestine, probably from one of those hard-to-prevent Labrador dietary indiscretions. He had an injection of anti-nausea medication, an injection of methadone (which I had not realised was given to dogs) and 5 days' worth of antibiotics. Fingers crossed that he will be ok in a day or two. Right now he is having a snooze with the methadone on board. He will probably sleep for the rest of the day and then hopefully feel like eating or at least drinking later.
Aww poor Obi!! I hope he's feeling better soon. Simba has eaten all sorts of nasties and has never had bloody poo. That would freak me out!
Yeah, I was pretty alarmed to see it!! I won't attempt to describe it (or post the pic ) but it really was not pretty....
Aw poor Obi! Sorry to hear he's been unwell. Hopefully now with the meds kicking in he will be eating and drinking and himself again. I still to this day have one of Axel's horrible red bloody poops saved on my phone. I had forgotten about it until it popped up on one of my apps 'a year ago today you took these pictures'
So sorry Obi has been so sick. Bloody poo - always so worrying! Did you tell your vet: I'm on The Labrador Forum. Of course we photograph poo. Duhr. Hope Obi feels better quickly. Perhaps he picked up a bug at the show? Or is that too long ago?
Priceless use of vocabulary! Really sorry to hear that he's been so poorly though, it sounds really nasty.
Poor Obi - hope he feels better soon. Wonderful turn of phrase , must remember this. Must also remember to photograph poo as and when necessary!
Aww....sorry to hear this. Hope the methadone helps Obi, sweet restorative dreams. (by the way, my face uncontrollably went when you mentioned the methadone )
Poor Obster,glad he's got some meds to make him comfortable.Methadone sounds like the big guns ,he must have been really in a lot of pain .Obi always strikes me as having a really robust constitution ,it must have been a real nasty to knock him of his paws so x
Thanks everyone - Obi is grateful for your well wishes! He's eaten a bit more chicken and rice and has drunk some warmed chicken stock (not interested in plain water). And has done another scary poo (but the vet said to expect that). No more vomits so far, touch wood. At the moment we're having some figs with thinly sliced fennel salami (recommended combo!!) and Obi is just not interested. Very odd. We're not sure what it was exactly that has caused the problem....he always picks up something on a walk. Life with Labradors, eh?
Yeah, it would really, really hurt, poor little man. Apparently methadone is right up there as a painkiller (and it's a sedative, which will help to make him sleep and relax his gut). The vet described it as The Good Stuff. No wonder people break into vet clinics
Water mixed with some tuna is also a great way to get fluids in, in case you're worried he's not drinking enough - Snowie leaves his bowl shining afterwards! Hope whatever it is passes through quickly.
