Hi Emily....Cooper just had an upset tummy (all over the tile floor!) a couple of days ago so he had chicken and rice BUT I remembered a vet telling me some time ago that the chicken should be roasted not boiled.....he said do not boil anything for dogs....always roast in oven. In the past I have given Cooper boiled and he was OK but from the time this vet told me not to boil, I have roasted chicken whenever needed. Just wanted to pass that along. Don't know what the boiling does to the chicken but I just want to be on the safe side.
That's interesting - I wonder why? I couldn't find anything at all online that boiling was bad. And by "boiling" I mean simmering in water over low heat for 1.5 hours or so. Maybe "boiling" wasn't the right word. Brogan had 3-5 chickens a week like that for half his life. Doesn't mean that was the right thing to do (heck, I learn something new nearly every day here on the forum! ) but vets always remarked on how healthy and fit he was, especially in his later years. He did have a rather dodgy tummy and skin allergies though, poor guy. And I hope Snowie is getting over his own dodgy tummy?
Thank you so much for asking. I was actually just coming back to the forum to ask you a question in any case! This morning Snowie wanted to go out at 6am and eat grass. He then ate his breakfast (200gm roast chicken, 100gm cooked carrots, some water added so that he'd drink it) and took his meds in sweet potato no problem. He didn't make a poo, but he made a lot of wees. At lunch time he had a couple of tablespoons of soaked quick oats. I was out all afternoon and evening. Came home at 9pm and my husband told me he had vomited up all his supper, which probably included the big antibiotic tablet and some of the liquid antibiotic (he would only eat some of the mixture with that antibiotic). My husband didn't let him eat up the vomited supper, said the food look undigested. Snowie had also made a poo, which I went to inspect in the dark. Took a photo with a flash that shows it up in great detail: a pile of pale brown "porridge" with this morning's grass (I presume) and two big globules of fresh blood. My heart sunk. I feel gutted. I would've expected him to have made a great recovery already being on the antibiotics and antacid and soft food. Or do I have too high expectations? I'm guessing re the vomiting that my husband overfed him: 400gm of roast chicken! I just assumed he'd give him 200gm roast chicken and some oats (he'd soaked easy-cooking oats earlier in the day so I assumed he realised he was doing it for the evening meal ). Cos when I got home, Snowie was very hungry and even ate up some of the mixture with the liquid antibiotic (apparently vile tasting according to the vet). And then he ate a boiled egg happily. My husband wanted to give him two! He doesn't get that he can't overfeed him just yet!!!!! I shouldn't be blaming him. I suppose I just want to blame someone, just want Snowie to be healthy right now. I am so upset. He's not been asking to go for a walk and is accepting that he just mooches around all day. We have played a little bit of "goalie": I roll or gently bounce the ball to him and he stops it, takes it in his mouth, and throws it back to me. He was enthusiastic to play, although I made it a very short game. Now he's lying on his pillows. Before this he would've been chomping at the bit for an outing. I am terrified it is something worse than HGE. I will be on the phone first thing to the vet tomorrow morning and emailing her the photo of the poo! When did Beau's poos become normal, and how long did the blood last? And did he vomit at all?
I don't know... Just wrote a post about continued blood in his poo. I am so upset. You mentioned you removed the fat and skin from the chicken. Why is that?
Oh no. I'm sorry he's still not bouncing back to his old self. I don't know if what he has is similar to what happened to Brogan so often, but Brogan used to have a LOT of bright red blood in his diarrhoea at the worst point of his attacks. It looked horrible but (and this may sound bad) I did get used to it as I knew it was all part of the process. Other people witnessing his public poos, however, would think me a monster for not rushing him to the vet. In fact, he had already been to the vet and was under treatment at that point, but they didn't know that. Very small but frequent (every couple hours) meals were key at that stage. And very small amounts of chicken/fish with the oatmeal. The chicken in the oatmeal was really there more as a bribe than anything else. Because what self-respecting dog wants to eat plain overcooked oatmeal? Yes, @xxryu139xx had it right. I always removed the fat and skin during Brogan's attacks as the lean protein seemed easier on his tummy (also shredding the lean chicken into very small pieces), but as he got older, my vet said to remove it for ALL his meals, even when he was feeling fine, because of his age and tendency towards gastroenteritis. This was really just when he was quite geriatric, though (12 years old).
Our vet was able to tell during my lab's initial examination that it wasn't pancreatitis, I imagine your vet would have done the same. I too was worried about it as I had been using some high fat training treats right before this happened, but it was unrelated. I used just chicken breast in the oatmeal, with no fat at all. And I fed in very small portions, but frequently. After a couple days I very slowly began mixing in a bit of his kibble, but as you raw feed you would need to adjust accordingly, but I would keep it very bland and low fat for a week, then slowly get his diet back to what he normally eats. I suspect he ate too much and that is what triggered it, their system is very sensitive right now. I'd be wary of eggs too just yet, possibly too rich. I can't remember exactly but I do know my dog's bowel movements were improving day by day, with no blood, so if you've had a set back then I'd go back to very bland food for a while until you see steady improvement, then very slowly reintroduce his normal food. Regarding vomiting, the final time he vomited was when I gave him too much water after his trip to the vet, which was the morning after he had first been sick all night. After that, no vomiting. Hope your vet was helpful?
She actually said she couldn't. Although she did say she was pretty sure it was HGE, and only if he didn't get better after taking the meds, then she'd scan him for pancreatitis. Although, she also mentioned the treatment for pancreatitis was just extending the duration of the same meds! Am interested to know how your vet ruled out pancreatitis? Although from what I've read, it's all about vomiting and not about diarrhea.
I think the main thing was that his temperature was normal, as one of the common symptoms of pancreatitis is a fever. Also, when she probed his abdomen, he didn't show signs of pain. But I believe the main point was the lack of temperature.
That is good to know! Thankfully Snowie is very cool. I also read that Parvo and HGE are similar except for fever -- Parvo is accompanied by fever. I am so thankful Snowie does not have a high temp.
I am so very sorry @MF that Snowie still isn't well , this must be so worrying for you , to say nothing of tiring you out , hugs for you x
