Snowie has had diarrhea since yesterday morning. Came out red - I wasn't sure if it was bloody or just the color of the food (raw meat) passing through very quickly. I remembered a vet's advice: wait 24 hours, if not cleared up then come in. He had brown green diarrhea throughout the day. Not pooing excessively, and he was full of beans. But then in the night: up every hour to eat grass, then vomit, and diarrhea. He wanted to eat his vomit, which made me feel better, maybe he just ate something irritating. I am sick myself - came down with a terrible cold just yesterday - so, at 6am I fell asleep and only woke up at 8.30 due to the phone ringing. Found Snowie lying downstairs at the door, a pile of vomited lemongrass nearby (there really was nothing else to come out, and poor boy, our drought has left very little grass, he was desperately trying to find grass throughout the night). Let him out and he had more diarrhea - gel consistency, brown, but possibly with blood. Shame, he must've been holding it in all that time. (My husband had to leave at 5.50am, so it was just me with him.) Got a vet appointment at 11.15. I feel like they'll think I'm Munchausen by Proxy - was just there 2 weeks ago! And a few weeks before then. (None diarrhea related.) I just hope it is nothing sinister. He does not want to eat breakfast - most unusual. But he is drinking water - but insists on getting INTO the pond to drink! Had to keep drying him through the night! At least he's a clean sick dog!
You poor soul feeling rotten yourself and having the worry ( and mess ) of Snowie too , hoping all goes well at the Vets, for both your sakes x
Back from the vet sans Snowie. She wanted to take blood and treat immediately if necessary. But she had patients lined up so she said better to leave him with her and she'll read results in between consults. She thinks out loud, which is very useful as a way of communicating. So I know what she's considering and intends to do. She said it could be that we fed him tinned fish the past two days - new food as we're waiting for his raw food delivery today. She said new food can cause an upset tummy. He could have gastro. Easy to treat, will bounce back in 24 hrs. She examined him and said all feels fine (thankfully no lumps) except his gut feels doughy. Meaning it is full of fluid. He might have a very inflamed gut giving rise to the blood in the poo. But he might also have a condition where there's too much blood supply to the gut - I need to ask more questions around this to understand what it means (it's not lymphangecstasia) - she said common in small breeds, not Labs. She wants to take blood to test for this. If this is the case, treat by putting him on a drip. He isn't dehydrated though. Worst case: pancreatitis due to epilepsy meds. I go back to pick him up at 1.30pm unless she calls to say he's on a drip. He was not interested in treats in her office - a sure sign to her that he's unwell. (He would not touch any food at home.) But he was full of wags and kisses for her (I do love that she kisses him!), so all not too bad.
Oh I hope it turns out to be something simple like gastro and poor Snowie is back to his normal self soon. Do keep us posted x
Thinking of you , and hoping for the very best outcome for Snowie , good luck when you fetch him , bless him x
Oh, poor Snowie and poor you. Fingers crossed it's something easy to treat and he's back where he belongs soon.
Oh dear, poor boy. Poor you too. Is there canine flu where you are? I don't know what the symptoms of it are but I get emails from Dr. Jean Dodds and yesterday that's what it was about. She is in the U.S. I haven't read the email. I'll try to get to it and post the link if I think it will help.
Update: Back from the vet. She's treating him for HGE - Haemorrhagic Gastroenteritis. Basically, diarrhea with blood. Treatment consists of two antibiotics, one a pill to administer every morning for a week, and another a fluid to administer for 4 days in the afternoon. An antacid to calm his gut. And no raw food till his diarrhea is gone, only cooked food. And no bones so as not to irritate the gut, until all cleared up. She said the normal recommendation is cooked chicken and rice, but because he appears to be allergic to chicken, to cook ostrich mince and eggs. Well, being vegetarian and never having cooked meat, that will be quite a thing for both my husband and I, but we do what we need to do for our dog. She said that she sees worse cases of gastro in raw-fed dogs when they get gastro, ie they aren't prone to gastro. But if they get it, it seems to be more severe. She was by no means telling me not to feed Snowie raw food -- she does not impose her views at all (I really don't know what her views are on feeding). But she said that while his gut is healing, particularly that there has been bleeding, to try to minimise exposure to bugs, hence why we need to cook all the food before feeding. She gave him a subcutaneous drip -- makes a bulge under the skin behind the neck -- said it will help him feel perkier in case he is a little dehydrated. She also gave him an antinausea injection. She said he didn't vomit or poo while at the vet. But no sooner did we leave, he pulled me along the pavement and then got into position and spewed out liquid poo (he obviously didn't want to poo in the cage there). She said the blood levels came back normal, ie red blood cell count was normal, at the higher end of normal, but to be expected with vomiting and diarrhea and the subsequent dehydration that can occur. So she wasn't worried that he has the problem that I mentioned earlier (don't know the name) -- and which I didn't go into detail with her because he doesn't have it, and there was so much else to take in. She reckons he will improve after taking the antibiotics and antacid, doesn't suspect pancreatitis (his blood glucose levels were normal, too). But if he had it, she said the treatment is the same, just for longer. If he doesn't improve, or gets worse, then to call her immediately so that they can scan him for pancreatitis. She said he could also have a linear obstruction, meaning a foreign body in his gut that lies flat so that food can pass it. But it causes irritation and the subsequent vomiting and diarrhea. It's not a blockage, and is very difficult to pick up on a scan (I had mentioned he'd eaten one of my hairbands -- he loves to pull them out of my hair or steal them from the bedside table, chomp them like chewing gum, and then, with a naughty twinkle in his eye, swallow them. I'm not really worried, they are small and should pass easily.). I also asked if it could be emotional, because I had been away the night before all of this happened. She said while he's a confident boy, he's also very sensitive and very aware of what's going on around him, but HGE gastro would not be a consequence. She said anxiety can cause seizures (he has had a couple of seizures when I've been away). Anyway, he is to "mooch around at home" (vet's words) until he gets better. Thank you for all your kind words of support.
The vet didn't mention it, and I've not heard anyone comment about any dogs having it. So I suspect no.
Oh my goodness, what a horrible couple of days you have all had! Hopefully Snowie will be soon better with the antibiotics and antacid.
My lab had HGE recently so I can sympathise with you! I bought cooked chicken as I don't eat meat either, but don't imagine they sell cooked ostrich mince at your grocer? The worst of it went away after 2 days, and he was really low energy for about a week after that, but after that he was back to his usual bouncy self Sending Snowie good vibes
Thank you for sharing your experience. Snowie will not eat a thing. I made him an egg in the microwave with butter - he'd normally drool for that. No. Not interested. So I can't get the antibiotics into him. I think we might just buy roast chicken - rather a chance of itchiness, cos oh my word he goes crazy for roast chicken and hopefully he'll take the antibiotics. Right now he's fast asleep. Don't blame him - up the entire night vomiting and pooing. How long was your lab off his food?
My dog wasn't interested in eating at first either. When we first got him back from the vets, I put his pills in a bit of roast chicken, but he kept spitting the pills out. I had to make him swallow them by putting them in his mouth and not letting him spit them out. He refused to take them otherwise, and he had been so horribly ill that forcing him to take the pills was the only option I had made him some chicken porridge, which normally he'd go nuts for, but he turned his nose up at it. However when I presented him with bits of roast chicken alone, he did eat that. That first day all he would eat was the roast chicken which I fed to him in small portions throughout the day. The next morning, his appetite came back and he enjoyed the chicken porridge, but I made sure to feed him in small, frequent meals. After that second day he was miles better but very, very low energy, and didn't go for a walk for a week. It really knocked the wind out of him.
@SilverFalcon thanks for that info. Makes me feel far more comfortable. My husband went out and bought a roast chicken - if only Snowie could appreciate the expense!! You can see we have no idea where to buy such things - my husband bought it from a really hip takeout place. Supermarket down the road didn't have their roast chickens ready yet. Well it took several minutes before Snowie even got up after he got the whiff. My husband had to first bring a piece to him on his cushions. Then unbeknownst to me, my husband fed him a small amount, until Snowie refused more. Argh!!! Without the antibiotic. I was so annoyed. Snowie refused more food with the antibiotic. Meanwhile my husband was gleefully saying he at least got Snowie to eat something.
