Very sick dog - advice needed please!!

Missy86

hey guys,

I wonder if any one can give me some advice, my dog is just a little over a year old - she's a shepherd setter cross. Yesterday my boyfriend woke up to find that she had vomited during the night and there was some blood in it. Her food and water was untouched and she was extremely passive - she a typical red setter - extremely hyper at all times so it was very unusual, she wouldn't leave her bed. He went out for an hour or so and when he came back she had deteriorated, he said (without being crude) there was sick everywhere but it was mostly blood and saliva - as she hadnt eaten it was probably the lining of her stomach i am guessing? I immediately rang the vet, who was reluctant for us to come in - she suggested fasting her from food and water for 24hrs, but I told her we were quite worried and wanted them to look at her. So he brought her up and the vet said he wasnt sure what was wrong with her - maybe something was stuck in her gut or she'd eaten something she shouldnt have, he gave us a powder solution to give her with water to re-hydrate her and some prescription dog food he said we are to wean her back on to food. The thing is, she will not drink the solution, i put some on my hand last night which she licked off but moments later she was retching and vomiting again. She did drink some ordinary water. i woke up this morning and she hasn't really improved. I've been searching around on the net and it seems that this can be a sign of liver damage/can be quite serious? Should i get a second opinion from another vet or am i just worrying too much? Bear in mind this is our first pet so we dont have any experience in dealing with these!! Thanks!!!

Redshift

She needs to be seen by a vet especially if she wont take fluids she may need an IV. Ring another vet pronto.

fatmammycat

Go to a different vet immediately, she will be very dehydrated by this stage. I don't understand the attitude of your vet at all. Young dog, voimit, blood, not taking in water...my vet would be very worried if it was one of my animals. Did he even x-ray your dog? If he thought there was something stuck??

Missy86

No he didnt x-ray her, he just said if she didnt improve to come back, he gave her two injections i'm not sure what they are as i'm at work at the minute. when i read "redshift"'s response i rang home immediately to tell my partner but he said she is after improving! She hadnt touched the solution when i left the house this morning but he came down to check on her an hour later and said she had drank all the solution, she got up and he brought her out the back and she went for a 1 and 2 although he said it was extremely runny but thats a good sign that she even went i take it? he said she is still a long way from her usual self but she was out sniffing around the back garden whereas last night, she could barely walk. Maybe what ever upset she had is passing?

fatmammycat

Good to hear that she is showing more interest and I hope she is on the mend.

Missy86

Thank u, thanks 4 your replys! God it makes u realise how much u luv them its the first time she's been sick and we both nearly had a heart attack! God knows what we'd be like with a child!!

Blueprint

My dog had something similar just around this time last year, started vomiting at six and at eight I was ringing the emergency vets, there was bloody mucus coming out at both ends. The vet gave him two shots, that rehydration powder and said I could try giving him some in water late that night, but he'd probably not drink it until the next day and to come back if he hadn't improved by morning. The injection stopped the vomiting nearly right away and he slept the night through.

He was 100% again by the next evening!

Very scary at the time though...

lrushe

My Chihuahua was like this 3 weeks ago (minus the blood!!) and it was pretty scary and I'm a seasoned dog owner so I can definately identify with how you were feeling. Glad your dogs is doing better now

Missy86

Well hopefully by tomorrow she'll be back to her madself! It really is terrible because they are so helpless and you can tell they are in pain! Hopefully this is the first and last time it happens!

sunpearl

sounds like parvo virus or something very similar.
you can feed water every 3-4 hours via syringe.
i have saved many dogs this way with out a visit to the vet.
usually takes 2-3 weeks for full recovery & weight to start to come back onto the dog.

Whispered

You're very lucky sunpearl that you saved many dogs without a visit to a vet.

Any dog I know of who had parvo only survived with veterinary treatment, a drip, antibiotics etc. Even at that, I know of a few who died of parvo while in the care of the vet. My own fella had parvo and I was told by the vet that he would not make it because it had gone too far (he showed symptoms of an upset stomach at night, by the next morning he was rushed to the vets, that's how quick it happened). Thankfully he did, but without vet care he absolutely would have died.

OP How is she today? I hope your dog continues to improve. If not, then another trip to the vet is needed and never be afraid to go for a second opinion if you don't like what you hear. You should walk out of your vets 100% sure that he or she is doing all they can for your pet. Anything less is just not good enough.

theghost

Is there some sort of bug going round at the moment? My own three have been been sick in the last week (vomiting but luckily have not had the runs) and two belonging to a friend have also been sick. We've since heard that other dogs in the park have had much the same thing, and two have had to be rehydrated at the vets. The vomiting comes on very suddenly, followed by a refusal to eat or drink for 24 hours, then suddenly they head for the water dish and drink it dry. After that they're fine. They're all up-to-date with their vaccinations.

seamus

theghost wrote: »

Is there some sort of bug going round at the moment? My own three have been been sick in the last week (vomiting but luckily have not had the runs) and two belonging to a friend have also been sick. We've since heard that other dogs in the park have had much the same thing, and two have had to be rehydrated at the vets. The vomiting comes on very suddenly, followed by a refusal to eat or drink for 24 hours, then suddenly they head for the water dish and drink it dry. After that they're fine. They're all up-to-date with their vaccinations.

Yeah, mine has had a cold since last Wednesday (snot everywhere!), then she was making an almighty racket on Friday night and we woke up to find she'd been sick and then until the afternoon she proceeded every 30 minutes to throw up the entire contents of her stomach.

So I left her until dinnertime and she hadn't thrown up again so I fed her boiled chicken and rice, and it was gone as soon as the bowl hit the floor. She's been fine since, though the snotty nose and sneezing is persisting.

iw82

There is definitely a vomiting bug going around... One of ours had it but thankfully he wasn't too bad at all with it.

With regards to your vet I would suggest having a chat to other dog owners in your area to find out what vet they use & if they are happy etc... I wouldn't keep using a vet if your not 100% happy with them... Hopefully you won't have another illness or emergency but better to be safe than sorry!

Titania

My dog had something similar, but there was an awful lot coming out both ends, and the blood was in the faeces. When we went down in the morning, she was immobile and the backs of her legs were covered with blood. Her eyes were glazed and she couldn't stand up. She's almost 13, so we did think this was the end for her.

Anyway, we brought her to the vet and she was given anti-biotics and put on a drip for the day. Her temperature was 40. After eight hours on the drip, she was so much better. We couldn't believe it when we picked her up. She took it easy for a couple of days, very lethargic, and we weaned her back onto very bland food.

A week later, she's completely back to herself. Unbelievable how resilient they are!

Incidentally, we were told that she had haemmhoragic gastroenteritis - basically the severity of the infection tore the lining of her intestines.

Essexboy

iw82 wrote: »

There is definitely a vomiting bug going around... One of ours had it but thankfully he wasn't too bad at all with it.

With regards to your vet I would suggest having a chat to other dog owners in your area to find out what vet they use & if they are happy etc... I wouldn't keep using a vet if your not 100% happy with them... Hopefully you won't have another illness or emergency but better to be safe than sorry!

I wouldn't keep using a vet if your not 100% happy with them.


Absolutely! when your pet is in trouble and you cannot help you need to have total confidence in the vet.
We lost ours to pancreatitis - she had not the stamina to fight through - but it was some consolation to know that our vet made every effort to save her.

theghost

Titania wrote: »

My dog had something similar, but there was an awful lot coming out both ends, and the blood was in the faeces. When we went down in the morning, she was immobile and the backs of her legs were covered with blood. Her eyes were glazed and she couldn't stand up. She's almost 13, so we did think this was the end for her.

Anyway, we brought her to the vet and she was given anti-biotics and put on a drip for the day. Her temperature was 40. After eight hours on the drip, she was so much better. We couldn't believe it when we picked her up. She took it easy for a couple of days, very lethargic, and we weaned her back onto very bland food.

A week later, she's completely back to herself. Unbelievable how resilient they are!

Incidentally, we were told that she had haemmhoragic gastroenteritis - basically the severity of the infection tore the lining of her intestines.

Poor old thing. Glad she's better now

dermolara

Bring your dog to another Vet, it sounds like poison to me, Is there any Rat poison around your house?. My Dog, big brown lab ate some storm rat poison and was sick for a few days just like that, but he is fine now. It depends how strong your dog is, but HE NEEDS re-hydration , bring him to another vet.

andreac

dermolara wrote: »

Bring your dog to another Vet, it sounds like poison to me, Is there any Rat poison around your house?. My Dog, big brown lab ate some storm rat poison and was sick for a few days just like that, but he is fine now. It depends how strong your dog is, but HE NEEDS re-hydration , bring him to another vet.

Dermolara, this thread is nearly 2 months old so id say the dog has had vet treatment by now.