My dog is sick again.. please help!

[Hedgehog]

Any advice appreciated!

 

Our dog is a 9yr old GSD, whom we adopted from a local family 4months ago. The reason for them giving her up was that the adult's work commitments were increasing and K was left on her own for 6-8hrs a day. She doesn't like being alone so we try to take her with us when we go out, but sometimes that's not possible.

 

Last Friday, she was extensively sick - diarrhea and vomiting - all over my kitchen floor. I cleaned it up :ack2: and, as per many relevant websites, withheld water for 12hrs and food for 24hrs. When we gave her water and food again, she was fine with it.

 

This evening it's happened all over again, minus the diarrhea. The vomit is the same, brown and lumpy as if she's digested some of it but not all. Unfortunately, she got to the water bowl as I was cleaning up today's gack in another part of the house and drank loads, so she was sick again - this time very watery and an awful lot of it.

 

She's been whining all through and looking at me most mournfully, and I don't know what to do for her. I've just put her outside on the line and she seems to be very happy lying down on the lawn; she's not whining at the moment. It's 2am here and I'm tired but don't feel comfortable just leaving her on her own.

 

I'm trying to think of what might have caused it. She's not food motivated and often refuses treats, and doesn't graze off the floor much. Yesterday and today she went to her Home-Boarding place because I had my parents to stay and it was easier for her to be "on holiday" (long story and would need a thread of it's own!). The last time she was sick, she'd been at another Home-Boarding place (we use two who work together) two days in the week prior to that episode of sickness.

 

Could this be as simple as separation anxiety or should I be down to the vet first thing on Monday? My poor baby.. :( It's so much worse with an animal because unlike most children, they can't tell you what's wrong.

[LauraGB]

Did you switch food from what she had been eating with her previous owners? If so, she may be allergic to something and it is just showing up now. It could be something as seemingly benign as chicken, or possibly there is corn or some other intolerable grain in her food.

[Hedgehog]

We did change her food according to our vet's advice actually, but in composition it was very similar to what she was having before. Do allergies show up after 4months and as what seems like a one off sicky followed the week later by another?

[LauraGB]

We did change her food according to our vet's advice actually, but in composition it was very similar to what she was having before. Do allergies show up after 4months and as what seems like a one off sicky followed the week later by another?

 

They did in our Golden. She had been eating the same food for about 4 months before she started throwing up, and it took us until about 6 months in to figure out she was allergic to both the chicken and the corn, poor thing .:(

 

Otherwise, did she have any shots, or maybe heartworm meds recently she might be reacting to? Any lawn treatments?

[Hedgehog]

When we got her, she hadn't been vaccinated regularly and the last booster she'd had was around 21 months prior to her coming to us. I took her straight to the vet and had the vaccs done. At the same time I also started her on Frontline worming and fleaing treatments - worming every 3 months, fleaing every month. The vaccs, worming and fleaing are standard treatments that the vets prescribe for all the dogs they treat. (There are 3 vets working at our veterinary surgery plus assistants.)

 

The food we're using for her is Hill's Science Plan, and again it's what the vet recommended. I moved her onto it gradually over the first two weeks of her being with us. Her coat is noticeably softer now, compared to how it was when we first met her. The food she'd been on before was the cheapest of the cheap.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

Did you switch food from what she had been eating with her previous owners? If so, she may be allergic to something and it is just showing up now. It could be something as seemingly benign as chicken, or possibly there is corn or some other intolerable grain in her food.

 

My dog is allergic to chicken. Another thing my dog does is eat his food and then drink a whole bowl of water. Within 10 minutes he will throw up, maybe because too much water made the food swell? If I do not fill his water bowl until 20 minutes after his food is gone, he never throws up.

[Hedgehog]

My dog is allergic to chicken. Another thing my dog does is eat his food and then drink a whole bowl of water. Within 10 minutes he will throw up, maybe because too much water made the food swell? If I do not fill his water bowl until 20 minutes after his food is gone, he never throws up.

 

Hmm. K eats and drinks at the same time, although I'm not sure that that's relevant in this case because the first time it happened she was sick when we went out at lunchtime (she eats her meals at 9am and 7pm). Today she had had her tea at the Home-Boarding place at around 6pm, I had picked her up at 7pm and came home, and she was sick at around 11pm. However that's an interesting point and I may well do the same just to be on the safe side. It really can't be nice for her to be sick, she doesn't even understand why.

 

I do know IRL of another dog who is allergic to chicken, but what would puzzle me about K being allergic to it is that she was on a diet of chicken before, and so from that point of view we haven't changed her diet although we changed the brand to a better quality one.

 

Incidentally it's now 3am and she's been outside for an hour, sleeping peacefully on the lawn. I am wondering whether to get her in and go to bed.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

Do you think she is eating something from outside? Maybe there are wild mushrooms or grasses that are making her ill?

[Hedgehog]

I can't be 100% sure, but I haven't seen her eat anything when she's outside, for a long time. Back a couple months ago she ate a bit of grass when we were out on a walk but that would be it.

[Hedgehog]

Thanks for all the help so far.

 

I think K is ok for now.. she hasn't been sick for 4-5hrs and I'm going to bring her in and go to bed myself.

 

If anyone has any more thoughts, please do post.

[ktgrok]

When she is at the home boarding place do they feed her a different food than she eats at home?

 

And yes, it could just be stress causing an upset stomach. Not that uncommon for a high strung dog.

[Pippen]

The times when my cat has had symptoms like this (on different occasions) have been due to food changes, intestinal bugs, and when he's eaten something he shouldn't have...like a rubber band or 2 feet of red satin ribbon. :001_huh: When he's eaten something eating grass has been the most helpful in helping move it through.

 

I'd be calling the vet if you see any more symptoms at all.

[Guest mrsjamiesouth]

Now that I think about it, my mom's dog used to have diarhhea everytime my mom packed suitcases. She died about 8 years ago (the dog not my mom.) Everytime they left to go on a trip she would get sick.

[kitten18]

I would guess that it could be stress/seperation anxiety since both times it happened you had left her somewhere else.

 

I hope she feels better.:001_smile:

[mooooom]

Talk to your vet about the proper dose of pepto-bismal, (one time only) which can help your dog's stomach calm down. Also a hamburger & rice diet for a few days after an incident can help. There are other meds that can help recovery as well - we've had dogs here on metronidizole.

[Heather in AL]

Your poor dog!

 

My neighbor's dog reacted similarly (vomiting, poo) after about two or three weeks of a food change~~there was no indication of a problem, but suddenly, after two or three weeks---wham-o! The only change was they went from the big bites to the little bites. Same food (Science Diet), same flavor, same everything.... except the size of the kibble. They compared labels and found the smaller kibble had more fat content in it, and they think that was the culprit. Within a week of being back on the original food, the dog stopped these episodes. I may have completely reversed the big bites=less fat/small bites=more fat thing, though, but that seemed to be the issue as the dog is fine now--- oh, and he's 8 y/o.

 

As an aside, it does sound like your dog may be reacting to the stress, but I just thought I'd toss out my neighbor's experience, just in case it helps you or someone else~~I know I've filed that tidbit away for future reference for our animals.

 

I hope you figure it out. It is *so* hard when our animals & young kids are sick and can't communicate. :grouphug:

[Amanda's Mommy]

When we got her, she hadn't been vaccinated regularly and the last booster she'd had was around 21 months prior to her coming to us. I took her straight to the vet and had the vaccs done. At the same time I also started her on Frontline worming and fleaing treatments - worming every 3 months, fleaing every month. The vaccs, worming and fleaing are standard treatments that the vets prescribe for all the dogs they treat. (There are 3 vets working at our veterinary surgery plus assistants.)

 

The food we're using for her is Hill's Science Plan, and again it's what the vet recommended. I moved her onto it gradually over the first two weeks of her being with us. Her coat is noticeably softer now, compared to how it was when we first met her. The food she'd been on before was the cheapest of the cheap.

 

If I give my Lab his heartworm and flea on the same day he gets diarrhea and it will last about 3 days.

[Hedgehog]

Thanks for all your posts. Really interesting stuff there. K seems to be ok now, she's had some water today and a little bit of her ordinary food. If she gets poorly again soon I'm going to be taking her down to the vet for a check up and I'll probably be asking for allergy tests.

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

I also vote for stress related tummy problems. Our German Shepherd will get diarrhea if we board her. The vet said this is not uncommon, and recommends giving the dog some doggie probiotics before and during boarding. Tessa just loves being with us; the very few times I have left her for several hours or overnight, she got diarrhea and sometimes a bout or two of vomiting.

 

I hope your new buddy settles in soon. How kind of you to adopt him/her! :)

[Cindy in the NH Woods]

There are other meds that can help recovery as well - we've had dogs here on metronidizole.

 

:iagree: That stuff has worked well for our dog, too.

[MariannNOVA]

If I give my Lab his heartworm and flea on the same day he gets diarrhea and it will last about 3 days.

 

Same here with our hound. We begin pre-treating with canine kaopectate the day before the h/w and flea tx. And we go food free for 24 hours and then give boiled rice for 2-3 days.

 

I am also thinking about purchasing a product called Metagenix as hounds have very sensitive stomachs.

 

So sorry for your pooch.