Question about sick dog...

[J-rap]

Looking for advice...

My dd's dog has been a furry member of our family for many  years!  He's about 7 and is in otherwise excellent health.

About two + weeks ago, he suddenly began having diarrhea and throwing up.  The major part was the diarrhea -- it's the first time he's ever not been able to hold it indoors.  He had accidents (diarrhea) all over the house.  He was throwing up bile only.  He was a little lethargic, but not too bad.  He still ate a little.  (Same food he's always had.)

Two days later when he wasn't better, my dd brought him into the vet.  The vet put him on an antibiotic and changed his food to a wet diet only (he previously had a mix of dry and wet), a particular kind that's supposed to be very well-balanced I guess.  He was on the antibiotic and the wet food diet for 7 days I think, and he seemed to get over it completely.

About 5 or 6 days after the antibiotic ended, his stools began to become looser again.  My dd immediately brought him back to the vet, and this time the vet ran blood tests to check for bacteria.  (She hadn't done that before, because it was expensive and they just hoped that the antibiotic would do the trick.)  He tested negative for everything, including giardia.   I guess because his stools weren't yet at the real diarrhea point, the vet put him back on the wet diet again to see if that would make a difference and wanted to wait and see a bit.  That was about two days ago.  Now this morning, it is full-fledged diarrhea again, although he seems to feel fine otherwise.  No energy loss, no vomiting, no appetite loss.

Of course it's Sunday and my dd could bring him into the vet ER, but she'd rather wait until tomorrow so he could see his main vet.  (But, maybe he should go to the vet ER anyway?)  Any ideas on what this could be, and how urgent it is?

 

 

[unsinkable]

I'd be worried but I'd also want the dog to see the vet that has been following & treating.

Maybe tag @Ktgrok ??

[Pen]

We don’t have a good emergency vet option for things like that.  I’d probably put a dog of mine on an canine anti diarrhea diet—I’d probably use human foods for it.  Try to make sure he doesn’t get dehydrated and get him to regular vet when office opens tomorrow.   If he seemed like dehydration was an emergency problem, I’d take him to emergency vet for IV fluids.  

[Pawz4me]

23 minutes ago, Pen said:

I’d probably put a dog of mine on an canine anti diarrhea diet—I’d probably use human foods for it.  Try to make sure he doesn’t get dehydrated and get him to regular vet when office opens tomorrow.   If he seemed like dehydration was an emergency problem, I’d take him to emergency vet for IV fluids.  

Agree.

Since this is an ongoing issue as long as you're sure he's not getting dehydrated then I'd wait until I could see the vet who has been treating him.

What antibiotic was he on?

Did he go back to eating his regular food after the antibiotic was finished? Not the vet prescribed food?

Has the possibility of pancreatitis been ruled out?

I had a dog who got giardia once, and developed a mild pancreatitis secondary to that. The vet said that wasn't unusual, that once anything in the GI tract got irritated the pancreas could become involved. She had to stay on a very low fat diet for six weeks to recover--first a mixture of chicken baby food and white rice, and then a slow transition to Science Diet canned i/d for the rest of the six week period. After that we slowly transition to a commercially available lower fat kibble and she was fine.

[ktgrok]

I'd wait until tomorrow unless he becomes lethargic, or is going constantly and can't get comfortable, or is vomiting repeatedly. For those, go in, otherwise, hold on until tomorrow. 

Giardia can be tricky. Also, find out if they did lab work to look for pancreatitis. Doggy is at the age they start to have those issues. 

Is the canned food a prescription diet - probably either I/D or EN or Low Residue or similar? Stay on that for now, and do not withhold food entirely although can back it down to a smaller amount. (old program was to fast the dog, but if there is not vomiting fasting can kill off the good bacteria and other cells in the gut they know now). 

If out of the veterinary diet can feed plain boiled white meat chicken and plain white rice (or white bread or white mashed potatoes - no skin). Idea is to have it very very easily digested - low fat, low fiber. 

And you can add any probiotics if you have some on hand, the people kind are fine. 

[J-rap]

2 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

Agree.

Since this is an ongoing issue as long as you're sure he's not getting dehydrated then I'd wait until I could see the vet who has been treating him.

What antibiotic was he on?

Did he go back to eating his regular food after the antibiotic was finished? Not the vet prescribed food?

Has the possibility of pancreatitis been ruled out?

I had a dog who got giardia once, and developed a mild pancreatitis secondary to that. The vet said that wasn't unusual, that once anything in the GI tract got irritated the pancreas could become involved. She had to stay on a very low fat diet for six weeks to recover--first a mixture of chicken baby food and white rice, and then a slow transition to Science Diet canned i/d for the rest of the six week period. After that we slowly transition to a commercially available lower fat kibble and she was fine.

He did go back to his regular diet for about a week. The antibiotic he was on was Metronidazole.   I don't think pancreatitis has been mentioned.. 

[J-rap]

4 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

I'd wait until tomorrow unless he becomes lethargic, or is going constantly and can't get comfortable, or is vomiting repeatedly. For those, go in, otherwise, hold on until tomorrow. 

Giardia can be tricky. Also, find out if they did lab work to look for pancreatitis. Doggy is at the age they start to have those issues. 

Is the canned food a prescription diet - probably either I/D or EN or Low Residue or similar? Stay on that for now, and do not withhold food entirely although can back it down to a smaller amount. (old program was to fast the dog, but if there is not vomiting fasting can kill off the good bacteria and other cells in the gut they know now). 

If out of the veterinary diet can feed plain boiled white meat chicken and plain white rice (or white bread or white mashed potatoes - no skin). Idea is to have it very very easily digested - low fat, low fiber. 

And you can add any probiotics if you have some on hand, the people kind are fine. 

Thank you.  The food is a prescription of EN.  He is eating and drinking still.

[Pawz4me]

It may be that he just needs longer on an easy-to-digest diet. I hope that’s all it is. 

[ktgrok]

Agreed that it may be too soon to switch. Did she switch gradually? Also, was it a new bag of food? Maybe bad batch? Or bottom of an old bag that went rancid? 

While waiting to see vet feed plain chicken and white rice to mimic the EN.

[J-rap]

She did switch gradually...  But I just asked her about the dry food, and she had actually gotten it new a couple days before he became ill.  It was the kind he always had, but I wonder if it could have been a bad batch??

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, J-rap said:

She did switch gradually...  But I just asked her about the dry food, and she had actually gotten it new a couple days before he became ill.  It was the kind he always had, but I wonder if it could have been a bad batch??

Absolutely it could. Or a switch of ingredients, etc. I'd take it back, if it is a name brand most stores will let you exchange it for a new bag if you tell them the dog gets sick eating it. 

[Pen]

5 hours ago, J-rap said:

She did switch gradually...  But I just asked her about the dry food, and she had actually gotten it new a couple days before he became ill.  It was the kind he always had, but I wonder if it could have been a bad batch??

 

Definitely could be a bad batch.  We got a bag of dry food with visible mold in it one time (possibly from a micro leak in bag, not from the factory). I am going to guess that there are plenty of bad batches, and bad bags that don’t make the news or recall lists.     

I’d not feed from that bag and would get all its particulars such as bar codes and any other Identification copied down.  Maybe photos.

 It may be a bad batch that will end up as a recall

[J-rap]

1 hour ago, Pen said:

 

Definitely could be a bad batch.  We got a bag of dry food with visible mold in it one time (possibly from a micro leak in bag, not from the factory). I am going to guess that there are plenty of bad batches, and bad bags that don’t make the news or recall lists.     

I’d not feed from that bag and would get all its particulars such as bar codes and any other Identification copied down.  Maybe photos.

 It may be a bad batch that will end up as a recall

Good idea.  We did look up info on it just to see if anything had been posted, but couldn't find anything.  Will definitely make note of the bag ID.

[J-rap]

Well, after a really terrible night last night (diarrhea about once/hour all night long), my dd was able to take him into her vet at 8am this morning.  She put him back on antibiotics again, and by this evening, he was a lot more settled and finally sleeping soundly.