Familia Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) Thursday, after the company (including children that went pretty well!), the dog was tired out as expected. Friday, she got sick three times, finding undigested food in crate in am, throwing up breakfast (technically regurgitating, ie. not continued vomiting) and a little in afternoon. I called vet, who said to withhold food. Since dog acted normal the rest of afternoon, I gave small meal in evening. Just gave smaller meals rest of weekend and no incidents. Dog was normal mostly - typical tired that we always see with heat. Yesterday, she began vomiting in afternoon...mucus over and over. After the initial episode was over, 10 minutes later, walked around kitchen vomiting/drooling bloody mucous for 5 minutes. All over the huge kitchen and her. She rested in crate. Took dog to vet. Fecal normal, gums and temp normal, no bloating, so they gave shot of Cerenia and sent us on our way, stating that blood was only b/c of excessive vomiting. Last night, lethargic. Refused food, drank a lot of water, no more vomiting. This morning, lethargic with bursts of regular play energy, so play we did. Short walks. Gave ½ regular breakfast and drinking normally. Just had a lot of diarrhea, now napping in crate. This pup is always with me, except when she plays in a field for a few minutes where other animals roam. So, she could have gotten into something or swallowed something when we weren't watching on a walk...the vet isn't concerned, but I am. The Vet thinks it is just something she ate or got on a vomiting jag, and that the cerenia pills she gave me, prescribed to be taken over the next two evening will calm her system down and 'reset'. (gross alert:) She throws up a meal about once per month and, if we let her, just eats it back up. Occasionally mucous vomit in morning, like 1/month as well. She used to throw up when other dog treats were offered (she gets milk bones occasionally just fine) Our last dog had a stomach of steel - threw up a doll shoe once, no other problems...ever. So, I just don't have experience with dogs having acute stomach ills. Reading threads regarding vomiting in dogs, it does appear that this is something that a lot of dogs do. Do your dogs have these types of acute vomiting jags? Do they ever go weeks without incident then just go to this extreme? Is this just truly a 'once she got on a bad cycle it is hard to get off of it' thing like the Vet said? I am just not sure what may be 'normal' in the doggy world. Thanks! Edited September 18, 2019 by Familia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I talk to the trees Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 Is it possible that she ate something she wasn’t supposed to (chocolate, perhaps?) while your company was there? Many people-especially children- are unaware of the foods that are off limits for dogs, and believe they are being nice by “sharing.” I would ask for lab work just to be on the safe side. If she did ingest something toxic, you need to know how her liver and kidneys are handling it. If lab work is all normal, then it sounds like what our family refers to as “sheltie tummy” : digestive upset as a result of stress, so no big deal. I’d also keep an eye on how much she is keeping down. If she isn’t keeping anything at all down, and is only having little spurts of liquid poop, I would want to rule out a blockage of some sort. But take all this with multiple grains of salt! I always, always err on the side of caution with my pups. Hope she is feeling better soon! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) She is eating today, but not last night when feeling worst. I have heard that about chicken & oatmeal, but she has had minor episodes with regurgitating meals on days with dog treats other than the occasional milk bone that it makes me chicken to try it! In addition, when she was a pup with undiagnosed giardia, a vet said that I must never give dogs people food. Is that really true? Meaning, can a sensitive dog, who never gets anything (allowed) besides her food, tolerate cooked chicken and oatmeal? How does that not break the 'don't switch foods suddenly' rule. I want to be prudent, but not overly so. Just so tempting to try. Edited September 18, 2019 by Familia always typos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) Thank you @Indigo Blue The Vet said 'never', as in bad practice. He knows me personally, so I would have thought he would know we wouldn't scrape our plate generally & give it to her. I got the sense that he was venting about all the exploration people do feeding their dogs. I thought to myself at the time, that it was advice that was no-fun because our only other dog ate lots of extra foods as treats and training tools - peanut butter wands kept in freezer for walks, cheese as a special treat, even once at a whole loaf of bread that was intended for the Thanksgiving Stuffing with no ill result. When I said my dog through up 1x/month I was trying to estimate. It is not that frequent but it seems to be when it is hot or when given a little Kong spray or another food besides her own. I made chicken thigh into chicken jerky recently & the next day after having just a few bites, she threw up. So, I am making the broad assumption that she is just extra sensitive. So, I am curious, what triggers others dogs to upheave and do they ever go through acute more-than-just-once episodes (including possibly to the point of blood) and it be just no-big-deal? Again, because other signs (labs weren't taken) were normal yesterday (belly still soft now), the Vet was like, "she'll be fine, blood is normal...by this she meant blood in vomit, just got into something you didn't see." But, with the lethargy and diarrhea (although kept down 1 cup of reg food), I am worried and wonder if dogs just can get sick for a few days since this is such a new experience to us. Edited September 18, 2019 by Familia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Familia said: a vet said that I must never give dogs people food. Is that really true? That vet was totally wrong, for all the reasons @Indigo Blue said. In your shoes I'd want to do a course of metronidazole. It could just be due to a sensitive tummy, and maybe will eventually settle down, but when blood gets involved from either end, and especially when it's been going on for more than 24/48 hours -- yeah, I'd push for some metro. Edited September 18, 2019 by Pawz4me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 (edited) 29 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said: Anyway, not sure if any of that is helpful, but you asked about other dogs and what makes them throw up, so that's my experience here with a bunch of big dogs. Food sensitivity or random things they eat pretty much cover the reasons here. Yes, other people's experiences are really helpful. When, in other threads, people said their dogs get sick 'a lot', I didn't know exactly what that meant, for lack of experience. Thanks, @Pawz4me, since you mentioned metronidazole, I looked it up and found this from a vet office in VT, basically giving me the same good advice/signs you all are. Nothing I googled yesterday didn't end in death (only slightly exaggerating). Dogs being sick is so different than children!! For some reason, this is so much worse. I maintain a take-charge nurse attitude with sick children and seemed to know when to call the Dr. This dog is stressing me to pieces. Too high maintenance! BTW, she is more normal acting, but usually sleeps all afternoon anyway. https://rivercove.net/oh-no-vomiting-and-diarrhea/ Edited September 18, 2019 by Familia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 In our geographic area the symptoms you describe can follow getting parasites from eating slugs or similar. Quite serious. Particularly with my current dog who has a keen interest in banana slugs, that would be my first worry. Though following an unusual event with children I would be concerned about something unusual from a child. I wonder if there’s some way to ask the children, without them feeling like they might be in trouble, if they shared anything with dog, or saw her eat anything unusual. We have a “holistic vet” who prefers dogs to be on a properly balanced real food, ideally raw, diet rather than “dog food.” This is an older book that’s related—mostly dealing with cooked human food in the foods section: Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats (4th Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1623367557/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2SLGDbX8R5TQ3 Obviously, they aren’t supposed to be fed human foods that are toxic to canines—or anything they are personally allergic or sensitive to. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 I don’t have the medicines mentioned on hand—I’ll look into that. But I do keep activated charcoal and psyllium and a few things along those lines in case of eating wrongful things. Such as when current dog got hold of a Blue Ice type pack and chewed it. (Nothing bad at all happened. ) Our dog doesn’t do well with chicken and probably not gluten (itching), so my go to equivalent to the chicken and oatmeal is beef, cooked organic brown rice cereal, and sometimes canned pumpkin. Over this last summer my dog got quite a bit of ground raw green tripe, which I think helped him. I ran out and need to order more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted September 19, 2019 Author Share Posted September 19, 2019 UPDATE She is so much better. 🐶 I took her in for labs after an early afternoon spent curled up. Whenever I took her outside to go, she simply curled up in the grass! @I talk to the trees you got me thinking about my visit with the family on Thursday, and I started to think maybe she had stray grapes that they dropped. And, I knew it would ease my mind to know she wasn't going into renal failure or something. @Pawz4me also helped me discover the wonders of metronidazole ask the Vet about that. Although our pup tested neg for giardiasis, I know that she had it last year with many neg. fecals. Anyway, everything was normal, but all the vomiting yesterday, three liquid stools today, and a lethargic one year old pup prompted the Dr. to have me continue the cerenia for a few more days, give a course of metro, and small meals. I did just that. After I let the cerenia have a little time, I gave a small meal (which included the metro tabs hidden in the soft topper we give), and she crashed into deep slumber for an hour. After that...she was almost her normal evening self, wanting to play chase and bark like mad at the donkey & mule...her favorite evening pastime. Thanks everyone! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 The metronidazole wil help - not only is it an antibiotic but it has a "side effect" of reducing inflammation in the gut. You can also use a probiotic, a human one is fine. If the puking tends to be at night, or the food refusal, you can do a trial of pepcid, to see if it is a reflux thing. And if need be, an easy on the tummy prescription diet for a while. Also, consider one of the "sensitive stomach" brands of dog food. And that she may outgrow it. My hound was very similar, and had to be on lower fat, fewere ingredient foods for a long time. He's now able to tolerate most things just fine, so this may be more a young dog thing. Oh - and stress (like fun visitors) can also trigger GI upset in dogs. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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