I'm not sure exactly how to deal with this...

[Camilla and Darwin]

I have looked up a lot of discussions on this, but I am hoping for an answer to my specific situation. Darwin got sick today. We came home from work, (We were gone for around 6 or 7 hours, and he had diarrhea in his crate. He has never, ever done this. He has had diarrhea before, but has never had an accident in our house. When we took him out, he threw up over and over, a mucus like substance... and I didn't see any food or anything in his vomit. Just yellow mucus looking stuff. 

We cleaned everything up, gave him water, and have been letting him rest. He hasn't thrown up for at least 4 hours, but he is very deadbeat. In the past when he's gotten sick from something, he's been pretty responsive afterwards. This time, he's pretty lethargic, won't keep his head up to look at me, etc. I wanted to give him a little something, so I offered him a tiny zukes mini. He wouldn't eat it. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED. Even after he has been sick in the past, he is well enough to eat boiled chicken or a little treat a few hours later. It has been half a day since he threw up.... and he won't even look at his favorite treat. 

His poop was completely normal this morning. I can't think of anything he could have gotten into that would have made him so sick. He was out of his crate for 1 or 2 hours, in the room with me this morning. Then he was in his crate until we got home. We had a chocolate cake on the table, but I looked at it and none of it was missing. It seems unlikely that he would get so sick from a few crumbs that may have been on the floor. 

My question, does this sound like a sickness like Giardia, or something else? He has gotten into things before... (A redvines rope once) and has thrown up, but has been much better afterwards. It's the classic question. Am I overreacting, or could it be an illness? 

[Beth Lord]

Just saw this -- So glad to hear he's feeling better! I wonder if it's not something viral. Hopefully whatever it is, is getting flushed out of his system. At least he's drinking, and hopefully on the mend? Keep us posted...

[Ali & Sonny D.]

Awww, poor Darwin. Can dogs gets stomach viruses like humans do? Maybe it was just a little bug. Glad to see he is feeling better.

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

Glad to hear that Darwin is feeling better! I think we love our pets so much and we worry about under-reacting. No such thing, in my book! Darwin is lucky to have you looking after him.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so glad that Darwin is feeling better.

[Anna and Achilles]

Glad to hear he is better, I would have been worried sick as well.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Camilla - sounds like everything is better. I know you were worried, but I am sure he just ate something that did not settle well with him - you will probably never even know.
If he were to get sick again today or tomorrow, I would go in the vet to be safe.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Glad all is well. I'm sure dogs can get a passing virus, why should they be exempt. A little watchful waiting goes a long way!

[LG & Sadie]

I can share something I know from EXPERIENCE....you will know Giardia by a mustard (not quite French's-more gold) color to the stool if formed or diarrhea-in all cases with Sadie this was present. If you have the stool culture done-be sure to ask for the actual giardia present and not just the exposure to giardia as your positive. I am hoping that made sense?

With vomitting and diarrhea-dehydration is a HUGE concern. Sadie seemed prone to dehydrate quickly as a younger pup 0-1.5 years, since they hasn't happened. If he was only moderately hydrated-then got that sick that quick-dehydration would lead very quickly to lethargy. With Sadie a few times she needed IV fluids, on another occasion she needed only the subcutaneous fluids. If you press on Darwin's gums then let up-the refill of nice color should happened really quick....if it is slow.....dehydration is likely the culprit.

I should read on to see how this turned out-just realized this was two days ago-sorry!

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Hi Camilla, I am so glad that Darwin is feeling better.... how scary!! Let me ask, did you happen to take him swimming? Or could he have got into any standing water outside?

We had a very similar experience when we were camping. Hunter has a soft sided crate, we were gone for about 5 hours from late morning till early evening. When we got back Hunter had broken out of her crate and went to our bed (precious little thing!) and had diarrhea and vomiting that looked just like you were describing. She did it a few more times as soon as we got back and then acted just like you said Darwin did. What is my best guess as to what happened was we took her swimming in Lake Erie that morning for about 2 hours and then after we found out that the lake had a high bacteria count that day - it was on the scale as not recommended for children or anyone with a comprimsed immune system to swim in or ingest. I am really careful about when and where I let her swim now and if there is any water around in the yard or anywhere we go. Its never happened again thank God.

I hope he stays better and maybe you can figure something out :-)

[shelly]

Poor Darwin! I hope he has continued to be on the mend today. Sorry I missed your post yesterday! I know how you feel... Tori has gotten sick a couple of times and it worried me to death! She would get sick then seem fine, just mushy... but the next day got sick again. This went on for 3 days before I took her to the ER... she had actually gotten into boneles BBQ Chinese strips and she wound up having pancreatitis (I knew it happened, but we were "newbies" then and didn;t know the effect it could have on her) - and then came her teeny tiny screw issue - I'm sure you rememer that! Hopefully Darwin just had some sort of doggie-bug!

[ej]

I know how you feel Camilla, its awful to see your pup looking sad and quite. I would prefer my two tearing through the apartment, counter-surfing (thats Koda), and barking her head off during playfight, any time! I really hope that Darwin gets over the digestive problem soon. A few months back, Zooey was ill, we didn't know what happened. She just started vomitting blood, and she moped around for days, refusing to play with Koda. Finally on the 4th day, we brought her in the see the vet, after the blood test and xray, we still could not figure out what was wrong. Vet said it could be stomach ulcer. After spending S$200 and a couple of hours, my sister came to visit her "niece" just when we were leaving the clinic. Zooey saw her and perked up right away, Z pranced and rolled in the grass and made a fool of herself... My sis should have come earlier! Get well soon, Darwin! Hugs and Kisses from Julie, Z & K <3