stomach ache

[Julie and Moose]

My doodle has an upset stomach. He pulled a ligament in his knee about 2 weeks ago by running in the deep snow. The vet gave him some pain meds (generic aspirin) but warned that they may upset his stomach. Sure enough they do! I stopped giving him the meds and his stomach settled down. This morning my well-meaning husband gave the dog one of the pain pills because he was limping. Needless to say, Moose has thrown up twice this afternoon/evening. Meanwhile our schedule has been changing over the past week and Moose has stopped eating. I'm not sure if the pain meds and lack of appetite are related or not. The vet wants us to wait another day or 2 to see if Moose starts eating. I can hear his stomach gurgling! Does anyone have any advice about upset stomachs? Is there anything I can do to help him?

Thanks,

Julie

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I feel for you on the injured ligament in the knee ..... been through that about 3 times now with Sophie. Did he also suggest that you not let him run, jump, etc. for awhile? We had to keep Sophie quiet for about 4 weeks the first time she hurt hers. That was the worst one. The other 2 she has recovered much quicker from. I'm sure you will get some suggestions from the experts here on what you might try for his tummy. I'm not sure what to suggest now, but would have thought the vet would have said to give the meds with food to start with.

[Julie and Moose]

Thanks for your understanding! Yes, Moose is not supposed to run or jump for 6-8 weeks. He has to be on the leash at all times when outside. It is hard for him (and us!) because he is incredibly active. How is Sophie doing? Does she have any limitations since her knee recovered? Oh, and the vet did advise to give the meds with food. Unfortunately it still upsets his stomach.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I've never had any luck with Sophie and aspirin either. Always upsets her stomach. Sophie has been doing fine. I have been very careful with her in all of this snow as it really scares me that the snow is deeper than their legs, and the way they try to hop through it so their outside activity has been really limited for a few weeks now. Better safe than sorry though. The first time she was very stiff and sore and limped pretty good for several weeks. The vet didn't want to give her anything for pain if we could prevent it because she didn't want her to getting to feeling really good and get too active again. She said keep her confined and keep her quiet and see if we can handle it that way. We were able to get through it. The second time we did the same thing. The Third time she felt the pain was a little worse and she gave her previcox for the pain. I gave that to her in limited amounts when I felt she needed them. She recovered from both the second and third ones much more quickly. Since we have 2 doodles, we had to keep her pretty much confined in the house as well as outside on a leash. Here is what we used to keep her from running and jumping in the house. Sometimes Lucy would want in with her. Good luck. Best wishes for a speedy full recoery.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I would make sure to give the medication with food. The pain might also interfere with his appetite. Maybe tempting him with food like boiled chicken and some rice will help.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Is he staying hydrated or does he not want to drink either? With the vomiting that is important.

[Julie and Moose]

He is drinking, however not as much as he usually does. How can I tell if he is dehydrated?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

With dehydration, they may urinate less often, there will be a smaller amount, and it may be darker in color.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Give him things really wonderful to eat. My Springer had NO appetite when on meds recovering from CCL surgery. We gave him chicken and rice. We tried mixing it with kibble. We also used canned chicken with broth and poured it on his kibble. The only thing he would do is eat the chicken - picked it out of the kibble. He didn't drink as much either.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'd just be sure no sodium in the canned chicken broth especially if you think there's some dehydration.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Chicken broth always made my chihuahuas dehydration worse.

Another way to tell - pinch (gently) their neck (where their mom used to pick them up - by the gruff??). If it sticks together when you pinch it, they are dehydrated. Also look at their gums - white = dehydration. This is all per my vet. I have had too many issues with this!!!
How is the little man today???

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks for adding those signs of dehydration, Allyson. Very important to know. I also notice that sometimes the area around their eyes looks darker or sunken.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Yes, that is another sign - sometimes hard to tell on a darker dood/dog though!