Take her to emergency clinic or wait until the morning? WARNING - POO Related

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I have gone through four days of runny diarrhea (Sophie, not me). It's been messy and frustrating, but through it all she maintained her normal hyper personality so I didn't worry too much. Saturday morning I woke up to discover my apartment turned into an outhouse over night. I brought a sample in Saturday afternoon and the results were negative. I figured she got into something yucky. 

 

Sunday night I thought she was all good and gave her a meal of rice, boiled chicken, pumpkin, yogurt. I woke up Monday morning to find her covered in her own stinky diarrhea. Apart from having an awful mess to clean the diarrhea didn't stop for a while. Then it settled down and we took a long nap. thinking she'd be ok I stepped out for an hour and came back to diarrhea on my new love seat (thank goodness I had bought a cover for it). I put her in the tub while I peeled off the cover and while she was in there it was a constant stream. I got her all cleaned up and took her out and sure enough there was more to come.

 

I brought her to the vet clinic because I was too impatient to wait for a call back. The vet didn't see her but we had already had a note on file to give her panacur again around this time because of all the past issues she has had. I had refused it when they called a few weeks ago, she has been doing so well and figured she wouldn't need it (boy was I wrong!). They gave me the panacur, 5 days worth. I gave it to her last night with some yogurt, rice and a tiny bit of ground beef.

Back outside at 2am for another round, and again first thing in the morning. By this point each time she goes there is a tiny bit of fresh blood. Trying not to panick I chalk it up to a lot of irritation and figure my biggest concern is still dehydration. I made an appt at the vet for tomorrow at 8:30am, put her in her crate with a big bowl of water and head off to work. Come home at lunch, take her out and she has her bum tucked under as if she's 'holding it' and pulls me to the first patch of grass and lets loose. again after work with a little more bloodin it. I call the vet back. They already have on other emergency to deal with tonight so can't see her. They suggest if she's lethargic I need to take her to the 24 hr emergency clinic. She is definitely not as hyper as normal, but does perk up once in a while.  Her bum is really irritated, swollen and pink and she keeps licking it. I keep having to whipe her or put her in the tub for a full washing. Ever time she poops she drags her butt.

 

I'm really worried, but have been known to over react in the past. Should I wait till the morning or go to the emergency clinic at the cost of $155 for the visit, not including treatment?

 

What on earth could be causing this. For the past couple of months she's been thriving since she's been on orijen. She has not eaten anything weird and had a negative fecal. I'd do another fecal but there is nothing to collect. It is all liquid.

 

I have just given her rice and pumpkin and I put a bit of ground beef in the bottom of her water dish hoping she'd slurp some water up trying to get to it. It seemed to work, although more water ended up on the floor. I'm going to take her for a walk and see how she's feeling...I'm so so so worried.

[shelly]

Oh boy, Sherri!  I am so sorry for you and poor Sophie.  I was cringing reading how sore her poor butt must be....I am a HUGE worry wart and wold probably bring her.  I tend to react at times maybe more than I should, but I am neurotic...I will continue to check in... Sending you hugs and good wishes! ..

[Melody & Bruin]

No advice here, just sympathy.  I am sorry for you & Sophie.  Hope she feels better very soon.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I do hope that by now things might have settled a bit. I wouldn't  be one bit happy that my vet didn't make time for what is a serious issue.  I know that our vet here would certainly have found time no matter what emergency.  Second it is probably a good thing to withhold food, you can withhold for up to 12 hours to give the tummy time to rest.  I hope that by the time you are reading this though  Sophie will be a whole lot better.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Just checking in here to see if there is any update.  Hope she is feeling better this morning.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Ok,I waited, but kept a good close eye on her. In the end she started gulping up water and was playing with Winston so I decided she didn't need to go to the emergency clinic. We were up in the night for potty breaks but that's ok.

 

I just back from the vet. All is good. Got some metronidazole and her anal glands were expressed. the vet agreed the little bit of blood was from the irritation. going to put some ointment on her bum bum. Vet thinks possibly this was due to the stress of a bunch of changes, including the new dog and/or the switch was from orijen puppy to adult formula which I had started a few weeks ago. Not sure I buy it about the new dog but I guess that could make sense. I will continue to feed her bland diet and when she's ready I'll go back to only orijen puppy, then figure it out from there. I guess she just wasn't ready to start the switch, although she was doing fine with the gradual change at first, the vet said sometimes they don't react right away.

 

Thanks once again for all the support. don't know how I'd survive being a doodle mom without you guys!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Glad to hear it isn't anything serious. JD and I hope Sophie gets better very quickly, and you both get a good night's sleep tonight!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Paws crossed she continues to do better. 

I read somewhere higher up in this discussion about tacky gums - this is the true indicator of dehydration and everyone should remember this.  A lot of it is about color - if they are pinkish, your dog is probably okay!  If they are grayish, GO TO VET.

[Pam & Trixie]

I hope Sophie feels Much better very soon!    It is so hard when they are so sick with diarhea on them & us.  its stressful.

 

I see someone else brought up the NO yogurt.  I agree.  I found Trixie can not handle that at all...Even when her tummy is good (and we had lots of issues for her 1st 3 months with me)   I also felt the Pumpkin was too much for her when she had bad tummy troubles...So you may want to skip that also.

 

Ice cubes help to keep them hydrated if she likes them.  I would offer One to Trixie many times throughout the day.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Glad she is going to be ok. Good luck the next few days.

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

Hope you guys are doing better!!! With the few days Lola had diarrhea a couple of weeks ago, I was a total zombie, and that was just 2 nights of no sleep...I can't imagine how exhausted you (and poor Sophie) are right now!!! Feel better soon, little one!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

It's like having a newborn, lol. I took the day off again today. My boss is a dummy sometimes but at least he's a proponent of the 'family comes first' philosophy, and he understands that the doods are my family. However, it's too bad that I can't take family care days (5 per year) like my coworkers do when their kids are sick, instead of using my vacation time. Maybe I should tell people that Sophie (9mths), Penelope (3years) and Winston (5years) are my children. That's believable right? I could just snap some photos of someone elses's kids and put them up in my cubicle. Nobody would ever know!

[Sue, Lola, Pongo & Hubby]

Good plan. They all have human names, it's totally believable!!! What you REALLY need to do is get a job where you can bring your darlings with you...I've heard of places that are starting to allow that (as long as they're up to date, and friendly). Would that be incredible?! I think we'd all be a lot more productive, honestly!