Oliver at the Vet this Morning

[cheryl & oliver]

At 6 am this morning we awoke to the sound of Oliver throwing up in his crate. We jumped out of bed, got him out of there and he started wretching again. He threw up 3 more times, until there was nothing but water coming up, he had gone to his bowl and took a drink, and threw that up too. He threw up on my bed, ugh, so at dawn we were stripping the bed too. Ira took him out and he had bad diarrhea, I couldn't imagine what he had eaten, I didn't see anything in the throw up that looked strange. I tried to give him some ice cubes and he wouldn't even look at them, and he loves ice cubes, so we went to the vet to be there when he opened. The vet checked him out, listened to his belly, and heard lots of gurgling and gas sounds. He had no fever and actually seemed to perk up at the vets office, of course. Well we are taking it one step at a time, he gave him a shot to calm down the stomach, and stop the vomitting and diarrhea, and told me to just try some ice in a few hrs. I brought him home, he went to sleep for a bit, then I gave him a few ice cubes that he ate. I made some cooked chicken and rice for later, but the vet said to go easy, and maybe just a little rice for now. He is not even looking for food at this point, so I am not pushing it. What a day, I was so scared when he started doing this...I worry about dehydration, so I am glad he is at least taking cubes. I just spoke with my vet, and he said to call in am to tell himhow he is doing, but go gradually with food for a few days. I can't imagine what he ate that caused this...Any advice for us???

[cheryl & oliver]

Thanks Leslie, I appreciate your thoughts for him...

[cheryl & oliver]

Well I just fed my other Dog, Renny and Oliver was standing by his bowl barking!!!...I didn't know what to do, so I gave him 2 tblspoons of ground white chicken with rice, He ate it and I gave him 4 ice cubes and he ate those too. He wanted more to eat, but I didn't give it to him, afraid at this point. Do u think in the morning if all is well I should heat the rice and chicken mixture? Or should I leave it to get to rm temp?...I feele so dumb, but I haven't had this before with him...thanks

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Don't overdo it. Even if he acts ravenous, his stomach has been through the wringer. If you feed too much, he will likely throw up again.

Wait another hour or so, make sure he keeps it down, then give another 2 T of the chicken and rice. As far as heating, just don't make it super hot. I don't think it matters too much.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Cheryl...somewhere back in hearing "old wives tales" I remember something about not letting rice get to room temperature. That and turkey stuffing. Both should be refrigerated immediately after you are done serving. I could be wrong but under the circumstances I would rather be safe than sorry and either refrig the rice and warm up or make a new batch just before you are ready to feed him. Sounds like he is bouncing back nicely though. Such a scare. Keep us posted tomorrow on how he is doing.

[cheryl & oliver]

thanks Nancie, I have never heard that about rice, stuffing yes because it usually hs some turkey or turkey juices in it I think,,but better safe then sorry for sure, and thank you for your kind thoughts...

[Helen]

Rice can carry a bacteria called Bacillus cereus, it can cause food poisoning when stored incorrectly. Very commonly picked up from chinese food buffets. Trust me it is not nice, got it one NYE when we ordered take out.

BTW - sorry to hear your pup is feeling under the weather, hope he is on the mend soon.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The variety of bacillus cereus that causes an emetic form of food poisoning from rice is due to improper cooking which fails to kill the bacterial endospores, and in that case, improper refrigeration will exacerbate the problem. If the rice is thoroughly cooked, and particularly if you use processed rice like Success and not raw rice, there is no danger.
Some forms of bacillus cereusare actually beneficial to animals and help prevent salmonella.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

So it was only "one half of an ol' wives tale"? Just depends on the cooking method and type of rice!!!! ha ha

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In a nutshell, boil the heck out of it. LOL

[cheryl & oliver]

will do that when I make the rice again

[cheryl & oliver]

thanks Helen, for the info, never heard that, and ty for the kind thoughts for Oliver

[F, Calla & Luca]

Heating it for a half minute in the microwave couldn't hurt and might help. I'd give him only part of it first until you see how he tolerates it. Hope you have a quiet night.