Having diarrhea plus throwing up for four days now....UPDATE

[Hua]

UPDATE - December 31, 2013

I'm not sure if Charlie is getting better or not.  He's still having very soft, running and almost pudding like stool.  He's still mostly on the rice cereal x chicken broth x chicken puree mix.  I feed him 3 - 4 times a day.  He was on the cereal mix for 3 days.  Today I've started to springle about a handful of kibbles on top of the cereal, and also started to mix the chicken puree with pumpkin and he seems to like to eat that.  We both had a good nights sleep last night (30th), but the day before that (29th) he started wailing at 3 am and it was watery running poop, then the day before that (28th) it was also a good night.  So it's like it gets better, then worse, then better again.  Also today, at around 1 in the afternoon we went for a short walk and he pooped and it looks more firm (I could actually pick it up) and seem to be better, then at around 7:30, we went out and he pooped again and it was all running and watery again.  I have one more day of metronidazole left but I can't tell if it's actually working or not. At least he's drinking plenty of water on his own.  He seems to be peeing a lot (not frequency but every time he pees it's a lot of volumn).   He poops about 1 - 2 times during the day and it takes him a lot longer than normal to do it.

It'll be excatly one week tonight since this started.  It's probably worse this time because of the worm, but still he's never had diarrhea this long.  Is another vet visit in order?  How long does it take for them to recover?  I"m still at home this week, but if this continues to next week then I need to figure out a way to either get someone to constantly check on him or get those doggie diapers.

This is so not how I wanted to start the new year.  Although stay at home and cuddle does save me from the hang over tomorrow...unless it's going to be a restless night with 2 am wake up calls, then I'll be cranky and probably inhaling coffee in the morning.  Anyways, to all the doodle parents out there who's personal lives have been taken over by their babies, happy new year!  and thanks for all the help and advices!

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It’s been a stressful couple of days and this is going to be a long long rant.

 

Dec 24^th - Charlie was his normal over energetic self on Tuesday.  We went to my parents for Christmas dinner, came home and all seemed to be fine.  Then that night at around 2 am he woke me up, so we went outside, and he pottied and it seems to be normal if a bit softer than usual.  We went back to bed.  Then he woke me up two hours later and had to go outside again and by then his stool was all soft and mushy.  This went on every couple of hours and by around noon on 25^th, he was basically pooping water. 

 

Dec 25^th – Charlie had no appetite and not even interested in his treats.  I tried to feed him pumpkin and he wouldn’t eat it (I tried to mix it with peanut butter and chicken, still didn’t work).  He wasn’t drinking as much water as he normally does, so I’ve been feeding him ice cubes.  But overall he was still very energetic and we went for a nice long walk since the weather was finally nice and warm.  At around 5 pm, he finally managed to eat a little bit of his normal food (Acana, puppy food for small breed) which I soaked in water for about half an hour before.  That night, he woke me at 3 am and went out and the stool was still all runny. 

 

Dec 26^th – Vet still wasn’t open so I went to the pet store where I usually gets his food and treat to see if they have anything.  Since Charlie wouldn’t eat pumpkin they recommended Eagle Pack’s Holistic Solution (digestive Enzyme).  I put some on his dinner and he managed to eat about 1/3 of his normal amount.  He was fine throughout the night.

 

Dec 27^th – We went out at around 7 am and Charlie’s stool was firm!  I was so happy!  He also starts to eat some pumpkin if I freeze them in a Kong.  He ate his breakfast and then his dinner (about 2/3 of his normal amount which I soaked in water beforehand) and all seemed well.

 

Dec 28^th – He woke me up at 1 am and he was having running stool again!  Then the same running watery poop at around 6 am.  I started to panic.  Thank god the vet was open today.  We went there at 9 am when they opened and I bought a stool sample with me.  Vet said everything seems to be fine and no fever or anything.  Vet suspected someone might have slipped Charlie something at Christmas dinner (and when I find out who it was I will be having words with them!!! I specifically told everybody not to feed him!)  He told me to feed him either plain rice or baby rice cereal (the one that mix with water and not milk) for two days and then slowly mix in his normal food.  He also prescribed Metronidazole (1/2 250mg table per 12 hours for 5 days).  We went home and Charlie ate a couple mouthful of plain white rice, and then a couple minutes later proceed to throw it all up.  I noticed that there was this big piece of paper (I don’t even know how that happened) and what appears to be this thin white long thing.  I suspected it to be worm and confirmed with google.  I called the Vet right the way and told them what happened (at the time they were in the middle of testing the stool sample).  At around 11:30, they called me back and told me that the stool sample showed no parasite but it could just be because it was so runny.  They told me to go back and bring the worm-thingie with me.  We went back, and the Vet confirmed that yes it was worm, then prescribed Pyrantel pamoate 35mg tablet for 5 weeks (1 tablet per week.).  The vet assistant showed me how to make him swallow the tablet and the Vet said I can flavour the rice cereal with some chicken broth if he doesn’t eat it.  We came home and Charlie ate about a cup of the rice cereal with about a teaspoon of chicken puree (organic baby food chicken puree and broth since I don’t have any broth handy) and was drinking water on his own again.

 

I’m just exhausted and Charlie is being all emo and brooding in his kennel since I’ve fenced him in the kitchen in case he throws up again.

 

This is the worst he’s ever been sick.  He had diarrhea before and it always cleared up after a day with pumpkin.  I just don’t know what I did wrong.  I always pull him away if I see dog poop on our walks and I don’t even keep chocolate/onion/raisin/all those other harmful stuff in the house anymore since I got him. 

 

Does anyone have any advice on how to make him more comfortable?  Or if there’s anything else I can do now or do in the future to prevent this?  Should I make some chicken broth and get him to drink it?  (I’ve doing the skin-elasticity-on-the-back-of-the-neck test every couple of hours and his gums are normal pink color so I don’t think he’s dehydrated).  Thanks so much!

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[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

So sorry to hear that Charlie is sick but it sounds like you are doing all the right things to keep him comfortable. Some dogs like to chew on ice cubes and that is one way to help keep them hydrated. Chicken broth would also be good and the ice cubes can be made out of the broth if he likes it.  I don't think you did anything wrong. It's probably good that he is resting in his kennel as it will enable his body to heal faster. Rest is good.  These things happen in the dog world and unfortunately, though common, are easily treated. He should be feeling better soon. :)

[Hua]

Thanks Ricki.  I hope so too.  I'm making some chicken broth right now with just chicken bones and water.  I'll freeze some as ice cube.  Even though he's drinking water by himself now I still think I need to get him to drink more.

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think since you have been to the vet you should follow the vets advice. Boiled chicken and rice or sweet potato seems to work well for most dogs with diarrhea so maybe you can add some boiled chicken. I hope Charlie recovers soon.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with adding plain boiled chicken to the rice or rice cereal, that should get her to eat and is better for her than plain starch. 

However, I wish the vet had done the fecal and discovered the worms before prescribing metronidazole. 

[Hua]

Right now I'm mixing chicken puree with water and use that to mix his cereal.  I'm making some chicken broth right now so I'll use that later.  If he feels better tomorrow I'm going to start add some solid stuff (like boiled chicken) and see how he likes it. 

 

But metronidazole doesn't treat worm does it?  I googled it and it looks like it treats diarrhea. The Vet prescribed Pyrantel pamoate for the worm after our second visit this morning. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

No, metronidazole is not an effective treatment for worms, and it also can cause diarrhea after you discontinue it, because it destroys all of the good gut bacteria that is necessary for proper stool formation along with the bad. Vets prescribe it for diarrhea when they don't know what is causing the diarrhea, but you're really better off not giving it without a good reason. The side effects are not worth using it casually, IMO.

[Hua]

Thanks.  I tried boiled chicken and rice when this first started and he wouldn't eat them at all....although it could be because I mixed some pumpkin in as well.