Stressed, just got home from the vet, in need of comfort...
 

So it's been a long day. Harley is fine now, but I'm stressed to the max. He wasn't eating much yesterday, and this morning he didn't touch his food, well around 12 Matt walked by his room to notice bloody stool. Which at first I thought Matt was over reacting.. cause 1 bloody stool could be ok, they just need to be monitored, and watched. Well 3 stools later and a pile of throw up, and away to the vet we went, he got sick while in the waiting room.

They gave him a shot to settle his stomach, and he's ok. The vet told me rice and boiled hamburger for his diet for the next little while, and I have an oral injection to give him to settle his stomach.

So we don't know what caused this. we think he may have eaten a dead cockroach that had bait in it (which is making me really nervous). but we went to the park, and there are a zillion other things that could have made him sick.

So I just need someone to tell me to calm down, and tell me how to make my baby better. how long do I keep him on this diet, I'm pretty sure the vet said a week. I know he's gonna be fine, I'm just not sure I'm gonna be fine. lol. I can't wait for the long weekend... last month has been soo stressful

Oh another question... I usually free feed him, on this diet should I just make smaller more frequent meals so it doesn't go bad sitting out?

Aww.. I hope Harley is better soon. I would rice and boiled chicken or boiled ground turkey (the leaner the better; drain off the grease if any) instead of hamburger. I guess I'd feed him this until his symptoms are completely gone, then slowly re-introduce his previous diet. Hopefully other members could give you some more helpful advice.

Yes, I would do smaller more frequent meals to avoid the meat going bad.

Yeah I bought extra lean ground beef, it's what the vet said first, she said the hamburger or the chicken. I bought the hamburger cause it was cheaper to buy a small pack of extra lean (hahah which I don't even buy for myself), than to buy the chicken.... he ate a bit of it, but he went and took a nap. poor thing.

I hope Harley feels better soon. If he doesn't seem better in a day or so I would have them do blood work to make sure he isn't having any ill effects from the cock roach. Hopefully he just has a tummy upset and will be much better tomorrow.

make sure u cook it up and use it within 3-4 days so it doesn't spoil. it's a pain, but i'd give him 3-5 meals per day and don't leave it out. he's just got an upset stomach. i'd ask the vet for a probiotic to add or add plain nonfat yogurt to the diet for his good bacteria to come back in after the antibiotics. what med is he on? boiled chicken and rice or hamb. and rice is bland to settle the stomach. keep doing it until no more symptoms remain and then very slowly transition over to a reg. diet. give them about a week long period of slowly adding back the reg. diet.

oh and don't worry, this happens and it'll be ok :D

The more I think about it the more I think that it's something other than the roaches. unless he ate a full roach when he was unsupervised in his room. Cause as soon as matt saw him come from under our bed with something in his mouth he made him drop it. and he did, so I don't know. I know for a fact that he definitely didn't get into a section of the bait itself. But would eating a roach or licking up roach poop, be enough to hurt a 3.3lb dog? I don't know. the pest control people say no. it isn't enough to hurt, but the vet called poison control, (cause we had the empty tubing for the bait) and poison control said it could induce vomiting and diarrhoea so I have no clue if it's that or something else. I'm probably over thinking it, but I don't want to have that stuff in my house if it did make him sick. but at the same time, I don't want the roaches to breed and get worse, I want them all to die. bah. sooo confused. but yeah, he seems to be feeling a lot better, I offered him his bland diet again, and he got up and chowed down. so that makes me feel better, he is clearly hungry.

Isn't it awful when our babies are sick? I would rather be sick myself then watch my dog having problems. Just keep a close eye on Harley and if you have any concerns, call the vet. That's what she's there for! And, yes -- don't leave the food out for any length of time.

Thanks, yeah he just chowed down on what I gave him, it's almost all gone, so I'll give him a few servings, I've packaged it in small amounts so that I can cook the hamburger ever day and a half, so that it's really fresh. I cooked up a large batch of rice.

Is it possible to give him too much? he's really small and has never been the type to over eat, so my assumption is that he'll only eat what he wants.

Thanks everyone... just really stressed, like I said I know he'll be ok... just not sure how much more stress I can take.

oh... and I'm not sure if the shot they gave him was the same thing but the med they gave me was: metoclompromide not sure if it's spelled 100%; cause their label maker was broke, it's handwritten... I'm supposed to give him .6ml every 12 hours starting tomorrow at 4. for 4 days. I also have vanilla yogurt, so I'll add that in in a day or so to help...

well he's feeling much better, we curled up in bed and he was his usual playful self. which makes me feel better. I gave him another serving of his rice and hamburger, and he ate a good chunk of it, I'm putting him to bed, now I usually free feed him at night, but where this isn't supposed to stay out, is he going to be ok without food all night, or should I get up and give him a bit in the middle of the night? I'm putting him to bed now (11:19) and getting up at 6.

Thanks

It sounds like he'll be fine till morning. 6 hours isn't all that long of a time, and a little bit of fasting shouldn't hurt him. Does he normally eat alot throughout the night?

I am glad he is feeling a little better.

I"m glad he is feeling better. You did the right thing taking him to the vet. Keep us updated! Your a good mom!

he does eat a fair amount at night usually, but I think he was so hungry when I fed him, cause he chowed down and ate all the hamburger and almost all the rice. I think he'll be fine.

if he's feeling a bit better tomorrow, you all think he's ok to go for a short walk outside?