Lu is my first tiny dog but not my first small dog. I have had numerous different breeds over the years but larger than the just under 3.5 lbs Lu weighs in at. Her tiny size is of course one of the reasons I watch her health so closely. I'm not a complete stranger to medical issues with dogs I've dealt with a dog with cancer and rehabilitated a 90 lb Giant Schnauzer after he broke his back and was left unable to walk for a time. I realize Lu's size makes it very important to watch her health as she has very little reserves and things can change rapidly if she were to become seriously ill.
I have a bit of background from rasing my kids as well. Of my 4 children 1 was full term, 3 were technically pre-term as preterm is considered anything earlier than 3 weeks before term. One 3.5 weeks (6 lbs 13oz), one 5.5 weeks (4 lbs 15 oz) and one 8.5 weeks pre-term (3 lbs 7 oz). The last one was born the same weight Lu is now and came home from the hospital at 4 lbs 3 oz. When it comes to medical stuff I'm probably a little less flappable than most as I've kind of been there done that and definitely got the t-shirt.
I will have to pay better attention when Lu does her gagging thing. It has seemed terribly random and the first time she did it she had been pretty distracted all day and so I thought maybe she hadn't eaten quite as she should have and so maybe her blood sugar was kind of low. She has never had blood sugar issues but being so tiny and so busy it seemed reasonable that maybe she just kind of forgot about eating. I did give her a little bit of corn syrup on the roof of her mouth just in case.
When she does her gagging thing and then vomits a little bit it has only ever been bile, which to me says her stomach was empty, which is why I thought maybe she hadn't eaten as she should.
The time frame was over a period of two days. The first night Lulu seemed fine except out of the blue she jumped off my husband’s lap, gagged a little and vomited a little bit of bile, she did that twice. I figured maybe she hadn't eaten properly and as a precaution put some corn syrup on the roof of her mouth. (As I mentioned she has never hadblood sugar issues but it was what sort of made sense at the time.) The rest of that evening Lu seemed fine. The next day she seemed maybe not quite as perky but not exactly sick. She still ate and drank and played a little bit but she did seem to maybe be a little bit off. No other gagging or other symptoms. The next day after that she seemed pretty much the same as the day before but she didn'tseem to be eating much and so I was watching her pretty closely. She didn't have diarrhea but her stool was much softer than usual when she went poop just before noon. At supper time she pooped again but it was nothing but gloppy mucous, no stool. Just before bed she pooped again and this time there was some stool and mucous and a small amount of blood. I did a bunch of reading to see if I should be panicking and considering what I read and her general demeanour I was concerned enough that if things didn't change by morning Lu was definitely going to the vet but not feel that she required going immediately. By the next morning everything was cleared up and Lu was acting like she didn't have a care in the world, ate a good breakfast, drank well,went outside for a pee, had a bowel movement and it was completely normal. . .zero symptoms.
There was no soft or loose stool, no gagging etc. until this past Wednesday and she gagged a little bit and then threw up a little bit of bile. I was worried it could be the start of the same sort of cycle of events and that would indicate the possibility of something more serious but nothing more developed and that night, she ate well, drank well and no bowel issues and no gagging issues since. Just a silly busy little dog.
As far as what the gagging is, I don't think it's a burp and is more of a retching all be it rather slight. Sort of a very minor version of when a dog will eat grass and throw up, kind of a cough, clearing throat and then a little bit of bile. Does that make sense how I 'm describing it? I will also say that the amount she was vomiting and the mucous and soft stool etc. was not to the point of a dehydration issue. Of course if the not drinking much had continued then dehydration would certainly have been a concern but not due to loosing fluids and more due to simply not taking in enough.
As for as possible causes Lu doesn't eat treats except very very rarely.It's one of her little quirks but it does make it easier to know she isn't eating anything she shouldn't be. For the most part she'll sniff treats (even roasted turkey) and she might even taste it but most often that's about it.
I haven't changed any cleaning products etc. but that doesn't guarantee she didn't come in contact with something that didn't agree with her. I will watch for any possible causal issues and see if I can notice a pattern.
Right now the mucousy stool etc. seems to be a none issue as there has been no sign of bowel issues for at least a week. The gagging thing is pretty sporadic and she gagged once and had a little bit of bile vomit on Wednesday (which is when I panicked and worried maybe it was a sign of bad things to come) and then she gagged and coughed a little bit tonight once but no bile. (played like a crazy woman tonight and ate and drank fine) Is it possible the air is too dry? Could it besomething that silly? We live on the prairies and the air gets crazy dry in the winter and pretty much sucks the moisture right out of your skin. Could it be hair in her throat from cleaning herself? Is it possible it could be something that silly? I will watch for other things that may be factors as you have suggested. It may very well be that the gagging vomit and bile is completely unconnected to the acting ill and mucousy stool and that is was just a coincidence that it occurred the way it did before.
I'm not going to take Lu in for tests and stress her out if there is nothing to investigate. As long as she seems like she is doing fine and her energy levels are good and she is eating well and drinking well and there are not signs of problems with her bowels then I'm not going to stress about it. (If it comes back then I guess it will be time to get some testing done.) I suppose dogs can not feel well sometimes just like people. The occasional gagging thing does have me wondering a bit and so I will keep an eye on that and see if I can figure out a pattern of some sort or causal factor.
Thank you. I do appreciate the comments and concerns. I know they are coming from compassion and that without knowing me or being able to see the situation for yourself it's very difficult to know what to suggest and that erring on the side of caution is a better choice than to be too casual about possible health issues. Particularly when dealing with such a little dog. I promise I am keeping a very close eye on things.
Ok, my goodness that is darned near a novel. Sorry about that! |