Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes. We're
STILL waiting for poop. I called the hospital last night and the doctor said not to worry yet as long as he's eating and not throwing up. He's eating great and no vomit -- so cross fingers that by tomorrow we have a regular healthy BM. (Doc said by Saturday or he needs to get rechecked.)
It's MUCH better that you KNOW what it is, but never find out firsthand ... HGE is hermorrhagic gastroenteritis. I had never heard of this til a few months ago even though Yorkies are supposedly one of the breeds it's more common in. It's a condition with no one specific cause. That's the frustrating part because there doesn't seem to be a way then to
prevent it. The vet said it essentially is an overgrowth of normal bacteria in the intestinal tract that inflames the lining and makes it bleed. He said eating a bug, the catbox, a random virus, a case of worms, a diet change, ulcers, just plain stress -- can all trigger it. (Ulcers, parasites ruled out on this one ...)
Symptoms start with steady diarrhea and/or vomiting which usually graduates very quickly to bloody stool then to straight blood INSTEAD of stool. (First time, this happened in about 2 hours. Last weekend's saga took more like 6 hours to go through all the symptoms. For a little while I even had myself convinced it wasn't happening again.) I had never heard of this til a few months ago. Every Yorkie owner, and any other small breed particularly, should be told about it though. Usually strikes age 5 or older, but can hit at any age. Nice, huh?
If you have a VERY little guy (standard size or less), don't hesitate -- go to vet immediately. They can dehydrate almost instantly, go into shock, and die. Oz
is over 13 pounds, so he has a little leeway, but even so, he was at the vet ASAP last Saturday. They need IV hydration and meds and they almost always fully recover with that care. He's a little on the tired side, now taking Metranodazole, Reglan and Pepcid through Tuesday and -- accept for no poop -- doing good.