Chewie's not enjoying vacation...
 

Chewbacca joined us for a weekend away in Maryland and hasn't had the greatest time so far. We rented a "Pet Friendly" Cabin here, and in the beginning of our trip thought that Chewie was busy smelling the scents of the past dogs... and as a result we would keep a watchful eye on him. Well...

This morning when we woke up he had pooped on the carpet in our room as well as in the bathroom. The stool was loose, and we fed him some boiled chicken at lunchtime as a result. We thought that he was alright though...

He wasn't interested in pooping outside today, we walked and walked him this afternoon. Before dinner (right after a long walk) he pooped next to the table. We cleaned it up (once again it was loose) but figured that he would be alright.

Dumb Mommie decided to feed Chewie some more boiled chicken mixed in with his regular food (Nature's .... Beef Roll) and after dinner we're sitting around inside and Chewie vomits on one of our friends. We decide to go out on the deck, enjoying the night... And Chewie has the runs behind my Adirondack Chair. This time he leaves a small bit of bloody stool next to it. Yikes!

Now, Chewie does not have housetraining issues at home AT ALL. Aside from the initial 2 poops and 2 pees, he has not had ANY trouble at our home. We're rather concerned. And being far from home doesn't help. Does anyone have any ideas? He's acting himself, excited, full of love, eating, drinking, etc...

I'm going to hold off on letting him eat anything else for a while, and will make sure that he drinks plenty of water. I feel horrible, but tonight he will have to sleep in his crate (he usually sleeps in bed with us) because we don't want to have any accidents... Good thing we travel home tomorrow.

Any ideas or advice would be much appreciated. I sure hope that Chewie feels better real soon. He's the lone dog down here, and has a rather long car ride ahead of him.

-Christina and Chewie

the bloody stool is a little concerning............ are you going to bring him to your vet when you get back?

Maybe he is just a little stressed out being away from home...but the blood in the stool sounds scary. Let us know how he is doing. :)

No more blood, but last night he slept in his crate, and twice we had to get him out and clean him up after diarrhea attacks. I think we'll call a vet down here this morning and find out if there's something we should be doing. Poor Chewie. I had planned on seeing our vet as soon as we got back, but with all of the late night and early morning diarrhea I think that we might need to see someone sooner.

-Christina

Yeah a vet check will help... Maybe he was exposed to vegetation that he is allergic to or that upset his tummy. Hard to know which one since it is in the woods but that could have been a reason for the bloody stool...
I do hope your Chewy feels better soon and you can still enjoy your vaca! Keep us posted. :(

Did you bring water that he is used to or is he drinking water from the faucet? Sometimes a change in water will cause loose stools. The bloody part is scary though, so I think you are smart to see the vet as soon as you can.

I would take him to the vet. The bloody stools can be a sign of something not right. Good luck I hope hes feeling better soon.

We're Home...
 

Well, aside from a rather restless sleep last night for all of us - Chewie is feeling much better. We spoke with our vet back here in CT and decided to take their advice (not feeding him for 12 hours) and riding out the rest of it. (They also held an emergency appointment for Tuesday morning for us if we need it)

After his horrible night of being ill he's recovered like a pro. He slept the entire car ride home, and is busy sniffing around our condo! I wish that he would drink some more, but he was hungry enough to chow on the little scoop of kibble I laid out for him. We'll see how this all goes tonight, he's still in great spirits!

As for the blood in his stool. It has happened once before when Chewie's stomach didn't agree with the food we had tried on him - and when we spoke with the vet earlier this summer they assured us that the small drop of blood after the loose stool was okay - provided that it was a small amount, and that it did not happen with frequency. Who knows. It's definately not a good sign - but not as life threatening as we had initially assumed it to be.

We've been busy trying to figure out what the trouble was. He was drinking bottled water (different from home, but bottled nonetheless) and eating the same food as at home. We're not sure if it could have been a treat (training bits, or charlie bears) or if it could have been stress or environment related. We're just relieved that he remains in good spirits and is happy to be home.

I'll be sure to keep you all updated. And we truly thank you each for your words of advice and encouragement. I think we've made it through our first super scary experience with Chewie, and thankfully he still loves us! He's busy running around the room right now hiding his toys and wriggling on the carpet. What a ham-on-rye!

-Christina

Christina, thats wonderful news! I am so glad that he is doing so much better! These lil furkids sure know how to give us a scare ;)

It's great to hear that he's recovering well and that his belly's feeling so much better! :)

That is too weird!! Three weeks ago we went on vacation to FL and my female yorkie got diarrhea and then started passing a small amount of blood with it. We brought her to the vet there and she said that is was probably stress related, but I really don't think she was stressed. We go to FL every year and stay in a pet friendly condo. The only think we did different this year was that we gave them bottled water. I have brought water from home for the past three years and both of my yorkies have been just fine. I kept telling my hubbie that it was probably the bottled water, but he doesn't agree. The vet said that shouldn't have caused it either, but I think it did. Good luck!!