Assistance from the group needed for ongoing emergency .
 

Candy weighs somewhere around 2 lbs. My dad was in failing health and I went out to AZ to be with him. He passed on the 14th and my husband was out here (MO) tending to things. He came out to be with me for the funeral on the 27th, yesterday. Meanwhile one of my sons was watching the dogs for us. He called to tell us that Candy was vomiting and had bloody diahrea. We told him to take her to the animal hospital. This was about 5 am Wed morning. They closed at about 630-7am so my son took her from them to our vet. She spent 2 nights at the ER clinic and 3 days at our vets office, until we got home today.

They have run all the tests they could think of and they have found nothing. They are calling it gastrointestinal distress. They think she is sick because we left her and she is trying to pine away. They have had her on IV's but she has refused to eat for them. She ate a bite of KFC chicken, just meat not skin yesterday. KFC chicken is the one thing all of our dogs will eat no matter how bad they feel.

I am worried about her because she is shaking even though she doesn't seem to be cold. I am going to put her in a carrier bag with a heating pad under it. Oh, yes, they checked her blood sugar and while it was low, it was still in the normal range, 86. They did give her glucose and monitored her the first day.

She is still having vomiting and diahrea, any suggestions as to what I can do? Sylvia

sounds like a serious case of stress colitis if all blood work came back fine

Is this the first time you left her this long?

when they get stressed their intestines inflame and if vomitting and diarrhea then the entire intestinal tract is inflamed

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/colitis-in-dogs/page1.aspx

http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2090&aid=249

I just want to say I am sorry about your Dad. I don't have any advice about Candy, but I do hope she gets better. She sounds like she is very much loved.

At first they called it colitis but changed it to the gastrointestinal distress. I have not looked them up so they could be the same thing with different names.

Yes, I have been gone for over 3 weeks but the first time I went out in Jan and then again in late Feb, I took her with us. This time my husband took me out there and left me but came back home until last Monday night. I just didn't know she was so attached to me/us. Sylvia

Thank you. The whole situation is kind of a catch 22. If I hadn't left, Candy wouldn't have gotten sick but my father left me a small amount of money which is paying for her vet bills. Otherwise, I would have lost her.

Candy came down with low blood sugar when she was 5 weeks old and we nearly lost her. She is over a year old now. We are very attached to her since we have had to spend so much time working over her. She hadn't had a low blood sugar episode for months and months but when we came back from the 2nd visit to my dad, she had one. It was very scary since it was so unexpected. Sylvia

yeah my dh was gone for 2 weeks with his family helping his elderly parents and my healthy dog was pooping blood. I did inhouse and lab fecal and fecal culture and nothing she had stress colitis. It happens. I am sure she will be ok when you get home:)

They usually call any gastro issue gastroenteritis so it is a blanket diagnosis but it sounds like colitis and if they get stressed enough they vomit. My dd had colitis after metacam as she was given it while on steroids a HUGE NO NO so we do not see that vet ever and she was a mess for a while but i soaked kibble for 30 days until the intestines calmed down as she would vomit her food whole if i fed dry kibble. After 30 days she was fine and I slowly introduced kibble in. It was not fun when the whole digestive tract is inflamed. Do you feed kibble?

yorkies tend to have digestive issues and sounds like she has some stress issues if her blood sugar was low so i think she may not be eating and stressed

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. I hope Candy feels better soon. :(

I am so sorry about your Dad as well. It's hard to have so many issues to deal with at once.

Did they give you any of the canned 'low residue food"? My westie had gastroenteritis and he was given Metro . . . shoot I can't remember the name of it ANd he was given a special canned food that was supposed to be easy to digest.

It seemed to do the trick for his messed up tummy. He was vomiting with bloody diarrhea and that fixed him right up

usually they do hill's I/D and metronidazole is an antibiotic. I prefer probiotics or tylan powder.

First, I'd get a second opinion


Did the vets rule out HGE (Hemmorhagic Gastroenteritisi)? Send her home with any medications?

If she's not on probiotics/digestive enzymes (found in normal gut) I would get her on them.

When the lining of the intestines becomes inflamed, it creates habitat for bad bacteria, and will cause bloody stools.

Double the dose of probiotics/digestive enzymes to increase the good bacteria, help flush out the bad, and give her the tools she needs to digest her food.

Bland diet: Baby food chicken (offer every 2 hours, small amounts)(after keeping that down 2-3 days, introduce I/D gradually.) Nutrical supplement every 2 hours.

Offer Pedialyte

Nature's Farmacy - Store - Product Details

Keep her warm, and interact with her often if not almost constantly.

PS. Very sorry about your Dad's passing.

blood work was fine and with hge the red blood cells count is high so not hge

Did they run a PTT?

said they ran all tests so assuming they ran the blood work to rule out HGE as that would be the first thing with bloody diarrhea and vomitting i would hope they would check since it is so serious and dogs can die from it.

You have gotten a lot of advice here. The only thing I can add is that I would never give my pups KFC chicken .. no matter what. In my opinion it is fried and not healthy for them even if you remove the skin.

I hope Candy is well soon.

Very sorry about the loss of your father.

I usually keep dry food down, free feeding because I know they have a tendancy for low blood sugars. She is doing much better today. Yesterday my husband bought some goats milk. It saved her life when she was 5 weeks old and she seems so much her old self today. Playing and perky. She is not eating very well, I use a syringe and chicken baby food, also some pedialyte. I am just going to keep a very close eye on her, she is mostly skin and bones and since she is only 2 lbs when she is healthy, I need to get some weight back on her.

oh wow you have to syringe feed her :( poor baby. I hope she feels better soon and goat yogurt is good too. Thanks for posting an update too :) You may want to feed her separately if she is not getting enough food too and not rely on the free feeding for her just to be safe to make sure she eats enough since so tiny and skin and bones. She has no health issues? Have bats ever been run on her bc hypoglycemia and liver issues go hand in hand and liver issue dogs tend to have issues with eating as it makes them not feel well. Just want to be sure that has been ruled out with her.

Thank you.
No, no food or any recomendations for any. My son picked her up for me and didn't know to ask. We were still an hour away and they were closing. I wouldn't have been able to get her until the next day and I really don't know if I could have stood that. Being so close but unable to see or touch her. What is the Metro? What is the name of the food? It might be a good idea to have some on hand in case of some other emergency. Sylvia

I can get probiotics from the health food store but what is the tylan powder for and where can I get it? Thanks, Sylvia

No, nothing was mentioned about HGE and they sent home 3 meds for her. Two for nausea and one for diahrea. I have used the meds for nausea sparingly and the one for diahrea not at all and she has not had any diahrea.

I didn't even think about the probiotics but I will get some tomorrow. I think she is mostly over it but I think the probiotics will still help. I need to get some Nutri-Cal, I have some Nutri-Stat and my dogs don't seem to like it as well but I bought it because it is supposed to do the same job but is less expensive. Yes, one or the other of us is with her all the time but she seems worried about me if I leave the room or even cross to the other side of the room. She watches me very closely. I didn't know she was so attached to me. Thanks, Sylvia

What is PTT? Sylvia

We have had some very difficult times with low blood sugar here and you never know what you will do to save a life until it happens. If the normal routes don't work, you will try ANYTHING. Thanks, Sylvia

there is a bad virus or something here in alabama going around causing vommiting and dirrehea ! the animals that have come in have been put on ivs and meds to combat the symptoms and poo sent off to the lab for testing they use the metamucil powder to stop dirrehea and science diet canned food to force feed really sick ones that wont eat . i hope your pups ok

The vet did a calculation and told me she only needs about 2 ounces of water a day but the more I think about that the less true I think that is. I am sure she drinks more than that a day. I mix the pedialyte and babyfood, the goats milk and babyfood, she is eating a little on her own but not enough to make her act like her normal self. With syringe force feeding her she is acting much more like herself. I was beyond shock today to realize she wanted to play with me. I am wondering if she is milking the situation just a little. LOL

The lines she comes from have not had liver problems in several generations. I do not have faith that it will never again appear but no she has not been tested since she was a tiny baby. I don't know if they did "bats" testing on her or not, if they did, they didn't call it that. I will ask the vet when I talk to her tomorrow. I have not been trusting her to free feed through this, I hand feed her to make sure what she is taking in. Thanks, Sylvia

How do they use the metamucil? Does it work well? Easily? Is there a problem if they get too much for their weight? Have they given a name to the virus yet? Thanks, Sylvia

I think you need to bat test her as there is no genetic marker for liver shunt and mvd so it can pop up in any line :( I would definitely get this ruled out for sure. Has she had blood work and was ALT high at all?

How old is she?

i do not like metamucil much prefer pumpkin and probiotics in dogs so i would ask the vet about metamucil before doing

I will ask our vet when I talk to her tomorrow. She has had blood work done 3 times now and no mention of ALT. I don't know what that is. It is possible that it was high and since no one was looking for it, it was skipped. Candy is about 18 months old, possibly a little older but I don't think she is 2 yet, I would have to look her birthdate up to be sure. Pumpkin would work naturally but would it work as fast as the metamucil? I sure will ask my vet before using. Thanks, Sylvia

I use probiotics dds plus but if you mix a little goat yogurt since she tolerates that with pumpkin that should do the trick as goat yogurt is a probiotic

Oh, that sounds good! Do you know if goat yogurt is easily found in a grocery store? What about WalMart? Thanks, Sylvia

no only at health food stores like lassens or whole foods that i am aware of :( Where did you get the goat milk as they may have it there?

There are some goat breeders close to us but they charge so very much for the raw goats milk that I get the condensed kind at the grocery store by the baking goods. I don\'t think it\'s as good as the fresh raw goats milk but it seems to work and goes a lot further. There is no Lassens or Whole Foods near us. Sylvia