Male Yorkie with loose stool/generally lethargic

[MandyPayne]

Hi everyone!

This is my first thread here so I apologise if I haven't followed the correct protocol. I have checked the stickies for my specific issue.

I have a male yorkie, four and a half years old and just under five pounds (or about two and a half kilos if I remember correctly). His name is Digger. For about four days now he's had a very loose, tan-ish coloured stool. It seems to have what look lilke globules of pale, liquidy jelly in it too. We do get this with him from time to time and it's usually when we've given him something too rich as a treat and over-indulged him. I know that's bad though but it can be a bit hit and miss and most of the time he's fine. And, well, you know when they give us those pleading eyes. I'm a bit of a sucker for those.

In any event, it doesn't happen often and in those cases, I just switch him to boiled rice and chicken and nothing else for a couple of days and he's always been fine within half a day. His usual diet is Royal Canin for Small Dogs (or sometimes the Yorkie one). Then in the evenings, I usually give him a small meal of some chicken and rice and veggies or, if we're not eating something too rich, a little plate of mixed up scraps from that.

This time is different, though. A few days ago I gave him some roast chicken we'd had for dinner and this is when the loose stools started happening. I straight away changed back to boiled chicken and rice (I cook the rice very soft so it's quite starchy). It hasn't helped at all, though, and the stool is very loose still. He also seems generally lethargic although he's usually so busy and active it's hard to tell how. I can just tell though. I've also noticed just after he's eaten, he looks a little uncomfortable. Like his back is slightly raised and I've just seen him go outside for a wee and he could barely get over the step which was heartbreaking to see so I got on the internet and started looking around so thank goodness I found this site.

I'm sorry for going into so much detail but I thought it would be helpful. Can anyone think what might be happening? After I post this, I'm going to call the vet and make an appointment for tomorrow morning. I know I've left it for too long but, like I say, he doesn't seem that much more lethargic because he's usually so lively and apart from when he's eaten, he seems ok. I'm really worried for him and I feel terrible and I'm concerned something very serious is happening. Is there anything I can do with his meals for tonight? I googled quite a lot and saw a recommendation for canned pumpkin but we live in the UK and from what I can make out, none of the supermarkets here stock it. It's also not pumpkin season so I can't even get a whole one.

Again, my sincerest apologies for starting a topic and going into so much detail. I would really appreciate any input or advice you can offer. Thank you very much in advance.

Mandy

[Mysweetbabies]

I am so sorry for your lil one not feeling well. I wish I had advice for you I would definitely go to the vet though,which I see you are going to. Please keep us updated.

[BabyGirl Rosie]

Rosie became very sick from some table food that my husband fed her. She had loose stool, some vomiting, and was just down right sick for days. I ended up having to take her to the vet. The table food caused some kind of infection, so the vet thinks, and she had to have antibiotics. He also gave her a shot for nausea. She was fine after the medication but we are very careful what we feed her now. Is there any blood in the loose stool? Also, is he drinking water? The water is very important so that he will not dehydrate. Overall, I would recommend a vet as soon as possible.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Mysweetbabies

I am so sorry for your lil one not feeling well. I wish I had advice for you I would definitely go to the vet though,which I see you are going to. Please keep us updated.

Lethargy in an active dog that persists is a warning sign. at the vets request a full blood panel to be done. If you can bring in a stool sample.

If he hasn't been BAT tested request this to be done. And I know we have a time difference but I'd feed him only very lightly tonight, but provide plenty of water.

I hope that your Digger perks up soon.

[BabyGirl Rosie]

I agree with gemy. They ran all kinds of tests on Rosie. I know there was a full blood panel for sure. I am not sure what else they did. I forgot to mention that in my post.

[Karrie]

Hugs to Digger!

I agree - you'll need a vet to diagnose this one - as we can only guess and I'd hate guess wrong and worry you all night.

I can tell you that we had a recent poster who's dog had similar symptoms. The vet was looking for intestinal blockage - couldn't find anything via xray and sonogram - so the vet opened up the dog to look for blockage. YIKES!!!! Of course the poster wanted only the best care for her yorkie and thought she was doing the right thing. Come to find out, there was no blockage - so the vet diagnosed pancreatitis/gastronititus (sp?) (which by the way can be diagnosed via blood panel).

So, please, please if your vet recommends something so extreme as exploratory surgery - then please come back with test results and ask some experienced yorkie owners here at YT for their thoughts.

Get well soon, Digger and welcome to YT.

[MandyPayne]

Thank you all so much for your advice and kind thoughts. I'm so glad I found this forum! Just to give you all an update, our appointment is at 11:00 (so about a couple of hours from now) so I'm really looking forward to getting him there. He had another uncomfortable night and kept moving round and wouldn't sleep in one place for long so I'm thinking his tummy's sore. He also passed quite a lot of stool too which is worrying because as Gemy suggested anyway, I did give him one meal split into two small feeds over the course of about eight hours (I'm so worried about him having had so little to eat but I figured it was for the best).

Just a third chicken and then a third rice and I managed to get hold of some butternut squash and sweet potato. I'm not sure if this was right but it was the closest I could find to pumpkin. Mashed that all up as soft as I could. And yes! Babygirl Rosie, I did make sure he had plenty of water. I did think about the dehydration aspect because there seems to be a lot of liquid in the stool so I kept him well covered on this all night. I've hardly slept! And nope, there hasn't been any blood so far. Just this horrible jelly looking stuff. It also smells awful so I'm thinking there is some kind of infection. My poor puppy

Anyway, I shall stop rambling now. Thank you too to gemy for the blood workup suggestion. I'll get them to do that, too. They're very good vets and very attentive usually so I'm sure they'll oblige. I'll make them anyway. And no, Karrie, no-one's cutting him open! Wow, what a crazy story. Anyway, looking forward to giving you all some hopefully good news in a bit. Thanks again everyone

[Ringo1]

Good Luck at the Vet today. Hope they are able to fix him right up.

[mommaofmia]

My baby is doing the very same thing except she does have blood in her stool.. I have cried all night... I"m taking her to the vet at 8:30, as soon as their door is open. I'm not even calling. I'm going to be waiting on them. She still has some energy, but is very sick. We went to the Smokies last week and she has been sick since Sunday on the way home. We had to stop at every rest stop from there to here... I thought it was from the ride and stress, but last night she had blood in her stool and she won't eat.. She won't even eat the boiled chicken, which is her favorite... Please pray for Mia and as soon as we get back I will post an update!!!!

[BabyGirl Rosie]

Originally Posted by mommaofmia

My baby is doing the very same thing except she does have blood in her stool.. I have cried all night... I"m taking her to the vet at 8:30, as soon as their door is open. I'm not even calling. I'm going to be waiting on them. She still has some energy, but is very sick. We went to the Smokies last week and she has been sick since Sunday on the way home. We had to stop at every rest stop from there to here... I thought it was from the ride and stress, but last night she had blood in her stool and she won't eat.. She won't even eat the boiled chicken, which is her favorite... Please pray for Mia and as soon as we get back I will post an update!!!!

When I took Rosie in she had a lot of blood in her stool. It wasn't bloody at first but then the blood appeared. They got her in at the vet and took very good care of her. She is fine now other than having a sensitive stomach. Please keep us updated on what is going on. I will pray for your baby.

[BabyGirl Rosie]

Originally Posted by MandyPayne

Thank you all so much for your advice and kind thoughts. I'm so glad I found this forum! Just to give you all an update, our appointment is at 11:00 (so about a couple of hours from now) so I'm really looking forward to getting him there. He had another uncomfortable night and kept moving round and wouldn't sleep in one place for long so I'm thinking his tummy's sore. He also passed quite a lot of stool too which is worrying because as Gemy suggested anyway, I did give him one meal split into two small feeds over the course of about eight hours (I'm so worried about him having had so little to eat but I figured it was for the best).

Just a third chicken and then a third rice and I managed to get hold of some butternut squash and sweet potato. I'm not sure if this was right but it was the closest I could find to pumpkin. Mashed that all up as soft as I could. And yes! Babygirl Rosie, I did make sure he had plenty of water. I did think about the dehydration aspect because there seems to be a lot of liquid in the stool so I kept him well covered on this all night. I've hardly slept! And nope, there hasn't been any blood so far. Just this horrible jelly looking stuff. It also smells awful so I'm thinking there is some kind of infection. My poor puppy

Anyway, I shall stop rambling now. Thank you too to gemy for the blood workup suggestion. I'll get them to do that, too. They're very good vets and very attentive usually so I'm sure they'll oblige. I'll make them anyway. And no, Karrie, no-one's cutting him open! Wow, what a crazy story. Anyway, looking forward to giving you all some hopefully good news in a bit. Thanks again everyone

Please let us know what the vet says today. I am so sorry your baby is sick. You are doing the right thing by going to the vet. Let us know.

[mommaofmia]

Originally Posted by BabyGirl Rosie

When I took Rosie in she had a lot of blood in her stool. It wasn't bloody at first but then the blood appeared. They got her in at the vet and took very good care of her. She is fine now other than having a sensitive stomach. Please keep us updated on what is going on. I will pray for your baby.

Just got back from the Vet and he ask if we had fed her anything spicy or unusual while on our trip and my husband fed her some roast beef and he thinks that has made her sick. He said to never, ever feed them Pork or Beef, which I already knew but hubby didn't think beef would hurt her. The vet said to give her chicken only if we wanted to feed her from the table. Learned a VERY hard and valuable lesson with this. I've never cried so much and don't know what I would do if something happened to her. The vet put her on antibiotic to start tomorrow and gave her a shot of antibiotic and something to stop the loose stools for today. Told me to make sure she drank sips of water and not to feed her until loose stools stopped. He told me to bring her back in if she stops drinking. She then will have to be put on IV fluids.
I'm sorry I started this in someone elses thread but after being sleep deprived and crying all night I am not thinking straight. I will be praying for your baby MandyPayne that she gets better fast... Thanks for the prayers for my baby!!

[BabyGirl Rosie]

Originally Posted by mommaofmia

Just got back from the Vet and he ask if we had fed her anything spicy or unusual while on our trip and my husband fed her some roast beef and he thinks that has made her sick. He said to never, ever feed them Pork or Beef, which I already knew but hubby didn't think beef would hurt her. The vet said to give her chicken only if we wanted to feed her from the table. Learned a VERY hard and valuable lesson with this. I've never cried so much and don't know what I would do if something happened to her. The vet put her on antibiotic to start tomorrow and gave her a shot of antibiotic and something to stop the loose stools for today. Told me to make sure she drank sips of water and not to feed her until loose stools stopped. He told me to bring her back in if she stops drinking. She then will have to be put on IV fluids.
I'm sorry I started this in someone elses thread but after being sleep deprived and crying all night I am not thinking straight. I will be praying for your baby MandyPayne that she gets better fast... Thanks for the prayers for my baby!!

I am so glad you got her in to the vet. Sounds EXACTLY like what my vet told us about Rosie. I agree it was a hard and expensive, but valuable lesson to learn. I told my husband that he can never feed her table food again. But thankfully your baby will be ok!!! My vet had me put a little sugar in Rosie's water which made her drink so if yours don't drink you may try that. Again, thank you for the update and I am so glad your baby will be better soon!

MandyPayne, gives us an update when you can on your baby.

[Ringo1]

Originally Posted by mommaofmia

Just got back from the Vet and he ask if we had fed her anything spicy or unusual while on our trip and my husband fed her some roast beef and he thinks that has made her sick. He said to never, ever feed them Pork or Beef, which I already knew but hubby didn't think beef would hurt her. The vet said to give her chicken only if we wanted to feed her from the table. Learned a VERY hard and valuable lesson with this. I've never cried so much and don't know what I would do if something happened to her. The vet put her on antibiotic to start tomorrow and gave her a shot of antibiotic and something to stop the loose stools for today. Told me to make sure she drank sips of water and not to feed her until loose stools stopped. He told me to bring her back in if she stops drinking. She then will have to be put on IV fluids.
I'm sorry I started this in someone elses thread but after being sleep deprived and crying all night I am not thinking straight. I will be praying for your baby MandyPayne that she gets better fast... Thanks for the prayers for my baby!!

Awww. That's ok. We've all been there with a sick baby. I'm so glad you got her into the vet when you did. Praying for a speedy recovery/

[LuvMySissy]

Originally Posted by mommaofmia

Just got back from the Vet and he ask if we had fed her anything spicy or unusual while on our trip and my husband fed her some roast beef and he thinks that has made her sick. He said to never, ever feed them Pork or Beef, which I already knew but hubby didn't think beef would hurt her. The vet said to give her chicken only if we wanted to feed her from the table. Learned a VERY hard and valuable lesson with this. I've never cried so much and don't know what I would do if something happened to her. The vet put her on antibiotic to start tomorrow and gave her a shot of antibiotic and something to stop the loose stools for today. Told me to make sure she drank sips of water and not to feed her until loose stools stopped. He told me to bring her back in if she stops drinking. She then will have to be put on IV fluids.
I'm sorry I started this in someone elses thread but after being sleep deprived and crying all night I am not thinking straight. I will be praying for your baby MandyPayne that she gets better fast... Thanks for the prayers for my baby!!

Did they run a blood panel or was this just based on symptoms. It sounds like your baby may have issues with pancreatitis or IBD and both of these require a specialized diet which is much more specific than no table food. I don't mean to alarm you, but it is important to get this correctly diagnosed and under control or you could continue having major problems and long-term health issues.