The vet switched her to only I/D wet food. Shes been on that since Tuesday night. Shes taking 1/4th pill of Albon 125mg daily. I give her the medicine the first time she eats in the morning.

The I/D is good for an upset stomach. The Albon can cause vomiting and diarrhea. If it continues, I would call the vet in the morning.

BUT...if the vomiting and diarrhea gets bad tonight, she does need to go to the EC!

Try not to let some of the posts panic you too much. I'm sure she will be fine until the morning since you say she is acting perfectly normal other than throwing up her food once. Make sure to follow up with your vet in the morning and if something changes drastically during the night you really should take her to the ER vet. I'm in Chicago and if I could be of any help let me know. I've got friends at the Humane Society and they might be able to even take a look at her there if you are short on funds. I believe the Chicago Ridge Humane Society works on a sliding scale.

Keep us posted...sending thoughts and prayers to you and your baby!

Thank you so much for the help and kind words. I just get so worked up when shes sick since shes my little baby. :p

I'm sorry, and I pray to God I am wrong, and that the ER Vet you spoke to and said she should be seen is wrong. I am a retired Vet Tech and I worked for 5 years as an Emergency Vet Tech and 10 years non emergency and have assisted vets on countless numbers and types of surgeries.

Dog intestines are very long and loopy. The inside of the intestines is similar to the inside of your cheek. Smaller foreign bodies can pass through the loops of the intestines, with the help of high fiber food which can entrap the bone shards (in your pup's case) and prevent them from puncturing or slicing into the intestinal lining, which is what your vet was hoping for.

As long as the food moves through the intestines all is well. When the food stops moving through the system the risks are much higher that this treatment plan will not work to clear the foreign bodies from the dog's intestines.

A piece of bone (as sharp as glass) may snag the intestinal lining and turn sideways, blocking any further movement of food, and could cause bleeding.

The intestine can also twist over on itself and cut off the blood supply to itself, if the blood flow isn't restored quickly, part of the intestine will die.

The natural action of the intestines to push the food through can cause severe damage when the foreign body gets stuck, as the intestines will continue to push against it.

This is why after a dog ingests a foreign body, vomiting is a red flag that something is wrong, and is considered an emergency situation, as surgery may be necessary to remove the FB and prevent further catastropic damage. But, only a vet can tell you if that is the case.

I know you've made you decision to wait till the morning due to financial restrictions, and that is what it is. I am just posting now to educate anyone else reading this thread, who may be in a similar situation with their pup in the future.

Sending prayers that your baby is fine....

The OP had the pup at a vet. He said to come back next week. Not sure I am following this emergency??
Any time you call an EC, they will suggest that you bring the pup in. They cannot and will not diagnose on the telephone.

Anytime a dog ingests a foreign body (in this case this pup was fed cooked beef bones) it needs to be monitored to see that it has passed. Vomiting is a sign that a bone may have caused a blockage (esp so long after the meal was fed), and with the bones being a sharp foreign body, may have preforated the intestines. If the blood stays in the intestines, the owner would see it, but there is always a chance the dog could bleed into the abdominal cavity and bleed out.

When the vet says see you next week, that always means if nothing happens before then.

Yes, that does mean that; but I am not clear on what happened that suggests a perforated bowel. I saw one episode of vomiting that could be anything. Oh, and one BM.

OP, hope the night went well. Please let us know how things are going this morning.

A preforated bowel is always a possibility when a dog ingests sharp, pointy things.

Yes the vomiting could be anything, but because the dog ate bones, the odds are greatly increased that it is from a blockage and not an upset tummy, which needs to be determined by a vet.

:thumbup:

I am fully aware of that. I just did not see "emergency" in her posts and hopefully she will call and/or see the vet again today and discuss the vomiting with him/her.

How is she doing this morning? Are you still going to take her in at 9:00?

That is a major problem with many dog owners... many do not realize a particular situation or symptom to be an emergency, and sometimes vets assume owners know more than they do. Her vet should have given her written instructions on things to watch out for, and what to do if she sees any of them.

Neither did I :thumbup: :rolleyes:

I hope all is well this morning and you are able to get her back in to see your vet today. :)

I agree. If a pet has a known foreign body moving thru, I would hope the vet would give very clear instructions on what to look for in terms of defining urgency.

I hope as the night progressed, Macie continued to act completely normal and had no additional vomiting or loose stool. I think I might have waited this one out if I was comfortable with what my vet had previously suggested and discussed with me. It sounds like you had to wait it out anyway, given finances (By the way, that's something to work on going forward, so you don't find yourself in this predicament again). I'm praying that you did not have this turn urgent on you and that Macie's follow up this morning goes well. Please update when you can.

**Update**

Called the vet to make sure I could bring Macie in. The vet said that wouldnt be necessary since she was going to switch her medicine. I cant pick up the new medicine til 12:30pm though.

As of now, Macie is fine. Shes still up and playing, drinking water, barking etc. Her next appt will be on Tuesday to see if the next step is surgery to remove the fragments.

To me, it seemed the vet was concerned with a reaction from the meds. I don't understand after going back over the posts how this was twisted into a grave emergency.

To the Op, glad to hear all is well and as I assumed your vet is addressing the throwing up of one meal as a result of a medicine reaction. As long as you are continuing to not see distress IMO (and if it were one of mine) this is a very reasonable way to address the situation. It's a good thing you held off last night and best to put the money spend on the side in case surgery is needed.

Just curious, did the vet do an X-ray to identify the bone fragments or is it an assumption?

Yea he did an Xray. He said it looks like bone fragments.

I'm glad he did an X-ray. He can use it at the next visit to compare if they are passing. There have been others this has happened to in the past and the dog was able to pass the fragments without surgery. Try not to think worse case scenario and just hope they all pass without complications. You should plan the financial issue just in case he does suggest she will need surgery.

Did you tell the vet Marcie had vomited, I've read that that is very serious and could mean the bowel is obstructed. The reason this is serious is gangrene can set in very quickly. Is she eating normally with no new vomiting? What kind of medicine is she taking? Praying for you and Marcie.

I don't recall saying this was a grave emergency...? :confused:

However, if some people on this thread think this is urgent, they're free to post that opinion...just as you're free to post yours. I don't see anyone "twisting" this thread; my impression is that they're expressing their opinion.

Any time a dog swallows a SHARP object it should be considered an emergency situation as it can & often will cut and/or tear the intestines on it's way through. Having been a vet tech I have def seen my share of the damage cooked bones can cause to your dog's intestines.
Also the longer it stays in your dog the more damage that can occur.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:I agree and the vomiting is concerning

as you know my son is in his last year of vet school, I asked him about this this morning, he said that it depends on the kind of bones, how much bone is settled in the stomach and the x rays, some dogs it will be easier and cheaper to let them pass with the help of some drink,(sorry he mentioned it but i forgot) and in most instances surgery is better, so is a 50/50 , it really depends on all the above and the vet taking care of the situation.
NOW if if was ME, I would want them out of my dog ASAP, but then again that is ME..
oh and he said , vomiting diarreah, blood in the stool, in his humble opinion he would have go in and removed them.
hugs,

She vomited once. It very well could have been from the Albon. My guess is the vet thinks so as well since the OP said he is changing the meds.

None of us has seen the xray. We don't know about sharp objects or dull ones. We don't know anything but what she has reported to us. And what I read simply did not indicate emergency treatment last night. The OP has been in touch with her vet today. Seems to be a bit of horse beating at this point. Everyone has voiced their concerns...if the OP is not doing something she should, then Macie will pay for it. I hope that is not the case.

OP, as I suggested last night, keep a very close eye on Macie and get her to the vet if her condition changes. I do hope you are not holding back on treatment because of finances. If so, please PM Megansmomma...she posted last night that she may be able to help you in your area with getting cheaper vetting!

I only saw one mention of blood...before she went to the vet. No blood in the BMs she posted about after that. I am so confused...where is all of this vomiting and bloody stools? Am I missing something here?

She had a little blood in her stool 2 times BEFORE she went to the vet. This was on Saturday/Sunday. Then I took her to the vet. Since then, I havent seen any blood at all.