stomach virus
 

New to the group so I hope this is the right forum. Our male 16 month old Rex, has never been sick before. Went on vacation and left him with inlaws. They have his brother so they have exerience with the breed, Woke up this morning with runny stool. they called us and gave us the details and we told them to take to the vet. Vet did bloodwork and said he thought it was a stomach virus, Brother has no problem. blood work indicated a slight rise in an emzyme that might indicate pancreatitus. He thought it might be due to the virus. We raced home, a 4 hour ride, to find him still going to the bathroom and extremely listless. Vet said to wait 24 to 48 hours to see how he gets. the question is are we being over concerned or how long do we give it. We've had 2 previous yorkies, 1 had a liver shunt diagnosed at age 4. lived 4 more years on a special diet and daily prescriptions, our 6 million dollar dog.worth every penny. Our 2nd was never sick and lived 18 years. So this is kind of new to us. they gave him pepcid and metoclopromed lq. any input would be appreciated. tThanks Kathy and Ed

How is he doing now? Always a good idea to run a Spec cPL when pancreatitis is suspected. Then you'll know for sure.

stomach virus
 

Took him back to the vet this morning. Had a bad night. While in the waiting room seemed completely recovered. My main concern for right now was whether he would become dehydrated. Only water he had was what I gave him through a syringe. Vet said he was mildly dehydrated and advised me on what to watch for. The "recovery" was adrenalin. Talked him into keeping him for the day and giving him an IV to rehydrate him. BTW this Vet is filling in for his primary Vet. who is away. I'll pick him up tonight and see how he is over the weekend. If he's not doing better, we'll probably take him to the hospital. We happen to live fairly close to one of the best Vet hospitals in the country, University of Pennsylvania Vetenary Hospital. That's for the comment. Will let you know the outcome. Kathy and Ed

I hope he is doing much better when you pick him up. If he doesn't seem better you may want to ask them to run the test Ellie May suggested before taking him home.

picked him up tonite and he seems somewhat better. They left IV line in him for the night. Taking him back tomorrow morning and if he has a good night then they'll remove the line . If it's a bad night they'll rehydrate him again .

BTW they ran the blood work on wednesday and he had a slightly elevated emzyne level. They said they weren't sure if it was due to a virus or pancreatitus. already discussing ultrasound and additional blood work.

Glad he seems a bit better. That's good they left the line in just in case. Hopefully he will feel a lot better tomorrow.

Hope Rex is doing better.

Welcome to YorkieTalk, by-the-way. :)

not doing good, seemmed better earlier. Gave him his meds and within 20 minutes started vomiting and diarrhea. Waiting on return call from Vet and then Im taking him to the hospital. Is it possible that meds are causing this bout. Pepcid and metol something ,can't read the handwriting but its a liquid that the said was a antibiotic that works on the intestinal tract?

Give him a bland diet of plain white chicken breast and white rice for a week or so. Then slowly incorporate his food to it. It should help settle his stomach. Also, get a syringe and give him more water...so you know he's drinking enough.

Got to U of P Vet Hospital at 11:30 last night. He exhibited blood in the ER and was dehydrated again, They did an emergency workup and determined that it was not life threatening. Even though he was on an IV all day , they said that these little guys, he's 6 lbs, can go down really fast. The ER doctor actually worked for my primary vet practice for awhile and left to work at U of P because its a teaching and research facility. He knew Rex's father and the rest of the litter from working at my vets practice. He had nothing but good things to say about the practice. He gave me a few options on treatment, let them rehydate and med him and take him home and go to his vet on Saturday, admit him overnite for IV, meds and observation and pick him up Saturday morning and take him to the vet for continued IV treatment or Admit him for full treatment there. I chose to leave him overnite with follow up at the primary vet in the morning. U of P is extremely expensive. I had my first Yorkie, KC, treated for a liver shunt to the tune of 9,000.00 , payment due at time of service, BTW worth every penny. Last night was 600.00. To admit him for full treatment would run an estimate of 6000.00 with a 3000.00 deposit due last night. Treatment at the primary vet is 150.00 a day plus meds and testing. Picked him up at U of P this morning. They said he had 1 additional bout with blood in diarrhea and 1 vomitting episode. Seemed better this morning but I took him to his vet for continued IV treatment. Willl go back tonight and see how he is and whether to bring him home or leave him. The ER doctor also told me that oral metonedazole is extremely bitter and in some animals can upset their stomach. If I bring him home tonight I'm going to ask that they give his meds in the IV. On a lighter not, before the drama last night, I tried to give him white rice and boiled chicken he looked at it , sniffed if, and loked at me as if to say " you 've got to be kidding me, I'm not eating that" Thanks again for all the comments. Kathy and Ed

No diagnosis then?
What are they having you feed him?

Had him hydrated at his vet all day today. Picked him up tonight and had them give him his last med for the day in his IV. Seemed good, more alert. Told me to do only the boiled chicken and rice. Also told me to remove his water and to give him in small amounts. Told me to only be concerned with vomitting. Got him home and put out 2 teaspoons of rice and chicken which he stuck his nose up to it and walked away. Came back 15 minutes later and ate it. Its been 2 hours and its still good. Keeping my fingers crossed. They left the IV line in, just in case. Taking him back tomorrow and their going to do blood again to check the pancreas levels. Thanks for all the advice and comments. Kathy and Ed

Update on our little patient. He had a really good night with no vomitting and only about a dozen bouts with his bowels. Gave him his meds this morning and he keeped everything down. More alert with everything around him. decided to give him a break from the Vet. Called them and told them he was a little better and they agreed maybe a break in the stress would be ok. Took him on a short walk, ran into a neighbor who has had dogs and said to try slighted wet toast. She went and got it and offerred it to him, he took some finished his walk and wanted to stay out and lay in the sun. Did that, came back in the house, he ate all his boiled chicken and rice. He then took a nap and when he woke up he wanted to go out only to pee. Its been 5 hours and all is still good. He wants to play with his toys and is more like himself. Still keeping my fingers crossed. Will take him to the vet tomorrow and hopefully have the IV line removed. Had 1 bowl movement about 1/2 hour ago which was the first with any substance to it in days, no blood. Kathy and Ed

Unbelievable change. Had a good night . Called vet and told them I was going to keep him home today and give him a break to relieve the stress he'd been under. Kept the meds down all day. Bloody diarrhea slowed and got some of his old self back. took him for a walk this afternoon and a neighbor , who has experience with dogs went and got him some toast and slightly wet it. Said she did this with her dogs with similar issues. Rex accepted it and after his walk didn't want to go home. Wanted to lay out in the sun. stayed out about a half hour and when I brought him back in he finished the chicken and rice. Acting like himself again. No blood in his stool although still a little wet. Goes back to vet tomorrow and hopefully we get his IV out and a little normalcy back. Thank you for the help and encouragement. Kathy and Ed

stomach virus
 

Sorry about not giving an update on our baby. Finally completely over whatever it was, pancreatitus. Vets have no idea what brought it on. could have been stomach virus, Diet , NOT, he eats Blue. Treats are limited . bottom line, sometimes it just happens. My advice to everyone is even after you take your little one to the vet, only you know whats going on with your dog, even when your vet comes highly recommended, and you respect them, you need to be their advocate. Smal yorkies 5 lbs and under can have drastic changes in short periods of time. If you have any doubts, you need to voice your opinion and respectfully tell the provider you don't agree. The only reason our pup is still with us is our own pesistance. Not to badmouth the animal heathcare professionals but between the Vet, University of Penn Vetenary Hospital and after hour support I came away with a bad taste. Bottom line was money. Each phase of treatment was met with " treatment costs can be very high and we require a deposit to get started. " I spent over 10,000.00 on a yorkie with a liver shunt 12 years ago and had to give them the final payment of 700.00 before they would release the body to me. He died on the operating table. They required 5000.00 when he was admitted and incremints of 1000.00 every other day. I know I'm venting but the bottom line in my opinion would be to get a diagnosis first and then discuss finance. The Hospital told a woman at 1:00am that treatment for her cat would run about a thousand dollars and that if it was too much see could consider putting the cat down. Sorry about the rant but the bottom line is to be vigelant with your pets care Kathy and Ed

I am sorry that you have a bad taste in your mouth regarding the vets. The only thing I can say is that it sounds like they did everything right and your baby is ok. Yes, pancreatitis does sometimes come on for no known reason. I have had pups with it and shudder to think of the money I have spent; but that is what is expected with veterinary care just as in people care. Medical treatment is not cheap.

Sadly, many animals do die daily because of people's inability or refusal to pay for vet care; but the vets simply cannot afford to treat everyone's pet for free. The cost of their education, the overhead of running a business is extremely high. Plus, if they give to one, how do they turn the next one away? I would not want to be working in a place and having to say no....it has to be heart wrenching.

I do think that it is easier to fork over the cash when you have a good feeling about the way things are going. I am fortunate in that my vet, the emergency vets close to me, and the specialists I use are all wonderful. Their staff are all helpful and knowledgeable and it is clear to me that they love their jobs. I have been in veterinary facilities that I was not happy with and just moved on to others until I found who I was happy with and who I trusted my pups to.

If you have a vet you are less than happy with, I suggest you look around now while things are going well. Good luck to you! I hope you don't have any more bouts of pancreatitis ... it is scary and expensive on top of it!

Oh, and I want to add this: You are correct that only we know our babies. It is important for us to follow their treatment and care by veterinary professionals very carefully and be their advocates!
No one knows their children better than parents......and no one knows their pets better than their parents. Wise pediatricians and veterinarians know this! They listen to and work with the parents! Any vet who would not listen to me and answer my questions would not be handling my pups!