Worried about Zoey

[ZoeysHumanMom]

I'm Worried about Zoey, my 15-month-old Yorkie. A week ago, she had a black stool. I took her to the vet. The vet didn't find anything wrong. I can't get Zoey to eat dog food. She's always been a picky eater, but now she goes for days without touching it. I've had to resort to cooking for her. She loves people food.

Her behavior worries me. She has started hiding from us. She will go into the bedroom and get under the bed. She also hides under the sofa in the family room or the chair in the living room. At the time she's doing this, she seems really mopey--no energy and a little sleepy. She's never done this before. She just started this.

Her stool is still dark, although not black. She's had diarrhea several times in the past week, but before I started cooking for her.

Any ideas or information you have will be greatly appreciated.

[Wylie's Mom]

Oh gosh...I'm sorry to say this, but there is definitely something wrong w/ this poor little girl. Either she is in pain, she is sick to her tummy, or has some other health issue that is yet to be diagnosed. I would have a full blood panel done; and, if your vet cannot figure this out then you should see an Internist ASAP.

If you want to cook for her long term, you have to balance the diet for a dog's needs - you can get supplement info/recipes via www.balanceit.com...

[lettuelady]

I agree with the above! I would also put her on a probiotic. You would be amazed at the results. My 16 year old persian needs hers daily. If she doesn't she wont eat and has diarrhea. On them, she has a wonderful appetite and normal stools.

[Cherie6446]

I would get a stool sample. The darkness could be blood. My Gina had dark stool for several months with symptoms like you are describing and she ended up with gastroenteritis and died. I hate myself for not taking her to the vet earlier but I didn't realize that the dark stools had old blood in them. Please pursue this. It is probably nothing too much but you never know.

[ZoeysHumanMom]

When I took her to the vet, I took a fresh black stool sample. They checked it and said there wasn't blood in the stool and she doesn't have any parasites. The vet had her take antibiotics for 3 days, in case she had an intestinal infection, so giving her probiotics makes sense to me. She may not have enough good bacteria. I will follow up with the vet if she doesn't snap out of it in a day or two. I think the food I give make for her is well-rounded. It has chicken, ground beef, carrots or pumpkin, broccoli, spinach, brown rice, rolled oats, cottage cheese, and olive oil. I put a vitamin in her food, too.

What kind of probiotics do you use, and how do you give it to your dogs?

Thanks so much for the information. Zoey isn't my first dog, but she is my first Yorkie. I've never been so attached to a dog in my life!

[lettuelady]

Paris is a cat and is super picky! She wont eat anything sprinkled on her food so I put the Purina Fortiflora in empty capsules and give them to her that way. With each pill I syringe it down with water. I know...pilling a cat is usually tough but she is good as gold to pill.

[Cherie6446]

I am glad that you took a stool sample in to the vet to check for blood. Sounds like Zoey is doing better. Let's hope she continues to improve.

[XenaLee]

I'm sad to read this. This sounds really scary and I'm sorry to hear that she is not doing well. I gave mine Purina Fortiflora (vet gave it to me)... she had diarrhea everyday. The probiotics helped but it took about 4 days to kick in (maybe bc she was on antibiotics)... Please keep us up to date with her health and I hope she recovers soon. Food is important so make sure she eats! I force fed mine canned Fromm Chicken Pate because it was bland and it went through the syringe easier.

I will keep you and Zoey in my thoughts and prayers.

[Zoey Zendaya]

I went thru something like that too with my Zoey last summer and she almost died....it was that gastroenteritis . The ONLY food that brought her out of it was one the vet fed her while on IVS for 3 days....and that was Hills rx ID canned....I was floored ....she ate that after she came home ....preferred the crunch of kibble ...ate that for 3 months then just didn't want it anymore....but she was like a different dog! Your baby does not feel good and some dogs react different ...try this food, please. ....
I always give them a spoonful of canned pumkin too when they act like they don't wanna eat very well or their poop is really soft . That's an indicator they don't feel good for whatever reason...stress , heat, upset...
Don't wait too long to rush to vet if they Start acting lethargic....I don't think Zoey would have made it thru the night....she too is a little 4 lber...
Good luck