Vomiting/bloody diarrhea

[gamecockgirl]

I have a friend with a very sick dog. The dog is a lab, 60 lbs, and about 4 years old.

Last week, the dog was vomiting and not eating, so they took her to the vet. The vet took x-rays and found a blockage that was probably carpet fibers from the newly installed carpet (the dog was licking the carpet for some reason). The vet told them they could wait another day to see if it would pass, but after that they would have to do surgery to remove it. The dog went home that night and ended up passing a carpet fiber ball.

Since then, the dog has been eating very little. Sunday, the dog began vomiting again and had bloody diarrhea. They took her to the emergency vet who decided to do the surgery to look for the blockage they were sure she had.

The surgery was done and there was no blockage. Nothing looked abnormal. She’s been at the vet since Sunday and she’s not improving.

Since this isn’t my dog, I don’t really have a ton of information. I know the owners have a bad habit of feeding the dog any and all types of table scraps, in addition to the Beneful that she is free fed (ugh! working on that one). She is not spayed because the owner is very ignorant and wants her to have puppies (I’m working on that one too-don’t worry!). She doesn’t have any other health problems that I’m aware of.

Does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong since the vet can’t seem to figure it out?

[makenzie71]

Dunno...passing a giant wad of carpet is probably pretty abrassive and traumatizing to your innards...I'd probably just keep a close eye on the dog and make sure he doesn't eat any more carpet. If symptons persist or worsen, I'd try a new vet.

[muggsies16]

Well, that poor dog! I hope they find the problem soon! Just a thought, if the dog up chucked, did the vet search for any rips any where else? The dog sure sounds stressed!

I think that the dog is stressed out and may be anxious, being away from home can take a toll on her did they take some blood work or a fecal sample?

I dont really see a problem with feeding human to a dog as i feed my dog 60-75% raw diet and they have kibble down for them to have most of the time and they are fine.

Deciding to not spay or neuter an animal is not ignorant at all........if there is no medical reason to do so. There are so many breeders out that make a living out of this..............if there wasn't a demand for puppies there would be no reason to spay or neuter.....................talk to the government to put more regulations on how many animals per household,and maybe then the problem of over population of unwanted animals will be controlled!!!!

Well i hope the dog gets better maybe the vet should run some less evasive course of treatment first,maybe the surgery was to much for the dog to handle.

I lost an animal (cat) due to surgery to neutering that was so hard for me and my family,it was enough for me to change my views on it now i won't do it unless it is medically needed (life or death) but thats just my opinion.

i hope she gets well surgery scares me it is to hard on a sick animal!!!!!!

Good luck

Me and my family will pray for your friends dog

[otch1]

Just a thought... too late to check fiber ball she passed, but I would not be suprised with newly laid carpet, if she may have also eaten one of the very tiny carpet tacks. I assume they do not have an unltrasound machine? That would be helpful, verses an x-ray, as something like that would be easy to miss. If she did ingest one and passed it, it can still do some damage, scratching/irritation, causing an infection/Peritonitis. That would present similar symptoms, vomitting, bloody diahrea even after blockage has passed. These infections can be quite serious. Also, check type of carpet they purchased. Many are treated with a scotch guard chemical and this blockage may have sat in her lower intestines for several days. Bloodwork up (which I'm sure the vets already done) and an ultrasound, if this were my dog. Hope she recovers soon!

Originally Posted by Bdown

I think that the dog is stressed out and may be anxious, being away from home can take a toll on her did they take some blood work or a fecal sample?

I dont really see a problem with feeding human to a dog as i feed my dog 60-75% raw diet and they have kibble down for them to have most of the time and they are fine.

Deciding to not spay or neuter an animal is not ignorant at all........if there is no medical reason to do so. There are so many breeders out that make a living out of this..............if there wasn't a demand for puppies there would be no reason to spay or neuter.....................talk to the government to put more regulations on how many animals per household,and maybe then the problem of over population of unwanted animals will be controlled!!!!

Well i hope the dog gets better maybe the vet should run some less evasive course of treatment first,maybe the surgery was to much for the dog to handle.

I lost an animal (cat) due to surgery to neutering that was so hard for me and my family,it was enough for me to change my views on it now i won't do it unless it is medically needed (life or death) but thats just my opinion.

i hope she gets well surgery scares me it is to hard on a sick animal!!!!!!

Good luck

Me and my family will pray for your friends dog

I think there are plenty of dogs and we don't need more puppies that wind up in Shelters being euthanized . That is a great reason for spaying and neutering.

[gamecockgirl]

Thanks for the replies everyone. No update yet, so I'm not too sure what's going on. I'll let you know if I find out

Originally Posted by Bdown

I dont really see a problem with feeding human to a dog as i feed my dog 60-75% raw diet and they have kibble down for them to have most of the time and they are fine.

My dog is on a 100% very healthy and balanced homemade diet. No kibble at all, ever. However, there is a HUGE difference between feeding a raw or homemade diet and feeding actual table scraps. By table scraps I mean anything and EVERYTHING they're having for a meal...burgers and fries, chocolate cake, ice cream, chips, candy. Everything. Feeding human food isn't a problem. Feeding inappropriate human food is a problem.

Originally Posted by Bdown

Deciding to not spay or neuter an animal is not ignorant at all

It is when the reason to breed her is because they "want a puppy for every kid in the family that's JUST like her!"

The owners are not educated about breeding a dog. Uneducated=ignorant in my book.

[bubbatd]

Folks ... let's stick to the OP .... health of the dog , not down the road breeding . This is not her dog !

[for_dogs_sake]

I agree with Mackenzie, could be abrasion and get a new vet if it continues!
Otch1 also has a point with the carpet tacks.
Could she have been stressed initially? That could have started the obsessive carpet licking.

P.s What is 'frosted'? When i first saw it i thought someone had mispelled fostered as it was under a pic of a dog saying 'i just got frosted' could someone shed any light?

[Amalthea]

Originally Posted by gamecockgirl

By table scraps I mean anything and EVERYTHING they're having for a meal...burgers and fries, chocolate cake, ice cream, chips, candy. Everything. Feeding human food isn't a problem. Feeding inappropriate human food is a problem.

They feed chocolate??! and candy? wow, even as a very little kid I can remember my mom telling me NEVER to feed chocolate to a dog because it can make them very sick!! I hate that some people are like "oh we feed him this all the time and I know it's not supposed to be good, but it never causes any problems" blehh...

by free-feeding the beneful, you mean the dog can get as much dog kibble as he wants, any time he wants it? I know there are some dogs that do okay with this and know when to stop eating... but I've also seen dogs that will eat and eat and eat until they make themselves sick. I know larger breeds are sometimes more prone to "bloat" which can be very painful. We agreed to keep this little terrier mix for a few weeks once while her teenage owner was trying to move out of her parents and into her own place and keep her... the little dog had HUGE food-hoarding problems because she had grown up in a little trailer with like 8 other dogs and had to scrap it out with the others in order to get enough food... at our house, she had all the food she could want all to herself, but she'd still eat it like she was certain it would disappear at any moment, and whine when the bowl was empty, and try her darndest to break into the dogfood bag while we were sleeping at night... she only weighed about 12 lbs but I swore she could have eaten a 20 lb bag of dogfood if she wanted

I hope that the dog recovers soon, the owners need to go easy on the food and on the dog's stomach for a while, at least until the stools are normal again!