A few days ago I finished a dog food change. Mini had a little loose stool, but was generally fine. On Friday I had to go into the city. Friday morning she had a tiny bit of bloody stool. Steve called the vet. She was happy and playful. A little later that she started throwing up and having diarrhea, which rapidly turned to blood. Steve promptly took her to the vet who ran a ton of blood work as she rapidly went downhill. He had started an iv, but didn't think she would make it. By this time blood was dripping from her rectum. He found nothing on the tests except hemoconcentration. Even the white count was normal. All this time he had been grilling Steve on whether she could have possibly gotten into some rat poison, but the hematrocrit would have been low, not high.
We thought maybe she had eaten one of my daughter's depakote pills, which she sometimes hides instead of taking, but that wouldn't have accounted for all the symptoms. We are grateful for that, Molly said if it was that, she would kill herself. I got back from the city, and when I ran into the vet's office he was flipping a book and came up with Hemorrhagic Enterocolitis. Evidently after a food change this sometimes happens, especially in young, small dogs. It is always fatal except with the prompt administration of iv fluids.
He wanted us to take her to the emergency vet for the weekend, but I convinced him to let us take her home with bags of fluid. I just thought that if all she needed was iv fluids and she might not make it anyway, she would be a lot more comfortable in her own home instead of a cage.
So we took her home with the fluids and a second iv kit just in case. I put her on a waterproof sheet padded with beach towels in the middle of our bed and hung the fluids from the ceiling fan.
Overnight she did ok. She stopped bleeding, finally, and started peeing. By morning she had run out of fluids and looked perkier. The vet called at eight-thirty and said to try her on fluids first and then to move to rice and chicken. We got her to take some chicken broth, and then the rice. By this morning she had regular dog food and was able to go out and play.
This afternoon she was ready to go for a hike on the mountain. Except for some residual diarrhea you would never know there was anything wrong with her. I am now optimistic, though I worry about organ damage. Knock wood she will continue to improve.
Has anyone ever heard of this? It was beyond scary, as I tried to look at a future of Uncle Fred without Mini. They just belong together and we love them.
I assume she will at the very least have digestive problems for some time as she regrows her intestinal epithelium.
We thought maybe she had eaten one of my daughter's depakote pills, which she sometimes hides instead of taking, but that wouldn't have accounted for all the symptoms. We are grateful for that, Molly said if it was that, she would kill herself. I got back from the city, and when I ran into the vet's office he was flipping a book and came up with Hemorrhagic Enterocolitis. Evidently after a food change this sometimes happens, especially in young, small dogs. It is always fatal except with the prompt administration of iv fluids.
He wanted us to take her to the emergency vet for the weekend, but I convinced him to let us take her home with bags of fluid. I just thought that if all she needed was iv fluids and she might not make it anyway, she would be a lot more comfortable in her own home instead of a cage.
So we took her home with the fluids and a second iv kit just in case. I put her on a waterproof sheet padded with beach towels in the middle of our bed and hung the fluids from the ceiling fan.
Overnight she did ok. She stopped bleeding, finally, and started peeing. By morning she had run out of fluids and looked perkier. The vet called at eight-thirty and said to try her on fluids first and then to move to rice and chicken. We got her to take some chicken broth, and then the rice. By this morning she had regular dog food and was able to go out and play.
This afternoon she was ready to go for a hike on the mountain. Except for some residual diarrhea you would never know there was anything wrong with her. I am now optimistic, though I worry about organ damage. Knock wood she will continue to improve.
Has anyone ever heard of this? It was beyond scary, as I tried to look at a future of Uncle Fred without Mini. They just belong together and we love them.
I assume she will at the very least have digestive problems for some time as she regrows her intestinal epithelium.