emergency: vomiting and diarrhea

[antipunt1]

Sorry Chazhound; I know recently I've been kinda of gun-hoe about posting. I was planning to stop for awhile and let breathing room, but a semi-emergency has hit. If very unlucky, my puppy may die.

It had really bad diarrhea this morning and when fed its breakfast it vomited one hour later. We took it to the pet emergency today and the vet didn't give us the best outlook. I compared it basically to a human doctor, who basically tells you nothing out of saving their own skin in terms of lawsuits etc. The vet gave us a liquid antibiotic and told us that it was negative for parvo (or in their words, "we don't know if it has parvo..it might..but the test FYI was negative".

But I digress. On the way out a nurse suggested we take it back to its mother for its milk. The vet also claimed the reason was: b/c the breeder irresponsibly sold us the dog at week 6. AKA : its immune system wasn't fully developed.

Bottom line is I was ambivalent about the best course of action: as of now I'm planning to feed it its antibiotics and rice with chicken in very small amounts. If it doesn't throw up, then add some more later on.

Generally I plan to hold on to it for 24 hours. If it continues to diarrhea and throw up tomorrow, I will evoke the emergency plan of sending it back to its mother for breastmilk (btw is this even a good idea at all?!).

I'm hoping for the best, but if it doesn't heal in 24 hours, I have to opt for the emergency plan, if sending it back to its mother is a good idea at all.. (I tend to believe that such irresponsible breeders who sold the puppy to us in the first place too young would increase its chance of dying......)

Any advice would be good and I will update the situation. Thanks for everything so far, hope this isn't too morbid


-thanks for everything so far chazhound, i'll be hoping for the best!

 

[lizzybeth727]

I really don't think I'd take the puppy back to her mom for milk. I don't know a whole lot about breeding (hopefully someone else will give advice here too), but I seem to remember that pretty much when puppies start eating solid food, the milk starts to run out. That would've started happening around 4 weeks old. If the puppies have been away from the mom for a couple of weeks, I just don't think it's very likely that 1.) she will produce milk, and 2.) the puppy will nurse. But again, not my area of expertise.

Did the vet tell you what to do if the puppy continues vomiting/having diarrhea? The main concern is that she will dehydrate very quickly if you're not extremely careful.

I think this thread needs to be moved/cross posted to the health section, probably more people will see it there.

 

[lizzybeth727]

Sorry Chazhound; I know recently I've been kinda of gun-hoe about posting. I was planning to stop for awhile and let breathing room

Don't feel like you need to quit! We love hearing from the new puppy owners!

 

[bubbatd]

Hope things work out !!! Sending good vibes !!

 

[antipunt1]

thx very much for the support!

...the vet, as doctors usually are i guess, was relatively vague b/c they didn't want to screw themselves over into a lawsuit. Basically all I got so far is to feed it the rice/chicken menu in little bits and to inject the antibiotic (into its mouth) 3x today. Thx for the little tidbit about the mother, I will have to look into that one, but its very good you brought that up to be 'on trial' to the jury.

We also found it also likes to have water injected into her mouth.

I'm keeping close watch and letting it rest outside. I'll be reading a book with it all afternoon. I'll update later, thx again thus far!

 

[Domestika]

...the vet, as doctors usually are i guess, was relatively vague b/c they didn't want to screw themselves over into a lawsuit.

It may also be the case that the vet just couldn't tell you 100% what the problem was if you didn't have the diagnostics done that would tell her/him conclusively. I would think a urinalysis, fecal smear or labwork would give you a better idea. If they still couldn't tell you ANYTHING..then you'd have a strange case indeed.

Additionally, it is very common that vets don't know what causes the symptoms that bring an animal into the clinic. They treat the symptoms, but don't always know exactly why they appeared. But of course, it's better to know! And more diagnostics are the way to go...if you haven't already.

 

[antipunt1]

thx for the advice; the problem is the clinic wouldn't give it any more tests unless we paid $1200 dollars to let it stay the night. It was simply ridiculous!

What I described above was the most they did for us. Give us an antibiotic and hope for the best. In a way, though, I guess they did do most of what they could...

I agree though, the Vet might've not just known what it was at all. It's like how human doctors sometimes will give you tons of trials, b/c they can't pinpoint the exact problem

hopefully the puppy will be strong to pull through nonetheless

 

[Saintgirl]

Go and see your regular vet ASAP if your pup still has the diarrhea and vomiting this morning. Diagnostic tests need to be performed, and dehydration needs to be dealt with if the pup is still showing the same symptoms as she was when she had to brought to the ER vet. If your pup does indeed have parvo then she needs to be monitored and on IV fluid, or at the very least sub Q fluids. Vomiting and diarrhea can range from gastro upset, to poisoning, to bowel obstructions, to parvo and many more. However without the proper diagnostics your vet can only guess at whatever is causing the symptoms. If financial matters are a concern your regular vet may be able to do payment plans.

 

[bubbatd]

How are things today ???

 

[antipunt1]

thx for everything guys! I am extreeeemely relieved and happy to announce that her meals of chicken/rice with the antibiotic have been helping, and she didn't puke or diarrhea this morning! I've never been so happy to hear her WHINING before.

Now it's all about maintaining. I'm planning to feed her safe chicken/rice in not super large quantities, even though she seems a bit ravenous. I'm also enforcing tons and tons of sleep (well..enforcing might not be the best word, since she's extremely willing).

thank you for all the advice and good vibes! I'm just really relieved she'll probably be OK. Any additional advice on maintenance? As of now, I'm planning to keep her out of the grass area of my yard except for short pees/poos. I might even have to make some long-term adjustments like keeping her in the house even more than I used to. Or maybe that's not the best idea, I'm not sure. Bottom line is I heard I should be extremely careful until it gets at least 9-10 weeks old, arguably even older

thx again! :lol-sign:

 

[antipunt1]

**update: i don't know if this is relevant, but her poo is still yellow and mushy. Not watery like yesterday, but still very moist and yellow. It looks almost exactly like mustard. [note that I suspect this may be partially due to the fact that she's been eating a lot of rice recently]

I assume I should continue to let her rest, although it should be noted that her energy has been almost sky-high. Her whining has increased tenfold, but I have a feeling I should still let her rest

 

[lizzybeth727]

If she has a lot of energy, making her rest will probably just frustrate her (probably why she's whining). IMO it's a good idea to let her exercise and play like normal, exercise is good for health.

 

[Domestika]

thx for the advice; the problem is the clinic wouldn't give it any more tests unless we paid $1200 dollars to let it stay the night. It was simply ridiculous!

I don't know if you're in an area that has more than one clinic to choose from...but I would probably not go to a clinic with such an "all or nothing" policy. People are often only able to afford, say, labwork or ONE xray or something like that. I think it's really unfair to FORCE a client to ok and pay for ALL possible diagnostics and treatment.

Nevermind the fact that all diagnostics and treatment may not be necessary if they figured out what was wrong on the first one or two tests. I'm sure they wouldn't charge you for anything more than what was necessary, but why make people sign away their life savings right at the door? How many animals have suffered as a result of the owners not being able to foot a 1200$ for what could very possibly be a very straight forward diet/bacterial/stress issue. Argh.

If possible, I would look for a clinic that will allow you to figure out the problem piece by piece if it's still not resolving.

 

[Domestika]

I wouldn't discount her whining because she's in discomfort. She may be restless, but if she's still having diarrhea she could just be pretty uncomfortable and not sure what to do about it.

I would still consider running some tests on her feces to see what she has. She may have a bacterial infection (in which case when your antibiotics run out she could easily get diarrhea again - and her feces will be contaminated, if you have other pets). Or she could have something like coccidia, which needs a specific medication to get on top of.

If she still has mushy stools and oddly coloured stools in the next day or two I'd talk to your regular vet.

 

[antipunt1]

thx for the input and i'll note both opinions of my puppy's whine-behavior.

In addition, yea, I totally agree with you on the vet problem! I mean, no average human in their right mind would do that. Actually, I don't think ANY right minded human would agree to such a crazy policy.

And yes, if its stools don't return to normal after we take it off the rice and in the next day or two, we're going to get REALLY serious. Because even I with little to no experience would be feeling that 'omg something is very very wrong' feeling if its stool doesn't improve by then