Dog: Vomiting & Diarrhoea

[PicOlio]

That patient is Polo - 100.4 lbs as of two days ago...


6 days ago Polo's stools were fine...

5 days ago, Polo started the morning with slightly soft stools and by that evening he was straining to go to the bathroom but little to nothing was coming out.

4 days ago he was begging to go to the bathroom A LOT but each time would just strain and strain pushing so hard you could tell it hurt..but nothing more than a "lil squirt" here or there would come out.

3 days ago he was the same so I took him to the vet. They did a rectal exam and noted his prostrate was slightly swollen but nothing that would cause any concern and he felt empty. They also did xrays and he looked more than fine. A lil bit of food was seen in his stomach etc and no obstructions or anything of concern at all was seen. He appeared perfectly normal from both the physical exam and xrays so they did some blood work which also came back normal. ($300 later.... and we've got no answers... let the games begin... ugh)

They prescribed Metoclopramide 5mg tabs 2 times per day (which they said was basically like pepto bismol and it'd just help to keep things flowing) and gave me a follow-up appt for this Saturday.

Well since he's been taking the med he now goes to the bathroom without straining but it's extremely runny... liquid. And to top it off, yesterday he vomited twice and this morning he has already vomited up his entire breakfast.

I'll be calling the vet in about 30 mins when they open to see if they have any other ideas.

Because of how (&%(*#&%# this year has been for us with pets, and because no obvious thing seems to be wrong with Polo I'm starting to become very nervous and scared.

I noted that on the page I found about the drug (linked above) one of the side effects can in fact be Diarrhoea but I believe the Diarrhoea began before the drug was actually given because right as we were leaving the vet he "exploded" and left liquid poo all over their floor. That was the first time he had gotten anything out in over a day so ummm you can imagine the mess.

As soon as I noticed the "softer stools" a week ago, he was taken off ALL treats/table scraps etc and only allowed his dog food.

His attitude is FINE btw. He's up and around, playful, happy etc. He eats and drinks normally. He just can't process the food correctly. What goes in must come out within 1/2 hour of eating it and when it comes out it's not pretty. However, there is no blood or anything. The color is normal....

I'm thinking I should stop giving him the medicine since the vomiting didn't start until after he started taking the med.... I'll talk the doc about that as well... I've held off on giving him his morning dose today until after I do though...

Also note, Chelsea is fine.... so whatever is happening with Polo does not seem to be affecting her and they are ALWAYS together...

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thoughts? Ideas? I can't stop thinking the worst and I know that's wrong but.... *sigh*

[degu mad]

I dont know what could be wrong with him, but i hope he gets well soon. he's a beautiful dog. we usually feed our dogs rice and chicken breast when they are poorly as they seem to tolerate it quite well. best wishes and i've got my fingers crossed for him to get well again x

[Chrisanne]

I know he's older, and this is mostly a puppy disease but still possible. Did they test for Parvo?!

[PicOlio]

Yes, he had the test and was tested for parasites and had his vaccines the day we brought him home. That was November 5th... he's only been with us now just over a month and already is having these problems *GUILT TRIP*

[PicOlio]

Ok.. just got off the phone with the vet...

He was pretty quick... "If he's vomiting now on top of the Diarrhoea then he needs to come in immediately.... get him down here asap"

So off to the vet I go...

Gawd let this be simple

[Chrisanne]

hugs

we're praying for ya Deb. I'd have them re do the parvo test. Incubation period is 7-10 days.

[jmb9101]

Im keeping poor Polo in my thoughts!! I hope its something small...

[Scarlette]

Oh no! Both of you will be in my thoughts. Please keep us updated.

[Amethystbelle]

I hope Polo is ok and i'll keep my fingers crossed for you, please keep us posted

[PicOlio]

We're baaaccckkkkkk !!! I'm actually THRILLED to be able to report that we are both home lol I have this paranoia of coming home alone these days.

Polo weighed in at 98lbs today so he lost a couple of pounds in last 48 hours or so... Temperature was still normal...

What lil'bit of a fecal we could get today tested negative for worms and coccidia etc but we got a positive this time for colostridium and his white blood cell count was elevated today. Seems like we caught it "too soon" as the results today were much more apparent than last time... weird...

Because we had a positive on colostridium we postponed the giardia and parvo tests. If we do not see an improvement in 48 hours he'll go back in for those two tests...

He got an iv hit of subQ fluids in the back (he looked like a camel for a while there with that hump lol) he also got anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea shots as well as a shot of metronidazole.

They sent him home with 500mg tablets of Metronidazole twice daily and told me to keep him off all food for 24 hours and only tiny bits of water two or three times a day for this first 24 hours.

They prescribed a no-fat can food diet called "Low Fat LF by Royal Canin". I've got three cans of that..apparently it's a very bland food that I can start him on until tomorrow and then just one teaspoon...then if he holds that down...try two in a few hours etc until he can get back to handling what he ingests.

If it all works they said we should start to see an improvement within 48 hours and hopefully cleared out in a week or so.... if not well... then we start over.

Now I'm going to worry about Chelsea and Saber and the kids too though... but I'm hoping we'll get lucky and he'll keep this to himself. I'm only letting him go to the bathroom in a fenced area of our yard that the dogs are usually not allowed to be in. I'm hoping that'll help me keep it away from chelsea... dunno...

[jmb9101]

Well Im glad that it has been pinpointed now...Hopefully it clears up perfectly and no one else in your family gets it!!

[Chrisanne]

i'm glad you have good news.

[Chinchilla_Girl]

I'm glad he came home and the vet has a better idea of what's going on...you know, it's sounds like the flu my son got last year! With the exception of the meds Polo was given, the food and water restriction is exactly what the doctor told us to do with Brandon!
I hope he feels better soon

[Jade]

Everything they told you is what I'm familiar with our doctors doing, if that makes you feel any better.

I'm glad to hear you seem to have the problem figured out. The next step in my mind if it doesn't solve it would be x-rays to rule out a GI foreign body, but it doesn't really fit 100% because the vomiting started so late.

I hope he starts feeling better soon!

[Denise]

Poor Polo. I sure hope the meds work for him and he doesn't have to be brought back into the vet.