gastroenteritis

hi . ruby is 7 months now and been very healthy until just after her spay last month . just before the stitches came out she started having loose stools . it was on and off and some days were better than others but almost always that loose i couldnt pick it up. she was fine in herself eating drinking and playing ..i took her the vet who said it can be common in dogs and come back if she became listless stopped eating etc . yesterday though she slept on in the morning longer than normal and when she woke she was retching on and off and bringing up bile .. and going to the loo and doing very loose stools about every hour . i phoned the vet and they said bring a sample and her in at 5 . i did and he diagnosed gastroenteritis annd gave me anti biotics . during the evening she got worse and was retching a lot but think the antibiotics stayed down . then about 11pm she suddenly lost a very watery bloody stool which went everywhere as she tried to get to the puppy pad .phoned the emergency vet who said if it it didnt stop bring her down and she would have to go on a drip etc. thank god it stopped then and she fell into a deep sleep -exhausted . i was awake all night waiting for her to wake and be there for her but she slept through thankfully . came down with her she has passed a bit of bloody stool but no retching . have given antibiotic in cottage cheese and she is now asleep on my knee. its been the worst night ive ever had and am praying she has turned a corner now. she had some water and isnt dehydrated . fingers crossed this is almost the end of it. has anyone had an experience like this with their dogs ? thanks for reading im sorry its so long but any replies would be great . as they all are , she is so precious to me and at one point i though we were going to lose her i am crying now but partly with the relief of seeing her sleeping peacefully . she isnt out the woods yet but things look a bit better now .

I think almost everyone at some point will have an experience with gastroenteritis.
It's very frightening and thankfully your vet prescribed the antibiotics for her.It's good that she is improving,keep her hydrated and if you have any concern at all,check back with your vet.You must be exhausted yourself!
Sins

My Ebony had it about two years ago. I must say it was the worst night of my dog owning life. Ebony had to stay at the vets on a drip for two nights but recovered well. When she came home you would never have thought that she was so very ill just two nights before. Hope Ruby has a speedy recovery.

You poor thing. I've been lucky and not experienced this so far so I'm afraid I can't give any advice. Just wanted to say I hope Ruby gets better soon.:hug:

thanks for replies - just did a search on the forum and yes its seems to have happened to several of the dogs here . very frightening stuff indeed and how sad about the dog in kennels who died . Ruby is sleeping it off i think , had antibiotic this am and kept it down and now just wants to be near me - im staying put and trying to catch up on sleep myself

Awwww, hope the anti-b's are doing their stuff and that Ruby's better really quickly. x

It sounds like you're doing all the right things. Just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't dehydrate. If she passed any more blood, I'd be straight to the vets. We've had 2 cavs get HGE and Cazy was particularly poorly with it. She was hospitalised for 2 or 3 days.

x

thanks misty .. she passed a small amount of bloody stool a while ago? its slowed a lot though and she is sleeping again after a potter round the garden do you think its just passing out of her system and i should give her a couple of hours to let the antibiotics work.. she just had another small saucer of cottage cheese with a bit of tuna and hasnt retched today ad seems a lot happier .. wouldnt wish this on anyone

Generally vets advise to be fasting a dog for 24 hours with GI problems like this -- especially bleeding gastroenteritis -- then introducing something like a special vet diet or very small amounts of rice and chicken. What did the vets say?

I probably would not feed her a thing for 24 hours -- just make sure she is drinking water. Do not fed cottage cheese or tuna at all -- dairy products can make gastro problems worse and tuna isn't great for dogs -- has mercury in it and is also very oily which can also cause the runs in sensitive dogs. I would ask your vet for advice on what to feed but would suggest no more tuna or cottage cheese. Dairy products are not supposed to be given with certain antibiotics, so you may wish to ask your vet about that as well -- use a bit of meat perhaps? I am sure the vet's office will answer your other questions too. She needs time to recover. Sounds like she may have a sensitive stomach generally, which some dogs seem to have until age one or so and some always have (this won't have anything to do with spay stitches). Thus careful diet is important -- I'd get her off any supermarket food and make sure she is on a quality dry food with only quality wet food or added real food as an addition now and then. You may find chicken is a problem. Dairy products often cause problems as do certain grains, for dogs that are sensitive in this way.

James Wellbeloved or Burns are good foods for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

My Lily gets this condition on and off -- she is a garbage guts though and gets into all sorts of disgusting things from time to time. She never seems too bothered by it though the second I see blood she gets fasted for 24 hours and that generally halts it.

PS it takes days for antibiotics to work, not a few hours, so just give her time and get some advice from the vets on feeding.

thanks karlin . she had fab digestion from the time i got her till 10 days ago so think its been building up . the vet told me to feed her those foods ! she only had couple tablespoons of cott. cheese with few flakes of tuna to get the antibiotic down her . hope i havent made things worse . she has had water so will fast her for the rest of the day and keep an eye on her . she seems to be past the worst now hopefully .. cheers for the advice .

I must say my reaction was that cheese and tuna were not the best thing for a dog with gastroenteritis.

I automatically put dogs with very loose stools on a regime of 24 hours without food, but with some probiotic supplement, and then a bland diet of white fish, or chicken, & rice. ( I actually use tins of Denes Senior, rice, chicken and lamb. It has always worked for my dogs )

I keep them on that for another day or two and then gradually change to their normal diet.

I do hope Ruby continues to improve.

Going through the same with my Ruby at the moment!! woke me in the night to go out (which she never does!) and then very loose and vomiting took her to the vets and it's her colitis flaring up,she's so lethargic bless her and unfortunately can't take her painkillers for her square hips so will be struggling for a few days she also passed blood on the way home from the vets so I rang them up and he isn't too worried at this time just got to keep an eye on her.Hoping both our Rubys get better soon

Cheese and tuna seem a strange mix... Barney has had three bouts of this type of bug in the last year, all three led to a stay at the vets. Each time he haemorrages ( not sure of the spelling!) it's awful he dehydrates very fast and looks very guilty about the mess in the house. The last time was in January, apparently the bug was rife in Bristol, he just reacts worse than most. Three days on a drip and lots of medicine and tlc he was home, a kilo and a half lighter!! thank goodness for pet insurance, £986 the last time!!

In the main Barney's tummy is ok, like some others have mentioned he gets a few grumbles, the first sign of this he's starved for at least 24 hours then very bland food for a few days sorts it out. Don't know what the trigger for this is though.

Hope all is better for your little one today...x

gosh it seems its fairly common hope everyone gets better quickly . ruby is much better she has had a firm stool this am which is good .. can i just clarify i wasnt giving her cott cheese and tuna as a meal it was to get the tablet down her as she wouldnt take it any other way thanks for all the support its an awful thing to see your dog going through- i hope its the first and last time x

Only just seeing this now. I'm glad Ruby is on the mend:hug:. It's very scary when they have that gastro flare-up. I remember my Rudee had colitis when she was a puppy and the first time she had what I can only describe as projectile diarrhoea , I was absolutely terrified. Thankfully I learned how to deal with it and it wasn't so terrifying after that.

Bunnylover, I hope your Ruby gets better soon :hug:

Hi all,

Just seen this and my new little b & t baby Mischa has colitis and i'm going through the same.We had very loose stools with blood and mucous,I was horrified as i had a strong suspicion it was campylabacter which two of my other girls,millie and maisy had when we bought them home at 9 wks 3 yrs ago.

The stools have firmed up after the vets advice to take her off her food supplied by the breeder and after 3 days of hills id and then onto hills science puppy they are firmer,only thing is though there is still a tiny amount of blood still present in every 3rd stool on average.She was also given a anti-inflammatory injection.Don't know what it is but there is something at the back of my mind that thats worrying me (I think its because they have not tested for campylabacter and its bugging me) Is it normal for the blood to still be present???the vet said its because her bowels need to heal and it's normal.From when we last spoke to the vet he said to give it 2 wks and to bring her back if still not right (that was 2 wks 2 days ago).I'm confused as to what to do as poos are now firmer but still with the tiny bits of blood.she is 14wks now and started with it about 4 wks ago.

Loves and hugs to the other fur babies and hope they get better soon,:hug::hug:
diane

It's always a worry when they pass blood Barney was tested for pancreatitis but all was ok...If there is still a little blood it may be worth popping your little one back to the vet.

I wondered about colitis, I think Barney has a sensitive tum. When he was a puppy he was on Hills, good food. He's on a good dried variety now that seems to agree with him, it's got a high percentage of "human grade" chicken in it rather than some shop bought diets that are full of rubbish. I think with the best of intentions some breeders send puppies away on some weird and wonderful diets that aren't always so good for the dogs, although a bit of variety is nice.

Hope all settles well soon...x

Yes,we swear by hills!! all my four of my girls are on it.We have never had any problems with it, expensive but we think it's great.
Mischa came home on beta puppy.

The colitis does'nt seem to be affecting mischa very much,she is full of it,wolfs down her meals and she drinks plenty.We have had no vomiting just the very loose stools and now the tiniest bit of blood.(before there was blood everywhere)

The mention of "chicken" makes me go into serious cringe mode :yikes.Only due to us experiencing campylobacter twice when my other girls were puppies,once from my partner having food poisening and passing it on ( I have never ever forgiven him for that) and then 8 months later from chicken off the sunday dinner.They have their hills and nothing else apart from a denta stik and odd treats.I would like to add other beneficial foods for a bit of a change/treat for them but obviously you can understand my reluctance.any tips guys would be great.

Diane

I agree Hills is a great food, the diet Barney is on is very similar but less hard on my pocket...I'm in the throws of gradually changing our tri puppy onto dried food too, she came home having some strange things, warm milk for supper?? and a little (pre frozen) raw meat , due to bacteria worries I'm not a fan of feeding any raw meat...

I like it that the dried food has kept Barneys teeth clean as well as he won't let me brush them and the denta chews disagree with his tummy.

I sometimes mix a little veg into his food as a treat this seems ok, although I steer away from peas and sweetcorn.

hope they all get better very soon ! ruby is almost back to her cheeky self :wgglethankfully ).. ive just got a small bag of burns dried food and a tin im going to try as its hypoallergenic .does anyone feed this to their dogs or can they recomend a good food i had not long switched to iams which i have found is rubbish although my vet swears by it ! i would pay anything if i could find a really great food she likes ..

Glad your Ruby seems better today (mine's slightly better too! ) just a bit windy now! icon_blshing I give James Wellbeloved food and swear by it although she only eats Turkey and Rice (such a fusspot!) If you go on their website you can order a free sample to try.Hope things continue to improve.