Bella's parvo scare!

Hello everyone,

It all started yesterday. Bella drank some milk my husband had put out for Max (my cat) and I caught Bella drinking it (I didn't realise it was there and now we separate all cat things). So anyway, Bella had diarrhea and I thought it was from the milk. This morning she had an accident on the floor and when I went to clean it up I noticed blood in it and absolutely panicked! I took her to my parents and asked them to take her to the VET (it was too late to call in sick) so they took her to the vet and she tested negative for parvo thank goodness! The Vet said she has hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and has antibiotics and a special diet for a week. Whilst this isn't good, I am very glad it isn't parvo. The vet said we got her there early so she shouldn't dehydrate or go into shock.

Oh what a scare!!! You must have been so worried!!! Good on you for acting fast, things can change so quickly with these little ones. Glad Bella is checked out and will be on the up and up now with meds and the food for a week. Poor thing.

On a side note...what is hemorrhagic gastroenteritis? Was it from the milk?

They don't know the exact cause. It can happen from a change in diet apparently but could be bacterial, they don't know. It is quite common in toy breeds and puppies.

Haemorrhagic gastroenteritis can be a killer. It usually comes from dogs picking up infected food and can develop VERY quickly, so that speed is of the essence. It's a particular danger for Cavaliers because it's difficult to stop the piggies scavenging! The infection gallops through the body; early signs are sudden vomiting and diarrhoea. The subject comes up regulalry on the forum, so if you search for 'gastroenteritis' you'll find plenty of info.

My first Cavalier Charlie ate a good supper on Monday night, was slightly sick twice on Tuesday morning, developed diarrhoea later in the day, was whipped to the vet's on Tuesday afternoon and died on Wednesday morning. He was 4.5 years old. Better to get a reputation for being a fussy owner than delay getting possible gastroenteritis to the vet.

Kate, Oliver and Aled - and always remembering my joyful Charlie

Hi there- good for you acting so fast- Ruby has had Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis twice in the last 6months of the year.

Like Kate said it can come on very quickly- with Ruby it has been Diarrhea rather than vomiting and each time she has had between 3 and 7 day stays at the vet .

She is an absolute nightmare for scavenging and I have managed to contain this with training discs and enforcing the 'spit' command,

She has been very quick to catch on and so thankfully haven't needed the muzzle yet!

It has cost me a fortune but she have my little lady causing havoc!!