Going insane with Phoebe

Haven't had a full night's sleep with her wanting to go out and eat grass at night. If I try and stick it out she just barks and whines. She also has a bit of diarrohea at the moment. And the best bit of all is that I get to go and teach teenagers while she sleeps all day. HELP!

I would guess there's a connection between the urge to eat grass and the diarrhoea, so hopefully they'll both stop together! In the meantime, you can get trays of grass for house cats - or make one of your own by digging up some grass from the garden - so that she doesn't need to go outside for her self-prescribed medicine.

Kate, Oliver and Aled

PS Unless there's a more serious reason for the diarrhoea, you could try putting a little cornflour on Phoebe's food, which is gentle but works well!

Yes I too think they are connected. Mine sometimes seem to pick up a tummy bug and it can take a while to go. I always find using one of those digestive pastes from the vets like prokolin for a few days really helps. You can order it for much less from the UK and keep it in the house. It is nearly twice as much at the vets!

Rylie ALWAYS wants to eat grass when his tummy is upset. He was starting to wake up every night in the middle of the night for the same thing. If I didn't let him out he'd vomit up foam. When I brought him in I noticed his tummy rumbling something terrible. What solved this for us - and I'm sure it is going to depend on the reason for the upset tummy is going back to three meals a day and feeding his last one later in the evening. He doesn't seem to do well on an empty tummy (I split what he was already getting into three meals he didn't get extra food).

It might be worth a try.

Hi

As K and K say it seem a tummy bug.I always ensure I have these in stock.

Canikur tablets

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-suppleme...canikur-anti-diarrhoeal-tablets-for-dogs-p-81

Prokolin paste

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-suppleme...prokolin-antidiarrhoeal-probiotic-paste-p-249

Kaogel suspension

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-suppleme...l-vp-veterinary-kaolin-suspension-480ml-p-906

Rehydration powder

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-suppleme...lectade-small-animal-rehydration-powder-p-905

Of course I don't use them all at the same time but sometimes one is more effective than the other ,sleep well .
Or take her to school and that would be fun for all .

We use the same solution as Mindysmom. Our vet actually suggested going to three meals and it has made a world of difference - way fewer upset tummy times.

I've also found that if I just let her out to eat grass to her heart's content, she feels better much sooner than if I don't let her eat grass.

I do feel for you not having a good nights sleep. We have been having the same problems with Jasper my eldest who had colitis just over 2 weeks ago and had vet appt and various medication to sort him out. The colitis has now gone but he had really bad nights last week, getting up in the night and eating grass etc, he finally seems to have settled now. I was given Pro kolin at the vets and have just ordered some for my store cupboard, and much cheaper than to buy at vets, I was quite shocked at the difference in the price on line, it seems pretty good.

Brian I note you have some rehydration powder on your list. Just out of interest do your dogs drink it when poorly and how do you manage to keep it separate from the other dogs. Jasper was given this at vets but I never used it as although I have 2 bowls of water in the home and one in Ollie`s crate, they both drink from the same bowl most of the time and I am not really able to keep it separate, Jasper has never been crated so could`nt really do it like that and put him in a crate.

I have recently changed Jasper`s eating pattern to 3 meals a day and increased his food intake as he was losing weight, and this seems to have helped. Hope you get a good nights sleep soon.

Very familiar story. We also have Maddie on 3 meals a day, which helps as like the others she doesn't do well on an empty stomach. Again like others have said, if she needs to eat grass it is actually better to let her do it than to try and stop her.

Good luck with settling her down. You will probably find that when the diarrhoea settles the grass eating does as well.

Took Phoebe to the vet this evening as she was not herself at lunchtime. She was given anti biotics and a paste as well. If she hasn't improved by Wednesday she is being put on a drip. Here's to a good night's sleep tonight!!