Nightmare weekend... Part 2

[Mustelid 143]

I've been very fortunate to get a fantastic little pup from Chipper, out of his bitch Nell. Skye is my pride and joy, but on Sunday evening I thought I was going to lose her...

 

On Sunday morning I noticed that she wasn't quite herself and she didn't seem to want to eat. I did eventually get her to eat a little scrambled egg. I kept an eye on her through the day and at 5 pm I brought her into the kitchen and fed her a little bit of well soaked puppy food and tuna. She did not look right at all.

 

When she got back to the kennel she had the runs bad and she also vomitted her food back up. She was dehydrating fast and so I called the vet who is a good friend of mine. He met me at the surgery at 8 pm as a favour - all out of hours work is dealt with by an emergency service - and gave Skye some antibiotics, painkiller and anti-sickness drug. Sadly, it looked like it might be parvo...

 

I took her home and tried to syringe some lectade into her. She didn't have the energy to lap any of it up. Poor little Skye really did look she was going to die there and then in front of me - fecking heart breaking situation. I called my mate again and we decided to get her to the emergency vets and get her on a drip. By now she was lifeless and I didn't think she would survive the twenty minute car journey. She was on a drip by 10pm and I was told that it looked like parvo and that she had little chance. By now I was thinking that I might lose the two cocker pups I had back home and the three adult dogs too if parvo was in my kennels...

 

Well... she survived the night and was bright enough for me to bring her home yesterday afternoon and the vet ruled out parvo. The most likely explanation was a nasty bacterial gastro enteritis bug that the antibiotics were sorting out. I was over the moon as I didn't sleep a wink Sunday night waiting for the dreded phone call.

 

She is very perky today and has already started to put a bit of weight back on. I've got some lactol to help with that and she's on antibotics for the next five days. However, she still has runny shits with a little blood, as do the cocker pups so I'm suspecting a little bit of colitis. The adult dogs have also had the shits so a nasty stomach bug does seem the likely cause of Skye's brush with death.

 

I get all my dogs insured, but I hadn't insured any of the pups yet as I've been looking around for an insurer that does a discount for a job lot (I'm with M&S at the moment), plus what can go wrong when they're not even leaving the kennel until after their second jab?! So... Skye has made me £250 - £300 lighter.... but she's worth it. She's in a cage in the kitchen for the moment just for observation and driving me flippin mental! Her screaming her head off is music to my ears, given that I was adamant she wouldn't live to see Monday morning....

[Pignut 4]

Dogs, who'd have 'em? Well done, you did everything you could and you're coming out the other side now. Scary and always on a sodding weekend too. With mine it is usually a Bank holiday Sunday!!!

 

Keep an eye on the others. Take things slowly. Weight gain is not everything, hydration is more important. Feed little and often and light stuff. I would also, again, keep a diary. You have more than one dog and it could get all muddled up of who shits when and where and what it was like!

 

Cheers

Pignut.

[shell 42]

My old lurcher had something very similar when she was 11 weeks old. She spent a week in the vets on a drip, and it was touch and go at times, but she pulled through. The vets weren't sure if it was parvo or a gastro type bug. Atol went down hill really quickly, it was over night. She was fine when she went to bed that night, starting being sick and with the trots during the night, and was in the vets on a drip by mid morning.

It's scary how quick it happens.

Hope your Skye is ok.

Shell

[Terrier man 38]

Two of my dogs had colits last week and a kidney infection it spreds like wild fire but the kidney and colon go hand in hand ... but clears up fast and there in better health then ever now... only thing is once they have had a kidney infection and colitis there more pron to geting it again then a dog that never had it...

 

goodluck with the pup fella..

[Mustelid 143]

Thank you all for the kind comments. Skye has been quite perky today, tail wagging etc. But... she still has major bad runs. It's like liquid coming from her. Plus, she is urinating every coupleof minutes and even straining to urinate. I don't want to be one of these hypochondriac owners, but she may go back to the vets this evening. However, she is bouncing in herself and eating well... Perhaps the diarrhoea is a result of the lactol she had at breakfast time?

[Terrier man 38]

Thank you all for the kind comments. Skye has been quite perky today, tail wagging etc. But... she still has major bad runs. It's like liquid coming from her. Plus, she is urinating every coupleof minutes and even straining to urinate. I don't want to be one of these hypochondriac owners, but she may go back to the vets this evening. However, she is bouncing in herself and eating well... Perhaps the diarrhoea is a result of the lactol she had at breakfast time?

 

 

Make sure what ever elese you do that she has access to plenty of fresh water as when a dog has the runs it uses up an way more water then usual .. just to make she does not get dehydrated... also to stop her geting the runs you could try and bind her stomach .. theres quiet a few ways of doing so some say bread and eggs yokes mixed up does it... iv never had to but you could give it a go..

 

all the best

 

TM

[activeviii 8]

same happened to my cocker pup a few weeks ago.

 

vet said it could have been a mouldy stick he had played with from after the floods.

 

he gave him a jab, steroid i think he said, to help stop the pup wanting to poo all the time as every ten minutes he was trying to go, all that was coming out was red watery mess. this worked a treat and pup was holding himself together quite well.

he said it can be very common in cockers and that we should get some kaolin in the house and if it happens again to give him 2.5ml, it will turn his poo white but soon be back to normal. the kaolin was from the kids section at the chemist, 79p.

 

hope things get back to normal for you soon

 

regards

Phil

 

forgot to add. vet told us to starve the pup for 12 hours, 24hrs for and adult, and then small amounts or fish, rice, boiled chicken, mash plain potato. do this until his stool if firm again and then give it 24hrs more, then start to slowly add hid Burns food in but slowly as just a change in a puppies diet can cause the runs. all is good now with Teague.

Edited December 21, 2008 by activeviii

[Guest mickyrichardson]

Glad to here the pup is on the road to recovery gastro is awful when a dog picks it up i had a dog she got it at 6 month old and she was bad so cant imagine what your pup was like ATB MICKY

[antg 1,787]

lactol will give her the shits. i would stop giving her it. mix some full fat yogart and evaporated milk and it will be better for her IMO

[activeviii 8]

cows products are not good for dogs as they can not digest the lactose and all you get is an other runny bum. you might get away with it as some dogs might tolerate a small amount.

 

a google search of cows milk for dogs ill confirm this.

 

if a dogs gut suffers anything like i do with milk then no wall would i give it. i was told by a mate that he gave his dog milk every night until the dog was 18mths old, ok the dog is a best of a lab but a good puppy food would have given the same as once a dog has been weaned it cant digest cows milk.

 

Goats milk has no lactose and is kinder on they gut but there is now a cows milk that has no lactose in and taste just the same as normal milk or theres rice milk aswell. anything but cows.

 

merry christmas

 

Phil