Prayers for Missie, please & a couple questions

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Well, on top of Missie's terrible allergies... I was on vacation this week and got home yesterday night. My family took care of the dogs while I was gone, and one night on the phone my mom told me Missie's scratching was getting worse (despite giving her Benadryl), and I'd probably need to take her to the vet when I got home. So I came home to dog hair everywhere (she had been scratching alot, as she normally doesn't lose hair), and several spots of throw up on one of my rugs. No one in the family had seen or heard her throwing up, so I figured she must've done it Wed. night (she sleeps in my room). Well, this morning we got up at 6:30 and she went out and pooped (I saw her poop from the window so I didn't see the poop), and then I was awakened around 9:30 to her pooping on my floor! Upon cleaning it up I discovered it was pretty watery. The rest of the morning and afternoon she pooped diarreah about twice more. I had called the vet to make an appt. for her allergies, and couldn't get in with our regular vet until next week (so we have that appt.), but after hanging up I went to the livingroom and found more watery poop, and upon closer inspection a very small strand of blood. So I flipped out and called the vet and asked to get her in today for that. The good thing was, she had eaten (no vomiting today, and before she'd had diarreah more than once) and her energy level was normal.

So we went in this afternoon, and the vet couldn't determine anything that would be causing the symptoms. He did a full blood panel, urinalysis, fecal float (I think it was called a "float" but I'm laughing at myself saying that!), antibiotic injection, subQ fluids (which I'm pretty sure she peed all of on my floor about an hour or two ago!!), and was going to have her eat a different, high-fiber food (long story short they didn't have a small bag and I was questioning abruptly switching food to FIX vomiting and diarreah). We also talked a little about allergies and he gave me an education on how I'm supposed to be shampooing her.

So my question: Should I get the food? Or can I supplement some high-fiber, bland foods to help? I'm keeping an eye on things overnight to see if there's any improvement.

You know what's funny is I swear we JUST did a blood panel (he's concerned about her liver, by the way. They won't even be able to send it in until Mon. unfortunately), but there was no record of it in her charts (except back in Feb. or March).

So I don't know if I should be worried or not. I read online about colitis (I think?), where swallowing alot of fur can cause diarreah with a little bit of blood in it. With all her chewing I wonder if she's been swallowing some. The anxiety when your baby is sick is just horrible! So good thoughts for us, please! And thank you if you read all of this. I know I'm long-winded.

[Cassiepeia]

I know how horrible it is when your baby is sick. All my very best thoughts are with you and Missie. I hope she gets better quickly.
I probably would switch foods if the vet really thought that it would help with the vomiting etc... But I might do it gradually with half an half at first and then more with each feed. Slightly faster than you would usually introduce it but slow enough to let the dog get use to it (well...hopefully).

Keep us updated.

Cass.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Just my opinion here as I'm not a vet but I too would question such an abrupt food switch. If it were me I'd take her off her current food and go to the rice and boiled hamburger until her runny stools were under control. Seems to me that she needs a bit of "bulk" which could be easily given in the form of canned pumpkin but in all honesty the rice and burger should do the trick alone. Wouldn't be something I would recommend doing without discussing it with your vet but it's something I would ask if it were me. jmo

Colitis is very possible. Has your vet recommended a course of action for her allergies yet or waiting on the blood panel before going further? I hope she feels better soon!

[keekers]

poor thing! how old is she? don't be too worried as of now though because we went through issues with lucy & the vet said it can easily be something they ate (that makes mucus/blood in stool) & just going on the bland food (do your own rice thing-cheaper) for a few days will help. if not- then i would wonder. did they give her any antibiotics? good luck...

[Shadowkins]

Poor little girl! Anxious to see what the vet has to say but you got some wonderful advice, so I would try that in the mean time. Hope she will be feeling better soon. Keep us posted.

[britishbandit]

Oh wow, I'm so sorry. Porr Missie.
I too would be concerned about a switching food. That seems a little odd to me. I'd think that would only make things worse, but hey, I'm no vet.
Sending my best wishes yours and Missies way, and hope you get to the bottom of this! I hope Missie is feeling better very soon.
Big hugs from me and the gang!

[sammy]

I was going to say the same thing as crossfire. I would just give her white rice & chicken broth for a day then white rice with some chicken and a spoonful of canned pumpkin (just make sure it's plain pumpkin, not pie filling with sugar etc) That will be far easier to digest than any kibble and I wouldn't add fiber until her tummy has settled. (the pumpkin is for fiber) Lots of people would say fast her for a day and just give her chicken broth, then add white rice, then if things have settled down add the chicken and pumpkin.
Good luck.
Do you know what the allergy is? If not I would make it a priority to do a real elimination diet. If it turns out not to be food and it's environmental, you can throw out all your dog beds (they often harbor the allergens), vacuum like a mad woman and try an air purifier. You can also have allegy testing done.

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Cass, he said complete switch right away; that's what made me uncomfortable. Because I know personal experiences just adding things like canned pumpkin or rice and such, it doesn't make sense that he'd want me to buy a prescription diet to use for just a few days. My dad went with me and he asked about rice; the vet said it has been used "forever" and in his opinion, made things worse.

My personal opinion is this vet has an ego, and I could kind of tell when he was getting on his high horse instead of being down-to-earth helpful. So the advice when he was on his high horse I took with a grain of salt, and that's where I feel more comfortable with you guy's experience.

Crossfire:

Just my opinion here as I'm not a vet but I too would question such an abrupt food switch. If it were me I'd take her off her current food and go to the rice and boiled hamburger until her runny stools were under control. Seems to me that she needs a bit of "bulk" which could be easily given in the form of canned pumpkin but in all honesty the rice and burger should do the trick alone. Wouldn't be something I would recommend doing without discussing it with your vet but it's something I would ask if it were me. jmo

Colitis is very possible. Has your vet recommended a course of action for her allergies yet or waiting on the blood panel before going further? I hope she feels better soon!

Thank you for your input! Should I use brown rice? I can easily get either, but I think I heard brown rice at least has more nutritional content, correct? This vet (the fourth we've seen for allergies) seemed to think carpet and furniture were the culprit for her allergies. I've been bathing her wrong (not using the shampoo so it's effective), so I may've been making things worse for her. He gave me lengthy proper instructions, so I know what to do with that now! Her allergies he assumed (probably rightly so) to be environmental, and without using prednisone or cortisone (that have ugly side effects and possible long-term damage) there's not much you can do. Our house is already pretty hypoallergenic (he ran through a list and we had none of it, except we occasionally light a candle in the livingroom!), it's just the carpet in the livingroom and the furniture that may be harboring allergens. Fortunately we did just put a wood floor in my room and the hall, so she's not constantly subjected to that. Oh, once her poops are normal (they were this morning!) should I give her a bit of plain yogurt to help restore tummy contents? The other reason I suspected colitis was because she's had horrible gas recently.

Keekers, thank you for your input! Missie is 7 years old. She did have an antibiotic injection.

Sammy, I know about the pumpkin but don't believe I've seen it before. What type of aisle would it be on at the grocery store? Or is there a brand you could name? I want to make sure to get the right thing! Her allergies aren't food, as we've done that whole thing. They're seasonal (but never went away last Fall up until recently), so I believe them to be environmental (which makes them very difficult to treat). She sleeps with me, so we actually don't have any dog beds in the house (Ollie just has a blankie in his crate). And we do have a Hepa filter air purifier--big as Radio Shack had, as my dad says. Allergy testing wasn't recommended by the last vet, as he said it would be expensive and inconclusive. I'm not opposed to it except I'm afraid it'll just show up she's allergic to some weed or plant that we have no control over!

A new twist: Ollie has diarreah this morning. I woke up to him whimpering and got up to take him out. I suddenly noticed it smelled horrible, but Missie hadn't done anything on the floor, so I looked inside the crate and it was all over. Poor little guy!! I think he pooped normally outside after that, but I forgot to go out with them because I went back to clean up Ollie's crate, so the fresh poops could've been either dog's. But there looked to be two fresh poops, both healthy looking.

Do you think it could've been a bad bag of dog food or something? Or what else could it be? Do we need to take both to the vet (and I was just rejoicing that it was the weekend and I didn't have school so I could focus on the dogs!)? I'm off to look up Sheltiemomma's thread where I seem to remember her dogs having similar symptoms one right after the other. Wish us luck getting rid of whatever this is! Ollie's behavior hasn't changed at all either. He's playing with a toy on the couch behind me.

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Since you have a second with the runny stool now I'd guess this to be a viral more than anything else but a bad bag of food is always possible.

Again, I'm not a vet but I'd start both of them of the burger and rice and since it will only be for a short time it really won't matter which type of rice you use. Your vet is right, hamburger and rice has been used forever....if it isn't broke don't fix it! lol I've yet to see a dog get worse when hamburger and rice is used unless there is another medical issue involved.

Once her stool has remained solid for 24 hours or more then yes, I'd give her the plain yogurt with live culture if she were mine. Not too much though or you'll start the runny stool bit again. Small doses over a few days.

The canned pumpkin should be whole pumpkin which you can find at the supermarket but make sure to read the lable as many are pie filling which won't help matters much. You should find it right alone with the other cake and pie products though as far as what aisle.

If your other baby still has the runs after being switched over to the hamburger and rice or shows signs of dehydration ( not drinking normally ) or other signs of illness then yes, I'd have that one to the vet as well. jmo

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Thanks so much, Crossfire! I'll make a trip to the store then and get hamburger, rice, and pumpkin. Thanks so much!!

Keeping a close eye on Ollie for now, too.

[sammy]

The pumpkin will be in the baking isle with the pumpkin pie filling.
If your dog typically eats chicken based kibble, I would consider cooked chicken for the rice bland diet rather than hamburger. I complete switch in protein sources can cause GI upset - if you know your dog is fine with beef then go for it- probably tastes better anyway. I just can't because I have one dog who gets the runs from beef or venison so just be aware of that possibility.
I think conventional wisdom for bland diet is to use white rice because it's easiest to digest but if things are already improving it probably doesn't matter. I would still stick to the bland diet for a week and then switch back to your kibble gradually.

[TinyAlbinoDancer]

Well, I discovered we had pure canned pumpkin in the cupboard! I'd thought it was pie filling this whole time! Both dogs are on Canidae, so chicken isn't their primary protein source. They just finished some hamburger, rice, and pumpkin (I wasn't sure how much pumpkin to give, so I have a table spoon size amount to each). So we'll see how that goes down. Thanks so much everyone for your help. I don't know what I would do without you guys. My vet's office constantly has different vets, and my regular vet is difficult to get an appt. quickly with, so if I didn't have my small core group of people I trust I'd be lost! Thank you, thank you. I feel so much better being able to do something with confidence, and don't worry so much about it being serious (still anxiously awaiting test results, though).

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

Since both your babies I believe are fairly small I'd only give a teaspoon of pumpkin at a time. Since you gave a full tablespoon tonight ( if they ate all of it ) give it a day or so before giving it again.

We don't want to have them go from runny stool to not being able to go at all. Typically if you feed the rice and burger for at least three days and then start slowly adding dog food back in your good to go.