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Hi, my 2 yo Spitzoodle is normally a happy busy little girl. However, last night we fed her. ( I gave her a chicken piece as well, from dominos: like a nugget: I know a bad idea)We woke up this morning she is really tired, she threw up the chicken twice, she has diareaoh with )possible red fluid/streak minimal; not sure if its blood) and she wont eat or drink today. She is still walking around but wont play (she is still being affectionate towards us though)the Vet is very expensive here in aus, however we love her very much. Any advice would be appreciated
Optional Information: Type of Dog: SpitzoodleDog's Gender: FemaleDog's Age: 2Name of Dog: WalkerWhat have you tried so far?: playing, feeding her (proper dog food) and water. **normally eats and drinks all the time*** but not at moment
Hello, I am very sorry to hear about your girl.
If she is not used to table food, especially fatty fried food this could very well be a reaction to that. The concern is foods high in fats can trigger a bout of pancreatitis. This is inflammation of the pancreas which leads to increased enzyme production, abdominal pain, vomiting and if severe enough, peritonitis.
At this point we can try some things at home but she may need to see a veterinarian if she isn't coming along well.
To try and settle her stomach today you can try either:1) Pepcid-ac (famotidine) at one 10mg tablet per 20 to 40 pounds of body Weightevery 12 hours.OR 2) Prilosec (omeprazole) at one 10mg tablet per 20 to 40 pounds of body weightevery 24 hours.These will reduce stomach acid and should help if this is related to simple nausea and gastrointestinal irritation.I would not feed her any food for 24 hours even after the acid reducers are started.This should help stop gut spasms and restore normal gut motility.
Small amounts of water or ice cubes given frequently are fine as she needs fluids after all that she has lost with vomiting and diarrhea. You can give her pedialyte to replace electrolytes too but Gatorade is much too high in sugar which can make her intestinal irritation worse.
Today even with the fast you can start Kao-pectate at 1ml per pound or 1 tablespoon per 15 pounds of body weight every 6 to 8 hours. This is quite safe and will coat her irritated gi tract as well as absorbing bacterial toxins. You can use it for several days until her stools look normal. You can find kao-pectate at the drug store.If she has a tense painful abdomen, continues to have diarrhea after being on kao pectate for 24 to 48 hours, becomes very lethargic, begins vomiting again or runs a fever greater than 103.5F then she really must be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible. Make sure to take a fresh stool sample with you when you go to make sure that gastrointestinal parasites aren't part of her problem.If things are going well after her food fast start a bland diet of 1/3 boiled hamburger (or white skinless chicken), all fats and juices drained off mixed with 2/3 boiled, plain white rice. Feed several small meals a day. You might wish to add 1 tablespoon of canned pumpkin to each meal if you are seeing mucous in her stool as fiber helps soothe an irritated colon.Once she feels better (no bloody diarrhea for 72 hours) start mixing in her regular Dog Food very slowly. Less bland more regular with each day. It should take a week or so to convert her back.
If Walker is continuing to vomit and feeling poorly though it would be best that she see her regular veterinarian now as anything you give her orally will just come back up worsening her dehydration.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Experience: 19 years of experience treating dogs, cats, mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, & iguanas
Sorry, her name was chloe, Walker was my surname, Thanks soo much for your advice as we have previously had siet issues with her
Whoops! Sorry about that, I thought Walker was an unusual name for a female dog but you never know.
I hope she is back to herself soon. Just take it very easy with re-introducing her regular food if she has a sensitive stomach to begin with.
Let me know how things go for her or if you have any further questions.
Thanks Doc, I know you have already answered question. But if you cant anser this briefly Its ok I understand.
I read that Peancreatis can be a issue over time, as this isnt her first time. Is this a concern for us. Plus I heard could be linked to diabetes
Thanks again for your help. We love her very much thats all :)
No problem, this is all part of your original question.
Pancreatitis can be a smoldering problem from multiple insults but sometimes all of the sudden we can see it from an insult from a high fat meal. I've seen it present both ways. It's hard to say whether this is what is going on with her or not. The only good way to diagnose pancreatitis is with a blood test called canine specific pancreatic lipase. We can tentatively diagnose it in a dogs with a known exposure to a high fat meal, abdominal pain with palpation, vomiting, sometimes fever and dehydration.
If a dog has several episodes of pancreatitis this can lead to scarring of the pancreas, and with that diabetes due to loss of the cells that produce insulin.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks Dr Kara, My wife has taken Chloe to the vet!
You have been a great help.
You are very welcome, please let me know how things go for her. I completely understand your concern for your little one.
Hi Clint,I'm just following up on our conversation about Walker. How is everything going?Dr Kara
Hi Dr Kara,
Thank you for your message. Sorry (my fault) her name is XXXXX X listed it as Walker, when that was my surname..lol.
Anyway got her back from vet yesterday, blood tests and xray showed no pancreatitis (sorry for spelling) or no clear obstruction. However, they gave her something where beads are suppose to pass through her, however they didnt straight away (vet said they should have but could be due to stagnant gut from the vommiting diareaoh etc. However they did move through her later.
So they have think its a diet issue, that had change reaction. She was on fluid therapy for 2 days (it really perked her up) So she is on some special intestinenal low fat food for a while.
She seems to be ok now. So I guess if it was a growth or Cancer that should have showed up in blood test results or xray, as they didnt mention this. However they said she should be fine but may may have certain allergies. But now I worry about Cancer or a growth (however, Vet didnt mention this and I suppose she is not even 2 yet)
Thanks for you follow up, you h
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Thanks for following up with me, I really appreciate it.
I'm glad to hear that she doesn't have pancreatitis, that can be a lifelong battle.
I suspect that the beads moved though her gastrointestinal system more slowly then usual because she had been vomiting. Vomiting changes the gastrointestinal tract's normal propulsive action throughout the tract and can actually lead to stasis or reverse motility actions. If she had a true obstruction they would have stopped at that site and moved no further. Although many cancers don't change bloodwork values at all until the cancer metastasizes (or spreads and affects other organs) 2 years of age would be very young and given that the beads did come through eventually means that is very unlikely as well. I wouldn't worry about cancer given the results you have and her age.
It is reasonable to think that she reacted to something that she was fed and you'll just need to be very careful with her diet from here on out. She's a pup that just cannot handle table scraps or too many treats, especially fatty or seasoned treats.
Thanks for the update, best of luck with your girl and please let me know if you have any further questions.
Thank you so much! Take care
You are very welcome, you take care as well. Thank you, Dr Kara.