Just as a warning, today’s post talks about dog nasty. I won’t be offended at all if you skip it and come back tomorrow!
So, on Monday night, B.B. unexpectedly threw up. It looked like poop, so I just rolled my eyes wondering when exactly he had eaten poop (since I’m with him every time he’s outside). He didn’t have his usual evening appetite after that, but I didn’t think that much of it. After all, if I had just eaten and then vomited back out feces, I probably wouldn’t be hungry either.
Tuesday morning, he woke up and wolfed down a giant breakfast, so I assumed all was well. About half an hour later, he was laying on his bed next to me, both of us doing our own thing. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he started making that horrible sound dogs make when they’re about to puke. He spewed his entire breakfast all over his bed and the carpet.
I yanked him away from it before he could eat it, and again didn’t think much of it. After all, I’ve seen many a canine throw up after eating way too much. I cleaned it up, got him a new blanket to lie on, and went back to work.
Long story short, I got no work done that day. He began throwing up violently and repeatedly. After doing that about seven times, he looked at me with complete shame and desperation. I said, “it’s okay buddy, we’ll take you to see the doggy doctor.” Before I could even finish my sentence, his eyes got big and diarrhea literally started shooting out the other end.
I finally got hold of the vet, but he was in surgery for the next two hours. After a while, it was obvious B.B. only felt comfortable in one place, his litter box, though he wouldn’t sit down. He just stood inside of it looking at me like he was going to explode again at any moment.
I can’t say I blame him. When I have some nasty stomach bug, I like to keep within arm’s reach of the John.
We finally got him into the vet, poop sample in tow. They ran some tests on his stools and found giardia, along with some other stomach bacteria, both wreaking havoc inside our little pooch. They gave us a super-shampoo, instructions to sanitize our entire house, and a bunch of different doggy pills.
He still couldn’t eat or drink the rest of the night. I let B.B. sleep in my room, and by morning he was a bouncing, happy, hungry dog again!
I just looked at him and said, I’m taking that $140.00 out of your allowance.
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
Anybody else have a sick pet story they’d care to share?
I'm against giving our dog bones. I don't like it, I can get behind rawhides and bully sticks, but they way bones break scare me. My husband hasn't had that fear before so it was nothing for him to give our 80 pound petit pit bull Helga the bone from our pork roast two nights ago. (I hadn't even realized I'd bough a bone-in roast, I usually get the boneless ones.) I tried to maintain my composure as Helga went to town on that thing. She drug it all over the house and I think she ended up eating it either in her room (laundry room) or in my bedroom. Regardless, she consumed the ENTIRE thing, bone, bits of meat, everything.
We have twin 3-year-old girls so we're not new to having to clean up poop, but what happened yesterday was horrible. I arrive home later than my husband from work so he picks the girls up from school on his way home. The back door is usually unlocked for me when I get there but last night, as I pulled in to the carport, it was wide open. The stench reaching out to the street. I fought my way through to find out what had happened and why it wasn't cleaned up yet (we have a you find it, you clean it rule) and the second wave of stench hit me like a truck. The entire house was consumed by the most awful, vomit inducing smell.
Apparently the bone had not set well with Helga. I can only imagine what ensued from everything that had to be cleaned up yesterday, and I don't know which parts came out the front end and which came out the back. There was goo on our bed, on the floor, all over the living room, and yes, all over her room (thankfully her room is tile). Husband took the living room and bedroom while I donned my homemade haz-mat suit (a must for any parent of multiples) and hit the back room. I scrubbed the tile with vinegar and my shark steam mop until it no longer made me want to run screaming from the house.
And then I calming asked my husband 'can we agree that we don't give the dog bones anymore?'
Bocephus, our boston terrier.
So the night before our little saga, Bo was about to run to the front door, as is his habit, because someone had knocked. On the way there, he started yelping. Painful sound that was constant for about 45 seconds. But that stopped, and he was moving slow but seemed otherwise fine. I attributed it to his breed and possibly some joint pain. I'd make sure he slept somewhere warm and let his old dog bones recover, right? I even made sure to cover him up that night because he was shaking a little. Maybe the central air was a bit much for him on this particular summer night.
Next morning, I figure he's the little old man, and it'll be a bit before he gets up. So when everyone is up and around, I call the dogs to go out to do their business.
Bo doesn't come. He's laying in his spot, not moving. His eyes are dilated and semi-unresponsive to light in them, and he looks panicked. I try to help him sit up, and he just falls back down on his side. He CAN'T move! I'm scared.
My little dude and I load up in the car, and he holds Bo in his lap, and starts speaking to Bo in a soothing voice and telling him he's gonna be okay and the vet is going to fix it.
Sure enough, Bo had a brain infection. He couldn't even eat on his own. He was on an IV for the entire weekend with antibiotics, under constant veterinary care. When we brought him back home, I had to put a towel under his midsection for a few days, because when he'd try to hike his leg, he'd fall over and pee all over himself. He would have just the most ashamed look a dog could have... the old man had to squat like a little girl dog because he'd lost so much of his motor skills. We were told he'd be a long time in healing. We even had to go to walgreens to fill a prescription for him... stuff that helps folks in their later years with control over dementia and other brain issues.
Bo was mostly back to himself in three weeks, except for trying to keep up with our agile little westie, Willie, as they raced around the back yard. We had to wrap his front paws while he was outside because he'd drag his left leg a bit like a cerebral palsy sufferer. (That's to give people an idea of how he was holding his leg, for anyone who thought I meant offense...)
He still has some problems. He's a little wobbly, and doesn't seem fully aware of his surroundings or even his own name when he first wakes up. His poor rearend has leakage issues now, which means he has to sleep in his own separate bed, instead of with a member of the family like he had grown accustomed to... and now he can only eat ONE kind of dog food, and treats are rare, because the whole experience also left his tummy a mess that has to be regulated. Since he can't get out and run like he used to, his diet has to be portioned according to his activity. Throw in a healthy dose of arthritis and joint problems during cold months and due to age. He lays on his blanket a lot these days. He's still generally cheerful and loving. He doesn't even seem to mind the changes much.
My little Chihuahua is crazy and eats everything off the floor. She pretty much pukes up the stuff every night at like, 3:00am
everything of course being carpet fiber, little pieces of paper or plastic, cat litter, animal hair....
Don't let them eat, chocolate, onions, or grapes. They all do exactly what you described to dogs, especially small dogs.
Just a tip we accidentally poisoned our dog a few times because our kids like to feed him.
the one that I love is the "how to give a cat a pill" http://www.nanceestar.com/CatPill.html
Glad he is ok and doing better
We had a boxer (our first) that had horrible seperation anxiety. He eventually did alright as long as he had "safe" things to chew on (Kong, a knotted rope, etc) but if those were somehow unavailable, he'd chew on other items. One morning, my husband left early for work, and somehow Emmitt managed to get closed in our then-4-year-old's room. The Kong did not live in that room. He had heard my husband leave, and panicked. Poor guy destroyed my daughter's favorite Barbie doll.
I *thought* I had found most of the pieces (minus a hand, an ear, and part of a leg) but when Emmitt started vomiting later in the day, I took him in to see the vet. Turns out, Barbie's thigh didn't settle too well, and the vet said it was the first time anyone had identified a doll apendage in an x-ray. The vet recommended an easy diet and to try to let it pass, but if the vomiting didn't stop in a day to bring him back. Either it came out naturally or it disintigrated because we never had any other Barbie pieces come out the front end.
Glad to hear BB is feeling better!
Oh thank goodness it was something as easy as Giardia! When he threw up his -entire- breakfast I was afraid he'd eaten a sock or something and gotten impacted... That would be easily over a thousand dollars worth of vet bill.... :(
So glad he'll be okay. :)
My cat Mithril (1975-95) every so often wanted out (no cat flap in the apartment) in the middle of the night, when I was hoping to get *some* sleep--chronic insomniac, me. About 15-30 min. later, I would hear her puking. I'd grab a paper towel, clean it up, and send her outside.
Took the sleepy brain quite a while to see corrolation and a pattern. So the next time she puked in the night, I told her she wasn't going out. She yowled, and I yelled, and well, we did have a few arguments in her life, but she finally got the message she was out of luck.
As far as I can tell, she only got into fights where she was injured 2-3 times in her life. The first time, she'd been bitten right by the tail, and it was infected. I think she was overnight one night, and when I went to pick her up, I was asked not to bring her back, as she'd apparently hadn't cooperated very much. She healed up just fine.
I'm glad your dog recovered so easily. First time I've ever heard of a *dog* with a litter box!
Poor thing. But I have to be honest here... I'm so glad to hear about someone else who has a puking animal. Seriously... my cat pukes every day... and there's nothing wrong with him. What the heck? This was so NOT in our adoption agreement. When his time comes, I'm thinking fish. Because fish aren't really pets, more like craft projects :)
Glad he's on the mend... -J
Story? How about a damned book? Our golden's most recent habit is eating bananas (skin and all) right off the counter. You can imagine how that ends up.... Glad your dog (are you SURE that's a dog?) is okay :)
My dad gave me and my baby sister 2 labrador puppies one summer when I was 16. My mother and I both worked at the local vet, so we took em in to get checked and shots and everything. Everything went perfectly. 2 days later my puppy, J. Fred Muggs, started puking and diarrhea and couldnt even move. We rushed him into the vet and it turned out he had parvo. He didnt last 24 hours. The next day Mable (my sister's puppy) started puking and diarrhea. we rushed her in. We went thru a week of absolute hell of IV drip 24 hours a day, puke and diarrhea EVERYWHERE, 24 hour monitoring (all this at home, mind you), sitting with her and talking to her the whole time. She survived parvo and was with us for another almost 18 years. Poor baby went thu hell, I hope she's up there in doggy heaven running and playing.
my little ripley used to be on medication, im talking, Kitty Prozac since she had a lot of anxiety and would even hurt herself when she was upset. can you imagine having to forcefeed daily meds to an anxious siamese? i got an earful plenty of times.
thank goodness for good doctors!
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Man, you have some rough doggy luck! Hope BB is okay -- he sure is cute!
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This morning we said good-bye to our oldest dog, Lexi - our almost 13 yr old Lab. She had so many lives that it's amazing that she lived this long. She loved us and all people, but if there was a cat, skunk, chicken, or small animal around - lookout! She was up for the battle! She was sprayed more times, came home with more cat scratches, and other battle wounds. She literally ran into trucks chasing them! Our warrior finally reached the time that we couldn't keep her with us because we knew she hurt even though she's been on medicine to ease her arthritis. She's been so brave for us and it was time for us to be brave and let her go. Aren't our pets the greatest? :)
i am still wrapping my brain around a dog with a litter box. i've never seen that before, and i am wondering how it works out. we have a doggie door, so our pups can get outside whenever they need to, but i am curious--just in case, you know, someday i have to be put into a home... :-)
That's a great story. We have a cat we never wanted that has cost us over $1200 so far. We've never had a mouse though so I let her get away with it.
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I know you don't like cats as much as dogs, so I'll keep this short (because thankfully our dog hasn't been sick yet). Last year, we adopted 2 tiny sister kittens. Even non-cat people agreed they were adorable. We'd had them two weeks when the littlest one, Valkyrie, started throwing up every 30 minutes or so, for about 9 hours. The emergency vet we took her to gave her a camel hump thing to keep her hydrated & x-rays that said nothing was lodged and blood tests that said nothing was wrong. Eventually she managed to puke up some small piece of plastic and get on with her tiny life. Two weeks after that, I found her sister, Ruzulka, bleeding from the eye. Seems during the night, Valkyrie had tried to crawl over 'Zulka's head and got a claw through her eyelid. Ouch. So... that month, we spent more on vet bills than on rent. It's a good thing they're so cute & loveable...
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What a cutie pie of a dog :) Love your blog AND the fact that you're from Utah, as am I!
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I feel for you, Giardia is nasty. We rescued a few Persian cats from a hoarder situation, and they came with Coccydia and Giardia. It took 6 months to get it out of the house. They would get better, then a week or two later, it was back. You have to clean *everything* with vinegar. Our house smelled like Easter eggs for a month. It finally got cleared up, but ugh, it was gross. My only saving grace was that the cats stayed near their boxes and thankfully used them (but of course the giardia was tracked through the house via paws). Good luck! There is an herbal remedy for it online that helped, if the medicines fail you. :)
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B.B looks like a gremlin heh
Growing up my dog Max got a tick. It was gross. Little black dog like BB with a bald little lump on his neck. My mom guessed what it was and we spent about 2 hrs carefully digging it out with a pair of tweezers. After the beastie was removed, a little polysporin and a bandage.
The weird thing is Maxwell just sat there while we dug around in his neck!!
Our adorable chihuahua Domino has seizures if he eats anything other then his special food. He has a shunted liver that causes the problem. So we have to give him medicine twice a day and he eats a low protein food.
So, you're at the vet with your ailing dog and a camera, and you think, My blogspot readers would love this! Odd
My dalmatian mix gets the flying poo every summer. As soon as the heat hits she explodes. It only took me 4 years to make the connection to the weather. Which just confirms dogs really are much smarter than us, they just can't tell us.
My dog used to escape through a hole in our back fence and have doggy play dates with our neighbor's giant malamute (my teeny 25 pound puppy versus a full grown 130 pound giant!) They were best buds. Washington (the other dog) had these wonderful stew bones his people gave him to gnaw on. Simon (my dog) decided to help himself, and being the power chewer he is, broke it into teeny tiny bits and managed to swallow a few in the process. After several bouts of throwing up (with now BM's) I took him into the vet and they did an x-ray. Yup, bone fragments in his poor little guts. They shaved his already short-haired stomach, cut him open, pulled three good-sized chunks out, and sewed him back up. I picked up the most pathetic looking dog from the vet, with instructions not to let him jump or run around. I had the intense joy (sarcasm) of cramming three different types of pills into his unwilling jaw for 14 days, not to mention keeping the surgery site clean and away from noses and tongues. We were too glad to take him back in and get the stitches removed and be told he was, once again, the healthiest and BEST pound dog the vet had ever seen.
PSA: don't give your dogs ANY bone that has been cooked. Please only give them smoked bones, or nothing at all. Had we not taken Simon into the vet that day it is likely he would have died from the fragments perforating his intestines :( (He is now 3 years old, and prefers his Kong ball over any other toy, bones included!)
This morning I woke up, clicked on the light and then heard my dog having diarrhea in the kitchen. What a way to start the day. Poor poochies! (and poor us!)
Lots of stories I could tell about family pets, but I think the strangest one belongs to my sisters cat. The crazy thing apparently swallowed a sewing needle which promptly got struck in the poor thing's throat. Had to be surgically removed...
My husband grew up on a farm. One time, during hunting season, they had a deer head that had rotted on in the farmyard (let's not go there...). Their dog at the brains out of the head, but later seemed fine. Later that night, as the dog went to bed in my in-laws room (again, let's not go there...), he barfed all the rotten deer brains all over their bedroom floor. I guess that's when linoleum in the bedrooms really comes in handy.
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Once at the vets for 3 hours at 3am, I find out my cat has asthma, also has to be on a lifetime ashthma inhaler. Have you ever seen how they give inhalers to children with a long tubed mask, well I had one of those, for my cat, which I have to hold on her face every morning. Quite the little chicken dance we do every morning. So then after I picked her up and we were driving home and I looked at her and said "after $1400, you better live a long time".
My sisters dog (Italian Greyhound) is 9 years old. She adopted her from a pet rescue group. Apparently they dogs were kept in kennels 24/7 and were used for breeding like crazy. Anyway, she has anxiety SO bad. The poor dog. If my sister leaves the room the dog follows. She does like my dad though. The poor dog shakes all the time. She was having a little trouble and was taken to the vet. Turns out she just has dog anxiety and it bothers her stomach sometimes. She is on a light diet. The poor dog.
My son's cat went into a depression when he left for college. She would eat mounds of food which she would vomit in huge piles. She wasn't even chewing it up. We had to start monitoring her food and locking up the extra food. Once she bonded with me (like to a ridiculous degree, at my side every waking moment), she stopped the eat and puke cycle. I literally had a cat sleeping with her head on my shoulder every night for two years until he came back home to stay. I sure miss that cat. Her name was Squeedunk.
We got the world's cutest 13 week old black and tan Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy for my son's 6th birthday (June 2010). Once home, we did everything right, vet visit the very next day...got all his immunizations....started him on Revolution right away. At each visit we ran a fecal test, which came back clean every time. About a month ago, he was running around outside after a poo and I noticed something hanging out of his bum. It was an earthworm sized worm. An earthworm sized round worm...you know, the kind that passes to humans....little humans who let the puppy lick their little faces. Henry is fine, the medication did it's job. The kids are fine, but in order to find that out I had to take stool samples into the pediatrician. I Do Not recommend getting yourself into a situation where you have to obtain children's stool samples.
Poor lil guy :(
Our cat, Tabouli, had some issues about 3 months back. Dripping in urine, peeing where he stopped, it was bad. Ended up he had a blockage, that could have been fatal. I was so sad and scared for him. He spent 2 days in the vet hospital, with a catheter, meds, the whole 9 yards. He's now back to being our favorite kitty :) (but with a brand new diet!) Thank goodness for our Vet!
Glad your BB is back to typical pooch behavior!
Lucky for your kitty. My kitty, Sultan, did not have symptoms. It wasn't until I found him in the toilet, literally, that I knew that something was horribly wrong. by that time the blockage was so bad that it had backed up into his kidneys. it took four days for us to realize that he wasn't going to make it and I had to put him down. I stayed with him until the end, and then sobbed for 2 days. He never had any obvious symptoms, you know. didn't complain, and was his total self right up til that one horrible morning. I am happy that your baby recovered.
I am so sorry for your Sultan :(
cool name for a cat!
Well, I have 18 cats and had three dogs at one point, so I have more stories than I can share. I'm glad your doggie is on the mend and that you're a caring and responsible pet owner. I will share one story. My beloved (dearly departed after 14 years) springer spaniel, Dixie, once snacked on a plastic "icicle" from our Christmas tree. We had opted for those rather than tinsil, which we'd been told could make dogs sick if they ate it. The icicle ripped her stomach lining and she was shooting blood out both ends. She nearly died, but recovered completely.
I had a kitten with giardia. I feel your pain, bro!! (He's fine now, by the way! :-) )
My story is sad... but it's cathartic in a way.
My general experience with vets is that while they make your dog/cat better, they're really only in it for the money. When I'd had to take my beloved maltese-cross Trixi (who I'd had for 16 years and who was a 5th birthday present) to the vet to be put down because she was THAT SICK, the vet bitched at me for 20 minutes about the fact that I hadn't made an appointment, then callously stuck the needle in her foreleg and, as soon as she was dead, had the assistant dump her in a plastic bag and take her out back. All the while I cried hysterically. I never even said goodbye.
Two years later, my other dog, Kimba, a Staffie, got sick. She couldn't eat or drink. We tried everything during the week (because my dad and I both worked and my mom couldn't drive). We took her the vet on the Saturday (NOT the bastard we'd seen with Trixi, not even the same clinic). I was very apprehensive, even so.
The vet was wonderful. She gave Kimba some shots to try and bring her appetite back and said to us that she wanted to see us the following morning. She asked if we could be there at 07:00 as she had to teach Sunday school at 09:30 and lived miles away. Now, one thing you must understand is that vets don't really care about you. They're off on their off days, and if you need emergency care out of office hours, tough luck, you have to fork out a fortune for the emergency hospitals. This vet was different.
Kimba showed no change overnight. If anything, she was even more lethargic the next morning. I was beside myself. We arrived at the clinic on time, and the vet saw us. She told us that there was likely no hope, that she suspected cancer, that had been creeping along quietly and simply pounced. Given that Kimba was 14 years old, she recommended we end her suffering, and that dog was so suffering.
The vet gave us time to say our goodbyes and talk to her and tell her we loved her. My dad left the room (he couldn't handle it). I stayed. The vet came back and stroked Kimba, and told her she was sorry and told her she'd feel better soon. She was so gentle, my beloved dog felt nothing. The vet talked me through the entire process and then hugged me once it was done and I couldn't hold the tears back any longer (I hadn't wanted to upset Kimba).
That vet (and I can't even remember her name), gave me such comfort and closure and made my best friend's last moments as comfortable as she could. On a Sunday, when she didn't even have to be there.
I will always have a special place in my heart for her.
Poor guy. Giardia is nasty, and can be deadly. Glad he is young and tough and will be OK. I have all kinds of sick dog stories, considering I have raised many dogs, AND I dog sit for friends and neighbors. This week was a surprise trip to the vet first thing Monday morning when my Boxer woke up with his head swollen from some kind of allergic reaction. fun times. The vomit and explosive diarrhea episodes are always the worst though, but I will spare you. haha
FYI Benadryl can be a Boxer's best friend! Mine is allergic to bees, but to chase and susequently eat them. The doggy dose is 1mg per lb of dog, but as always, consulting with your vet is a great thing to do. We have had several swollen-head incidents (only once though, did it get so bad that he looked like a shar-pei) and they are no fun. I keep hoping that Blitz will stop eating them, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. :)
$140?? You got off SO easy.
We've had our cat Peanut for almost 18 years now (and she's still going strong thank God!), so I have years of stories lol....for example, there was the time when she decided to eat part of a Pointsetta, which of course is poisonous...not good. That was a very costly vet appointment! They actually had to do emergency surgery on her...poor thing. She also has thrown up and had diarrhea on the carpets countless times...I've gotten used to cleaning it up, but it's never fun! She's worth it though :) Glad BB is doing better!!
Poor B.B! And poor you! Our vet was always adamant about vax'ing against Giardia with our female beagle Hera because when we got her as a pup we lived in an apartment complex that also house hundreds of Canadian geese and well, their droppings carry all kinds of nasties and doggies are disgusting and eat it.
When we took our male beagle in, Joe, we had to cage him while we were gone until we knew he was trustworthy enough not to pee or poop in the house. Came home from work to find him squeezed into one corner of the cage because the rest of it was smeared with diarrhea (as was the bedding, his back side, the legs of my piano that the cage was sitting next to). Got him and the cage cleaned up, new bedding and some water and went straight out for some anti-diarrhea medicine. It took a week for his system to return to normal.
Moral of that story? When taking in a pet, ask what they were previously being fed. An abrupt change in diet can and often does cause nasty side effects.
This why I dont want a pet. It's like adding to the amount of kids you have!