Something's Wrong With Merlin This Morning

[MerlinsMum]

Thank you so much, everyone, for your kind words and concern! Merlin seems ok. He settled and slept on his side for a good long while. He's been farting up a storm though today - and over the last few days... (between him and Sagan, this house smells like a fart factory!). He burped a few times too, and seemed to settle a bit more after that. I am such a dork. When I saw him pacing a bit and then arching his back and not settling, I immediately assumed it could be bad. But then I remembered that he does arch his back sometimes to stretch. I went out to get some Tums (Susan, I'll bear that in mind and get some Pepcid too, just in case this happens again, and it's bound to) but I haven't given him any - he seems fine now. We even went into the yard to find snow and he and Sagan ran around and had a good time.

 

Merlin has been a bit lethargic recently - or maybe I'm seeing pink elephants... thing is, I think the darkness and cold affects him just as it affects us (or maybe he's picking up on our vibe, we hate Maine winters and especially the dark months are very hard on us), and he slows down in winter. He sleeps all the time. And maybe it seems more obvious now because we have a bouncy 2-year old too, now, who is very active.

 

Anyway - I will monitor the situation... seems like it was a false alarm though... thanks again for your support! I am such a paranoid mum

[Guest HersheysMom]

Good news! I'm sure the burping and farting helped, actually (good for him, not so much so for you )

 

Sonie is the same way in the winter. She does NOTHING! She doesn't like to run in the snow or anything, so winters are long around here, too.

[Guest Pipi5]

I do wonder about the weather changing, the sun doesn't seem to be out as long...and then we're inside a lot...I try to get mine outside to do some pace laps & then dancing in the house...I'm glad he's okay.

Maybe give him some yogurt or cottage cheese when he gets a gurgly tummy.

[queenwinniesmom]

I just saw this. It sounds like our wonderful wizard is feeling better. I agree with Susan about the Pepto rather than Tums. I think I was told they could absorb a liquid faster too. We always give Tess Pepto for a gurgly tummy. She had one just last week---a fairly common occurrance for her. It always seems to be in the middle of the night. She makes me get up and let her out at 3:00 A.M. She wants to eat grass, and is frustrated, because at this point, we just don't have any! So she acts restless too. Things usually calm down pretty quick. My angel Nick had that tummy thing too (and he did send us Tess ), but he sometimes wouldn't want breakfast. But he'd always go for dinner. I know you'll keep an eye on Merlin, but I think he'll be fine.

And Maine winters---I'm sure they're more intense than Pittsburgh! You two are so finely atuned, if you hate them, he might be feeling that too.

[Guest hvacman250]

Feel better soon Merlin. The chat club needs you around to function properly.

[Guest ChancesMom]

Kerry, I am just seeing this and am glad to see that Merlin is doing better. Chance has a rather sensitive stomach and if I here him start gurgling I give him 1 pepcid, which the vet had approved, and it takes care of it. I have seen a difference in Chance since the time has changed. I just attribute it to the cold weather and so much darkness. So glad that he is doing better.

[nyGreys]

Merlin, I'm glad to hear you're feeling better, sweetie.

Edited December 7, 2008 by nyGreys

[patricia]

Keep feeling better honey.

[MerlinsMum]

I do wonder about the weather changing, the sun doesn't seem to be out as long...and then we're inside a lot...I try to get mine outside to do some pace laps & then dancing in the house...I'm glad he's okay.

Maybe give him some yogurt or cottage cheese when he gets a gurgly tummy.

 

 

I make sure they get their zoomies... although Merlin has not been in the same mood as usual to do zoomies lately (until today - the snow came! ). Unfortunately I can't give Merlin yogurt or anything dairy as it doesn't agree with his stomach. But even pumpkin has stopped working for him, it seems. I have been adding a little Metamucil -- my vet suggested it as an alternative to pumpkin -- but it hasn't helped.

 

I am quite worried about this pudding poo, it's been going on for a week, I think I may take him to the vet. He's getting chicken breast and rice tonight... we'll see if that helps...

 

And now Sagan has pudding poo too! I wonder if they both caught a big of some sort...

[Guest LindsaySF]

I would give them panacur, and then repeat in 3 weeks.

 

Hopefully Merlin feels better soon.

 

[Guest SoulsMom]

Crap Kerrie, I'm just now seeing this. With Soul it was the same "arching back" and gurgly thing. Remember how we went to the E-vet and they treated him for worms and gave him Flagyl? Three weeks later, around the time for his 2nd dose of Panacur the symptoms came back. Just be carful to inspect his stools for blood and keep an eye on it. Call me if you want to talk.

[Guest jang]

Poor boy. I hope he feels better soon. Panacur does work, but if it's viral, it won't help. See what your Vet has to say. If Sagan has it also, I would bet on a Virus. Take samples to the Vet. Get well Merlin and Sagan.

[lizjaye]

Just checking to see how Merlin is feeling.

[NeylasMom]

Just seeing this now. I found once Neyla got a bit older she started to have some stomach issues when she hadn't ever before (she always had a stomach of steel, I could give her ANYTHING with no ill effects). Probiotics seem to have done the trick for her. I've noticed that if I've been a bad mom and haven't reordered them in time, she'll start to have problems again (gurgly stomach, weird bouts of restlessness and anxiety in the middle of the night, super hungry even if she's been fed). My vet also suggested gas-x when the problems started. I decided to try the probiotics instead, so I've never used it, but I have a pack at home just in case. You might try those over tums?

 

If you're interested in the probiotics, I get BifidoBiotics w/l. sporonges from Amazon. I did some research at the time into what bacteria live in a dog's gut vs what's in a human gut and settled on those. I couldn't find one probiotic that had all of the bacteria in a dog's gut, but that had a nice range and at least one that I felt was key for a dog. I give one capsule every morning.

 

Might be worth a try just to help with his tummy problems in general. And there are lots of benefits to giving probiotics in general.

[Guest KRKWMU]

Hope you feel better soon, Merlin! Don't go scaring your mama too much!

[crazygang]

Merlin and Sagan hope your tummies get better......

[greysmom]

Seems like it was the wekend for tummy problems. Cash had an "episode" on Saturday. We'd been outside playing and doing zoomies and when we came inside she hightailed it upstairs to the bedroom (her safe zone) and was panting and pacing and would lay down, or would lay for a few seconds and then jump up and pace again. She was trembling all over and hunching her back - it got so bad I thought she was actually having a seizure.

 

We just monitored her for about 20 mintes while we fretted about whether she was bloating or seizing or some other horrible thing, and then she sat down on her bed in that funny way she has and let out a BIIIIIIG burp! Not very lady-like AT ALL!!!!!! And we could see right away that she felt better. I stuffed a Tums down her anyway, and she slept for an hours or so. When she woke up before dinner she was completely back to normal and ate her dinner, had treats, got her chew bone. Oh yeah - and about gassed us out of the room all the rest of the night.

 

We figure she either got some air in her tummy doing zoomies or maybe it was the gallon of ice cold water she drank while she was still heated up. Either way, it was a gaseous incident that thankfully resolved itself!

 

I'm glad Merlin's feeling better too! Hopefully, his poo issues will also get better!

 

greysmom