Beyond The Big D

[Gryffenne]

Forgive me if this is scattered, worried because Sammi is sick and I don't know what to do... waiting for E-Vet to call back on the page.

 

Facts from the Rear:

~3 days ago, soft serve poo started. Fasted 12 hours, tried food. Was planning to do bland, but she had firmed up so my DS, not knowing the bland-plan, fed kibble. Next day or so, mostly formed, but slightly soft poop.

~Come home today and we are beyond "Big D" Coffee has more consistency!! The liquid coming out is the color of strong tea.

~Urine, had an accident in house, no squatting, just release of urine and it was orange- highly concentrated.

~Temp (rectally) 100.9

 

Facts from the Front:

~Gums, tongue, roof of mouth all normal.

~Panting (from right before urine accident until she settled down next to me while I am writing this)

~Eyes wide, she's distressed. (well... was. Now that I am proofreading, she's sleeping)

~Between front legs hot (this is where roommate decided to take temp and I was shocked it was so low for how hot she felt)

~Heart Rate is 150bpm (taken before temp was done)

 

Other facts:

~4 wks ago had a check up at vets along with her Rabies vacc. No worms in fecal.

-2 Thursdays ago: vet issued an anti-anxiety med to try since they do not have her Composure. The name looks like Elervil (opened a full bottle to give me a 2wk dose to try, so handwritten)

~last Thursday: Treated dogs with Frontline Plus last Thursday. This is the first time I have used FP on her. She was in the weight range on the package. Was issued by vet. The day after, noticeable soft serve started. Thought it was the "Elervil" that was causing it, so stopped the med since it wasn't helping her on Friday when she met the landlord (strange male, scared of them... still was, no change in her behavior)

~Tonight was the first time EVER that she turned her nose up at food. Tried a bit of enticing extra, but didn't push the food issue since I know how awful food sounds when you are sick)

~She drank water in front of me, a "normal" visit for her to the water dish, but concerned she isn't taking in enough liquid with all the liquid potties & the concentrated look/smell of the urine accident.

~6 steps up from the back door to the house. Normally skips most. Tonight she is very slow and carefully walking up.

 

Other dogs (2 huskies):

~Older one is normal, younger one is starting soft serve, but no where near what Sammi is having.

 

Brain ramblings, might be pertinent,might just be my scattered thoughts worrying over anything:

~Stress because she cannot sleep next to me anymore? Bed in new place in a loft, 4+ feet from the floor. She jumped up once (surprised me she made the jump) and jumped down (scared us both) hasn't attempted it since. But lays on her bed and cries, even after 2 months of living here (and weekends of the prior 2 months when we were visiting and getting the dogs used to each other). Was planning to build her a ramp to get up there in the next week or so)

~Which reminds me, all the dogs get along great. No stress from them. Was actually floored by how well they got along, no squabbles and body language is relaxed, calm. No nervousness.

 

Any ideas out there? My brain is racing atm. I am thinking stress, virus, parasite, kidneys, liver, the dreaded C, and why hasn't the vet answered his page yet?!?!?!

[HopeForHounds]

The med you got from your vet was most likely Elavil. It's amitriptyline and used for anxiety.

 

So many things can be the cause, so it really is best to have her seen by a vet.

 

FWIW Grandy gets collitis like problems when she gets upset/stressed, so liquid (watery poo) I give her melatonin to head it off.

[Guest mbfilby]

Diluted gatoraide, electrolyte water or pediatyte can be given if you think she is dangerously dehydrated. Cool cloths in armpits and abdomen will reduce fever.

 

After our Mickey's issues with similar symptoms, I will always ask for an ultrasound from now on.

[HopeForHounds]

100.5 is not a fever, normal temp for dogs are in the range of 100.5°F to 102.5°F (about 38°C to 39.2°C).

 

I hope you hear from the vet soon so you can get some answers.

[Gryffenne]

Vet finally responded.

 

For now, he suggested liquid pepto (this is gonna be fun, since she is refusing food) every 4 hours and electrolytes. since she doesn't like flavored stuff (powerade) I picked up some flavorless Pedialyte.

 

I have to work tomorrow, Roommate is taking her to vet's as soon as they open to do bloodwork if she doesn't improve. He's hoping just a simple tummy bug, but has already mentioned he is concerned about her liver & kidneys. (Gee, thanks Doc! I'll be able to sleep great tonight!)

 

Right now, trying to keep her comfortable, towels under her since she is leaking fluids, and trying to coax her to drink the pedialyte.

 

ETA~ Heart Rate is down to 80-90bpm at least there is a tiny improvement

Edited August 10, 2011 by Gryffenne

[Hollis]

Warning. Do NOT get red flavored drink. Scared the pee out of me when pup threw it back up and all I could see was red vomit!!!

 

Hoping your baby is better riteawayquik!

[Gryffenne]

Warning. Do NOT get red flavored drink. Scared the pee out of me when pup threw it back up and all I could see was red vomit!!!

Learned that lesson with myself, actually. Years ago, first time mega sick while on my own, I reached for the Gatorade like a good girl-err, knowitalltwentysomethingfemale. And it was red. And after I saw what I threw up, I called my mother in a panic. Calmly, she asked me what I was drinking for hydration...

[KF_in_Georgia]

Don't get too frustrated if she won't take the Pepto. Liquid Pepto is the only edible/drinkable thing my dogs have ever refused to touch. They looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

 

The electrolytes will be more useful. But she might want to refuse those, too. What goes in must come out, and since the "coming out" part is pure misery for her right now, she might want to refuse to drink anything. But keep trying. Dehydration is a real risk.

 

Also be sure you wipe down your baby's backside after the diarrhea episodes. (Damp paper towels are fine.) That stuff really burns and irritates the skin.

[Gryffenne]

The sweet pharmacist at Walgreens took pity on my and gave me a medication syringe when she found out what the pepto and pedialyte was for. (either that, or she took pity when she also saw I had Munchums chips, ice cream and Lindt Excellence sea salt dark chocolate bar along with Sammi's stuff)

Edited August 10, 2011 by Gryffenne

[Gryffenne]

Jay, I read your post about Mickey. I will definitely be asking that ultrasounds and possibly x-rays are done.

 

So far *knock on wood* no vomiting. Her leaking is the liquid D, not urinary. (going by the um... smell). From other things I have googled and searched here, I checked her breath and it is her normal breath (minus the pepto burp she blew in my face)

[HopeForHounds]

Keeping you guys in my thoughts. Hang in there.

[Charlies_Dad]

Good thoughts for Sammi and you. I hope you can find out what is going on and it's not serious.

[Guest mbfilby]

Hope Sammi is feeling better.. good thoughts for you both.

[Gryffenne]

Gryffenne here, on my bberry while on lunch break. Hopefully this posts. Ty for the thoughts and prayers. They let me leave work to meet the vet at the office with Sammi.

 

So far not much. Vet checked fecal and ruled out parasites. Did a check of her spine and pressure/ tender points- found ap spot above kidneys to be tender. Felt her and spleen, liver and everything else to be normal size, no enlargement. Did "aquapuncture" and acupuncture to help her a bit. Drew blood, so we are waiting on the results to come in to decide the next step. For now, bland diet, pepto and another drug to help with the liquid poo until we know more.

[mychip1]

I might have missed this somewhere after your first post, but you ever determine if the urine was discolored? I thought in the first post you indicated that it was.....got me thinking about kidneys....though it also could be highly concentrated from loss of fluids....

 

Many good thoughts for you...

Edited August 10, 2011 by mychip1

[Gryffenne]

I might have missed this somewhere after your first post, but you ever determine if the urine was discolored? I thought in the first post you indicated that it was.....got me thinking about kidneys....though it also could be highly concentrated from loss of fluids....

 

Many good thoughts for you...

Yes, used a white dishcloth to clean it up. Panicked at first because of the tint of the hardwood made it look very red. Once I got it onto the clean, white rag I could see if was only concentrated urine. Vet is going with concentrated due to all fluids being redirected elsewhere because of the liquid #2. She is drinking more fluids and her urine is back on track. Edited August 10, 2011 by Gryffenne

[macoduck]

Is it Cerenia that your vet will use for the diarrhea? It's worked well here.

[Gryffenne]

well tonight Sammi was circling me like a shark while I was preparing her bland dinner. After she ate her dinner, she seemed perkier, wagging her tail and little bounces.

 

Firm poop an hour after dinner! So far no gas, no leaking, no accidents, no distress. Keep it up, Sweetie!

 

(still waiting to hear back from the vet on the bloodwork results)

[Gryffenne]

Quick Update on Sammi:

 

It's been a little over a week now and so far the liquid poo has not returned. Started slowly mixing kibble in. Actually started after the 3rd day of bland because the vet wanted a solid stool sample for one more parasite check since they can be missed with all that liquid poo. Immediately the next poo was big D. I started to wonder if there was something wrong with that particular bag of kibble. The one husky was fine, but she has an iron stomach. The other one was starting to produce soft serve. So we ditched that bin and bought a new bag after discussing the possibility with the vet. Both Huskies started having bouncily firm poop.

 

So the other day we started working kibble back into Sammi's diet while using the prescript AD meds (mainly because the vet wanted a stool sample and she wasn't willing to give us one while their office was open, either because of the meds or because there isn't much left over with a bland diet). Finally got a good sample today and parasites have officially been ruled out.

 

Next course of action is to continue with the bland-to-kibble conversion without the Rx AD or the Pepto. If the poo starts to go liquid again, bring her back in and they are going to do more bloodwork, an ultrasound and more tests (vet still concerned about her liver because of a slight elevation in her counts. It could have been elevated due to what she was dealing with, as it wasn't into the "Be concerned" range, just slight.)

[Remolacha]

hope it was just a bad bag of food!