Getting D After Vet Visit

[XTRAWLD]

Here's the story (don't have a lot of time so I will make this quick).

 

Both boys are on raw. I will focus on my problem child Kasey.

 

Everything going along just fine with raw, no issues for months. On May 23 we take the boys to the vet for their annuals. He has bloodwork done, everything with it is great, no issues. The only thing he got at the vet was the 3 year Rabies vaccine.

 

Nearly the next day, or a couple of days afterwards I can't remember, he got a terrible bout of D. We tried adding rice, we tried adding pasta, no dice. Happened for a couple of days without clearing up. So much so that hubby couldn't handle cleaning up in the house. Kasey NEVER goes in the house (99% sure it was Kasey not Ryder - both started to get problems, but I digress). Hubby came home and there was a mess in the living room. He pulled the rolled carpet out and washed it in the backyard, went to take a shower and Kasey decided to go again on another rug. He took him to the vet that day, May 30, where they were both prescribed Apo-Metronidazole and were to have it twice a day for a week. They both got Interceptor Heartworm on June 1 and didn't skip a beat regarding poops.

 

The week was over June 6. This morning, June 8, Kasey started pacing in the house with a stuffy in his mouth, so I went to take him out, knowing that's his MA I GOTTA GO signal. Nothing but liquid came out. Took him out twice, and hosed it all down this morning. (I will be late for work - yay Happy Friday)

 

What could be the problem? I didn't bring Ryder into this discussion today because as of now, he's still fine. He did have a bit of D when we got back from the vet too but he had a whole whack of shots.

 

Oh my, what do I do now?

Edited June 8, 2012 by XTRAWLD

[racindog]

Sounds to me like he picked it up at the vets. I would let them know that I suspected as much too. My sisters vet confirmed -based on testing (I don't know the details)-that her dog who was healthy prior-caught the same respiratory disease the dog had that he seen previous to hers. He was sorry. That was big of him wasn't it? He didn't have to nurse a very sick dog for 3 weeks as a result of his negligence. We had a show puppy that there is no question picked up parvo and died from being at the vet. I worked at the UGA Vet School for years. I am well aware of PROPER isolation procedures-gowns, footbaths etc. that I learned there. They do it RIGHT. Unfortunately once in private practice it seems most vets forget or don't care. For instance I observed vet tech who had handled parvo puppy receive new healthy puppies and carried/hugged etc. in the same blouse/coat that she was wearing when handling the known parvo pup. I am sure it went on that way the entire rest of the day. No telling how many healthy animals were exposed. We can only hope she put on a clean blouse the following day. Any wonder other pups pick it up? But then it does make more business for the vet so I guess thats another thing that encourages the lack of proper isolation procedures.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Another reason I hate going to the vet.

 

Is it possible, though, that it was just a stress reaction?

[MaryJane]

Getting any vaccine ends up being a load on the immune system and I'm thinking that with the recent vaccine along with feeding raw he may have picked up something that normally he could handle but with his system slightly stressed out he couldn't. Doesn't explain why your other dog is sick but, you didn't offer much detail on that so I'm thinking that it might not be the same thing.

 

It looks like this has been going on almost two weeks so IMHO, get a culture on the poop. You might need different antibiotics then what he is on. Usually the metro helps within a day or so - so this is another indication that maybe you need another vet trip and a culture.

 

For the short term, feed cooked food to the dog that is sick (hamburger and rice) - it may be that the food was bad (lack of a better word) and only one dog -the one with an immune system exposed to the rabies vaccine couldn't handle it.

 

It could have been a virus that was picked up at the vet but, after two weeks I would start looking at other possibilities.

[XTRAWLD]

Would fasting them tonight help at all? Hubby reports that Ryder had a semi solid poop today. Sigh. I'm so pissed.

 

Do I fast for one meal, or 24hrs?

Edited June 8, 2012 by XTRAWLD

[MaryJane]

The reason that people might consider fasting a dog is because most people feed kibble and that just causes more GI distress in a case like this because it is not easy to digest. I never fast my dogs because they are fed home-made. Try giving something easy to digest -- that's why I suggested hamburger and rice. If you want to still do the raw then buy a roast and sear the outside and keep the inside raw and cut it into chunks and give that with rice.

 

Also, if you don't feed, you might run into issues of vomiting because of no food in stomach and that makes the diagnostic process harder.

[TheFullHouse]

Along with the antibiotics you might try some Pepcid about an hour or so before each meal and see if that helps any.

[XTRAWLD]

Well they aren't on any meds anymore. They finished those up on Wednesday.

 

Ryder struggles with having nothing in his stomach, I'm hesitant to fast.....

 

Sigh.

 

I'll try hamburg and rice.

[MaryJane]

Chances are the hamburger and rice are not going to be enough (it will help but, not likely cure what is wrong) - you probably need to culture the poop to get the right antibiotic.

[XTRAWLD]

So we cooked up hamburg and rice last night and fed. Fed again this morning.

 

Kasey was not restless, however the jury is out on how it's working on his stomach. He hasn't pooped yet. IMO something is working, something is jamming him up. If this is what "fixes" him then it can't be a virus - I don't think this could mask those kinds of symptoms, could it?

 

The raw they are on is pre-mixed ground. They were COMPLETELY FINE on it before the vet, so why are they acting different when on the same food after the vet?

 

I'm so stumped.

 

We are gonna feed the cooked ground beef and rice again tonight and tomorrow, and try to go back to the raw again. Is this the kind of trial and error we should be doing? I'm just really trying to narrow everything down. If they have D when fed the raw again, we are gonna go back to the vet.

 

Thanks for your help, and any additional input you can provide.

[MaryJane]

If it is working keep on giving the cooked hamburger for at least a week and then try switching back to raw. You might also want to give some probiotics or yogurt to get the normal GI bacteria up to normal levels.

 

Having the rabies vaccine could have thrown the immune system into a spin and that could be why he can't tolerate the raw just yet. It could also be that the raw has some bacteria in it that they cannot tolerate although from my understanding, most pre-mixed raw goes thru some intensive testing. Maybe the raw food went bad in the store??

[JJNg]

Getting any vaccine ends up being a load on the immune system and I'm thinking that with the recent vaccine along with feeding raw he may have picked up something that normally he could handle but with his system slightly stressed out he couldn't.

 

I was thinking the same thing. It's certainly possible that the vaccines, plus the stress of the visit itself, could have affected the immune system enough to make the dog susceptible to bacteria in the food that he otherwise wouldn't have been.

 

If this is what "fixes" him then it can't be a virus - I don't think this could mask those kinds of symptoms, could it?

 

Most of the time, viruses will resolve on their own with a little time. So it'll be hard to say if the food change is what fixes the problem.

 

The raw they are on is pre-mixed ground. They were COMPLETELY FINE on it before the vet, so why are they acting different when on the same food after the vet?

 

See above.

 

It's also possible that he might have picked up something at the vet's office. Even with the most meticulous protocols, we can't completely control what happens in the waiting room. It's a potential risk when visiting a medical facility, for both pets as well as humans.