Upset Tummy From Lake Water?

[Guest Scarter55]

Yesterday, Lady got an upset tummy. She had (and still does) pretty extreme diarrhea and threw up, possible twice. In the whole time we've had her, I've only seen her throw up once before, usually she has a pretty solid stomach. It seemed to start Sunday evening, and she actually woke me up in the middle of the night to go outside, which should have been a big clue. The vet has us giving her Pepcid AC and a nice bland diet of boiled chicken and white rice.

 

We were trying to figure out what may of caused it. On Saturday, we took her hiking in this nature preserve nearby that has a "lake". It was really more of a pond. There was a mostly dry creek nearby, so perhaps it gets more lake-like when it rains. Lady had never been to a lake and explored the shallows, definitely drinking some as she went. It wasn't the freshest looking lake. The other thing that came to mind was a number of horse droppings on the trail. Lady stopped to smell them and may have gotten really close/made contact with one of them.

 

Has anyone had experienced anything similar and come away with a sick dog? Just trying to figure out what did it so we can avoid it in the future!

[PrairieProf]

She could certainly have Giardia. Or a host of other things, who knows what kind of bacteria. Drinking dubious lake water is very risky for causing such problems. I would strongly recommend going to the vet and getting her on metronidazole (Flagyl), the go-to antibiotic for GI stuff.

 

If she continues to vomit or have diarrhea, she should be fasting for a day or two until it settles down.

Edited April 23, 2013 by PrairieProf

[Feisty49]

Yah, strange water makes me very wary. I've pulled Annie away from more than one water source because it looked unsavory.

[Guest BlueCrab]

Leyland's tummy gets upset if he drinks the water in our house up in NY. We have to use bottled or bring from our MD home whenever we travel, so yes, I would say whatever she drank from the pond may well be the culprit.

[kudzu]

People, dogs & horses can have odd reactions to strange water even if it isn't contaminated. So it could just be a bad reaction to a new, even if safe, water source. I've had multiple dogs with a penchant for horse apples. Oddly none have had bad GI outcomes from it. If it doesn't clear up in a couple days or if it gets worse then I'd be suspicious of something like giardia. As a human who made the mistake of drinking river water & contracting giardia I can tell you it is a most unpleasant thing to have. Wouldn't want my dogs to suffer from it for long. But at this point you could certainly give it a couple days to see how your current conservative treatment works.

 

Hope it's very, very temporary.

[macoduck]

My dogs got sick after drinking from our birdbath. Flagyl and Cerenia helped them get over it.

Also ask your vet about canine Pythiosis. This organism killed a friend's lab after swimming in a suburban pond.

[Guest Scarter55]

Wow, thanks for all the great advice. She hasn't vomited anymore, but still has loose stool, so I'm bringing her into the vet this afternoon. I'll now be well armed with the names of many nasty sounding bugs that I know nothing about. Thanks for the help.

[MaryJane]

Bad water can cause quite a bit of sickness in dogs including the "watery" stool and vomiting. Chances are, it will not clear up by itself and you'll probably need some Flagyl and maybe something for the nausea.

[Guest Scarter55]

Thanks for all the great advice, we just got back from the vet and it turns out she does have Giardia, likely from the water. Though the vet said it can come from a variety of places. We have pills for her so hopefully it shouldn't last long. We'll definitely keep her away from water in the future!