birdie
Wednesday night i took birdie, my terrier mix (in this userpic), to the Ann Arundel Veterinary Emergency Clinic (AAVEC), in
Annapolis. she was vomiting blood and having bloody diarrhea Tues., and possibly the day
before as well (didn't realize at first; she butted the door open to a room i don't
usually use). plus she was not eating well for 2.5 days, and on Tues. wouldn't eat
anything at all. (At first I thought she was just getting bored with her food, but in retrospect, I guess not, because the two boys are getting bored, but B went from loooving the food to just not eating.)
At first they thought pancreatitis, but blood tests for various organ problems came back
OK. so they have no clear cause, but on Thurs a.m. said that if her vomiting and diarhea calmed down over the next 12 hours and she ate OK, i'd get to take her home Thurs. evening.
They put her on IVs to get rehydrated and receive antibiotics. At Thurs noon, and also at 4 pm, she ate a "bland
meatball" and "took it readily"-- that overjoyed me to hear. Also at 4 pm, she made the switch from IV antibiotic to oral antibiotic
without throwing up. So I was able to pick her up thurs evening and take her home.
they said in 90% of cases where a dog comes in with these issues, they don't find a clear
cause and it may be as simple as making sure to keep high-fat foods out of her diet. i
realize that although i feed my dogs high-quality food, i have added some high-fat stuff
to it lately to make it "interesting." esp in the past week, i did this w/o really
thinking about it. (OK, I confess, I put Spam in it. the vets said that is a no-no.) i'm wondering if that may have made her sick. i need to make sure to add bland things that are still interesting to the dogs.
i am at home today (friday). birdie's foot where the IV had been in it was swollen, because i fell
asleep last night and forgot to take a wrap off it as soon as i was supposed to (arrrrgh!!!), but the
swelling has gone down now. I called the vets and asked what I should do, and they said watch her foot and massage it going from out to inward toward her body. But she seems to feel great and ate her breakfast today (rice and lowfat beef) just fine.
She is my little sympatico dog, my "right hand man." I am so relieved she is fine. If she continues to be fine as long as I serve her lowfat foods, i will for the time table any potential concerns that she could have something else. (Because of course, vomiting and having diarjhea that is blood can be symptoms for soooo many things, none of them good really.)
The "pyramid"--Birdie and the boys enjoying the sun last week:
Annapolis. she was vomiting blood and having bloody diarrhea Tues., and possibly the day
before as well (didn't realize at first; she butted the door open to a room i don't
usually use). plus she was not eating well for 2.5 days, and on Tues. wouldn't eat
anything at all. (At first I thought she was just getting bored with her food, but in retrospect, I guess not, because the two boys are getting bored, but B went from loooving the food to just not eating.)
At first they thought pancreatitis, but blood tests for various organ problems came back
OK. so they have no clear cause, but on Thurs a.m. said that if her vomiting and diarhea calmed down over the next 12 hours and she ate OK, i'd get to take her home Thurs. evening.
They put her on IVs to get rehydrated and receive antibiotics. At Thurs noon, and also at 4 pm, she ate a "bland
meatball" and "took it readily"-- that overjoyed me to hear. Also at 4 pm, she made the switch from IV antibiotic to oral antibiotic
without throwing up. So I was able to pick her up thurs evening and take her home.
they said in 90% of cases where a dog comes in with these issues, they don't find a clear
cause and it may be as simple as making sure to keep high-fat foods out of her diet. i
realize that although i feed my dogs high-quality food, i have added some high-fat stuff
to it lately to make it "interesting." esp in the past week, i did this w/o really
thinking about it. (OK, I confess, I put Spam in it. the vets said that is a no-no.) i'm wondering if that may have made her sick. i need to make sure to add bland things that are still interesting to the dogs.
i am at home today (friday). birdie's foot where the IV had been in it was swollen, because i fell
asleep last night and forgot to take a wrap off it as soon as i was supposed to (arrrrgh!!!), but the
swelling has gone down now. I called the vets and asked what I should do, and they said watch her foot and massage it going from out to inward toward her body. But she seems to feel great and ate her breakfast today (rice and lowfat beef) just fine.
She is my little sympatico dog, my "right hand man." I am so relieved she is fine. If she continues to be fine as long as I serve her lowfat foods, i will for the time table any potential concerns that she could have something else. (Because of course, vomiting and having diarjhea that is blood can be symptoms for soooo many things, none of them good really.)
The "pyramid"--Birdie and the boys enjoying the sun last week: