Severe Tummy Upset

[JoHarborne]

Woody has had an upset stomach since he inadvertently drank some dodgy river water on Friday afternoon.  Following a weekend of horrendous diahorrea, four baths (!) and having to wash his bedding twice, we took him to the vet.  

Woody had a slight temperature and was given an injection for his swollen intestines and we've been using a "syringe" of "clay-like" stuff which lines his stomach.  He's also been on a strict diet of rice and chicken since Monday.  He's been full of beans and doesn't seem unduly out of sorts.  

Now - Weds - he's not a lot better.  He's starting doing the most incredible farts.  Which apart from being absolutely hilarious (he makes himself jump! ) - we thought he might be on the mend.  And the liquidy runs haven't subsided (we've been up during the night with him since Saturday!)

So - my question (at last!!!)  At what point do we go back to the vets?  Would antibiotics clear this up?  Surely a six month old puppy shouldn't have diahorrea for five days??

Any advice or personal experience of this would be most helpful.  Thanks chaps!!!

[Cob-Web]

Hi Jo

Oh poor ickle Woody  

No practical advice I'm afraid, other than to maybe phone the vet surgery and speak to a nurse; perhaps they could advice whether he needs to go back and see a vet?

I hope he feels better soon; how are you holding up, it must be a real worry?

[JoHarborne]

Hi Rachel!

I'm not worried more concerned.  We've decided at the moment to finish the syringe treatment which we were given and if he's no better by tomorrow morning then I think we should go back to the vets.  As I said, he's full of beans and the length of time between his squits seems to be lengthening - it's just not much fun for him or us - up all night whenever we hear him murmur and the endless mopping up!!!  

And we've learned a valuable lesson about making sure he doesn't drink water from any source when he's out walking.  There's a lot to be said for carrying bottled water in the boot of the car!!!

Will keep you updated but I'm sure many COLers have experienced upset stomaches with their dogs and I won't be the last!!    

[Lindaphills]

One thing to consider would be to feed a probiotic to repopulate the good bacteria in the intestines,

I use acidophilus capsules from holland and barret, I swear they are marvellous.  Give 2 capsules with each meal for a couple of days.  The capsules break apart easily and you can then sprinkle the contents (powder) over the food and mix in

He may well need to go back and see the vet and if you are worried I would give them a ring.  If he doesn't need any more treatment, then start him on the acidophilus straight away, it works wonders for my two.

p.s.  If he does need antibiotics then you can still give him the acidophilus as antibiotics can deplete the amounts of good bacteria in the gut needed to digest and utilise food properly.  

Hope this helps and your little one's on the mend soon

Keep us posted
xxxx

[PennyB]

If in doubt I always ring my vet practice and at least speak the vet nurse as they're best placed to help you.

[JoHarborne]

The probiotic thing sounds like a really sensible idea - and something to keep on standby.  My husband and I went to Ethiopia (pre-Woody!) and he's been on probiotics ever since he picked up a particularly noxious stomach infection out there so I can vouch for it's affectiveness!

No squits this morning since I've been on Woody Duty and he's had two small meals of pasta and chicken.  I'm letting him sleep this afternoon and will see how he is in the early evening (which is when he was particularly poorly yesterday).

Thanks for all your replies - I appreciate your concern.  I've got an emergency 24 hour number for the vets if I decide we can't wait until tomorrow but at the moment, he's sleeping peacefully and all seems calm ....

[Sheryl]

I did have one episode with Chloe where despite starving her for 24 hours, she still had the squitty quits   I did take her back to the vets.  She got antibiotics, sachets of salt and sugars and a tube of Pro-kolin paste which sound like the clay stuff you may be using.  This is kaolin and probiotic mixed and damn expensive.  Didn't stop me having to starve her again for another 24 hours tho.  She was not amused  When in doubt, vets  If you are anything like me, you have to sit on your hands to stop dialling the vets number.  Cocker worry syndrome!  

[Sheryl]

Just thought.  When I picked the Pro-kolin up from the vets (as usual Chloe waits until we are on holiday), the vet was saying that when the marketing campaign for this stuff started, because it was also designed to stop doggie flatulence, the slogan was......' Now you can no longer blame the dog! ' and every tube came with a free whoopee cushion.    Amused me but then I am married to the original Mr Methane    

[kookie]

Live yoghurt also helps to replenish the 'good bacteria'. Just the plain variety. Our have a teaspoon 2 or 3 times a week dolloped on their JWL. They love it!

[scoobie]

Hi Jo how is little Woody today?
Edith

[JoHarborne]

Morning Edith - morning everyone!  Thanks for your concern over Woody.  

We went back to the vets this morning and I did have to be very insistent - he wanted us to "carry on as we are" with Woody and wanted to fob me off with another syringe of the clay-paste.  I said that Woody had been ill for seven days now and that he had messed his bed again during the night and the bland diet was getting a bit much.    So he's given me a course of antibiotic tablets to put in his food and he also wanted us to use Panacur in case there was a parasite in Woody's guts.  Unfortunately Panacur has made W sick on three previous occasions    so I refused that and said we'd use Drontal once his stomach had settled down.

He's now fast asleep by the radiator (following a further steroid injection which seems to knock him out).  Oh and his temperature is back to normal.  

Highlight of the visit was meeting a Blue Roan!!  We haven't met many Cockers since we got Woody so it's always a pleasure to meet one.  She was called Blue and was about to be "done".  So that made the morning a bit better.

I still think we're in for at least another three days of the runs to be honest.  I really can't believe that the vet was happy for Woody to continue like this.  We can't leave him on his own and we're all having restless nights not least the little fellow.  I don't think it's right for a 6 month old puppy to be this ill for even longer.    

[Juel]

Hi Jo,
Hope Woody starts to settle soon....we also used pro-kolin (clay stuff!) when Harv had a dicky tummy...eating goose poo!!!!!!!!! nice!!!!!.........i try sooo hard to keep him away from the geese as i know how ill "the poo" can make poor dogs but cockers will be cockers & i'm sure even if you take a nice bottle of clean water Woody will still go for the yukky water .....what do we do???....i just put Harv on the lead when we are near the geese now...keeps him out of trouble!!

Anyway....hope Woody is back to normal soon & if you ever worry just buzz your vet....i always do & the nurses are really helpfull...i'm on first name terms with ours now .......as Sheryl says "cocker  worry syndrome".....we can't help lovin our pooches though can we!!  

luv n hugs
juels&Harveymonster xxx  

[JoHarborne]

Hi everyone!

Well we can close up this thread now because the good news is that we've turned a corner with Woody and he's on the mend!!  Hurrah!!!    No more sleepless nights (Friday was a killer - we were up with him between 1 and 5am!!) - the antibiotics have finally kicked in, he's even more full of beans than usual ... and we treated him yesterday to a new collar and a new bed and he's such a happy little Cocker!!

Thanks for all your advice over the past week and for letting me voice my worries here.  

Looking forward to the week ahead.

Jo xxx

[Lindaphills]

So glad Woody is now on the mend

Take care
xxxxxxxx