Does Ben need the vet or not?

[debbie321]

I gave Ben 1/2 tin of Chappie this morning.  And no this isn't his normal food!  He has Arden Grange or raw food (natural frozen blocks) but I read that Chappie is good for poorly tums.  He's had this once before and loved it ................ couldn't believe his luck and the 'botty' results were good too

Anyway he had 1/2 tin this morning (not that he was poorly, I just felt like giving him a treat) and when I got home he'd had the runs in his crate - poor lad didn't even do this as a puppy    He then ran in the garden and produced 4 or 5 amounts of loose poo    He must have been desparate for me to get home 

On his walk he spent a lot of time squating and just producing yellow custard if anything at all (sorry to the weak stomached)

He's had very limited food ( a couple of spoonfuls of his normal food ) since then.  His last effort produced blood stained mucus which is very worrying.  He's fine in himself and I'm sure it's collitis which he's had before.  This got better over a couple of days with careful feeding and no treats + a huge bill from the vet and several tins of food that were hugely expensive 

I've warned the boss that I may be in late tomorrow as a trip to the vet may be in order if he's still pooing 'custard;. 

What would you do?  Do any of you have remedies that would help Ben ............ should I leave him on limited rations ................. or take him to the vet tomorrow?

I don't want to be an overly worried dog owner (if it was my child I'd keep them on bland food and hope for the best) but this is Ben and he can't talk!

[Cazzie]

Poor Ben  I would see how he is tomorrow and if the same id give the vet a call for advice.  Hope he is ok 

[wales07]

Poor Ben..Unfortunately just giving them a different food or changing thier diet is enough to upset them.It may be best to stick to the same food and only give something different like chicken and rice when he has an upset tummy.Get well soon ben.
Isnt it amazing that cockers can chew bits of socks,slippers etc with no tummy upsets but give them something different to eat and.......

[debbie321]

Poor Ben..Unfortunately just giving them a different food or changing thier diet is enough to upset them.It may be best to stick to the same food and only give something different like chicken and rice when he has an upset tummy.Get well soon ben.
Isnt it amazing that cockers can chew bits of socks,slippers etc with no tummy upsets but give them something different to eat and.......

Tell me about it!  Ben has consumed the most revolting stuff that even the foxes ignore with no bad results!

The chappie that he had was made from Chicken and Rice - I get the feeling that chicken doesn't agree with him as the raw chicken wings made him loose too.  I have the feeling that it's more than his breakfast that's brought this on.  He seems fine in himself - right now every move I make is making him sit longingly in front of his food cupboard ............. I feel so mean 

I'll leave it till tomorrow and see how he is - the only thing that's on his mind is the missing dinner 

[jann]

 I'd recommend slippery elm powder (Tree barks) from Dorwest 
 
http://www.showdogsuk.com/dorwest/colitis.htm


Jann

[phoenix]

Poor Ben  ,   Blood in poo  is wrong no matter what you are feeding them. I was at vet's today with Marti ( on the chappie cure) and he was saying how he approved of BARF except for the cases  he sees of sharp bone injuries and salmonella poisoning from chicken pieces that should never be sold legally. If I was you I wouldn't let it go more than 3 days . You might get away with just antibiotics. Good luck and don't panic.

[Helen]

hope Ben's ok 

If the blood continues, I would take him to the vet - just basing that on the 30 hours on the drip HGE episode we had last year.
it could well be the chicken - you could try him on bland white fish and potato after his tummy settles down.

strange thing chicken - as you know Jarv had major problems with chicken wings (raw) over the last 2 years - I have reintroduced them slowly and his adult tummy seems to tolerate them now so I'm really pleased - obviously this ain't happening with Ben tho 

I would steer away from any foods dry/wet with chicken in them - lamb seems to be far better tolerated on the whole.  We put Jarv on the lamb and rice AG (pre-barf) and he seemed ok with that 

phoenix - I think you'll find the dogs on COL who are fed barf chicken are fed human grade chicken (mine gets free range chicken) so if he's to get Salmonella, so am I!  I doubt whether any sharp bone injuries are from soft non-weight bearing bones like wings or neck which are the recommended bones to feed

It would be really interesting to compare the amount of cases of colitis or other dietary disorders from manufactured dog foods to the problems caused by Barf feeding, but as some of us can't even admit to some of our vets we feed raw this would never happen

[debbie321]

Ben seems a lot better today but still not completely normal.  His no.2's this morning were better formed than yesterday but still a bit odd.

Hopefully he'll stay on the mend - but don't worry - he'll be off to the vet if it returns 

[Cazzie]

Do you know that last night after reading your post during the day, Otter had the squitts and its because he stole and ate a load of those pork strips  It was like water  He still is runny today 

Im glad Ben is a wee bit better today 

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Glad Ben is better, I have starved mine for 24 hours before when they've eaten something naughty and nicked that's upset them then just given them a little of their normal food the following day.. it seems to work but not sure if it's a recommended method 

Hope Ben continues to improve 

Hannah x

[Sheryl]

I asked my vet the same question when Holly had her trouble and he said that it did a dog no harm to be starved for 24 hours.  Glad Ben is a bit better.  This poo watch is a nightmare isn't it?

[*Jay*]

Glad to hear Ben is a bit better today Debbie.

We had a locum in once who told us that, contrary to what many people thought, you shouldn't starve a dog with diarrhoea but put it straight onto a bland diet.  She told us why and it was a case of "ahhh, that makes sense" but I can't for the life of me remember the reason so not much point to that little story    When any of mine have the runs, I just feed them bland food and use Diarsanyl. It normally clears up in a day or two but if it persists, then I would take them to the vet.

[Hurtwood Dogs]

Glad to hear Ben is a bit better today Debbie.

We had a locum in once who told us that, contrary to what many people thought, you shouldn't starve a dog with diarrhoea but put it straight onto a bland diet.  She told us why and it was a case of "ahhh, that makes sense" but I can't for the life of me remember the reason so not much point to that little story    When any of mine have the runs, I just feed them bland food and use Diarsanyl. It normally clears up in a day or two but if it persists, then I would take them to the vet.

Hmmmmm I was wondering, maybe it's because they need something for the stomach acid to work on rather than irritating the stomach further?? Should prob ask my vet  next time instead of making assumptions!! 

Hannah x

[debbie321]

Ben still had the squits on todays walk and there was still dark red blood streaks so I cut the walk short and took him to the vet.

It is colitis and first of all the vet said to starve him for 24 hours and then feed bland food with 3 doses of Protexetin pro-Kolin (paste).  I did question the starving bit and she said that he would have re-hydrating granules in his water which gave the intestine something to work on?  She then took his temperature which was up so he had an antibiotic jab too.  She didn't think it was the Chappie that caused the problem but something he found on a walk ................ What?  My Ben eat revolting stuff ? 

He did drink 1/2 the 'pink' water but promptly threw it up again - luckily on the wipe clean floor and not the carpet  Poor lad is soooo hungry as I've been pretty mean with food for a day already    He's now in the garden desperately trying to reach grass    would that be off the menu too?

[Nicola]

Oh poor Ben    I hope he dries up and is feeling better soon Debbie. Has he had colitis before?