Sick as a Dog

Poor Missy has not been a happy dog. Actually, she is almost a happy dog, even when she shouldn't be - and she shouldn't have been the last week.

Last Sunday, I went to get groceries. I was gone 45 minutes max. When I got back, the entire den carpet was covered by dog poop. Not well formed, fairly easy to pick up stuff, but the vile, runny, soak directly into the carpet stuff. I spent the next two hours cleaning the carpet by hand, then vacuuming any carpet that was dry (the bedroom), then steam cleaning the carpet twice.

Sunday night into Monday morning I got no sleep as Missy needed out about once an hour. monday, on my way home from work, I picked up a box of white rice and several pounds of hamburger and ground chicken. I cooked those up, drained the grease and rinsed the meets, and that is what Missy got for dinner instead of dog food (rice and ground meats are very bland and easily digestible). she got meet/rice for breakfast and dinner the next day.

Tuesday, I observed that she had a well formed, if a little loose, poop - so she was on the mend. I started adding dog food to the blend on Wednesday night. Thursday night, she was going thru the same problems she had before, so once again I got little sleep.

Friday morning I called the vet. naturally, our dog gets sick when there is only one vet (usually there are 3 there, two were out for some reason). I left a message with the receptionist. Nancy got back with me in good time and we discussed the issue. She said she has seen a lot of diahria in dogs the last couple of weeks, so didn't feel it was anything dire (especially since Prince has been fine). We discussed the fact that she was on a different food (their regular food had been recalled) - although she has been on the food for a month, and had been on it before with no ill effects.

In the end we decided to put her on some Metronidazole and change back to the chicken/beef/rice diet for a couple of days. The medication is in case she has any bacterial or protozoan infection, and it is often used for general bowel inflammation in dogs. I went and got the medication during my lunch "hour" (it was 1.5 hours - much better than the 3-4 hours if I had to go back and get Missy) andstarted her on both the food and medicine that night.

So far, so good. In another day or so I will start introducing small amounts of regular dog food to the rice mixture; gradually increasing the amount. If she does okay, then it was jsut some sort of infection/inflammation. If she has another bad reaction, well it is the food that she isn't tolerating.

Hopefully it will work out that the food is fine - we are leaving in 10 days for Indiana (a 6 day trip) and need her to be eating normal food and not have any digestive issues.

Comments

[Cop Car]

Poor Missy! Poor you, too, with cleanup duty! Your animals are so lucky that you are so knowledgable - and you are so lucky for their companionship and love. Well...come to think of it...little luck is involved. You chose one another and you've studied animals all of your life. Well done, and I'll be interested to learn what you determine as to the culprit.

[Ruth]

A month in seems like a odd time to suddenly develop food sensitivities. Did you open a new bag within a few days of her starting?

[bogie]

Ruth - that was my thought exactly and the vet was agreeable to that. However, we'll get definitive proof in a couple of days.

[bogie]

Missy's system seems to have normalized since Friday. I have been gradually adding back her supplements; Sunday flax seed oil, yesterday asperin and chondroiten. This morning I added about 25 pcs of kibble to the mix. tonight's feeding will be the same as this morning's. Then tomorrow I will add just a tinge more kibble. Hopefully, if I keep things slow, her digestive system will stay on an even keel.

[buffy]

I hope Missy has recuperated by now. I don't envy you the clean up duty. I've been there, done that, but not quite to the degree you've described.

[bogie]

Missy is much better now.