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Pup in the hospital - twisted gut or something else?

3K views 31 replies 12 participants last post by  Jax08 
#1 ·
Haven't actually slept yet so sorry if this post is put together odd. Navarro threw up Friday afternoon for no reason, but that isn't unheard of for him. He pooped normal at the park that day. Finally got him to start eating and drinking again at 1 pm the next day. He was a bit lethargic but figured if he's eating he must be feeling a bit better. He ate a few cups of kibble, a few fish and some chicken. He didn't poop much all day just a tiny bit of watery stuff. At about 1 am...12 hours after he started eating he was showing a lot of discomfort and lethargy, and puked up everything he had eaten that day all at once...which tells me nothing left his stomach. Rushed to the 24 hour hospital. They did xrays which showed no obvious obstruction but a lot of gas trapped in intestines. Waiting for blood tests to come back. They don't think its a twisted gut but what else could it be if nothing has left his stomach? They won't do a barium test on him I have asked...feeling pretty lost.
 
#4 ·
Thanks. This waiting game is really hard and not seeing him when I'm with him all day every day is REALLY weird. I'm afraid I may have gotten slightly angry with the vet this morning when he said they were observing him. "OBSERVE!? No no! Don't just look at him fix him!" :(
 
#5 ·
From what it sounds like, they are likely wondering if his intestines are angry from some kind of thing he ate or if there is something potentially obstructing it. You can have just has in there, making odd patterns that means nothing. I was worried about my golden last month because he suddenly threw up everything he had eaten and was just very nauseous and drooling. He had a pattern of gas that worried me about obstruction, however they saw nothing wrong.

Mesenteric torsion, which I may be spelling wrong, is going to be really a very crazy gas pattern that involves most of the intestines and it will look like something has twisted them around. Basically the gut twists and causes the blood flow to stop, and it is extremely bad because you cannot live without the majority of your bowel. It would be an extreme x-ray to see. A friend lost her boxer to mesenteric torsion a few years ago.

The reason for putting a dog on fluids and repeating films later is to avoid unnecessary surgery. Nothing stinks more than to end up with a negative abdominal explore. :/ They can happen, and then you basically put your dog through an unnecessary surgical procedure.


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#7 ·
I just went through closed to the same thing with my golden. It was gorture for me not to have him home, but it was for his own safety. They did do the barium test on him and he had X-rays done every six hours. There was something in the lining of the stomach but it was never determined what it was. He came home and was on a special diet for a few days and was fine after that. It was definitely odd.
 
#10 ·
Thanks, he actually hadn't eaten for over 24 hours when I offered him kibble yesterday (sorry maybe I worded it wrong to make it seem like he had eaten sooner). He puked Friday around 12 and hadn't had anything since his breakfast at 8 am. Then I didn't get him to eat anything until 1 pm the next day. He is on a limited ingredient diet (no chicken or rice allowed) so I wasn't sure what other "bland" things I could give him.
 
#14 ·
Actually, a lot of dogs don't tolerate dairy that well. And baby food is super expensive for a tiny jar. I would go with sweet potato and lowfat meat like buffalo or beef. You should also add a couple of tablespoons of plain canned pumpkin. You will also want to add a good quality probiotic in order to help his gut heal.

Do you have any news yet?
 
#15 ·
Boiled hamburger and even tofu can be options too. We actually have a handout that we give to clients that has different bland diets and how to mix them on it. Generally speaking you want to cut things with rice, and you have to be cautious with the baby food for the amount of sodium that they can have. It's more of those little goes a long way kind of situations. If you give them too much it can cause other trouble (there is such a thing as salt toxicity).

Leaving a pet overnight can be stressful, but the way I look at it is they have people who are awake and keeping an eye on your pet. They have medical knowledge, can respond to things quickly because the dog is already in the hospital and some days with GI problems just getting them rehydrated and helping push whatever they may have gotten into their system out can be a good thing. :)

I had a very long road with my first white shepherd with her gut. It was very common for her to have explosive diarrhea and vomiting, even from the smallest thing off in her diet (the joys of IBD). She always felt so much better after fluids. :) Any word yet?
 
#16 ·
Not much word yet as we're still waiting for the blood tests to come back. Apparently he is doing a bit better. Getting up and walking around on his own and eating a bit. Another night without him though. They said tomorrow night he may be able to come home. Amazingly they have charged me one flat rate no matter how long he stays...so its not going to completely destroy my bank account more than it already is.
I definitely miss him though. I will NEVER look at him as an annoyance when he is constantly dropping a slobber soaked ball in my lap ever again. I miss it!!! :cry:
 
#17 ·
My dogs blood tests came back with elevated liver levels. They questioned toxins more then once. After going over everything I came to the conclusion it was something with the food, based on the fact my oldest dog started throwing up undigested food within a couple days of the other dog and she never throws up. I switched foods immediately and noticed a marked improvement rather quickly.
 
#21 ·
He came home, but he's still not eating. He's eaten 1.5 cups in the last 48 hours. I had fed him cottage cheese and yogurt too and he eats some of that. But just looks at food 90% of the time and leaves. I've tried different things, different kibbles, wet foods, mixes. Not sure what else to do but let him starve and hope he decides something I give him is edible at some point. I'm pretty discouraged.
 
#22 ·
Try tripe. If you can get packaged ground stuff or fresh (which is gross), or Tripett (canned)or Petkind (same company).

He won't starve. He may just know what's best for him right now.
 
#26 ·
He is probably nauseous. Get slippery elm powder or capsules and either stick them down his throat or make a paste and give it to him about 20 minutes before you want him to eat. Then feed him something coated with very stinky stuff and see if that will get him started.

There is also this tincture I used to use for Cleo that had B vitamins in it and was an appetite stimulant. Let me see if I can find it.
 
#27 ·
Could this Clavaseptin be to blame for it? The vet prescribed it for Navarro when I went to pick him up and told me to give it to him for 7 days. I have had to force feed it to him. We never knew what the cause of his puking was, but the side effects for this stuff I am just reading are nausea, diarrhea and loss of appetite...
 
#28 ·
That certainly sounds like it could be the culprit. Call the vet, explain about the lack of appetite and ask if you can take him off of that. The slippery elm is an absorbent so you do have to be careful about giving it within a half hour of medications. It really works well though.
 
#30 ·
It's very inexpensive. You can find it at any health food store or grocery store with a good health food and supplement section. It will also help heal his gut. It's really good stuff. I use it too sometimes and it honestly saved my cat Cleo's life. She had very severe digestive problems that caused her to stop eating on a number of occasions. Slippery elm, probiotics and digestive enzymes helped her so much.
 
#31 ·
I was right it was the Clavaseptin that has been making him sick. Now I can't get in touch with the vet to find out if I can stop giving him this stuff altogether, since the cause of him being sick was never found in the first place. Called the vet office last night and they said call at 6am, now they're saying call at 10pm...:thumbsdown:. They must have been giving him injectable antibiotics when he was there because he was fine the night I brought him home and has been declining ever since. I missed a dose and now he's eating and not depressed.
 
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