Scratchings-and-Sniffings |
| Posted: 07 May 2010 06:20 AM PDT
You can probably tell that I'm not too concerned about this development. Stuff happens to dogs and cats from time to time. Diarrhea is one of the most common conditions that result in a veterinary visit. It is a little disconcerting to hear the news from the owner of the boarding facility, as we are on the road, but considering Miles' penchant for eating anything he comes across, It's not surprising that he gets a little GI upset every so often. Frankly, I'd be more concerned about vomiting for the same reason. Labs have a history of eating things like tennis balls that get lodged in their guts. While not life threatening, these can turn into serious pocket book issues as surgery is often involved to remove the offending object. I had a Lab patient up in Montana that never learned his lesson. We opened him up on four different occasions. A pair of socks, two tennis balls and a squash ball. His owner was forced to give up racket sports. Diarrhea can be serious of course. It can mean an infection, either located in the gut or generalized. Dogs with Distemper and Parvo Virus develop diarrhea. Since Miles is up to date on his vaccinations it would be very unlikely that he had either. More than likely he ate something that has altered the environment in his digestive tract. He may have picked up a dose of pathogenic bacteria in something rotten. He loves dead stuff. He may have eaten something that was dramatically different than his regular dog food. Maybe he ate another dog's food at the kennel. Who knows. Here's what I told Jerry to do in my absence: Don't feed him anything for 24 hours. Restrict his water intake by putting ice cubes in his water bowl. He can drink the melt, but I don't want him slurping up lots of water for the same reason I don't want him eating dog food. He needs GI rest. Our pets bodies have a remarkable ability to heal themselves. Resting an inflamed gut for a day or so will "cure" most cases of simple diarrhea due to the ingestion of something strange. It's when diarrhea continues despite GI rest, or after a suitable period of rest, that I get nervous. You have to ease them back into the routine of eating and drinking too. After the day of rest a very small meal, say one tenth of what you would normally feed is provided. If they handle that well, you continue with several small meals a day until things are back to normal. When should you worry about Diarrhea? I worry about it when it is accompanied by vomiting. That could mean that something toxic was ingested. If the critter is showing depression and has a fever I worry about the diarrhea being a sign of a more serious systemic illness. If diarrhea persists for more than 24 hours I worry about it too, especially if it returns after a period of rest like we described. Even if the pet is alert and hungry, persistent diarrhea can mean that something is wrong with the digestive process either with the intestine itself or with digestive enzymes. Some cases of diarrhea do well with a diet change. Feeding a highly digestible veterinary type diet is simply an extension of the GI rest idea. These diets are formulated to be very easy on the digestive tract and they can help with the time it takes for the gut to heal itself. Bottom line- if your dog develops a case of diarrhea suddenly, don't freak out. If he seems alert and wags his tail when you pull out the leash, a day of GI rest will most likely do the trick. If he looks sick and won't get out of bed, If he's vomiting along with the diarrhea, give your Vet a call. If your pet is behind in his vaccinations, there is also reason for concern. It can be a judgment call on your part. If you are a new pet owner you might want to seek help sooner. Most of us spend so much time with our pets that we can pick up on signs that things are wrong. You don't need a cow pie on the carpet to know things are amiss. It's like having kids. When Drew, our first born, looked at us funny, Chris took him to the pediatrician. When Claire came along a couple of years later it took a case of projectile vomiting to get our attention. Both kids never spent a day in the hospital. On the other hand, Claire does seem to be a little jealous of her big brother, but that's another story. |
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