Sdeal03 Posted August 26, 2002 Report Share Posted August 26, 2002 Ok this is going to be kind of long so I apoligize. I appreciate any insight you can give. so here's the story Tuesday Aug 20 I came home from work about 900pm and noticed a large pile of coffee ground looking vomit from my dog. So i with held food and water from her for 24 hours. Called Vet in Am and he said to just watch her and see what happens. Dog is extremely lethargic and not wanting to play but no vomiting wednsday Am and afternoon. After the 24 hr fast I gave her a real small portion of rice and boiled chicked and some water. about 45mins to 1 hour after eating she vomited a bilish substance with large amounts of freash blood and most of the bland diet and water i had just given her. Call Vet again he says to bring her in in the AM and no food or water for the night...most the night she's ok...vomited some bile early Am of wednsday. Dog is still extremely lethargic and out of character...Get ready to take her to vet in Am and he cancels because of some emergency (I work for this vet) and says she should be fine until tomorrow...i try feeding her some more of the bland diet and again she vomits shortly after there is still blood in vomit. so fasted her again but gave her access to water for thursday pm and friday am no incidents rest of night or most of friday activity level went up so I figured we were ok...she's set to go to vet Saturday am...give her more of bland diet friday PM (couple big table spoons) Dog vomits again about 2 hours after trace amounts of blood but mostly bile looking. Saturday AM vet i work for cancels on me again...dog is looking extremely bad i take her to a different vet (which is now where she's going forever) vet looks her over says she's extremely dehydrated. Lymph nodes are slightly swollen but not to a point to be concerned. takes an xray and some blood then keeps her the night to give her fluids. Xray looks normal-slightly small liver but he says that can be expected. CBC looked pretty normal high white blood cell count and some other areas that were a little off but not to the point he was concerned. Take her home Sunday afternoon Vet says she kept down the I/D they gave her and seemed pretty perky. put her on Metronidayole (sp? it was hard to read the handwriting) 500 mg 1 2x daily, Sucraltate 1 gm 2x daily and Metodopramide 10 mg 3x daily. Give her meds at night and about 4 hours later she starts having what looks like a seizure...she's unresponsive, drooling and looses control of bladder...happens 3 more times that night, dog is panting heavily and is more lethargic than before i took her to the vet...call vet at home (he gave me the number) vet says to bring her in (12 am) looks at her and cant find anything..keeps her overnight to moniter her...no more incidents...rest of blood work comes back from lab today all looks normal...elevate chlorate(or something like that) and elevated alkaline...everything else looks normal. Activity level is up slightly today but not anywhere near normal, no more incidencts of seizures or vomiting. No bowel movements either though. She is still breathing really heavy like she just ran around a lot, water intake since we started the meds is up a lot,before the meds it was normal, urine output is increased as well it was up before the meds but now its up more. Throughout the course of this stools have been pretty normal, kind of tarry but not to the level of being concerned. Dog's appetite has been down for about a week, recently got a kitten who has roundworm dog does not...had our other dog put down 2 weeks ago so we accounted some of it to the stress and grief from that...Dog is as 3 year old border collie been healthy all of her life no other seizure incidencts. Do you have Any idea as to what else we can test for? My vet is stumped but he's going to re run the bloodwork tomorrow.....any other ideas you might have would be greatly appreciated... thank you much ~Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikw Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 Have your Vet considered possibly an acute pancreatitis? Hard to detect but controllable. Have the Vet do an immediate exploratory (sp?) surgery,in a long run,it may save her life. Ultra sound of GI tract may pick some signs,rather expensive but it's well worth it. Good luck with your poor dog,hope she'll be better very soon. ------------------ Inci Willard Clearville,PA 814-784-3414 ikw@pennswoods.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandiefurniss Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 Sara, I have printed this out(hope you don't mind) and I will take this into work tomorrow(I work at a vets here in Australia) and ask my boss what he thinks of it.I don't know anything in regards to this (still got my L's on for vet nursing)but I would be very very worried. I really hope everything turns out well. I will post again here tomorrow afternoon Australian time, so I guess that would be your morning... Mandie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary & Dogs Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 Could that dog have been poisoned? Gotten into something poison - like rat bait? ------------------ Mary Hartman Kansas City, MO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret M Wheeler Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 I see you are in Wisconsin. You must have excellent university teaching veterinary hospitals well within driving distance. Contact Bill Gary at Kensmuir and he can advise you. http://www.kensmuir.com/index.html Hurry! and good luck! ------------------ Margaret retired terrierwoman, border collie newbie drumlins@adelphia.net [This message has been edited by Margaret M Wheeler (edited 08-27-2002).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 There is the University of Wisconsin in Madison vet school, which is supposed to be the second best in the nation (behind Ohio state). Set up an appt to bring your dog there. Cathy ------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katendarby Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 I work in human health care, so the minute I hear about black tarry stools or vomitting blood, the worst comes to mind. Have xrays of the chest and abdomen done, along with ultrasound. Sounds like a possibility of stomach or colon problems, a tumor or growth. The difficulty breathing could be from fluid build up in the lungs. I didn't catch the age of your dog, or if you stated if you had experienced any other health problems with this one. Elevated white cells indicate an infection, but unless it were a gastrointestinal one, the passing of blood shouldn't be a symptom. Good luck and let us know what happens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sdeal03 Posted August 27, 2002 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 Hi I wanted to thank everyone for their help. Faith is still not 100% but she's a bit better...Xrays were taken as was an endoscopy (today) both were very normal. The endoscopy showed a bit of irritation but the vet said that was to be expected of a dog that has been vomiting. There has been no more vomiting since sunday as well as no more suspcious stools. I've talked to 3 vets in the area and all of them want to have her tested for Addisons diesease but want to wait until she stabalizes a bit. The vet is pretty convinced that is what it could be as it is often missed in Blood work. She's still been seizuring but not as bad...The vet thinks that's a different issue and wants to deal with that after we find out whats making her so sick. Thank you everyone for you help. I will contact Madison and see what they can do. ~Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest C Denise Wall Posted August 27, 2002 Report Share Posted August 27, 2002 Sara, I have Addison's disease myself. The symptoms you mention, all but the bloody vomit and tarry stools, sound like it could be primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison's). I would urge you to have her tested very soon. If she is having an acute onset of the disease, she could die from it without steroid replacement. I would also urge you to look it up in whatever resources you have and understand it well because many vets (and human drs) do not. Good luck and let us know what happens. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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