# Poppy very sick



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

We are very concerned with Poppy. She started having diarrhea yesterday morning. She ate her normal breakfast and dinner yesterday (dinner at 5pm). At 8pm Poppy had a diarrhea accident on our couch pillow. She ate some of this diarrhea. When I noticed the accident and tried to pick up the pillow, Poppy snapped at me. Over the next 2 hours, Poppy vomited several times and started to lightly shake or tremor. I think the tremors were due to discomfort and pain. We then took her to the ER where they did blood tests and x-rays. White blood count was very low and x-rays showed intestines were inflamed. I don't find this unusual considering what she went through. Poppy was also mildly dehydrated. The vet is not ruling out intestinal obstruction but could not find anything conclusive on x-ray. For that matter, blood work was pretty inconclusive also. The Parvo and Pancreatic test came back normal. While at the vet, Poppy started to have bloody diarrhea. This was alarming and now we are panicking.

Poppy spent the night at the ER and was given antibiotics and IV for fluids. When my wife picked her up this morning, Poppy was definitely feeling better but still stick and she still had bloody diarrhea. This morning we took her to the vet where she is still getting fluids.

Out of the ordinary things Poppy did recently. She went to a new groomer on Saturday. She and her brother Teddy were there for half the day and seemed fine when we left. Teddy did have a couple of accidents when we got home so maybe stress related? Could Poppy be this sick due to stress? Seems unlikely. Poppy also got into the trash on Saturday night. I caught her quickly but she did have a big Pork Shoulder bone on the floor. There was a little meat attached to the bone and I'm sure she got some of that but the bone was intact.

We are getting vet care but they really don't know what's going on. Has anyone gone through something similar? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Tim


----------



## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

I hope Poppy just got something that did not agree with her and gets better soon.


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

That is terrifying, I know. It would seem more likely that Poppy ingested something that created the issue than stress related to the grooming. Is it possible the groomer gave something to the dog(s)? Unfortunately, in cases like this, there is the possibility you'll never know what caused it. I'll pray for Poppy to come out of this unscathed.

Please keep us posted.


----------



## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

I was wondering the same thing as Geri. Perhaps the groomer gave them a treat that does not agree with her. To ease my mind I would call the groomer and check. I hope that Poppy gets better soon.


----------



## Pipersmom (Jul 27, 2009)

I hope the worst is over and Poppy is better soon. I know how scared you must be.


----------



## CacheHavs (Aug 2, 2007)

*I would get with your vet, because it sounds like it could be **Hemorrhagic GastroEnteritis or (HGE) If this is what she has she needs to be at he vet with an iv hooked up to her, and antibiotics

A friend on mine lost one of her dogs to this and recognized the symptoms when another came down with it a few years later and was able to save him with the fluids and **antibiotics, **it took about a week for him to fully recover

Here is a web site to help you understand what HGE is 
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/dogdiseasesh/a/HGEindogs.htm

*


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

I just visited Poppy at the Vet. She is still on IV and has not vomited or experienced diarrhea since she we dropped her off at 8am. The last time she had bloody diarrhea was at 7:30 am when we were leaving the animal ER clinic. She will get re-evaluated in about 30 minutes to see what next steps will be. Poppy is doing much better and gaining strength back. I look forward to the next evaluation and hopefully bring her home.

I called the groomer and they said they gave her Pupperoni. They also mentioned that sometimes dogs will get diarrhea due to the stress of grooming. This seem a little extreme for stress related issues. Her white blood count was also really low so something serious is happening. Not really sure what though.

Tim


----------



## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

I agree with Heather. My Sheltie had a bout with HGE about a year and half ago while we were traveling. If it hadn't been for the person who directed us to a wonderful vet who immediately hooked her up to an IV and gave her antibiotics we would have lost her. Keep a very close eye on Poppy. My girl was stressed because of a visit to my sister's house. Sis has a Lab that was a pup at the time and pestered my Sheltie. The stress caused her to have diarrhea and it progressed VERY quickly from there.
I hope Poppy is much better soon.


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

mckennasedona said:


> I agree with Heather. My Sheltie had a bout with HGE about a year and half ago while we were traveling. If it hadn't been for the person who directed us to a wonderful vet who immediately hooked her up to an IV and gave her antibiotics we would have lost her. Keep a very close eye on Poppy. My girl was stressed because of a visit to my sister's house. Sis has a Lab that was a pup at the time and pestered my Sheltie. The stress caused her to have diarrhea and it progressed VERY quickly from there.
> I hope Poppy is much better soon.


I agree she had HGE. This seems like a very non specific diagnosis, however, and doesn't pinpoint cause. I am surprised stress can cause this. I was sort of thinking it is not the cause in our case because Poppy left the groomer happy and was kissing on the groomer when we left. She also didn't start her diarrhea until the next morning. We got home from from groomer at 2pm, Poppy ate normally at 5pm. She had diarrhea the next morning. I would think diarrhea would start sooner. What do you guys think?

I should also note that we moved to MN from TX late December. Perhaps the stress from the move caught up to her? The first week in MN she was not herself but the last couple of weeks were fine.


----------



## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

How scary! I'm glad the vet is on top of it and she's improving. I think they could be exposed to more at a groomer, perhaps if the groomer isn't as cleanly as they should be OR another dog was sick the same day, dog flu? Maybe your vet can give you a diagnosis.

Kara


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

Thumper said:


> How scary! I'm glad the vet is on top of it and she's improving. I think they could be exposed to more at a groomer, perhaps if the groomer isn't as cleanly as they should be OR another dog was sick the same day, dog flu? Maybe your vet can give you a diagnosis.
> 
> Kara


Hi Kara,
That was our thought also. However, the vet thought that if we were exposed to a virus at the groomer, she would have not gotten sick so quickly. It would have taken at least a few days.
Tim


----------



## CacheHavs (Aug 2, 2007)

With HGE it comes on VERY quickly and even though she may not show much stress, inside she could have been. Its not the fault of the groomer or any thing, as any dog could end up with it, and there is no test that a vet can do to determine that that is what it is, and it takes much longer than a day or even a few hours for it to go away.

That is why my friend ended up losing her dog was because the dog perked up and the vet thought he was doing much better, then he went down they thought it was a possible blockage, and the ultimate killer was opening him up. HGE is nothing to mess around with if that is what Poppy has, as once they go down too far there is no coming back for them  I don't want to scare you, but I feel as it is something that has not been taken very serious and checked into. The other unfortunate thing is not many vets are even familiar with HGE


----------



## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

thanks Heather for the article. I am bookmarking it.

Wishing a speedy recovery for Poppy.


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

This HGE looks scary. She has all the symptoms of HGE but I'm not convinced because with HGE dogs aren't supposed to have a low white blood cell count. Poppy's WBC's were really low. I will keep you posted as we know more info.


----------



## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Was the pork she got into from the garbage raw? I know undercooked or raw pork can make people sick. Have no idea about dogs. 

Hope Poppy gets well soon!

HGE is scary sounding. I am going to bookmark this as well - thanks for posting the link, Heather.


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Was the pork she got into from the garbage raw? I know undercooked or raw pork can make people sick. Have no idea about dogs.
> 
> Hope Poppy gets well soon!
> 
> HGE is scary sounding. I am going to bookmark this as well - thanks for posting the link, Heather.


Good question on the pork. It was fully cooked.

The vet just examined Poppy again. She is doing great and has regained energy and color. Such an improvement in less than 24 hours. I think she would still be in really bad shape without IV fluids and meds. The vet is going to try to feed her some bland food and if she holds it down we will take her home this evening.

My best guess is this was stress related from the grooming experience the day before. She had diarrhea and things got progressively worse FAST. We will probably never know for sure what caused this.

Tim


----------



## Laurief (Nov 7, 2006)

Sending good thoughts to Poppy! I hope she is well enough to come home soon!


----------



## CacheHavs (Aug 2, 2007)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Was the pork she got into from the garbage raw? I know undercooked or raw pork can make people sick. Have no idea about dogs.


Linda, this is true for humans, but not for dogs. The cooked bones if digested can cause a lot of problems as the can splinter off causing lots of havoc. However raw meat or bones that were not cooked will not hurt the dogs, like it would us.

Here are some link regarding raw foods and feeding.

http://rawfed.com/myths/parasites.html

http://rawfed.com/myths/bacteria.html

And there are even more links if interested.


----------



## Becky Chittenden (Feb 4, 2009)

Hope Poppy is back to normal quickly!


----------



## Cindi (Sep 5, 2011)

Tim

We've gone through something very similar with Mojo -- twice. We thought it was HGE at first also. After about $3,000+ (yup, that many zeros) of ER visits, vet visits, testing, specialists ...... it turns out to be "stress". Not even "distress". Even plain old "over the top happy" excitement is enough to throw his gut into overdrive and the clostridium starts to multiply like crazy. It doesn't take long for the diarrhea to start (and the blood came on fast) and the dehydration to follow. Once all the vets and the gastroenterologists (I didn't even know they had these for dogs!) finally figured it out, the treatment and management was relatively easy. Hope it turns out to be something simple for your little one, too.


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

Cindi said:


> Tim
> 
> We've gone through something very similar with Mojo -- twice. We thought it was HGE at first also. After about $3,000+ (yup, that many zeros) of ER visits, vet visits, testing, specialists ...... it turns out to be "stress". Not even "distress". Even plain old "over the top happy" excitement is enough to throw his gut into overdrive and the clostridium starts to multiply like crazy. It doesn't take long for the diarrhea to start (and the blood came on fast) and the dehydration to follow. Once all the vets and the gastroenterologists (I didn't even know they had these for dogs!) finally figured it out, the treatment and management was relatively easy. Hope it turns out to be something simple for your little one, too.


Cindi,
I also think this is stress related. If you could private message me (or if you like, share to the board) what the treatment is, that would be wonderful. We are scheduled to pick Poppy up in 2 hours and I would like to have a good discussion with the vet. Our bills were $750 at ER plus whatever the vet is going to charge. It adds up fast. However, I really feel if we didn't treat her she might not have made it. She was going downhill very fast.

Thanks so much,
Tim


----------



## Cindi (Sep 5, 2011)

Tim,

The ER vet assured me both times that we hadn't over-reacted bringing him in. In fact, the second time there was a young girl saying goodbye to her dog in the room next to us -- I'd rather pay the big bucks than have that regret. Anyway. Here's the "Reader's Digest" version. 

First time it happened was after one night in a great "doggie hotel" that he was very familiar with because we use it for daycare socialization. Knew everyone there and had a blast. Three days later, he got diarrhea that turned into "bloody jelly" within two hours. At ER, the gave him fluids, Cerenia for nausea, Polyflex injection(ampicillin), and Metronidazole for home. It helped, but my vet had to repeat the Polyflex and Metronidazole a week later because poop continued to look like yellow pudding. She added FortiFlora to the bland diet. Someone recommended either Purina or Science Sensitive Stomach food. I tried it and everything cleared up. Until 10 months later. 

Second time: following a weekend of big fun at Rally. Back to ER. Cerenia, Polyflex, Metro again. Some Dia-Gel for diarrhea. Diarrhea stops, pudding poops continue. My vet repeats again in a week. (Between the last incident and now we had dropped the Forti-Flora and I had him back on Wellness dog food). Back on the bland food and FortiFlora. But this time, it didn't clear up. We got either pudding or stools encased in a grey mucus. Now the gastroenterologist gets involved and says that the stress induced Clostridium overgrowth is being exacerbated by not enough fiber in the gut. He puts Mojo on Tylan powder (an antibiotic) for 8 weeks. Royal Canin K9 Gastro High Fiber Food. Forti Flora (probiotic). Within two weeks, all was well. Since then (7 months now), Mojo has been kenneled multiple times, gets groomed, goes to classes, goes all over with us -- lots of fun stress. And "knock wood" ..... normal poop!

Hope this helps.


----------



## myyuppypuppy (Oct 4, 2007)

Good Morning... Sort of read thru part of this strand.... so far... most is right on. HGE/Collitis comes on very quickly and can dehydrate a dog to the point of death in just a few hours. Right now I am looking at one of mine that I co-own laying in her crate by my desk with an IV hooked up dripping Ringers and b12. All because of stress induced HGE. She came here to be bred on Thursday and has been unhappy about it.... yesterday morning I was worried... when I arrived home from delivering a puppy on Monday, she was very happy... Monday night she started vomiting and thru the night diarreah(liquid and bloody). I stopped the vomiting with Metacloprimide(I do realize you guys dont have the pharmacy I am lucky enough to have in my house) and started Propectilin (Kaelin/Pectin/good Bacteria)... syringed gatorade and waited for my vet to get out of jury duty. A couple hours later I was home with IV however no drugs.

Now wih all this said, I have had quite of bit of soft stools lately with unknown etiology... Flagyl not working, albon not working.... All tests negative. Propectillin working best. There is definately something out there... 

I also want to tell you that Parvo is HUGELY on the rise. My vet saw 7 cases last week alone... this is unheard of... 5 in one day. Vaccinate your dogs, but remember the vaccine wont save a puppy under about 9 months... so keep your puppy out of dog parks, pet stores and etc until ALL puppy shots are complete. Take him to the mall instead for socializing. Familiarize yourself with the symptoms... Clear Foaming vomit, foul smelling diarreah can be bloody, LOW WBC, temperature, Lethargy... a sick dog. 

Also everything inducing soft stools, STRESS, Food change, shots, deworming, most drugs - however most of the time a little propectilin, immodium AD, canned pumpkin, yogurt, diarsanyl will help....Also it is fine to switch your dog to CHicken/Rice ( a bland diet) when soft stools/runny stools begin and then start weaning back when resolved. 

And distinguish between if it is diarreah (going more often than normal and running) or just runny stools (going on schedule but when goes it is soft). 

It is watching for other things coupled with it... Vomiting, temperature, brick red tongue (indicative of dehyration), skin response, and etc that help us decide if it is an ER visit or not. Dehydration will absolutely kill your dog/puppy quicker than almost anything else..... 

And if you are just not sure.....Call your breeder for advice....


----------



## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

I read your reply with interest, thank you for this information. Prayers going out for Poppy. Keep us posted, please.


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

That is terrifying. The information is invaluable. I think we have to create a sticky thread with all this type of advice so our members can find it easily whenever they need it..


----------



## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

myyuppypuppy said:


> Good Morning... Sort of read thru part of this strand.... so far... most is right on. HGE/Collitis comes on very quickly and can dehydrate a dog to the point of death in just a few hours. Right now I am looking at one of mine that I co-own laying in her crate by my desk with an IV hooked up dripping Ringers and b12. All because of stress induced HGE. She came here to be bred on Thursday and has been unhappy about it.... yesterday morning I was worried... when I arrived home from delivering a puppy on Monday, she was very happy... Monday night she started vomiting and thru the night diarreah(liquid and bloody). I stopped the vomiting with Metacloprimide(I do realize you guys dont have the pharmacy I am lucky enough to have in my house) and started Propectilin (Kaelin/Pectin/good Bacteria)... syringed gatorade and waited for my vet to get out of jury duty. A couple hours later I was home with IV however no drugs.
> 
> Now wih all this said, I have had quite of bit of soft stools lately with unknown etiology... Flagyl not working, albon not working.... All tests negative. Propectillin working best. There is definately something out there...
> 
> ...


I wonder if you have an opinion on puppies at dog shows? I see so many puppies there, and although I know MOST dogs are PROBABLY vaccinated, I worry. Since there are puppy classes and some handler/breeder/owners have their puppies with them I wonder how safe this really is? If you want to pm me, that is okay I don't want to hijack this thread..


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

I am happy to say Poppy is now doing very well. I'd say she is 90% herself. She is still on antibiotics and chicken/rice diet. This is scary and as others said can occur very quickly. What appeared to be regular loose stools in the morning to diarrhea in the afternoon to vomiting white foam in the evening and bloody diarrhea by midnight. 

Tim


----------



## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

wavlngth said:


> I am happy to say Poppy is now doing very well. I'd say she is 90% herself. She is still on antibiotics and chicken/rice diet. This is scary and as others said can occur very quickly. What appeared to be regular loose stools in the morning to diarrhea in the afternoon to vomiting white foam in the evening and bloody diarrhea by midnight.
> 
> Tim


So happy to hear Poppy is on the mend..((((Poppy))))


----------



## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Years ago, my mother bought a dachshound puppy while still having an old one. She came to visit and bought the puppy on the way. The old dog got blood diarrhea the next morning. I thought she must be dying. Nothing but blood and lots of it. My wonderful vet has seen everything and calmed us right down. He said it was because of the new puppy and that she would be fine. He kept her overnight and he was correct. She got over it as soon as we started petting her and of course the new puppy was laying on her and trying to get her to play. I don't remember how long she was sick, but I remember the scare. I don't understand how pure blood can just start and then stop without there being a tear in the lining of the stomach or intestines. If humans were wired that way, there would be a lot of times in my life that I would have passed pure blood.


----------



## andra (Aug 23, 2010)

I am glad that Poppy is doing better  Please keep us posted.

This thread has been invaluable. I printed out the signs and symptoms of HGE as I have never heard of this and it seems like time is of the essence in addressing this. Also, thank you Janet for alerting us about Parvo--I did not know that this was on an upswing.


----------



## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

andra said:


> I am glad that Poppy is doing better  Please keep us posted.
> 
> This thread has been invaluable. I printed out the signs and symptoms of HGE as I have never heard of this and it seems like time is of the essence in addressing this. Also, thank you Janet for alerting us about Parvo--I did not know that this was on an upswing.


I had heard about the upswing in Parvo in our southern area of the USA. I did not know about the lack of protection until 9 months...as I said, it makes me worry about showing puppies...


----------



## havahop (Jul 24, 2010)

So glad Poppy is doing better. We are going through this same thing with my 7 year old Hav, Charlie. We did visit our son in another state on Saturday coming home Sunday. He ate dinner on Sunday just fine and this was not the first time he's been there. About 2am was the first time we heard him vomiting in his crate. Three more times before 6am and one incident of diarrhea. During the day of Monday, he continued to get worse and would not eat or drink anything. I did notice the blood in his stool. Called the vet around 5 and was told if he got any worse to go to the ER with him and to withhold food or water. I slept with him on the couch and every 30 to 45 minutes we were outside with vomiting and diarrhea. Called the vet first thing in the morning and took him in. He stayed all day Tuesday getting fluids, antibiotics and anti nausea medications. I came home with both medications. Since I've picked him up last night around 5:30 he will not eat or drink anything. He is just laying around but no more vomiting or diarrhea. I wonder if this is what he has. The vet took all sorts of blood work and everything came back normal, kidneys, liver, pancreas, all good. Will call the vet tomorrow if he still is not drinking or eating. Vet assured me that he has enough fluids to last him for a day or so. So worried because I lost a 9 year old Maltese with these same symptoms within 4 or 5 days. Spent over $3500 and never did get to bring him home. These guys are so little that it doesn't take much to put them at great risk of dehydration. I will try some gatorade later in the day. He will be on a bland diet for a week or so. In fact, after reading these posts, I think I will call the vet right now to see if it's okay that he's not eating or drinking. Thank you for all the great information you all posted. Again, so glad Poppy is doing much better. Spoil her a little more than usual when she gets home...


----------



## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Cindi said:


> Tim
> 
> We've gone through something very similar with Mojo -- twice. We thought it was HGE at first also. After about $3,000+ (yup, that many zeros) of ER visits, vet visits, testing, specialists ...... it turns out to be "stress". Not even "distress". Even plain old "over the top happy" excitement is enough to throw his gut into overdrive and the clostridium starts to multiply like crazy. It doesn't take long for the diarrhea to start (and the blood came on fast) and the dehydration to follow. Once all the vets and the gastroenterologists (I didn't even know they had these for dogs!) finally figured it out, the treatment and management was relatively easy. Hope it turns out to be something simple for your little one, too.


 Was Mojo's white blood count low? Poor Mojo and you guys that sounds awful. I havn't read the rest of the posts yet but I hope Poppy is better. :mullet:


----------



## Lizzie'sMom (Oct 13, 2010)

This whole HGE has me kinda scared. Lizzie is quite the nervous Nellie and if stress can trigger it I am worried about when I have to leave her to vacation. She is literally with me every minute of the day and night. I do get out of the house, but never for a few hours at a time. When I am home she is always next to me.


----------



## Cindi (Sep 5, 2011)

Suzi said:


> Was Mojo's white blood count low? Poor Mojo and you guys that sounds awful. I havn't read the rest of the posts yet but I hope Poppy is better. :mullet:


Mojo's WBC count was normal. All the lab work was normal except for a very mildly elevated ALKP. He never even acted all that sick, but the "red jelly" was just pouring out of him. He didn't even squat.

Both of our "incidents" happened over a holiday weekend. Go figure! Now every holiday that comes around we kind of tiptoe through the week before!

So glad to hear Poppy is on the mend.


----------



## Kathie (Jul 31, 2008)

Great news that Poppy is getting better! That was quite a scare and I have copied and pasted a lot of this great info in a document file just in case I need it. Thanks, everyone for sharing insight into this horrible condition.


----------



## anaacosta (Sep 1, 2011)

WAVLNGTH, how's Poppy?


----------



## wavlngth (Feb 1, 2011)

anaacosta said:


> WAVLNGTH, how's Poppy?


Poppy is fine. She was pretty much back to normal within the week after getting sick. I don't think the outcome would have been as good had we not gotten her on antibiotics and especially IV fluids the same day she started getting sick.


----------



## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

Good news!


----------

