My Golden, Nugget has been sick for almost 3 days, and is getting worse. Yesterday, we took him to our vet on an emergency walk-in appointment. Our regular vet wasn't there, and we had to see another one. $600 later, he's still sick, and getting worse. We have an emergency clinic, but I hate to take him to see another vet that doesn't know him, and have another huge vet bill.
Here's the scoop: Three days ago he started to get diarrhea. It got worse throughout the day. Friday, he ate breakfast, but the poo problem was horrible all day, he threw up at night. By yesterday morning he had gone 12 hours with no water, and 24 with no food.
The vet ran a blood panel to test for Pancreatitis--no problems there. She said on of his liver enzyme counts was very high, but not dangerously high. She did not do abdominal x-rays--she felt his abdomen, and said he did not give any signs of pain. She gave him an injection for nausea and inserted sub-cutaneous fluids. She sent us home telling us to keep him on a bland diet for three days--told us to give him a small meal that night, resume normal feeding today.
Well--last night, it got to be time to give him a few bites of bland food, and he would have nothing to do with it. He started shaking, and then threw up again. We decided the best thing to do was to let him sleep, and not try to push it.
This morning, we were hoping to see him back to his energetic self, all better. Instead, he was almost comatose on the dining room floor. We had to shake him to wake him up, and DH and I had to pick him up to put him on his feet, he couldn't stand up on his own. DH was able to get him to drink some water, but he absolutely refuses food. He is sleeping on our screened in back porch now. So, as it stands, he will drink, but has not eaten anything for 48 hours.
What do I do? Should I give him clear pedialyte instead of water? Do I need to take him to the emergency vet? His regular vet will be back tomorrow. I've heard you can give dogs human doses of kaopectate, would this help settle his stomach? Anyone ever tried this? Should I just leave him alone, and be happy that he's drinking water? I'm getting panicked. Nugget is 16, but is usually in amazing health. He is energetic, and still loves to run and play. The only reason I bring his age up, is I know it will make it harder for him to kick whatever it is that is the problem.
We can't figure out what made him sick either. DH said he fed him from a can that was dented (we feed him only high end organic human grade foods), and a week ago Saturday I put on his flea and tick treatment. I used a different brand this time. I usually use Frontline, but I went with one called Cutter this time.
Here's the scoop: Three days ago he started to get diarrhea. It got worse throughout the day. Friday, he ate breakfast, but the poo problem was horrible all day, he threw up at night. By yesterday morning he had gone 12 hours with no water, and 24 with no food.
The vet ran a blood panel to test for Pancreatitis--no problems there. She said on of his liver enzyme counts was very high, but not dangerously high. She did not do abdominal x-rays--she felt his abdomen, and said he did not give any signs of pain. She gave him an injection for nausea and inserted sub-cutaneous fluids. She sent us home telling us to keep him on a bland diet for three days--told us to give him a small meal that night, resume normal feeding today.
Well--last night, it got to be time to give him a few bites of bland food, and he would have nothing to do with it. He started shaking, and then threw up again. We decided the best thing to do was to let him sleep, and not try to push it.
This morning, we were hoping to see him back to his energetic self, all better. Instead, he was almost comatose on the dining room floor. We had to shake him to wake him up, and DH and I had to pick him up to put him on his feet, he couldn't stand up on his own. DH was able to get him to drink some water, but he absolutely refuses food. He is sleeping on our screened in back porch now. So, as it stands, he will drink, but has not eaten anything for 48 hours.
What do I do? Should I give him clear pedialyte instead of water? Do I need to take him to the emergency vet? His regular vet will be back tomorrow. I've heard you can give dogs human doses of kaopectate, would this help settle his stomach? Anyone ever tried this? Should I just leave him alone, and be happy that he's drinking water? I'm getting panicked. Nugget is 16, but is usually in amazing health. He is energetic, and still loves to run and play. The only reason I bring his age up, is I know it will make it harder for him to kick whatever it is that is the problem.
We can't figure out what made him sick either. DH said he fed him from a can that was dented (we feed him only high end organic human grade foods), and a week ago Saturday I put on his flea and tick treatment. I used a different brand this time. I usually use Frontline, but I went with one called Cutter this time.
