# Diarrhea day 3....how long before worrying?



## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

Gracie has been sick with diarrhea for 3 days. There is tons of mucous in it (sorry tmi). I got worried and called the vet this morning. She said to give her 1/4 of immodium and to feed her rice with chicken broth....and that if she was still sick Sunday she would come out and have a look at her. She thinks its just gastrointeritus(sp)...I guess a belly ache.

My other concern is, she hasn't pee'd since 8am this morning







. And she is STILL having diarrhea, pure liquid...she's had atleast 6 bouts since giving her the immodium at around 1 this afternoon.

Any thoughts or advise, I would sure appreciate them about now. 

Poor Gracie has been walking with her tail down for 3days, she doesn't bark, doesn't play.....just lays around looking all so pathetic.


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## DianL (Mar 28, 2007)

You should get some peidalite and give it to her with a syringe if necessary. she will dehydrate quickly with diarreah,


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

If she has had diarrhea with pure liquid ... that seems like something that needs to be looked at. I'm afraid she may be dehydrated. Is it possible tht she hasn't peed because she is so dehydrated?


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## gibbert (Jan 13, 2005)

Poor baby. I'm so sorry Gracie isn't feeling well. If Tchelsi was having diarrhea for 3 days in a row I would take her to the vet as soon as possible. I would'nt want to take any chances. I'll say a little prayer for her and keep my fingers crossed that it isn't anything serious. Gentle hugs to Gracie.


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

Pedilyte (non-flavored) for sure.......If she won't drink try putting crush iced in it.....if not the syringe. Hope she feels better soon!


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## MickeysMom (Jun 16, 2006)

I would definitely get her to the vet tomorrow AM, first thing. I wouldn't wait til Sunday. She is dehydrated and obviously, something isn't right with her. I don't know why your vet wasn't more concerned, we would tell our clients to come right in. 
I hope she feels better. Try to get a stool sample to bring with you so they can check for parasites.

Feel better Gracie


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

All I have in the house is gatorade and she won't touch it. I've been holding her all night wrapped in a blanket because she was trembling (makes me wonder if she has a fever because its rather warm in the house) She has taken a small amount of water for me....not much though. I will call the vet in the AM again....may go back to my old vet. Thanks guys.

She definitely has me worried.....poor little girl.


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## DianL (Mar 28, 2007)

You should take a syringe and put it in the side of her mouth. Put a drop at a time in her mouth until she swallows. She needs a lot of fluids. You also need to put her on a heating pad. You get cold when you are dehydrated. Gatorade will work for it will put the electrolytes back in her.


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## Andrea&Luci (Jul 30, 2006)

I really hope that Gracie feels better soon! I know that last time my baby had diarrhea, my vet told me to give her white rice w/ PLAIN boiled chicken. She gobbled it down and her diarrhea stopped. I guess the rice helps to "bind" them. Anyway I would definitely take her to the vet ASAP if I were you, specially if she is trembling.........................


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

> You should take a syringe and put it in the side of her mouth. Put a drop at a time in her mouth until she swallows. She needs a lot of fluids. You also need to put her on a heating pad. You get cold when you are dehydrated. Gatorade will work for it will put the electrolytes back in her.[/B]


Just finished getting 15cc of water into her via syringe....will finish up with some gatorade.....wow, I had no idea they got cold when dehydrated....thats why she was trembling so badly. I've had her wrapped in a blanket on my lap all night. I thought maybe she was running a fever.....I will get the heating pad plugged in and warmed up for her....thank you for the bringing that to my attention.

Ok, off to tend to her....and I promise she will be going to the vet first thing in the morning.

Can I put a stool sample into a zip lock bag??? Its all liquid right now, maybe by morning it will be more formed. I'd like to bring one with me to the vets office tomorrow morning.

My vet told me plain white rice with chick broth...no chicken....so Gracie did eat a bit of that for dinner tonight. So far it hasn't helped to bind her, nor has the immodium.


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## dr.jaimie (Mar 23, 2004)

be careful with heating pads they cause aweful burns...we threw all ours away at the clinic b/c they r too dangerous....if u do use one make sure she can get away from it and have a towel or blanket b/w her and the pad....



for the fecal..yes u can put it in ziplock...the fresher the sample the better.


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## DianL (Mar 28, 2007)

Yes you can put the stool sample in a baggie.I usually use an old perscription bottle ( so I can't see it in my purse).
Pull the skin up on her neck. If the skin doesn't jump back into place immediately and stays up a bit she is still very dehydrated. Try to give her fluids every hour until she acts like she feels better. How much does she weigh? My vet told me to give a 1 pound puppy 2/10 cc 3 times a day. It took 3 times to get it to stop.
Pleas keep us posted on her progress..


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

Sylphide has had a couple of serious close calls with diarrhea - the first time she lost a lot of weight in 24 hours and was very, very ill. We rushed her to the emergency clinic and had her put on an iv, and were fearful that she wouldn't make it. Now, we don't take any chances - if she has one full day or one overnight with diarrhea, we take her to the vet for liquids, overnight if necessary. Nowadays, they have some kind of pack they can inject under the skin that fully hydrates them.

Anyway, I wouldn't take any chances - a weekend of dehydration is a long wait for these tiny babies. I'd take your little one to the vet first thing in the am if she still has diarrhea, or if she in any way looks dehydrated. 

We send you both our very best healing wishes.


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## DianL (Mar 28, 2007)

I would have her at the vet's office as soon as possible. Diarreah is a dangerous thing . Especially when its a little dog that can't tell you what hurts. They just look at you with those little soulful eyes that are begging for you to help them.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

My Lady has constant "IV legs" from dehydration for various health problems. I've always had big dog so I was shocked to find out how quickly these little dogs can dehydrate.

I always start pedialite with a syringe almost immediately, but after three days of this I think she may need an iv or at the least, subq fluids, since she's stopped urinating.

Definately take her to the vet in the morning.


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## Malteseluv (Feb 6, 2007)

How's she doing this today?? What did the vet say? Hope she's doing okay!!


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

Update

I took Gracie over to the vet this morning....just got home. She was dehydrated.....but not horribly so. The vet thinks its because I gave her fluids via the sryringe through out the night...thank you Jaimie and others for the suggestion. I gave her 20cc before bed....woke up at 3 gave her another 12....and another 12 at 6am...she pee'd by 8:30am. Followed by massive diarrhea....covering 2 wee pads.









The vet checked her stool, it was clear. She gave her a rectal exam....that was good. No fever. She said her belly felt good, ears eyes all that were good. Her gums were a bit dry but NOTHING like last night. And the coloring of her gums were much better this morning....much pinker....last night they were very pale looking. Wasn't sure if that was normal or not.

They injected her in 3 different areas up and down her spine with 200cc of fluids. She has little bloody spots all up and down her spine from the injection sites.







She's all squishy feeling....like a water balloon or something. Gave her an injection for the diarrhea and put her on Metronidazole 50mg once a day. She gave me 7days worth.....I gotta call back on Monday....I don't think I'm supposed to give them to her for 7 days.

She said if she is not better by Monday, she needs to come back for IV treatment, x-rays and blood work. She sees no reason she won't be significantly better by tonight/tomorrow.

*The one thing she gave me, that bothered me and made me hesitate was Science Diet-Hills W/D....she said its loaded with fiber and she prefers this to the rice??? Anyone have any thoughts on that?? My thoughts are, Gracie has never had canned food....and its a totally different brand than what she normally eats....my thoughts were that it may further upset her stomach......*

Thank you all for your thoughts and help with this.......I feel SO much better now that she has been seen.







I just can't wait till she is feeling better.

I turned the heating pad on low and wrapped it in a blanket last night....but she didn't want to lay on it...so I just did away with it. She curls in with me anyway....we have a huge down blanket and she makes her "nest" in that everynight....


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## Sylphide and Shrek's Mom (Dec 4, 2004)

I'm delighted to hear Gracie had medical care and will be OK.

On the Science Diet Hills W/D thing - Funny your vet would want her to take that, mine always recommends rice with boiled chicken for 10 days after any bout with upset stomach. 

For some reason, many vets push Science Diet, although it's certainly not the best out there. 

If you are looking for a dry food that is very good for the sensitive stomach - we use Solid Gold Holistique Blendz - which the kids just love and both Ozzy (who is diabetic) and Sylphide (who needs a food for sensitive stomachs) can eat freely. They have both been super healthy since we put them on this. 

Good luck with everything! Sounds like Gracie is going to be just fine.


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## DianL (Mar 28, 2007)

So glad Gracie is doing better.


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

I'm delighted to hear that Gracie is doing better. I believe they need to be on the Metrodiazole for 7 days as it is an antibiotic. It works great for stomach problems. 

My first Malt, Rosebud (R.I.P.) was on WD for years. She had constant loose stools and mucousy stools and we tried everything for many months. The only food that cured her problem was WD. At that time, I wasn't aware of good and bad ingredients, so I didn't look for anything else that was very high fiber. It worked wonderfully for her.


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## luvmyfurbaby (Feb 11, 2007)

> I'm delighted to hear that Gracie is doing better. I believe they need to be on the Metrodiazole for 7 days as it is an antibiotic. It works great for stomach problems.
> 
> My first Malt, Rosebud (R.I.P.) was on WD for years. She had constant loose stools and mucousy stools and we tried everything for many months. The only food that cured her problem was WD. At that time, I wasn't aware of good and bad ingredients, so I didn't look for anything else that was very high fiber. It worked wonderfully for her.[/B]


I'm glad she is doing much better. When Mia had her bout with low sugar & diarreah they vet also suggested to switch her to the WD I think it firms up things in their bellies.


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

> I'm delighted to hear Gracie had medical care and will be OK.
> 
> On the Science Diet Hills W/D thing - Funny your vet would want her to take that, mine always recommends rice with boiled chicken for 10 days after any bout with upset stomach.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the suggestion....but I don't think I'm looking for a new food. I'm really quite happy with Merrick...its just that I was told, no food for 48hrs, just rice until she is feeling better...this was what the "visiting vet" instructed me to do over the phone. But then my regular vet said to use W/D...ahhhh, so confusing. I think I'll stick with the rice for now, maybe add a wee bit of the W/D into that....I'm not a fan of Hills....and I really think if I give it to her it will upset her stomach even more so.







I'm so confused.


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## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

I'm so glad Gracie is doing better








When Scooby was so sick I was giving him boiled chicken and rice with some baby food, sweet potato & chicken, for some reason that helped bind him up, my vet said that is good for them because it's gentle on their tummy. I would say there is no harm in the Science Diet W/D either, if your vet recommended it then I am sure it won't do her harm, it more than likely will help build her back up a little, we also had that for Scooby, not that he liked it but it does help when they are not well.

I also want to add that if Koko happens to eat something he shouldn't, which is often, he searches the floor for anything I may have missed, he too gets a bout of the poops, I find pepcid settles him down well, I just crush one then get some nutrical on my finger and dip it in for a small dose, he licks it willingly and it always settles his tummy







Most problems with Koko is his sensitive tummy, although he has improved immensely as he has got older


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

So glad that Gracie has gone to the vet. I would stick with the rice too.

Still prayering that Gracie is fully recovered soon.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

Those injections up and down her back were subq fluids. It actually puts the fluids right under the skin which is why she is "squishy" feeling. She'll absorb the fluids in a few hours and the swelling will go down. I have actually learned how to do this for Lady myself to save her from having to be hospitalized on an IV and it works really well. You should see a big difference in Gracie quickly.

I happen to agree with you about w/d. It's recommended for diabetic dogs like my Lady and I just couldn't feed it to her after I read the ingredients. The dry food has ground up peanut hulls (floor sweepings) which have no nutritional value and the canned food is yellow from all the cracked corn. You can read the ingredients here:

http://www.hillspet.com/zSkin_2/products/p...D=1176578766382

I have had great luck feeding Lady Prairie by Natural Instincts which is a high quality food like Merrick. It's pretty hard to "downgrade" to something like that after feeding a premium food.


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

> Those injections up and down her back were subq fluids. It actually puts the fluids right under the skin which is why she is "squishy" feeling. She'll absorb the fluids in a few hours and the swelling will go down. I have actually learned how to do this for Lady myself to save her from having to be hospitalized on an IV and it works really well. You should see a big difference in Gracie quickly.
> 
> I happen to agree with you about w/d. It's recommended for diabetic dogs like my Lady and I just couldn't feed it to her after I read the ingredients. The dry food has ground up peanut hulls (floor sweepings) which have no nutritional value and the canned food is yellow from all the cracked corn. You can read the ingredients here:
> 
> ...



Yes, thats exactly what those injections were. I just looked on my reciept. She is feeling much better already, not 100%, but she was just playing with Cooper, and she hasn't done that in 2 days, so thats a great sign







.

*Should I be concerned that she hasn't pee'd since this morning??? * Its already going on 3 o'clock here???I'm starting to get anxious about it. Should I start giving her fluids via the syringe again?? She hasn't had a drop of water other than what I've given her on the overnight. The vet kind of led me to believe that the 200cc was more than enough and not to worry about her intake, although she didn't actually say that, I kind of got that from what she was saying....any thoughts about that??

On the brighter side, she hasn't had anymore episodes of diarrhea since we've been home from the vet.


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## Maidto2Maltese (Oct 19, 2004)

I think it's the fiber in the WD that the vet wants. The fiber will help firm up the stools. I know a gal with a Cairn who had IBD/IBS. Chicken made it worse she in fact could only tolerate the WD. She was 6 years old when put on the WD and lived to be 17!
My Missy was on the WD when dx with diabetes.. it did, I must say, do a wonderful job of keeping her diabetes in great control and her blood panels became all but perfect when put on this diet so I can't say I'm 'upset" with it . I feel sometimes for specific health issues the result speaks for itself . ( With Naddie I do prefer the Merrick.) However if she should become diabetic I would go to the WD in a heartbeat till at least we achieved the regulation... THEN would likely try to introduce the little by little to see if it worked OK. 
Chronic bowel problems are just not good so you might have to use the food to get her over the critical period and then try introducing food gradually.
If you are uncomfortable with the WD, however ,maybe ask the vet if you can add a bit of fiber by way of something like Benefiber.. that can be sprinkled on the food for the additional fiber.


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## Gemma (Jan 19, 2006)

I'm glad she is starting to feel better







just to let you know Sparkey hasn't pee'd since last night either







but I'm not worried.


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

> I'm glad she is starting to feel better
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Wow, thats a long time.

Gracie normally has gone atleast 3x by now....nothing as of yet. I've given her another 9cc of fluids...I'll conitinue to do so every 40 minutes or so until she pee's.


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

I forgot to mention, a little canned pumpkin (not the pie filling) is a great way to get extra fiber into her to firm up her stools.


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## Bonnie's Mommie (Mar 2, 2006)

I'm so glad to hear the positive report on our darling. I don't know what to tell you about the food - you've gotten some great advice from the pros here. Please keep us posted and I hope she continues to improve - and that she pees soon!!


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

Woo-Hoo, she pee'd at 7 o'clock.....whew thats a looooooong time. And it was a good amount too!









For dinner I gave her 2 TB of the W/D and mixed it with some rice and heated it up for her....she gobbled it right down. I'll continue to feed her like this until Tues....and then slowly get her back onto her own food. 

Thank you all for the support and advise, it is appreciated more than I can tell you!


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## Gemma (Jan 19, 2006)

good news. Sparkey just pee'd too and it covered the whole brand new wee wee pad


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## Boobookit (Dec 3, 2005)

> If she has had diarrhea with pure liquid ... that seems like something that needs to be looked at. I'm afraid she may be dehydrated. Is it possible tht she hasn't peed because she is so dehydrated?[/B]


 

*That's exactly what I was thinking....three days is a long time to have the runs....My mom's Shih Tzu got sick from the tainted food and she had the runs for 1 full day and she was dehydrated just from one full day of it...I would definitely get your furbaby to the vet ASAP.*

*Marie & the Boys*


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

> > index.php?act=findpost&pid=363666
> 
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If you read the thread.....you will see that Gracie was seen by a vet this morning.....and doing much better now!


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

*Another update.*

Gracie is doing VERY well today!!







She pee'd twice on the over night...which she never does, so I guess all those fluids finally got absorbed. She has pee'd 3x already today and is playing and barking and seems pretty much back to normal.







She hasn't had a bm, but the vet said not to expect one until atleast Monday, maybe even Tuesday.....

Thanks again for all of your help and advise....I don't know what would have happend if you all didn't help me out. I too have always had big dogs.....other than 1 pom. Being that Cooper has never been sick...I didn't know wha to do.

You guys are a special group of people!


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

So glad to hear that Gracie is better.







Be sure to keep up with the bland diet. I would use it for at least a week.


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

Gracie had her first formed stool about 20 minutes ago...and 2 seconds after that, she had a really mushy one....not liquid but very mushy, barely formed.







*So* I threw the W/D away.....my gutt is telling me its from the food....she will get rice and maybe I'll add a bit of chicken to it as some of you have suggested and thats it. My poor girl...(((sigh)))


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

> Gracie had her first formed stool about 20 minutes ago...and 2 seconds after that, she had a really mushy one....not liquid but very mushy, barely formed.
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I know it's frustrating but I really would give the food a little longer to work. I just remember what a miracle the high fiber was for my Rosebud (R.I.P). I would think that the fact that she has gone from total liquid BM to one formed and one solid but not formed is a huge step forward.

One time Rosebud had Giardia and couldn't keep anything down and was on IVs at the emergency clinic and they let me bring plain rice for her. But in her case she couldn't keep anything down and it even took a while for the rice to stay down.


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## Tanner's Mom (May 27, 2005)

Glad to hear Gracie's doing better. These threads are always so informative, I didn't know our babies got cold when they were dehydrated.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

<span style="font-family:Comic Sans Ms">How's Gracie doing today?</span>


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## 2maltese4me (May 8, 2006)

> <span style="font-family:Comic Sans Ms">How's Gracie doing today?</span>[/B]


Thanks for asking







. Other than the fact that she hasn't had a bm since yesterday....all is good. She seems 100%







. The vet called to check on her and told me that I needed to finish the meds because they can sometimes relapse. She said tomorrow I can start her back on her reg food.


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## CrystalAndZoe (Jul 11, 2006)

> QUOTE(Crystal&Zoe @ Apr 16 2007, 11:01 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=364576


<div class='quotemain'>
<span style="font-family:Comic Sans Ms">Good to hear she's doing well. I thought of her this am while looking at my SM Calender!







</span>


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