Rudie is sick, how worried should I be?
I took him to the vet yesterday and his temperature was normal, and he didn't have any tenderness in the abdomen. The vet (who I didn't like) seemed to think it was Pancreatitis... but I didn't buy it so we went home with a bag of science diet i/d and passed on blood tests/x-rays. He is not any lazier than usual, he is drinking water and peeing normally. As far as I can tell there has been no blood in the stool, and he is very hungry. But today I didn't give him any food and he still vomited. Could it be from an empty stomach? Should I pick up the water too? Should I take him back to the vet? Should I feed him? |
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| they can vomit from an empty stomach, Kobe used to vomit bile in the mornings if we didn't feed her early enough. BUT, is he getting dehydrated from all the vomiting/diarrhea? Can that make him lose the contents of his stomach even more? I know in humans it sometimes can as it happened to hubby...but no idea about dogs.
I don't know, I'd love to say go with your gut but maybe he does need to be tested just to be sure. Is there a place you can go for a 2nd opinion? |
| I'd be concerned. When I worked at a vet one of the worst things I ever saw was a coonhound who we had to open in surgery because he was depressed and sick. He aspirated on the table and died, but we found that a corn cob was stuck in his intestine and was turning it necrotic. Since seeing that years ago, I'm ultra paranoid of corn cobs.
I'd take him to a different vet and request x-rays, just to be sure. |
| That's what I was afraid of.....
I hate to say it but after $190 at the vet yesterday another $150 for xrays is going to really hurt us which is why I don't want to be overly cautious. If it was stuck in there would he be hungry and happy as usual or would he be lethargic and refusing to eat? |
| I don't get why you "wouldn't buy it". pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas and can be either acute or chronic. My guy gets acute cases when he does something stupid like eat pine needles, or steals one of the other dogs bones (i.e. eats too much). He was three when it started. The first tiem it happened we also took xrays.
The meds work wonders and allow the dog to avoid dehydration and other complications. Of course I always get blood work done immediately and trust my vet to have learned something in school. |
| Kerry was that tone really necessary? Where's that teacup emoticon...
I don't buy it because he doesn't have a sore abdomen, he has a big appetite, and he is not lethargic which are the symptoms the vet told me he would have. |
| If memory serves, he was acting well for several days before they noticed. By then he had gotten very lethargic. They never saw him eat the corn, he had gotten into the trash. |
 Thanks Erin.
I just gave him a cup of the hills id. If he pukes or has diarrhea were going back for xrays and then blood work. cross your paws for us |
| I'd say that the corn cob is lodged in the stomach. And if it hasn't been throwed up so far it won't come out alone. Instead it may progress to the intestine and there you are in a big trouble ...
I wouldn't wait too long to go to the vet. And tell him what's happened, as the corn cob may not appear in a plain Xray. |
| fingers crossed, hope rudie is ok xx |
notisolde wrote: fingers crossed, hope rudie is ok xx
Same here. . . |
Valerie wrote: notisolde wrote: fingers crossed, hope rudie is ok xx Same here. . . All of us here too!!!! PLEASE keep us posted on your sweet boy...... |
| I hope Rudie doesn't have anything stuck in him Yuki had similar symptoms a little while ago that I posted about. We spent over $700 b/c it was over the weekend to get x-rays, they found no obstructions, and her vet gave her some metronidazole tablets for the next 10 days. ......just said her stomach was sensitive to something small she may have ate. I hope Rudie starts feeling better (but of course give in when needed)!!!!!!!!!!! I hate being overly cautious too when it comes to the animals, so I understand! |
| Heather,
I really hope that the cob is not lodge in his belly, but from numerous experiences with my Berner (4 bowel obstruction removals) vomitting and diaherria (sp) means something is not passing. Do you know if he chewed the cob or swollowed it whole? I will keep my fingers crossed that he tummy is upset from all the table scraps. |
| All we can do is guess as to whether it's safe to take a wait and see
approach. Did the vet who examined him feel it was ok? Darn corn cobs can be deadly and repeated vomiting is always a concern. A friend's lab ate one and needed emergency surgery because there was no way it would pass. It's the only experience I've had with one. Hoping Rudie is better soon... that he chewed his food real good  |
Lil Walty wrote: Kerry was that tone really necessary? Where's that teacup emoticon...
I don't buy it because he doesn't have a sore abdomen, he has a big appetite, and he is not lethargic which are the symptoms the vet told me he would have. I have had Morgan continue to eat and act normal right up until the time he is dehydrated. and he isn't always lethargic. the meds calm the stomache down and give them a chance to recoup. I guess I'd rather see the dog comfortable and as I said wothout bloodwork - how can you know what is going on? Lets always assume there is a tea cup, sometimes I am busy with other matters as well |
| hope Rudie is OK. When my Summer had that awful stomach upset, pancreatis, whatever they never did decide, the emergency vet opened her up as he thought the x rays werent showing something up. I sure hope Rudie is well please keep us informed...xx |
| Just wanted to say we are hoping Rudie will be ok |
| So far so good. Fed him 3 hours ago and he's fine. Sleeping on his bed, wagged his tail and did his little trot when we went outside.
Dudster- Besides vomiting/diarrhea were there other key symptoms? And how frequent vomiting/diarrhea are we talking. Rudie puked once today and 4 times on Wednesday morning. Not at all yesterday... so it's not like it's been continuous which may be part of the reason I'm not rushing for the xrays. |
| Oh, how stressful this can be!
Know that I'm thinking of you guys. Ask around and find a vet that really suits you. I think this makes all the difference when you have one that you trust and like. Also, I'd get the bloodwork done to be on the safe side. I'm hoping for the best! Keep us posted. |
| I'd be concerned about the corn cob. My vet told me once he had a dog (a patient) that they finally had to do surgery on with symptoms similar to your boy's. He explained they found a corn cob in his belly & it was what we would call "petrified". For some reason dogs can't pass nor can they digest corn cobs. If you think about it, corn cobs will lay in the fields for years & years. Once they got the corn cob out, the dog recovered nicely.
By the way, the corn cob didn't really show up on any ex-rays. The vet did the surgery after he had exhausted all other possibilities, not knowing what he would find (if anything) inside. |
| Oh, brother. Poor guy. I really hope everything settles on its own and no surgery is necessary. I know money's tight when you're first starting out and you sure don't need a disaster to begin your new marriage. |
| Sorry about that. Hopefully it will all pass and nothing will be wrong. |
No puke since yesterday morning and last night a mostly solid poop! I keep checking his belly to make sure it's not tender and he is very much enjoying the belly rubs 
Thanks for all the well wishes, keep your paws crossed that we stay in the clear |
| sigh, more diarrhea last night and today.
now to decide whether to go to the emergency vet or to wait and go to our vet tomorrow after work.... |
| I hope everything is ok... |
| Do you know for sure that he actually ate a corncob? Or are you supposing he did? Has he passed the cob?
Diarrhea for a week is very concerning. Ben had surgery, twice, for obstructions. The first time, he saw a total of 4 vets before he saw a surgeon. Ben "looked good" at the vets, even though I told them he was "off." It didn't help that it was the Christmas Holidays and his usual vet was gone. The surgeon had him in the OR in less than an hour - fortunately for Ben. The washcloth he ate (why?  ) had split into 2 pieces, connected by strands. The strands were cutting into his intestine and were just a couple of layers of cells of opening the intestines. Time mattered for him - another couple of hours and he would have died.
So based on my experience with Ben, I would take Owen to the ER vet. One advantage is you would be getting a second opinion. |
| I saw him eat the corncob, he grabbed it right out of my hand! In his vomit the other day I saw something that looked like part of a cob, but I can't be sure.
Everyone is telling me that a corncob wouldn't show up on an x-ray, so how do we tell if it's in there? |
| sure hope he is ok...xx |
Lil Walty wrote: I saw him eat the corncob, he grabbed it right out of my hand! In his vomit the other day I saw something that looked like part of a cob, but I can't be sure.
Everyone is telling me that a corncob wouldn't show up on an x-ray, so how do we tell if it's in there? well start with blood work to rule out other things, the only sure way to know if soemthings are there is surgery. |
| All we can really do is guess about how serious this might be. We'd feel
horrible if we told you it's ok to wait when it really wasn't. Please call the vet who's on-call to get professional advice... he/she may tell you it's fine to wait until tomorrow. I hope he's better soon. |
| I called the ER and they think it can wait until tomorrow. I think she thought it was key that he hasn't thrown up in 48 hours.
He is exhausted from a walk, so he's laying and panting a bit. I keep shaking his dog food to make sure he's ok.. poor dog thinks he's going to get fed, little does he know it's just his neurotic mom checking on him! |
 keeping my fingers crossed. I understand how you feel, i reacted the same way when London got into a bag of chicken wings (and other things ) - vomited and had diarrhea.. after $500 at the vet all is well. His liver enzymes might go up - it did for London after the chicken wings incident. now it's normal |
 Poor pup, I hope it turns out to be nothing serious (or expensive!)
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| I would not be feeding him at the moment only keeping up the fluids till you go to the vet. Giving him food might make the problem worse.
Knowing he ate a corn cob sometimes a vet can give them stuff to help it come up or pass. Depending on the size of the cob. A few weeks ago on TV a vet show, a dog did the same thing, the owner actually left the dog at the emergency vet and before trying surgery they gave the dog a couple of days and eventually he threw up the cob. Two days in Hospital and he was border line for surgery if it did not budge within a required time under vet monitoring him with fluids etc and stuff to help him either pass it or throw it up. Cobs are so dangerous so dont muck around with him, been going on for awhile now and he is not getting any better. |
| They should be able to see it with an ultrasound.
Vets are usually more concerned with vomiting than with thr runs. If the runs continue however, they may want to give some sub-Q fluids. I hope it all works out ok... Sometimes it just takes a few days for everything to quiet back down again. |
Lil Walty wrote: Everyone is telling me that a corncob wouldn't show up on an x-ray, so how do we tell if it's in there?
With a contrast xray. Your dog will be made to eat a paste containing barium so the non radio-opaque things, like the corn cob, will appear over the background. The other option is doing an ultrasound, as Ron said. Best of lucks |
| Just got back from the vet. I liked this doctor much better!
We are treating Rudie for a bacterial infection. Vet said within 2-3 days of antibiotics we should be able to tell if that's what the problem was. We also did a blood panel, just to be sure. Also because he might be older than we originally thought, so it will be nice to have that on hand anyway. We are holding off on the x-rays. He really didn't think it was the corncob causing the trouble, but he said if it was in there it wasn't urgent at this point because of how infrequent the vomiting is. If nothing shows up on the blood panel and he doesn't improve from the antibiotics we will go back in for xrays. I told Dave we're going to have to sell Marley for Rudie's vet bills if that's the case! |
Well...at least one good thing that may come out of all this, is you finding a vet you like! 
Crossing paws for a quick recovery for Rudie! |
Lil Walty wrote: I told Dave we're going to have to sell Marley for Rudie's vet bills if that's the case!
Ah, yes! I can't tell you how many vacations, investment opportunities, basic necessities we've had to do without because of vet bills. The joys of animal ownership!!
All that being said, I wouldn't have it any other way. |
Drezzie's Mom wrote: Lil Walty wrote: I told Dave we're going to have to sell Marley for Rudie's vet bills if that's the case! Ah, yes! I can't tell you how many vacations, investment opportunities, basic necessities we've had to do without because of vet bills. The joys of animal ownership!! All that being said, I wouldn't have it any other way. Aren't your puppers considered an investment opportunitity AND a basic necessity though? |
| Blood work came back normal! Doc said everything looked great... so one less thing to worry about. |
| Good news... how is your dog behaving? A lot better? Less diarrhea? |
Good news! I hope he's on the mend  |
How is Rudie doing?  Any updates? |
| He seems to be doing fine. He's only pooped once since we started the meds Monday night, and it was solid. Dave thinks it's because he had nothing in his system... but it still worries me!
Id ask everyone to cross their fingers for more poop, but I want to be careful what I wish for! |
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| Well we got what we wished for last night AND this morning... looks like Rudie is well on the road to recovery! |
| Please tell me it was a Cob!!!! |
| No cob! The elusive cob must have passed early on... it appears this was just a bacterial infection. |
Way to go (um...literally ) Rudie!!  |
| Not to give you something to worry about BUT...I've been having a problem with my 11 month old. Long story short we were worried about a blockage. I did all the tests and nothing shwoed up. They wanted to do explatory surgery at the emergency hospital I said no and wanted to wait to see if the antibiotics work and if she improves.
I took her to my regular vet yesterday and he suspects an infection. Told him about the blockage idea, etc. I asked if that would still be a worry after this amount of time. he said, nothing is impossible and that he recently had a dog who had a partial blockage. Wouldn't be blocked all the time but on and off would show the symptoms...lasted a week or more. They finally went in and it was a CORN COB... I'm just telling you this to give you a heads up to remain on alert with Rudie for any further symptoms...If there is a piece of cob stuck in the intestines, you run the risk of it getting lodged and then infected and you will be in big trouble then...so will Rudy. Perhaps the vet can work out a pyment plan for you or work with you in some way to get the tests done. Good Luck |
| Rudie started vomiting again today. 3 times since 9am. He has been fine otherwise. I am very confused as to what could be causing this.
We think it might be green beans. The last episode started a few days after I started adding green beans to his diet. Yesterday I gave them to him again for the first time, and his vomit had some green bean chunks in it. Marley also had the beans and is fine. This is a bad week for Rudie to get sick again, so let's hope it passes. again. |
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| I wonder if Rudie might have some allergies? Or just a very sensitive tummy? Has he had any other unusual food (on purpose, or not ) between the corncob and the greenbeans? |
| for what its worth, if he has a tendency to vomit continually like he has exhibited - the best thing you can do for him now is get him to the vet for an anti emetic and some fluids instead of waiting it out. And any new food will need to be introduced S-l-o-w-l-y. |
| Poor guy. |
| Are you sure the corn cob isn't in the stomach? |
| I agree with Sea Lord. That corn cob might still be in the intestines. We had a dog at the vet who showed these signs on and off for a week or more and it ended up being a corn cob that caused a blockage, would release iteslf, dog seemed okay, cob would shift and dog would get sick again...
Also, with the grean beans, mush them up. Dogs can't digest the celluar wall around the bean and that's why it comes out whole! I steam mine and run them through a food processer to mush. Hope rudie feels better. |
SeaLords wrote: Are you sure the corn cob isn't in the stomach?
Its been about three weeks according to the 1st post...would a corn cob last that long? I lost a dog to a blockage that had been there for weeks, but that was a piece of nylon mesh... . Spencer wasnt sick during any of that time either...the only reason we knew how long it had been was because the mesh came from a bag of veggies he had gotten into at that time. |
ravenmoonart wrote: SeaLords wrote: Are you sure the corn cob isn't in the stomach? Its been about three weeks according to the 1st post...would a corn cob last that long? I lost a dog to a blockage that had been there for weeks, but that was a piece of nylon mesh... . Spencer wasnt sick during any of that time either...the only reason we knew how long it had been was because the mesh came from a bag of veggies he had gotten into at that time.A corn cob won't break down so it could last a long time in the intestine. |
| Is he back to normal again after purging himself of the green beans yesterday morning?
Quote: I am very confused as to what could be causing this.
It looks like many of us are thinking the corn cob he ate may still be causing problems. If a chunk of cob is sitting in his digestive tract, it seems it would digest/rot very slowly causing stomach upset or worse yet obstruction. I'd pick up the phone and talk with the vet. Also ask which test method offers the best chance of finding a corn cob. My vet was telling me about a dog that had symptoms off and on for years. They found part of a ball in it's stomach. |
| For Ben's third trick, he ate another washcloth (guests not as careful as they should have been). We took him to the vet right away, but the vet wasn't convinced this time.
Two weeks later he managed to puke up the washcloth - a whole one. I don't put anything past these guys. |
| Yes, the corn cob could still be in there. It doesn't break down and what's even worse, it starts to rot in the intestines and creates an infection that could go into sepsis ( extremely serious or even gangrene( spelling).
I think a Vet visit is in order. Good luck. |
| We'll be going to the vet today or tomorrow.
I'm not convinced its the cob, but we will certainly revisit that option with the vet. He is still acting fine, keeping water down and no diarrhea. I check his tummy almost hourly to make sure it is not sore. Looking back, on Sunday he stole a cheese sandwich and then later we went to a street festival where he got lots of scraps. He might just have a much more sensitive stomach than we thought. He was fine with just kibble and the occasional cookie, so I have my money on the scraps as the culprit. |
kerry wrote: ravenmoonart wrote: SeaLords wrote: Are you sure the corn cob isn't in the stomach? Its been about three weeks according to the 1st post...would a corn cob last that long? I lost a dog to a blockage that had been there for weeks, but that was a piece of nylon mesh... . Spencer wasnt sick during any of that time either...the only reason we knew how long it had been was because the mesh came from a bag of veggies he had gotten into at that time.A corn cob won't break down so it could last a long time in the intestine. Corn cobs don't break down. The farmer in me can verify this. They are kicked out the back of the combines in the fall. In the spring, they still are laying in the fields, looking just as whole and perfect as they did 6-7 MONTHS before. |
Neither of my current dogs are counter-surfers, or garbage raiders...but...this whole thread has me will have me banning corn-on-the-cobb from my house! 
*Sigh* also adding the roasted corn booth at the fair to my "walk by with caution or avoid altogether" list along with "Porky's pork chop on a stick" and "Annie's Fried Chicken" |
| Rudie isn't hungry so we are going to the vet tonight... because Rudie is ALWAYS hungry.
Our usual vet didn't have any openings so they wanted to charge me $90 for an 'emergency visit'. We're trying a new vet that got good reviews on www.yelp.com, and is closer to us, and hopefully isn't as expensive as the other place. Appointment is in an hour, cross your paws... again. |
| I think you are wise to take him in for a visit. |
| Good luck with the new vet and Rudie!! |
| Best wishes with the new vet keeping everything crossed for Rudie. |
| I hope Rudie's vet visit goes well tonight and it is just an upset stomach. Too many green beans! I used to live in Chicago and had a great vet! If you want his name, PM me and I can send it to you. I am not sure what part of Chicago you live in. I lived around Lakeview/Northcenter and he was located in Roscoe Village.
Hope all goes well. Michelle |
| all paws and fingers crossed here |
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