[Toby & Lucky]

And, of course, it's the weekend. =(

Toby now has severe diarrhea. It started Friday night. I did the pepto thing by noon on Sat. It seemed to be improving by evening, but he has been out every 1.5 hours all night long. He's acting panic-y about it when we go outside and it's scaring me. I have never seen him like this. He still eats. He is drinking some water. And after he goes he comes in and rests.

We don't have an emergency clinic. Any ideas to help him get better or at least get to Monday, so we can get to the vet would be much appreciated.

 

[Brisen]

Poor Toby, and poor you! If he's going that much, I'd restrict his food until tomorrow when you can get him into the vet. Either that, or start him on the bland boiled chicken and rice diet. You can also add a couple of tablespoons of canned pumpkin to the chicken and rice, as pumpkin helps with diarrhea. Good luck, and let us know what the vet says.

 

[kgh]

The weekend curse strikes again! Poor Toby and if you are like me, you are beside yourself! My only thought is make sure he has plenty of water so he does not get dehydrated and keep a real close eye on him. I assume the diarrhea is not with blood. Hopefully he just ingested a bad fill in the blank something and he just needs to get it out of his system. Fingers crossed on this end. Let us know how he is doing.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I hope Toby's diarrhea has slowed down and you have had a chance to get some rest. I would suggest that you withhold all food for 24 hours (and make sure he can't get to Lucky's food). You need to do this before trying the plain white rice. With diarrhea that frequent, you do need to be concerned about dehyration even if Toby is drinking some water. Check his gums to make sure they are not pale. The other sign you need to look out for is lethargy. Hopefully, you can all hang in there until tomorrow when your vet's office opens.

 

[Murphys Dad]

I don't have any suggestions that haven't already been given, but hope that Toby feels better soon. There seems to be some kind of rule that our furkids get sick when the vet's not open.

 

[Toby & Lucky]

I didn't know that maybe I should withhold all food, so this morning I fed him boiled rice. He is not drinking much water unless it is with rice. With the rice, he laps it up. The diarrhea has slowed down and the stool consistency has improved, but it is still definitely a diarrhea situation. He thinks he needs to go more than he does (stays squatting for some time when nothing else is coming out). He is not lethargic at all, acting a little under the weather and tired but not lethargic. He has been sleeping his usual afternoon nap. I will check his gums when he wakes up.

What do ya think? Keep on with the rice and water?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[mrsjenlester]

I have no advice but I hope Toby feels better soon!

 

[Murphys Dad]

I don't think it will hurt anything to just continue with the rice and water. I would stick with that until you can get Toby to the vet. I found that, sometimes when Maggie had diarrhea, she would squat and push and and push and push and sometimes one little drop of liquid poop would come out. I think that, when that little drop is inside, it made Maggie think she had to go again. Have you taken Toby's temp? (I was never able to take Maggie's since it is definitely a two-person task ...)

 

[Toby & Lucky]

Well, good news/bad news. Lucky is now starting to have loose stools. While mostly it's not good. I am a little relieved to think that something's not just wrong with Toby, as he is senior and went thru the whole chewing up a collar thing last weekend.

Now, to figure out what would have both of them sick? They both went to the vet on Thursday, but the only thing they both got was a Bordatella vax.

I haven't taken Toby's temp. I just don't know if I even want to try to fight that battle.

I am just so worried, as I could have a baby really anytime (hopefully, not for another week or so, though!!). I just don't know what I will do if I have this baby and two sick beagles on my hands.

 

[Toby & Lucky]

O.k., well, of course now that it is Monday and the vet is open, Toby seems much better. His stools are still loose, but he has only gone once today. He didn't have to go all night and is back to his usual personality. Lucky hasn't gone yet today, but since he pooped a few times yesterday, that is normal for him. I still have them both on just rice and water. Since I had a $600 vet bill last week, I think I am going to hold out a day or two now that we are seeing real improvement.

How long should I keep them on rice? Once going off the rice, do I need to transition back to food or can I just switch back over?

Oh, these dogs are just killing me here lately!!!

 

[RosCole]

We had Roscoe on rice and boiled chicken for quite some time b/c of stomach issues he had. We were advised by the vet to slowly re-incorporate his regular dog food to the rice/chicken. Do this little, by little so that you can make sure he is able to handle the dog food again. We did it in 25% incrememts (first 25% kibble with 75% rice/chicken, then 50% kibble with 50% rice/chicken, etc). This was over a 2 week period.
Glad Toby seems much better today, I hope that pattern continues!

 

[jassy]

Glad to hear that Toby seems better. It is such a worry when you don't know what is going on.

 

[Murphys Dad]

It sounds like Toby is definitely on the mend! I would suggest that you add in some plain, cooked chicken to the rice and keep that up until his stools are normal. Then, as RosCole posted, it is definitely best to slowly add back in Toby's regular food and wean him off of the rice/chicken. Not only is this good for his stomach, it will help him adjust to switching back to his dry food -- don't be surprised if he picks out the chicken and rice and leaves the dry food. Maggie was an expert at that technique. Just keep weaning him back and, when he is only offered the dry food, he will eat it if he is hungry enough! I would stay away from treats for another few days to make sure he doesn't eat those instead of dry food.