I have a Schnauzer/Chihuahua mix dog who is about 7 years old. About 5 years ago, she was severely sick with gastroenteritis/pancreatitis. At that time, she had severe bloody, watery stools that squirted out, as well as projectile vomiting. She was only sick about 24 hours before I ran her to the ER, realizing she would never make it to Monday for her vet to see her. The ER kept her stable and by the time she got to her vet, she was doing pretty good. She eventually fully recovered and has been very healthy up until this past Tuesday morning.

I first noticed she was vomiting bile on Tuesday morning, along with diarrhea the consistency of puddin. I left her on the porch and checked on her all day. I noticed lots of little squirts of dark brown/bloody diarrhea (it's fresh blood, not dried, which has remained the consistency of puddin throughout this whole time). After she wouldn't eat, in addition to the diarrhea and a little vomiting, we took her to the vet. We were given an antibiotic (metronidazole) and another medication called Reglan to help with the nausea. She wasn't quite weak yet, but she was certainly not acting herself. By Thursday morning, she was still not eating and not getting any better - not really any worse, but more weak and there were no signs of improvement after 2 doses of antibiotics, so we took her back to the vet. This time the vet gave us Cerencia for the nausea she felt she had and she also provided us with a bag of fluids and needles to give her fluids subcutaneously. Today, Friday, she is the same; weak, laying in bed all day, but does drink her water and goes outside to use the bathroom. Her diarrhea is a lot less now and I haven't witnessed any vomiting thus far. At one point today, she went under my bed and when I went to retrieve her, I found a partially eaten piece of chicken (or what looks like chicken anyway - we eat a lot of chicken breast due to the constant problems with cow's meat). I have a feeling she got a hold of some old dinner and has garbage gut, which has now turned into something worse like kidney failure. As of right now, she has only had 2 small diarrhea stools, still with the puddin and blood consistency (and some mucus) and no vomiting (she's on 24-hour watch with everyone taking turns). She is drinking some water, but the weird thing is, she almost has to work herself up to drink it. Like, she'll stick her head in the bowl several times, going around the bowl, and then finally starts to drink, and then drinks a lot. I take the water away after I feel she's getting too much because I don't want her to vomit, especially after her meds. She looks so sad, too... her eyes seem a little watery tonight, as if she is crying. I don't believe she's in any pain because I have felt her all over and none of it seems to phase her. She's lying quietly and still, not squirming around as if she were uncomfortable. I just don't know... I have so much stress right now. My father recently suffered a heart attack and he moved in with us for me to care for him and now my poor dog is ill. We've also had a new financial loss, so I'm not sure how much more I can take... Can someone please give me a suggestion - perhaps someone has experienced this, as well?

We have denied x-rays and blood work because our funds are rather low and we've already spent about 270.00 for the last two visits (includes a visit before she got sick for her flea drops and rabies shot). I'm considering selling something - anything, to get the money for the tests, but for now I just need to know what to try to get her to eat... I just wish she would eat! I have made the chicken and rice and she won't even look at it. I think just seeing it makes her sick because a few times she stretched her neck like "ew, I'm gonna barf." I'm at my wits end here because I know we can't afford 1500 bucks again like the first time she got sick, and like I said, we're already spending money we shouldn't be. Argh! My kids and I love this dog so much and I know she has many good years yet if we could just get her through this. I cannot even tell you how dark it will be here if this dog passes.

Any help would be immensely appreciated!

Have you talked to the vet to see if he or she would work out a payment plan with you? Some will. Honestly, if you cannot afford the vet payments, you can surrender the dog to the ASPCA or the humane society and they will either put it down humanely or get it the care it needs, and I know that's not what you want to hear, but it may be what is best for the dog. I'm sorry I can't be much more help, but I do hope sincerely that you get the problems resolved and pups get healthy again! :(

As long as she is drinking water and keeping it down I would wait and see. Did they do a test to see if she had parvo? If she did not start eating so I would ask the vet if I could give her pedia sure or puppy milk formula(walmart) maybe even baby food. Ask if chicken or beef broth would be OK for her. I would think that thye could give you some advice over the phone since you have had her there twice already.

Hello, Charlotte: My name is also Charlotte, nice to meet you. Firstly, I could never give my dog up, I would put her down if those were my only two options. This would not be for my benefit, but hers. She is not the type of dog that would adjust to a new family. She would die of a broken heart - no matter what anyone says, leaving us would kill her anyway. Also, considering the pound doesn't charge much to adopt a dog, it's likely the new owners would not be able to afford her care no more than we can right now, not to mention she has a face only a mother (me) could love ;), so I don't see anyone adopting her. I do appreciate your suggestion, though. I will definitely ask about payments at my vet's office if they would be willing to put her on an IV during the day if it comes to that - the last time this happened, my vet at the time had even told me she would take payments if my dog had needed more care. Fortunately, she got well and didn't need extra care, but she did divide the 300 up into two payments now that I think about it. Thanks for the idea! Vets are more willing to do this versus Doggy ERs.

On a brighter note, she seems better today. She actually broke out of the bathroom last night and we found her snug as a bug in my kid's room. I don't know why, you would think if she felt that bad, she would stay away from the kids, but she loves them little punks... hehe So, I decided that I would just clean up her accidents (on the carpet... ewwww) instead of locking her up over night on tile. This way, she will at least be more comfortable and maybe even help heal her. When I found her in their room, I said "hey'a, Pouncer" and she wagged her tail... that's a good sign because she wasn't doing that yesterday.

At any rate, I had my husband and son take her back to the vet for a follow-up exam today since they won't be open tomorrow. I'll see what she says and go from there. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

BTW: I apologize for whining last night in my post, I was just so tired and cranky with all this that's going on.

Thanks so much for your response.

Charlotte

Hi Bush: Yes, she is drinking really well, thank goodness. I will call the vet now (my husband should be there already) and ask what I can offer her (other than chicken and rice or low-fat cottage cheese). Thanks so much for the suggestions!


Oh, and I didn't have any blood work done for Parvo, but I did have a stool sample done and it just showed worms. Parvo was never even mentioned by the vet, and I'm sure she had a Parvo vaccine at her yearly visit. I knew there were going to be worms because of the fleas due to the neighbors who keep feeding 4 or 5 stray cats and we recently won the battle on fleas. Our dogs and house were so infested! Those flea drops are worth every penny!

I am glad to hear that she is feeling better today, I hope that all your problems get solved! =)

Seriously, though, if she needs care and you can't afford it, talk with your vet about a payment plan, I had a pet once that needed a surgery that costs like 1000 dollars, and we worked it out where I could pay 100 dollars a month until it was paid off, and while I didn't love living on popcorn and ramen to be able to afford to take care of the little guy, it was worth it to see him healthy again. =)

Hello Charlotte and Bush: I am happy to say that my baby is doing great today! We took her to the vet again on Saturday, as mentioned above, and they gave us some instructions on how to get her back to eating. I mixed the chicken and rice and added the PediaSure and she tore into it like crazy!! I only gave her small amounts over a few hours, trying to build her up slowly, but it was hard to watch her sniffing the ground looking for food after each small meal I gave her. Today is so much better, I made her breakfast and she tore it up, too. She has her twinkle back in her eyes and is currently sunbathing on the back porch with her boyfriend. I will wait until about noon to feed her again, and then maybe by tomorrow I will lay her dog food out. She is a very active dog so I'm able to fill her bowl and let her eat when she's hungry. I used to feed her Iams until I heard they had some sort of a recall, then it was Pedigree, but I am waiting to call the vet tomorrow to see what I should be feeding her now. With her history of pancreatitis and other gastrointestinal problems, I need to make sure she gets the proper diet.

Also, I am going to talk to the vet about "next time," should there be one. I think as long as I keep in touch and continue using them as my vet for all my pets (I have another small dog - poodlish type), they will come to know me and probably allow payments. We just moved to this city a year ago, so thank goodness we were able to get her better without it costing us more than we could afford. My previous vet had known me for quite a few years so she always allowed me to pay payments if necessary (like when I had two in at the same time for shots, physicals, etc.).

Thanks for all the input and for keeping my sanity while this was taking place. Coming to this message board and being able to babble about my problems with my little girl kept me busy so I wasn't sitting around crying.

Thanks!

Glad she is feeling so much better! Keep up updated! =)