My pup has been throwing up all night (over 10 times)and won't touch water which he needs as he is dehydrated. Also diarrhea. He is totally lethargic, won't move and slept outside- a first. He is also very warm... could this be serious?

aprilrussell, yes, I would say its serious. Get him to a vet IMMEDIATELY. If you know enough to explain all the symptoms, put on your thinking cap and put it all together. It sounds very much like parvo, a potentially deathly ailment for a puppy to have.

Tick

aprilrussell, yes, I would say its serious. Get him to a vet IMMEDIATELY. If you know enough to explain all the symptoms, put on your thinking cap and put it all together. It sounds very much like parvo, a potentially deathly ailment for a puppy to have.

tick

Yes but he has been vaccinated for parvo. Can they still get the disease? I talked to a vet today who said to wait and see. He has finally started drinking water but he can't keep much down. Diarrhea is redish- doesn't look like blood exactly but neither does it look good. Lethargy is what is most alarming for me.

I don't know what you want us to say. If it was my pup, he would be at the vet. I wouldn't be on here asking questions. I don't believe in 'wait and see' especially after explaining these horrible symptoms. If you love your dog, don't cut corners, just get him to a vet.

Tick

There is nothing we can do here. We can all guess at what might be wrong, but your dog needs to see a VET and not later, NOW.

Your dog can die from dehydration, but obviously something serious is going on if he is vomiting and suffering from diarrhea for over two days.

Agree with everyone else. Despite what the vet said, I would not "wait and see" take him in to be examined right away. There could be a lot of things going on that we can only guess at but none of that keeps your dog alive.

He could have ingested something poisonous or harmful, something could be stuck in his digestive tract, it could be anything really. Your dog is not acting normal and needs to be seen. Don't call a clinic, just grab the dog and walk into one telling them what is going on and you want him to be seen.

This site only seems to offer one piece of advice to everyone and that is "go to the vet"... obviously if people are on here looking for help there are obstacles to going to the vet, be they financial or geographic or other. It seems like a completely redundant site if that is going to be the advice to one and all. Yes it would be ideal to go the vet every time something is wrong with our pets but that is not always possible and that is why people are choosing to search the internet- for support. It turns out my pup had salmonella poisoning and thank goodness for the 2 vets I spoke with here who were not fear mongers like everyone seems to be on this site. "Wait and see" is completely acceptable within a 24 hour period.

"Wait and see" is completely acceptable within a 24 hour period.

If it's only 24 hours, or even 48, sure. The problem is that there are so many things that could be wrong with an animal and key information is always omitted, such as the information that your dog was current on his shots. Secondly, every one of the people who answer on this forum have known irresponsible pet owners who "waited to see" their dog die, horribly. Thirdly, diagnoses and medical advice need to be given by medical professionals.

Elsewhere in this forum, you will find excellent advice on training, housing, and feeding dogs, as well as lively debates about all of those.

You asked for medical advice. Do not get upset because you were advised to seek a Doctor.

Definitely bring your dog to your vet. You could always try a different vet. But you should try to do that, if your dog is in pain and experiencing vomiting and health issues. What other symptoms does your dog have. I would recommend a trip to your vet ASAP!

This site only seems to offer one piece of advice to everyone and that is "go to the vet"... obviously if people are on here looking for help there are obstacles to going to the vet, be they financial or geographic or other. It seems like a completely redundant site if that is going to be the advice to one and all. Yes it would be ideal to go the vet every time something is wrong with our pets but that is not always possible and that is why people are choosing to search the internet- for support. It turns out my pup had salmonella poisoning and thank goodness for the 2 vets I spoke with here who were not fear mongers like everyone seems to be on this site. "Wait and see" is completely acceptable within a 24 hour period.

You're upset with everyone who volunteered their time to help you out to the best that they could, who couldn't see nor examine your dog. I'm sure if everyone on here began guessing at what could be wrong and giving you different treatments to work and then the worst happens to your dog, you'd be on here still upset with us.

It is often said that if you cannot handle all the comings that come with owning a pet, one should not do so. I can understand not going to the vet every time an incident comes up but when a pet is showing signs such as yours was that is the best a message board can do. I'm not sure what more you expected from us when those symptoms could match any list of various problems.

Even if the diagnosis is correct the dehydration could be extremely critical especially for a puppy and should be still seen by a vet to allow proper treatment to be given.


"Most cats and dogs are generally healthy and so the majority will survive a bout with salmonella without any lasting problems, but if your pet is chronically ill, very young or very old, there's a greater chance that the infection can spread or that he will become critically ill," Dr. Levine explained, adding, "As with all illnesses and infections, prompt diagnosis and treatment is key. If your pet is vomiting or experiencing other symptoms such as diarrhea, the situation should be improving within 24 hours, and it shouldn't be getting worse after the 18-hour mark. If your pet is getting worse or simply is not improving, it's time to get to the vet for an exam."

Read more at Suite101: Salmonella in Cats and Dogs: This Bacteria Causes Vomiting, Diarrhea and Fever Salmonella in Cats and Dogs: This Bacteria Causes Vomiting, Diarrhea and Fever (http://petcare.suite101.com/article.cfm/salmonella_in_cats_and_dogs#ixzz0wnoUh7pP)

There was a time when my cat went through a horrible about with fleas. Everyone around me and a vet that I talked to all said the same thing. "Just give him frontline and he should be fine". I gave him the frontline but because he had already lost so much weight and was still not acting right even though the beginning problem was gone I had no choice but to take him to the vet. At the time I couldn't afford a huge vet bill but I couldn't stand to see him suffer nor could I afford to loose him. Some vets understand that not everyone can afford every treatment or bringing a pet in but they still encourage it and will even offer to work with you on payments. It cost me $1300 to get my cat seen and treated. I worked with them on a payment plan. It was a situation that wasn't getting better and to have my cat finally getting better was way worth me struggling financially for a little bit.

It honestly is the best answer anyone online can give you. Only extremely well, trained vets who know what they are doing can help. Even without seeing and analyzing your dogs health they can only help to an extent. The right answer is to consult your vet for help. People on askmehelpdesk can share personal experiences similar to this, and try to give tips etc. But the vet can honestly try to help you the best! Please take your dog to the vet!

How big is your dog? What breed/mix is he?
Also, what is the content of the vomit? The color?

Two qualified and respected vets told me to wait it out, and they are the only 2 vets on the Island where I live. I guess I was hoping for less fear based advice and more support. I will not be using this site again.

Aprilrussel, would you go online for a diagnosis for your child? And would you expect the best possible medical care anyone can receive online, even though the doctor can't see, or examine your child? Do you think his diagnosis would be 100% accurate, or do you think the doctor would be grasping at straws?

We can all guess what might be wrong, but with the symptoms you described, it sounded like Parvo, and YES it IS possible to contract the disease even if vaccinated. The risk is extremely low, but there is a chance. And with a disease like Parvo, your dogs needs medical treatment.

What if we told you to "wait and see" and your dog had liver or kidney failure, and because of our poor diagnosis and recommendation, your dog died. Who would you blame then?

We are NOT vets, but we can give you advice on what we know. Like Cats mentioned if you look some of the dog threads you will find excellent advice on behavior issues, house breaking issues, training,feeding and brands of foods. But to guess at what's medically wrong with your animal is not only unethical, but dangerous and wrong.

Your dog deserves better.

I have had vets tell me to wait things out before.
A few months ago my puppies face swelled up like a balloon, a panicked, called the emergency vet and they told me to save my money and just wait. As long as his breathing was fine, he was fine. A few hours later he was almost back to normal. I give the same advice to others now.

However, your situation is much different. Dehydration is very serious and severe dehydration cannot be treated from home, the dog is usually put on a drip at the vets. If the unknown bug that bit my puppy had have caused him to vomit excessively as well as the swollen face my reaction to the vets advice would have been much different.
Yeah sure, they may survive and bounce back but personally I wouldn't have taken the risk.

I'm sorry you feel like you haven't received the answers you wanted but honestly, I agree with everyone else, if I had been here earlier I would have been saying vet vet vet as well.

You should try to find information from an online vet. You do not have to say, but for contacting vets, what island do you live on? Or what do you leave near maybe you could supply? You could call a vet that is not on your island, and try to get help. You could try to save up money, and leave your island, and find a vet that can help you. If the vet's advice was to wait, that means at some point they expect to do something, so try to get as much information from them as you can. But I would recommend trying to find an online vet, or traveling if you can possibly. What you can try to do, is contact a mobile vet, there are plenty around to come and help you like vets can, but they may be able to supply more help than your 2 local vets. Here is a link you can try to use to help you! vetfinder - find a vet near you | dogster (http://www.dogster.com/vet-finder/)
Also, if you want support you can get tips from people online here. But I'd like to add, if I may, that by answering this question you have people who are trying to find a way to support you and your dog's health, by caring and trying to get more information from you, and giving you suggestions, you have several people trying to help you. You cannot control what advice is given to you, but you can try to use what we give you to help your dog. We are not necessarily giving you support although we've tried, but we are trying to give you dog support because the focus of his health is the main concern. No one is trying to scare you, we are simply trying to explain the severity of the situation, and trying to help, and give you minimal advice, but a vet can very much help you and support your dog. But maybe not the 2 on your island, but other vets can.

Good luck!

Two qualified and respected vets told me to wait it out, and they are the only 2 vets on the Island where I live. I guess i was hoping for less fear based advice and more support. i will not be using this site again.

I am sorry you feel that way, aprilrussell. We are animal lovers here and only have the best interest at heart when posting.

I would never take a 'wait and see' attitude with any of my pets and I don't care what your two vets stated. Laziness, I don't know, whatever.

We are all volunteers here with other jobs and interests and do the best we can with the information provided, but we can't diagnose human or animal medical conditions, because every animal and human is different with probably substantial other medical problems already.

You didn't say you were in an isolated community. Again, sorry if you didn't care for the responses of 'fear mongering' which you will do without by not coming back to our site.

Another new poster, who answered you as well, seems to have had a positive experience here:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/help-dog-498725-3.html

Ms tickle

Both your vets are foolish in my opinion.
Anything like that in a pup warrants concern - had it been Parvo (and yes I've seen FULLY vaccinated dogs get this), waiting a day would have costed your dog it's life. Why a vet wouldn't think of this is beyond me. Telling a client 'wait it out' then having the pup dying = grounds for a lawsuit.
I guess though when there are only two vets on the island, there isn't a lot of competition so they don't have to be excellent.

Your first comment after diagnosis makes me think that you have financial issues - I really hope you don't think pets are a cheap endeavor.

It turns out my pup had salmonella poisoning and thank goodness for the 2 vets I spoke with here who were not fear mongers like everyone seems to be on this site. "Wait and see" is completely acceptable within a 24 hour period.

How did you receive this diagnosis without taking your pup to the vet for tests and an examination?

We have to leave this at it stands, forum members. The OP is just not happy with comments. I have already told OP we can't diagnose.

I think the problem is she is unhappy because she didn't act soon enough and was looking for answers. Unfortunately, it is the pet that suffers because the plea is silent. I can 'read' what my pet needs; and I act upon it.

I think the problem is she is unhappy because she didnt act soon enough and was looking for answers. Unfortunately, it is the pet that suffers because the plea is silent. I can 'read' what my pet needs; and I act upon it.

At least the pup survived this time.

How did you receive this diagnosis without taking your pup to the vet for tests and an examination?

Apparently by phone which seems the vets weren't too terribly concerned. If on an island, then travelling to one of them would not be a problem. Why are pets sometimes expendable and only worth a phone call. THEY can't TALK AND TELL US HOW SICK THEY ARE FOR HEAVENS SAKE!

Okay, more fear mongering as you mentioned. I am sorry you posted here and you are making me angry. I don't want to see aprilrussell here again.

Tick

Thread closed