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Posted 4/12/2014 2:43 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there,
I know there are a lot of dog lovers here, so I thought I'd post and see if I can get advice. I have suspected that my 11 year old mutt has IBD. She has days she won't eat in the mornings and then sometimes has D, then it goes back to normal. Last week our 16 year old cat suddenly died. He was sitting on my lap purring one minute, let out a cry and jumped off the bed, and was dead within a minute. My poor old dog witnessed the whole thing and got so upset that she started shaking and then couldn't walk for a couple of minutes. My vet thinks she had a small seizure from the shock.
Now, the past two days, she has woken up and vomited mucous mixed with a fair amount of blood. My vet told me to give her Pepcid AC twice a day and switch her to hamburger and rice, and if that doesn't help, I should switch her to carafate to coat her stomach. I am worried that the vet is under treating her. I am thinking she may need something like Prednisone or antibiotics if it is a bleeding ulcer. I'm just wondering what you all think.

I know she's a dog, and we are people, but her symptoms do seem a lot like ours, and dogs do get IBD. Needless to say, I'm very stressed out. It was a shock and hard to lose my cat, but I absolutely adore my dog.....not ready to lose her too! Any advice is appreciated.
Posted 4/12/2014 4:05 PM (GMT 0)

gumby44 said...
Last week our 16 year old cat suddenly died. He was sitting on my lap purring one minute, let out a cry and jumped off the bed, and was dead within a minute. My poor old dog witnessed the whole thing and got so upset that she started shaking and then couldn't walk for a couple of minutes. My vet thinks she had a small seizure from the shock.

:(

That's grim for both of you. I suppose the only consolation in retrospect is that at least your cat died quickly and without pain. But at the time it must have been horrible.

I'm afraid I don't have a clue about your dog's symptoms. All I can say is that vomiting blood is not a typical sign of IBD in humans, so I'm guessing it would be similar for other animals. It's more likely to be a peptic ulcer, or some other upper GI issue. If it's not inflammatory in origin, then steroids wouldn't help. Could the vet do an endoscopy on her?

That's all I got :-/ Hope she gets better soon.

PS: I could be wrong, but dogs seem to have diarrhoea a lot more often than humans do. They also seem to vomit more. Perhaps it's because they eat any old rubbish that's been lying on the ground for days, and so get upset stomachs more often. Our old Jack Russell used to have diarrhoea sometimes.
Posted 4/12/2014 5:20 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Miranda,
I just called the vet again because her poop looks pink. She said it would be dark black and tarry or bright red if it was blood. (I know I should know that) I think I'm just freaking out. She vomited blood three times this morning. I think it's a stomach ulcer....maybe the pepcid will work. Thanks for you good wishes. I'm not sure how much an endocopy would cost...hopefully we can fix it with medication without having to do that. Just having a sad day;-(
Posted 4/12/2014 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
Vomiting blood seems like an emergency condition to me. Has your vet seen her and done a physical exam? Is your dog otherwise behaving normally? Remember that dogs are quite stoic about pain and if she's acting even a little bit off she is likely to be having a fair amount of discomfort. Is she eating? Drinking?

We lost two dogs in the past 4 years and both times our vet missed a significant illness. The end result in one case was the sudden death at home of my 13 year old dog, and in the other case was $$$$ spent at a specialist vet hospital because the regular vet missed signs of lymphoma.

I realize it's the weekend and you're kind of stuck unless you're willing to pay out the nose for a weekend emergency vet visit, but I think her symptoms are worthy of a physical exam, probably a blood draw and perhaps some imaging of her belly.

I'm very sorry to hear about your cat. That sounds quite traumatic.
Posted 4/12/2014 6:43 PM (GMT 0)
I'm really sorry about your cat too. :( It's awful to lose a beloved pet, especially so suddenly.

As far as your dog goes, I agree that vomiting blood is a really bad sign. Try the Pepcid and see if that helps. I don't want to worry you, but we lost our 10 year old dog last year because the vet overlooked some of her more distressing signs. She could have lived five more years easily. The dog carried on, as dogs do, until she succumbed one morning. I know you don't want to spend tons of money, but maybe you could ask the vet to do an X-ray to see if there's any internal issues he can see.
Posted 4/12/2014 6:47 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Kazbern,
My dog only vomits mucous and blood in the early morning. Then she seems to eat and drink ok...we are keeping her on hamburger and rice or boiled chicken and rice for now. She did get stomach x-rays less than a year ago because I was complaining that she was having D, but they looked normal. I do agree that I think she maybe needs at least blood tests....my vet knows that I don't want to spend a huge amount of money on tests like an endoscopy, but it does seem like there is something in between. I guess I will monitor it and call her again if needed. I'm sad about the cat, but he was very old and it was his time, I guess. I'm ridiculously attached to the dog, though....just not at all ready to lose her. Thanks for the support. I'll stay assertive with the vet.
Posted 4/12/2014 6:49 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Stef too....I must have been typing at the same time as you!
Posted 4/12/2014 7:00 PM (GMT 0)
Ah yes, I sorta forgot about vet's fees... :-/

Our dog was eventually put down at the age of 15 or 16. I don't think he was in pain, but he had become totally senile: he didn't recognise any of us, was incontinent (previously he didn't even poop in the garden, let alone our house; he waited until he was taken for a walk), and walked round and round in aimless circles. It was sad to see.

Anyway, I agree with kazbern. I think the symptoms are worthy of a physical examination, but it can probably wait until Monday. I don't know if insurance or whatever would make this a problem, but it might be worth seeking a second opinion from a different vet if you can.

*hugs* :-/

Edit: Woah. That's what happens when I don't refresh the page for 10 minutes or so.
Posted 4/14/2014 1:22 AM (GMT 0)
Poor doggy! They feel grief and anxiety like us so watching his buddy die probably broke his heart! Maybe consider getting another dog friendly kitty/dog or even a kitten. That usually brings them out of a depression.

Is there any possibility that they both could have gotten into any type of poisonous substance? Another opinion from a different vet may be a good idea, just in case.

Hope your baby feels better soon! Hugs!
Posted 4/14/2014 2:01 AM (GMT 0)
Hi pmedic,
I worried about the possibility of poison too, but I can't figure out what that might be. I live in Northern MI and it is still very cold, so the cat never went outside...I looked around the house and I don't see anything. My dog seems to be doing better today...no vomiting blood and she's eating. I hope it continues. Thanks for your support!
Posted 4/14/2014 2:30 AM (GMT 0)
I'm so glad to hear your dog is doing better today gumby. My dog is 11 as well and I would be heartbroken if he left me (my husband sometimes jokes that I married him for the dog... it really was love at first site when I met him--the dog that is!).

I agree with everyone else here and think some bloodwork Monday would be a good start. Hopefully this was just a blip and she'll continue to be on the mend!
Posted 4/14/2014 11:17 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Vitaka,
It has been another good morning. She woke up peppy, and no vomiting and ate well. I'm supposed to keep her on the Pepcid and hamburger and rice for several weeks. I'll bring her to the vet if she seems worse again. I'm very relieved...she really scared me!
Posted 4/14/2014 4:16 PM (GMT 0)
Glad to hear your dog seems to be back to normal, gumby :p
Posted 4/14/2014 6:10 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks :-)
Posted 4/14/2014 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
So sorry to hear about your pets. We have a four-legged grandkitty (my daughter's) who is in our home, so we know how that goes. And I would think the dog would need to be checked out, but I know how expensive it can be as it usually costs more for our kitty to go to the doc than it does for us. With death and sickness happening at the same time, it does make one wonder about accidental poisoning as there are a lot of things that we've discovered that are poisonous to pets.

I couldn't help but think about a daughter's friend who had her cat die suddenly after a nip at a lily plant that she had just received. The cat didn't eat it; she just bit on it. We found out from that incident that lilies (it's Easter time) are quite poisonous to cats, though I don't know about dogs, so we never bring any lilies into the house.

And it may be, as you said, natural causes and the dog reacting to the shock. It amazes me that scientists are just starting to "prove" that animals have empathy when pet owners have been knowing this all along. Again, so sorry. -Joy
Posted 4/14/2014 7:47 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Joy,
No lillies in the house...but the coincidence does seem disturbing. Hopefully, my dog will just keep getting better. Thanks for the good wishes.
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