Smokey diarrhea over 24 hrs

[BarksaLot]

Smokey is 15 now. We let him have the roam of the house. At his age he's not destructive although maybe we should pen him up when we leave- he has had pee incidents in the past. Friday I was out and came home, found him in my sons room. He'd gone down, maybe fell then couldn't get up- he'd scooted himself around trying to get up and stuck himself under a dresser. Maybe he was wanting to go outside when fell, he'd peed a river and was soaking wet. So fun getting him up, he will bite, who knows pain related.

So we picked up Gabapentin for him Saturday afternoon - he did eat breakfast that morning, which he probably shouldn't have had. He had a soft poop later that morning. But just after 6 PM the diarrhea started. We were up with him several times in the wee hours with letting him out or mopping up. We got good at recognizing when he was about to poop again. He'd sit up, do lip licking, then head to the door if he could get himself up. Had to help him out several times or carry him out. I can't remember smokey having soft poop or diarrhea the other dogs we've had would have incidents but not him. He had the true runny kind, watery at times. He still had an accident after I went to bed at 10 last night, so that's around 28 hours of diarrhea.

I called the vet yesterday morning. They suggested Pepcid, gave him a couple doses, didn't see that it helped him. Made up slippery elm, he wouldn't touch it and by that time he refused any bits of food, so don't think we could have gotten pills in him if we would have had slippery elm pills.

This morning he was up walking the laundry room, but no poop puddles out there. He did go out, peed, but no diarrhea. Now finally this morning he's back to a normal sleeping routine. Poor guy hopefully his tummy is empty, he's gone a few hours now without an incident.

Now the question is how long should we wait before feeding him. I'm having trouble convincing my son not to feed him to let his stomach settle down. We're sort of at a loss as to what caused his illness - if food he'd had a couple days before wasn't good or if Lady had a virus and he caught it. Bill Googled it, one said arthritis could be a cause, which is why he thinks he should be fed sooner than I think he should. I don't know if he should be feed today at all, maybe not till tomorrow morning. Poor dog is probably going to want to just sleep. Now have to wait to see if it's catching if Lady comes down with it. I've made mushy rice yesterday, but don't know if he should have any today. He did drink water yesterday and this morning. Took his temperature yesterday. No fever. So isn't it 12-24 hours after the diarrhea stops before you feed? I'll give him digestive enzyme then

[BarksaLot]

He just had another bout of diarrhea. Runny watery. Yellow colored. Some of it was orange yesterday. We thought maybe that was carrots coming out? And this time his tail was raised a bit which looked suspicious, luckily he got outside in time to relive himself.

[SherriA]

Poor Smokey.

I've always been told 24 hrs to rest the gut (except really small dogs who apparently can have a blood sugar crash if food is withheld that long, or so small dog owners tell me), but I'm rarely able to keep myself from feeding for that long.

I hope he's starting to feel better now.

[BarksaLot]

He was still having the runs yesterday, made several trips out to the yard. He is drinking water. My son got him to eat a couple bites of turkey last night. He wouldn't eat out of a bowl, but took hand feeding of cooked turkey and two bites was all he'd take. So don't know what that was about, maybe he's feeling pretty weak. We got tired of cleaning messes in the house so he slept in the laundry room last night, and had poo puddles to wipe up this morning. Bill was mopping the floor at 6 this morning, then had to bathe Smokes rear end. And this is the dog that never allowed baths or grooming, we call him a paper tiger now. He's still has snarles and snapping, but his reflexes are slower.
We keep looking on line for advice of what to try and give a dog with diarrhea. I thought it was 24 hours too, but my son was reading 12 hrs. One said to feed rice water with baby food beef. He got that the other night, I think that's what was going through him yesterday. Another said to give cooked ground turkey with pumpkin, which was the couple bites he had last night -'that site said the usual white rice would shoot through the colon of a dog with diarrhea plus ground beef was to fatty to feed.

This morning I cooked a scrambled egg for him and this time he did lick the bowl, finished it all. I may make him another egg this afternoon with a tsp of mushy rice. The Pepcid the vet recommended doesn't appear to have helped him, but I did read you could give immodium ad, started that Monday. It did appear to slow his runs down before we did the rice water that just got it going again, but then again he would have been better off probably sleeping it off overnight to rest the gut. Poor Smokey this going on the 4th day he's been sick. Hasn't pood since the egg. So hope he slows down today. He's down to 41 pounds now, age catching up with him and just like any geriatric more prone to illness. He just had blood work done in July and everything was good. Only thyroid was a little low and he's been on a supplement for that.

Will have to give a little probiotic too, have got a digestive enzyme on hand. Anybody have any suggestions for what you do when you have a really sick dog? We could use any tips anyone could suggest.

[MaisyPancakes]

If it were me, it'd be vet time now—I think given Smokey's age and severity/length of the trouble he's having, I'd be worried about dehydration and all the things *that* can bring about, let alone whatever is causing the persistent diarrhea. Dehydration is no joke and can happen relatively quickly (even if he seems like he's drinking, it might not be enough, especially given how much he is losing). So if you can, I'd bring him in.

I wouldn't mess too much w/probiotics and enzymes and stuff right now, and definitely would NOT give stoppers like immodium—he might need to get rid of stuff, not forced to keep it in his system. Every addition can be some kind of irritant and slow down healing, and you won't be able to figure out what's causing the problem as long as you keep adding things. I know it's hard when you want to help him, but his tummy might need to stabilize first.

[BarksaLot]

Ok, will stop the immodium. So would you feed him egg & rice or just let him rest. Just mopped up another go, had to wash him off with the hose. Yes we're thinking a trip to the vet is needed.

[MaisyPancakes]

I would personally not give him any food at this point, aside from maybe a little low-sodium (better yet homemade) broth (provided he's not sensitive to whatever meat the broth is based) just because I'm so afraid of dehydration—but be prepared it might go right through him. I would try the vet much sooner than later, though, like today...I think old dogs can deteriorate much more quickly and irreversibly, so I get pretty scared when something is obviously amiss for days. Even simple diarrhea can irritate the GI tract when it's this persistent, and it'll take longer for older dogs to heal, all the while he's painful/uncomfortable. Good luck!

[JudyL]

Please take your dog to the vet ASAP. Diarrhea this long needs to be addressed by a medical professional, and as MP mentioned, he may be dehydrated and may need fluid therapy. It might have started with food or some bug, but the gabapentin may also be the cause of the diarrhea or certainly adding to the problem.

http://www.petmd.com/pet-medication/gabapentin

[maxs_mommy]

I understand that he's not a model patient at the vet but I would go. Now. This is serious and home remedies aren't going to make this better.

[BarksaLot]

Yes we took him in. Vet said heart, lungs were good, she didn't think he had stomach cramps. She took him in the back to examine him, she said he put up quite a fight, so that's probably good. Gave us flagyl, packets of FortiFlora. Plus cans of prescription diets, Hills Urgent Care. We left him while we ran to a class, he was asleep. When we got back he'd pooped some more at the far end of the laundry room, this time it had some solid to the diarrhea, maybe the turkey he'd eaten. He's eaten 1/2 a can of a cat food sized can. Was afraid to feed the whole can. We're going conservative, see if we can get him to eat. If he doesn't clear up with the flagyl and canned food she said he'd need to be hospitalized, X rays etc. The vet is concerned about the weight loss. Canned Hills diet were samples to tempt him to eat.they didn't think the Gabapentin contributed to the diarrhea, he just started it when it began. He's also got some sort of a joint thing with his rear legs, could be a disc in his back his back end sinks down.

[BarksaLot]

He may have not got too dehydrated. We have raised platforms for water. The bowl he likes for water is an old heavy ceramic mixing bowl that I thinks keeps the water cool. He would walk around and take deep drinks kept me busy refilling bowls.

[JudyL]

Ythey didn't think the Gabapentin contributed to the diarrhea, he just started it when it began.

I'm glad you took him in. What you wrote about the gabapentin is ambiguous to me. Had the diarrhea already started and then you gave the med, or did the runny poo start around the same time and after you gave the med?

I'm always on the lookout for reactions when giving a new med for the first time until I know what to expect. Sorry for sounding doubting, but I've heard too many vets not want to believe that its a medicine that they've prescribed be the culprit.

[BarksaLot]

Diarrhea started about 3 hours after the Gabapentin dose. Also it was a low dose. Too much of it immobilizes him, I'd taken a 100 mg capsule, opened it up and split half of it into an empty vitamin capsule. So I don't know if that was the cause. Only thing we thought was maybe an old batch of food. I finally remembered last night he had finished that Wednesday morning, diarrhea didn't start till the next Saturday evening. That batch of food might have been out of his system by then. Could have been a bug he's had, or the Gabapentin. Of course the prescribing vet didn't think that was the cause. We did give the half dose to him in the mornings and evening, so could be that kept runny poo going. This morning when we got up there was no poop to clean up, he's gone 10 hrs without elimination, so maybe he's coming out of it. Ate all a small dish of canned food this morning and seems comfortable

[LisaT_II]

I never underestimate what a drug can do, as well as bad food. In any dog, and certainly a senior, you have to keep on that stuff.