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Health & Fitness

Following Your Gut Instincts

Our dog quickly took a turn for the worse on a Sunday; learn why it's important to keep an eye on your pets and trust your gut.

Sunday morning came early; I woke up to the sound of my dog’s vomit hitting the floor. Getting out of bed, I noticed that it was dark red, and had some meat chunks in it. I didn’t think anything of it since we had started Brooke on a raw diet recently; I thought that this is what raw-diet-puke looked like, compared to the grainy, yellow fluff of a kibble diet.  I stayed up with her as she continued to throw up a few times over the next 90 minutes. She seemed to get better after getting that out of her system and fell asleep on the couch, so I hopped in the shower and continued on as normal: stopping at Target to get prescriptions, hanging out at the in-law’s before dinner.

After getting home, I walked into the house to find the living room floor covered in bright, red blood. Brooke had started vomiting again. My husband wanted to wait it out and see if Brooke got better, because she’s never been sick before, and why spend all that money at the ER vet for a stomach upset? I was still unsure if this was what raw-fed puke looked like because we were new to raw feeding, I Facebook’d a picture of the vomit to a friend out in Oregon who feeds raw. She responded back saying that none of her dogs’ puke looked like that. Hearing that, I immediately called the emergency vet at Veterinary Care Specialists in Milford: they wanted her to be brought in immediately.

Insert instant panic here.

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Brooke, our Plott Hound, is my first dog, and we adopted her as a long-legged puppy 12 days after we were married. She just turned four on the seventh of March. We’ve grown together, and she’s always been with me—my husband worked the night shift when we were first married, so Brooke was my protector at night, always on guard for things that go bump in the night, always at my side. When our daughter was born, Brooke became the world’s best babysitter, lying next to our daughter’s cradle while she slept, looking to me when she would wake up crying. She is a great dog, and of course, I wanted nothing bad to happen to her.

The Beginning of a Long Night

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We arrived at VCS, and a tech came out to assist getting Brooke inside. Brooke was still able to walk, and was wagging her tail at this point. We got checked into an exam room, and when the tech came in to take her vitals, she hardly took notice of him—very unusual for my high-energy hound that jumps up to greet everyone she meets. Brooke was going downhill quickly. Blood was discovered when taking her temperature—she was now losing blood from both ends and getting dehydrated. The doctor came in to discuss what she had eaten and her lifestyle: Brooke had eaten goose, beef liver, and chicken this week, and had gotten into the garbage on Thursday. Usually very active, but loves to sleep on the couch during the day. Brooke was taken back for X-rays and bloodwork.

I have to say this about VCS—they are very quick. I waited in the exam room with my iPhone, updating my Facebook status, asking for prayers and good thoughts from friends around the country, texting my sister to keep myself from breaking down completely at the thought that something was wrong with Brooke. The doctor came back several times to tell me the results of the X-rays and the bloodwork panel and a test for her pancreas. Her red blood cells were elevated, indicating dehydration, as well as low electrolytes; Her X-rays came back showing nothing significant in the belly that could be causing bleeding. The test for her pancreas also came back unremarkable.

The diagnosis? Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis. Come again? I know; I had to ask what that meant too. The doctor broke it down for me: Hemorraghic is profuse bleeding, Gastroenteritis is inflammation of the stomach and intestine. HGE, as it is abbreviated, is a canine disease characterized by bloody vomit and bloody diarrhea. There is no known cause, and it develops very quickly. HGE is fatal if left untreated. In fact, it progresses so quickly that it can cause death in 24 hours.

It’s terrible to Google a diagnosis while waiting in the vet’s office—you will read worse-case scenarios and be completely terrified for your dog. I highly recommend resisting the urge to Google; it will only make you even more upset to leave your dog.

Brooke was hospitalized that night, and had an IV for fluids and pain meds. Coming home without your dog is surreal. She’s slept with me in the bed for four years. It was a long night, tossing and turning without bumping into a 60-lb hound.

The Next Morning

The call from the doctor was one I anxiously awaited—I turned my ringer all the way up so I wouldn’t miss it while my daughter was watching “101 Dalmatians”. The vet called and said Brooke was doing well: stable, alert, and no diarrhea since 4 a.m. They would try some bland food and see if she could keep it down, if her stomach had healed enough to retain the food. If so, we would be able to bring her home that night. Praying all day, I called again at 6 p.m. for another update and were told that they would like to keep Brooke another night, but that if we were prepared to be up with her most of the night, she could come home. Yeah!

Signing over an arm and a leg for her medical care, I greeted Brooke, as excited to see her as she was to see me. She laid her head in my lap the whole way home, and wagged her whole body when we got home and she saw my husband. The night was a bit rough, as we got up every two hours to let Brooke out to relieve herself. It will be a few days before she can go back on a normal diet; for right now, she’s eating boiled chicken and rice.

Trust Your Gut

What did I learn from this $$$ situation? Trust your gut and keep an eagle eye on your pets. Had I just brushed off her vomiting as a stomach bug and waited to get her into the regular vet during the work week, she would have become severely dehydrated and developed more complications, possibly even died. If you notice anything different about your pet, whether it’s a change in energy level, thirst, or even bowel movements, it’s always best to follow your gut and give your vet a call.

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