Friday, February 17, 2012

Upset Stomach

Poor Maya's sick. :(

Since Sunday evening, she had been vomiting, suffering from diarrhea, and refused to eat anything. At one point, she would even throw up after drinking water and poop blood. At first, I thought she could just tough it out, like what I do when I have an upset stomach, but after dragging on for days, we decided to take her to the vet on Wednesday for the peace of mind.

The doctor checked her temperature, made sure there's no blockage, gave her a shot of Cerenia to stop the vomiting, and prescribed some antibiotics. Since we already stopped all food in-takes for a whole day, he wanted us to start feeding her some rice with cooked chicken or beef.

Slept all day

After the vet visit, she seems to be doing much better. She still sleeps a lot, but will walk around and look out the window every once in a while. The vomiting stopped and she also hasn't pooped for more than 24 hours. (The doctor said it's normal to go two to three days without pooping, since she cleared everything out and hasn't eaten for a few days.)

The challenge now, is to make her take the medicine and eat the tasteless rice without adding too much extra flavor. We kind of gave in this morning and added some cheese, but hopefully it's good bacteria and won't be too harsh for her stomach. We might also have to skip tomorrow's agility class as well, since she shouldn't be having too much activity nor any treats.

Stayed in bed

All in all, it's been an eventful week. I'm just glad this is almost over. Fingers crossed.

So thinking back, what could have caused the sickness:
  • LINsanity: She got a treat every time Jeremy Lin scored against the Lakers, and he got 38 points that night. (Daddy said he already "promised" her, and the Knicks would lose if he didn't follow through...blah.)
  • A whole pack of string cheese the trainer gave her during the agility class on Saturday. 
  • A large amount of Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream sample I used as training treats.
  • The potato chip she picked up in the park and swallowed before I could fetch it out of her mouth.
  • The extreme amount of treats she got during the training class and training sessions.
  • An "aged" raw hide (from a relative who's dog passed away years ago) that we forgot to pick up when we went out to dinner.
  • Probably all of the above. Basically, too much food and too much variety in a small amount of time.

And of course, my lessons learned:
  • When the dog doesn't want to eat, don't make her. Pampering her into finishing a meal may just make things much worse. 
  • Don't give her anything she never eaten before when she already have an upset stomach.
  • Diarrhea + long coat Shiba = a yucky butt. A yucky butt + Shiba shakes = a super yucky butt + yucky feet. Deal with the mess ASAP, or it'll just get worse.
  • I need better soap for myself. After dealing with all the cleaning and hand feeding, the skin on the back of my hands is irritated and in pain. It's funny how I spent all the money and time to shop for a good dog shampoo, while I use crap to wash my own hands.
  • Don't underestimate the Shiba Inu's ability to keep herself clean. Throughout the episode, there were only one accident in the house, which happened in the middle of the night. Maya might have tried to warn us, but we were asleep and didn't notice. That smart girl did her business in our shower room and didn't even stain the bathroom floor. Whew... It would have been hell if she went on the carpet. Maya also refused to poop on the grass area outside of our building. No matter how much she's in a hurry, she would drag me all the way to the corner of the street or to the park. I guess she wants to keep her late night potty area tidy.

Got a valentine, but wasn't in the mood to enjoy it



4 comments:

  1. Poor Maya! That sort of thing would freak me out bad. Conker had a really tough time adjusting to raw food, but he never vomited (bile doesn't count) or had bloody poop.
    It's awesome that she knew to go to the shower. Conker will run outside now if he's got a problem, but before when I was in an apartment... The carpet was juuust fine.

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    1. Yep, it totally freaked me out. When she turned her nose up against a RMB, I knew something was seriously wrong.

      We used to enjoy living in an apartment, not needing to worry about many things, but after getting a dog, we really long for a backyard. Especially in situations like this.

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  2. So sorry to hear about Maya's bout of illness! I didn't see this post until now.

    Honestly, I've had it up to here with LINsanity... but this was probably the most amusing mention yet, even if it was a probable culprit for Maya's sickness.

    I'm also amused by Maya's accident in the shower room. Bowdu has had a couple uncontrollable diarrhea accidents in the past, but he, too, was very smart about it... and managed to make it to the bathroom to take care of business... all over the bathroom rug. Yuck. Still, I was still rather impressed. He obviously needed to go IMMEDIATELY, and he could've gone anywhere in the house, but he chose the room where he knew the humans also go, and chose the surface in that room which most resembled "grass."

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    1. Good job, Bowdu! Maybe our Shibas think we are the ones with ill manners, peeing and pooping in the house everyday. :p

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