She Vomitted Up Something That She Ate 3 Months Ago...

[megan_]

Hi All,

Lucy (mini schnauzer) the front of my doog belt about three months ago. I called the emergency vet and they said it was most probably too late to force her to vomit (I had been at work all day) and to keep an eye on her. She threw up the zipper and bits of material. After that, she appeared to be fine - input and output was normal. Didn't think any more of it.

Occasionally, if she eats too much bone, she'll have a little vomit. Nothing serious and it hasn't bothered me. Input and output still normal.

She has been a bit off colour the lat 1.5 days (she hasn't wanted to go in her crate to eat, has slept away from the bedroom and has slept a lot). She thew up spit on Saturday morning and Fergus developed a cough on Friday night. I took her and Fergus to the vet on Saturday. The vet diagnosed them both with CC, and said that some dogs just cough, others go off colour.

This morning she vomitted up the doog walking belt logo (big, thick plastic thing). It has been in her tummy for months! She didn't want to eat her breakfast this morning which is very unusual. I'm assuming that she most probably isn't feeling too well after the vomit and just needs some rest.

What else should I do? She is scared of vets and I don't want to take her to emergency only to be told to keep an eye on her (obviously, if somethign could be obstructed I'd rush her there now).

[Caesars mum]

are you sure that she hasn't found it from a hiding spot and eaten in the last day or so, I cant see how anything plastic could survive in a dogs stomach.

having KC may have her off he food, when my 3 got it, one was fine with a bit of a cough, one was coughing hard enough to bring back up food but still eating well and one wouldn't eat as they kept bringing back food and felt ill enough not to want to eat.

if she is not distressed you could wait till monday and have her checked, but if she is in pain or not doing business it might be safer to have her checked today.

good luck, and I hope they both get well soon.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Caesars mum

[gareth]

Just keep an eye on her for now. That would have hurt coming up and may have caused a bit of damage. I doubt the vet would do anything except maybe give her an anti inflammatory.

[megan_]

thanks

CM- I was very surprised when I picked it up and it said "doog" - it took a while for me to process how old it must be. I guess she could have found it again, but I have done a spring clean or two in the interim and I've never see it.

She is very tired so I'm going to let her sleep. If she doesn't toilet then we're off to the vets. It is raining now and my two will hold it in for as long as possible.

It is hard not knowing whether her tiredness and being off food is due to CC (she hasn't really coughed at all other than vomit) or due to the doog logo.

[persephone]

Just be glad that it's not still in there!

Try her with some chicken soup.... or a little milky food - or even some good canned food ,warmed slightly. her throat is probably very sore! If she is not drinking at all.. or vomits again, emergency vet may be an idea. if she doesn't poo, don't panic just yet- being off her food and vomiting will mean there's not much to come out!

[cashew]

I always give my dog slippery elm when he has tummy discomfort (to lubricate his guts). It worked for him but I am not too sure how others feel about this. I did it with recommendation from our naturopath.

[Schnauzerlover]

ohhhhhhhh poor thing. hope she feels better soon. lots of schnauzer kisses from humphrey and scarlett xoxoxo

[Erny]

A friend of a friend's dog had swallowed half of what we think might have been a ball .... perhaps a cricket ball or something really hard rubber. Over a period of a good two months or so the dog threw vague symptoms of something not quite being right, but because the dog was such an 'out there' dog, the symptoms appeared pretty insignificant. And they were intermittent, so they got shrugged off. It wasn't until further down the track that the dog went off its food for a couple of days and then went into a state of collapse. That's when the Vets found this ball (we're still a bit unsure as to whether that's what it was).

Hi Megan ;) .... I'm not sure what I would do if I were in your shoes. As you'd be aware, I'm not one for easily subjecting our dogs to drugs (including GA) if I can help it, but I would be concerned as to whether something might still be in her tummy. Hard thing is, IF she has CC, I would presume it wouldn't be a great time to be giving GA anyway. But as you say ..... how to know whether she is symptomatic of CC or whether she is being affected by having any more of the foreign object in her tummy. Sorry - I can appreciate the dilemma but I think it is going to have to be a judgement call on your part. If she doesn't bounce back in the next 24 hours - 48 hours absolute maximum, I think I'd be taking her in with a view to arranging an xray.

I have another friend who adopted a rescue dog. He'd had her for at least 2 weeks and we were on our way to the beach (convoy - with our respective dogs in our respective cars) when I got a phone call from my friend, asking me to pull over at the nearest suitable spot because his dog had vomited. We pulled over where there was a vacant allotment and got his dog out of the car. She'd vomited up a lead, snaphook and all. It was the lead that came with her from the pound. My friend had wondered where that'd gone, but thought he'd simply misplaced it.

I hope all is well, Megan. Feel free to call me if you're feeling a bit frantic about what to do, if only for the benefit of talking things through out loud.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Erny

[megan_]

thanks everyone.

She had a biiiiig sleep this morning and seems to have pepped up. I gave them both some homemade chicken broth as per Persephone's advice and they lapped it up with gusto. She had a little play (I have tried to keep her quiet) and she seems much better now. She has yet to cough, so she might have avoided it.

She ate her dinner tonight (a bit of kibble with warm broth) so I hope she's on the mend.

Erny - Thanks for the advice. I'll keep an eye on her and if she goes downhill it will be another trip to the vets. I'm pretty sure it is all up now (when she ate the doog, I re- assembelled all the bits that she threw up - zipper included - to see if it was complete. I forgot about the logo though).

She is an absolute guts this one! When she doesn't eat I know something is very wrong.

[persephone]

So glad she is feeling better. ;)

[Golden Rules]

I always give my dog slippery elm when he has tummy discomfort (to lubricate his guts). It worked for him but I am not too sure how others feel about this. I did it with recommendation from our naturopath.

Yes, I give one of my cats slippery elm powder (made into a syrup) most days and it does work well ;)

[Staff'n'Toller]

You can put her under to have an endoscopy done if you are really concerned there is still something in there, that would be the least invasive way to check out the stomach.

Two years ago we opened up my Stafford girl to remove a small intestine tumour that we knew was bleeding and found one of the toy plastic mice for cats - no fur on it - just the plastic core, have no idea how long it was there. ;) It definitely was there for a while though, but miraculously it hadn't made it past the stomach. She loves the catnip in them, I have caught her chewing on them in the past but thought she always spat them out!