I just got a call here at work from one of our puppy owners. (Czoe is a year old now.) She is in tears and wanting to know what I think. Czoe threw up twice last night and once this morning. Vet has already done bloodwork, started her on an i.v., and is now wanting to do radiographs because "she might have GDV, which could kill her" or maybe then an ultrasound "in case it's a foreign body"! All told we're talking about nearly $900.00! For a bright, alert dog with NORMAL bloodwork and a non-painful GI palpation. I called and talked to the vet myself and as I suspected, she's a larval (newly qualified) vet. I told her to run out the bag of fluids she's on, leave the cath in place just in case and I will pull it myself tomorrow. Good grief! If I ran to the hospital and spent that kind of dough every time one of my dogs threw up a couple of times, I'd be on my tenth mortage by now! It just makes me angry because this person is very sweet and not at all an assertive person and they were just railroading her into the poorhouse. Not that in some cases I wouldn't tell her to do all those things, but with the physical and bloodwork findings in this case, that's going waaaay off the deep end. Grrrrr!

That sounds crazy! From a very new dog owner, if a dog a is sick or throws up a couple of times how should/would one react? I understand the care one should provide for a dog, and I might be one to go overboard because I have a new puppy, but when should one draw the line between somethings really wrong and when the pup is just a little under the weather?

I'm curious about this, because even us humans get sick from time to time, but we don't run to the doctor for every sniffle and cough...

~Kevin

Aaron, that is some really great info!!!! Thank you for sharing and although my dog is not really a puppy anymore, I still value the information as it can be applied to any dog owner both new and old!!!!

Thank you!!

~Kevin

When she went to check-out they presented her with a bill for nearly $800.00. TWO antibiotics at nearly $110. What are those for? Did her bloodwork indicate infection? "No". Take them OFF. A 2# pound bag of "special diet" at $40.00? Take it back, OFF the bill. The i.v cath and set-up? They rushed the dog to the back and started all this WITHOUT her O.K. or permission, before any bloodwork indicated she even needed such a thing. OFF the bill. She ended up leaving with a bill of $450.00. This morning? dog is bouncing off the walls perfectly normal. I told her to feed small amounts of chicken baby food through the day and if she does fine with that, tonight make her well-drained and rinsed hamburger and rice.

A one-day episode of vomiting in an adult dog that does not otherwise act like it feels bad does not warrant a trip to the loan department.