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Just got back from seeing the pup. He seemd lively, but the vet said he threw-up earlier and had diarreah. He is still not eating, and he said he can;t think of anything else to do, but to just keep doing what he has been doing....Can someone please think of something? I think the pup will die soon if he won't eat, and keeps vomiting....Please someone help me!

Have you written down every suggestion on the thread and asked the hospital vet if each one has been tested for?

matthew,

i don't have any answers for you. i just want you to know i feel for you. as i reread your thread, there do still seem to be some unanswered questions:

were xrays done?
was a full blood workup done?
what are they feeding him?

if the first two were not done, i would insist on it.

and i would hope they are trying to feed the pup something very bland and palatable, like rice mush cooked with beef broth, or maybe an egg and some plain yogurt-- but not puppy food!

where are you? maybe someone on this forum knows a good vet or hospital within a decent drive. or even could put you in touch with a top consulting vet you could telephone.

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matthew,

i don't have any answers for you. i just want you to know i feel for you. as i reread your thread, there do still seem to be some unanswered questions:

were xrays done?
was a full blood workup done?
what are they feeding him?

if the first two were not done, i would insist on it.

This is what I was trying to say. Go back through this thread. Write down Cindy's recommendations. Write down all the tests mentioned.

Then with the written list in hand, ask the vet each item.

An intestinal obstruction could present exactly this way, IMO.

I think maybe you need to assume control here of what is done and what the answers are, step by step. That's the way medicine works these days, I'm afraid, human and animal, IMO.

I would go through that list with the vet in charge, discuss an obstruction, ask if the vet hospital thinks the puppy needs treatment elsewhere, ask what they think the next step should be, and, in short, get in their faces until you have a diagnosis. If this fails, I would be getting another opinion, as other posters have said.

As much as everyone cares and hopes the puppy will recover, we can't see him, we aren't vets (I don't think, anyway), and we don't know whether the tests and scans and X-Rays already strongly urged have been done, or what the results were.

QUOTING Cindy: Did they do xrays for a possible foreign body in the intestines? If it's soft (like a sock or something) it won't show unless they do a barium series of radiographs.
I would also have them consider giardia or a severe case of coccidia, if the parvo tests don't show anything.
QUOTING Becky: Watery diarrhea sure sounds like giardia, as Cindy mentioned. It can be difficult to pick up. Insist on a live smear stool test.

This list and consultation will help with your feeling of helplessness and being overwhelmed. Take action right away.

I mean this is the kindest and most supportive way.

I don't know if this will help you, but last year our Malinois had very bad watery diarrhea. It went on for several weeks and we thought we were going to lose her. She was tested for everything and the three vets we took her to couldn't find the problem. The third vet put her on Tylan powder. Whatever it was, that took care of it. We had to keep her on the powder for a while, because when we took her off of it the problem came back, but that was what finally worked.

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I don't know if this will help you, but last year our Malinois had very bad watery diarrhea. It went on for several weeks and we thought we were going to lose her. She was tested for everything and the three vets we took her to couldn't find the problem. The third vet put her on Tylan powder. Whatever it was, that took care of it. We had to keep her on the powder for a while, because when we took her off of it the problem came back, but that was what finally worked.

I've read that this antibiotic has been used so seldom on dogs that they haven't built up immunity to it. Is this what made your vet try it (after determining the dog needed antibiotics)?

That's a helpful thing to hear; I wasn't sure whether that "novelty" theory was as sound as it seemed to be -- but that sounds good.

This was not a puppy? Maybe a dog who had had other antibiotics and built up resistance?

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matthew,

i don't have any answers for you. i just want you to know i feel for you. as i reread your thread, there do still seem to be some unanswered questions:

were xrays done?
was a full blood workup done?
what are they feeding him?

if the first two were not done, i would insist on it.

and i would hope they are trying to feed the pup something very bland and palatable, like rice mush cooked with beef broth, or maybe an egg and some plain yogurt-- but not puppy food!

where are you? maybe someone on this forum knows a good vet or hospital within a decent drive. or even could put you in touch with a top consulting vet you could telephone.

He said xrays were the only other thing he could think of, but that he didn't recommend it. They have been trying to feed him something like you said, and three other puppy foods.

Was trying to edit my last post but it wouldn't let me.

I live in Pensacola, FL.

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He said xrays were the only other thing he could think of, but that he didn't recommend it...

What were his reasons for not recommending X-Rays? Cost? X-Ray
availability (does he have the equiptment?)

If we are at the point of "grasping at straws" (we are!), please
tell this vet to DO X-Rays. What will it hurt? If anything,
it will be another means in the process of elemination.

I'm not tryin to sound harsh - I'm getting very frustrated with
this sickness, and I can just IMAGINE what you're going throught!

PS: You're NOT going throught this alone! We're all here for
support - and ANYTHING else we can do!

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He said xrays were the only other thing he could think of, but that he didn't recommend it...

What were his reasons for not recommending X-Rays? Cost? X-Ray
availability (does he have the equiptment?)

If we are at the point of "grasping at straws" (we are!), please
tell this vet to DO X-Rays. What will it hurt? If anything,
it will be another means in the process of elemination.

I'm not tryin to sound harsh - I'm getting very frustrated with
this sickness, and I can just IMAGINE what you're going throught!

PS: You're NOT going throught this alone! We're all here for
support - and ANYTHING else we can do!

Thank you so much. I will insist on xrays tomorrow. If the xrays don't come up with anything, what else could I have him try?

what else can you do?

metronidazole. it's a sulfa drug, i think, also called flagyl. it takes care of all kinds of idiopathic gut problems. i insisted my vet put my dog on it last fall when he was suffering from vomiting, inappetence, and diarrhea, and it was what finally got rid of his symptoms. we'll never know what was causing his problem. possibly giardia, which is difficult to test for.

my dog's breeder is a vet tech at stuart animal hospital in stuart, florida. is that far from you? it's just north of jupiter, i believe. even though i am in montana, i have sometimes gone through her vet hospital when my local vet could not figure things out. they are very, very good.

the thing about most vets is, YOU have to take charge. do your research, like you are doing here, and then demand what your puppy needs. nobody is going to look out for your pup's welfare like you.

please get the xrays done immediately. the fact that they didn't think this was necessary is not a good sign (in terms of how good a vet they are). at least call stuart and get a referral to someone near you, if they are too far away.

pm me if you need more details.