My young 4yr spayed female is at the emergency clinic and the doctor doesn't know what is wrong.

Here are the facts:
1.presented to family vet at 8:00am Friday morning, dog is lethargic, vomitting (only liquid), blood from rectum. (She looked like she wasn't feeling well Thursday at 4:00pm, although at 3:00pm she was playing in the puppy pool)
2.Family vet confirms no blockage on xray, starts on fluids, antibiotics (strong enough in case in was parvo (test confirms it is NOT parvo). No change all day in stats.
3.Dog is transferred to emergency clinic and continues fluids and antibiotics. Rectal bleeding continues and blood clots are present.
4.Emerg considers her critical. Unsure of what is causing the bleeding

Please if anyone has any advice that I can pass to the vets?

Was the x-ray a barium xray? Had a family member with a Doberman a few years ago with same symptons and regular x-ray did not show blockage so they did a barium x-ray and found one.

Hi Bea,
So sorry your young girl is in distress. Have you checked the yard and area where your girl plays,etc for any dead critters or chemicals she could have gotten into? Hemorrhagic enteritis can be caused by a huge number of different things, from bacteria and viruses to chemicals and rodent poisons. Try to exclude some of these and it may help narrow down the causative agent. Did you feed her anything unusual? Raw chicken or beef?
Good luck-hoping for the best for you and your girl.
Lisa

Thanks for the suggestions. Xray was not barium, there are absolutely no chemicals in the yard, no dead skeletons, no change in food.

Doctors feel its bacteria but have no idea what could cause such a rapid deteriation and keep her down for so long.

Still looking for the answer.

Hi Bea,
Unfortunatley, sometimes we never do find out the cause of HGE, but it usually involves something that either compromises the immune system and allows bacteria to overgrow and cause disease or introduction of a very pathogenic strain of bacteria into the GI tract. I'm very sorry, will pray for a good outcome for you and your girl.
Take Care,
Lisa

Bea,

I'm so sorry to hear about your girls problems.

Please keep us updated on how she's doing and what

you find out.

Donna

Had a choco male 1 1/2 year old do this. He stayed at the Vets for a day with IV's and test were run but never did find the answer. He maybe ate something such as plants or animal droppings or a dead small animal the cats left, but there are no chemicals on our property.He never did vomit or have anymore blood from the rectum while at the Vets.They sent him home on Amox and wd cannned food for a couple of days and he is fine today.Thoughts are with you. It certainly was scarey!

just went through this in feb with my 6 year old girl, non stop vomiting, bloody diarrhea which became a steady drip of blood from the rectum. Took 2 days in ICU on fluids, compazine for vomiting, then sucralfate for stomach, came home on antibiotics, ammoxi i think, sucralfate, and instructions for small meals, 2 tablespoons every hour or so for several days, she lost 10 pounds overnight, and was sick and weak, but with a bland diet, small meals and all the drugs, she pulled through - we did xrays, barium series, 48 hours of supportive care, all kinds of bloodwork, urinalysis, fecals, cultures, never found out what caused it
she's fine now, she was back competing in agility several weeks later.

I hope and pray your girl does as well, HGE (hemorragic gastero-enteritis is a tricky thing, its generally a diagnosis by rule out)

Barb

One of my kids with a good friend had the same thing several years ago. The dog was up there in years and he was hospitalized & on fluids etc for the better part of a week. He recovered completely. He lived several years after that and passed away a couple of months short of 16 years of age.

could she have gotten a hold of a dead animal (mouse,or something) that had eaten poison in a neighbors yard...consequently ingested the poison herself?

recent vaccinations???

Hi again Bea
Just saw on the NBC nightly news that a ground beef product has been recalled to due bacterial contamination. The target areas were the west coast and midwestern states. Don't know if your in that area but thought you might want to know.Feed your girl ground beef recently?
Hoping for the best
Lisa

I had a minpin with the same symptoms, including diarrhea, vomitting, and lots of bleeding from the rectum. In her case it was inflammatory bowel disease, (not irritable bowel.) She was so thin, there was one night in particular that I gave her ringers in the middle of the night and I KNOW she never would have made it through the night without it. Anyway, after everything else was ruled out, prenisone was the MIRACLE drug for her. Within 24 hours after we started her on it, the bleeding stopped and she just didn't look quite as emaciated. I knew she was going to make it. She's still going strong, about 8 years later.

Good luck with your girl, keep us posted.

A grooming client just went through this with her Havanese, and it happened following her vaccinations. She was bleeding rectally, passing clots. It was a critical situation, and I'm happy to say she recovered. Best of luck to your girl. Please keep us posted.

Just had my girl to the vet with similar symptoms she had bacteria inher colon ,had swallowed a plasticbag bu tthrew it up. colon very sensitive and full of air.
vet told me x-rays don't show blockages all the time.

I also recently saw a recent emercency vet eposode about this. all symptoms of a blockage but nothing showed up on xray. they decided to do surgury because of vets instinct, and found a blockage as big a round as a baseball. It turned out to be a glue ball. she had gotten in to a tube of crazy glue.

saved the dogs life. had surgury not been done dog would have died.

wish you the best with your girl and I pray all will be fine withher and she will recover soon.

Oops, best correct my mis-spelling of Prednisone, before I get thrown in the slammer for spelling offences.

*S*

Had an old boy with symptoms presented as your dog's, but also bleeding from the gums. Vet told me he had an E-coli, or salmonella infection. We did find a rotted old deer carcass on our property and it was a long, hot humid spell when he got sick. He stayed on IV fluids and antibiotics for about 4 days and was feeling much better when I picked him up, but I do think it took a toll on his general health.

LOL Linda - and don't forget vomiting only has 1 "t"...

And back to the serious - how is she doing? Any diagnosis yet? Hope she is recovering.

Prayers that they can pinpoint the problem and your girl pulls thru this.

I know how scary it is - hang in there.

How is she doing?

Bea..those are the exact symptoms my puppies had when I had an autopsy done. It was salmonella from a mother that regergitated a frog to her pups. It was the Bio-Sol, B12 and Karo that saved them. Is she really thirsty? I mean the only thing she wants to do it drink and drink? She vomits till it's nothing but froth? Looks "pickeled" up? Blood from rectom only it looks like brownish red water and smells like blood? Can walk but weakens very quickly, within moments?

Has anyone heard anything? I'm praying she pulls through.
Lisa

First, I'm thrilled to share our girl has recovered thanks to the dedication of my vet, our emergency clinic and the prayers from all of you. She returned home Tuesday night and we've kept her close to us ever since.

Although not 100%, she is eating like a little pig, pooping better and even wants to do her tricks of throwing you a toy. (although we don't play with her yet). Blood work indicates liver damage and further followup early next week will give us a better idea of the extent of her illness.

Diagnosis was bacterial to a weakened immune system.

Thankyou again for your wisdom and prayers.

Ask your vet about Milk Thistle to aid liver function. How are her enzyme levels now?

So glad to hear that she is home with you and recovering.

Ask your vet about SAMe along with the milk thistle.

So glad she's home and beginning to return to her normal self. The liver damage may be transient and any additional support you can give her will aid her in recovery.Such good news!
Lisa

Thankyou for the suggestions. I will do some research and be prepared for Monday morning.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Hello everyone,

Results from the blood work shows all levels improving. Vet indicates liver will improve in time. Milk thistle is my decision whether to give or not. Advises to mix current gastric food with regular food and slowly switch back. Regular exercise with other dogs can resume. She is back to her old self.

We are very happy here.

When my old gal had idiopathic (unexplained) hepatitis, after she was discharged we had to go every two weeks for awhile, then monthly to monitor liver enzyme levels. Can't remember the name of the SAMe med she was on during that time, but when her enzyme level got down to the normal range and held it (vet did tell us through the course of testing that while liver is regenerating, enzyme levels can fluctuate up and down), doc said we could stop that med, but he encouraged us to start on the milk thistle.

Ooops, Bea, forgot to say, and really wanted to say, so happy to hear your girl is home and doing well... most important!

It's really frustrating I know not knowing why these things happened.

So glad to hear this wonderful news and that your baby is home with you and improving.