Cases of the trots

[Marmot]

I have a 13-month chocolate lab. Last week, in the middle of the night he had a severe case of the trots and vomited his previous meal. Unfortunately, he did not alert me of the problem and I slept through the entire incident. He proceeded to walk around the carpeted family room will losing his load.

Prior to his accident, I was debating on replacing the carpeting in the family room. His bout with the trots was the final incentive to replace the carpeting. The mess he left on the carpet would have required a wet-vac to appropriately clean it. I did not want to rip up the entire carpet yet since I am about one-month away from getting new flooring in the family room. I ended up using a utility knife to Swiss cheese the carpet in the areas he made a mess. So now the carpet in my family room has four large cut out areas.

Well, it happened again sometime last night. I ended up cutting more of the carpet up this morning before going to the office. The first time it was diarrhea and vomit. This time it was diarrhea only.

After the first case of the trots, I did not think much of it. I figured he just had a bad night with the case of the “doggy flu”. Now, I am guessing I should make a visit to my vet. I also need to quiz my neighbors as they often feel the need to my feed my dog a small amount of table scraps, give him a bowl of their brand of dog food, and doggy treats several times each day. (I prefer the feedings get left to me so I can monitor what and how much he eats).

Does this sound like a worm problem? He receives heartworm and Frontline each month.

Any thoughts other than making a visit to the vet?

Marmot

[gman2002]

im no expert, but i've raiased plenty of labs and i would put a stop to the neighbors feeding and giving him treats , and i mean right NOW! i also would stop the table scraps period, there stomachs are just not made for human food.

[The_Duckslayer]

With that much poo laying on the floor you would see the worms if that was the problem. Concur with the DOG FOOD ONLY regiment! Lab's generate lots of poo and it's consistancy varies greatly with what it is fed. I speak from experiance. Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[Marmot]

Quote:

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im no expert, but i've raiased plenty of labs and i would put a stop to the neighbors feeding and giving him treats , and i mean right NOW! i also would stop the table scraps period, there stomachs are just not made for human food.

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As far as I know, the table scraps are minimal. I know it goes on because every time I am at my neighbors, he is bellied up to the table looking for a handout. He does not do that to me when I am eating because he knows he is SOL. I also know he gets table scraps because there are some evenings when he has potent SBDs. I can typically associate bad SBDs with days he has spent time with my neighbors.

I know he gets their brand of dog food quite often. Some days, it is 1-2 cups. Other days, it is a few kibbles. I think there are very few days where he does not get anything. I believe a few kibbles of cat food are also on the menu for my dog.

I think he gets a couple of treats everyday from them. I do not have much problem with the treats. I wish they would make him earn it (speak, down, stay...) and break the treat into smaller portions and reward him with a portion of the broken treat throughout the day instead of a whole treat each time. He gets a treat from me only a couple times a week.

My neighbors are wonderful dog people and know how to take care of dogs. I have a different opinion on the eating habits and I wish they would leave the feeding up to me.

Quote:

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With that much poo laying on the floor you would see the worms if that was the problem. Concur with the DOG FOOD ONLY regiment! Lab's generate lots of poo and it's consistancy varies greatly with what it is fed. I speak from experiance. Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

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I did not notice any worms when cutting the deuce stained carpet; then again I did not look too close. I will have to be sure to check the deuces when I get home this evening.

Would the rest of you be scheduling a visit to the vet if your dog left extremely runny deuces all over the carpet twice in one week? I have an appointment schedule for Saturday.

Marmot

[The_Duckslayer]

Quote:

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Would the rest of you be scheduling a visit to the vet if your dog left extremely runny deuces all over the carpet twice in one week? I have an appointment schedule for Saturday.

Marmot

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If it were me I would talk to the neighbors, explain what happened, ask them not to give him anything for the rest of this week. Then, if on Friday he had not had another eppisode I would cancel the vets appointment. Thats my .02 worth. Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[cyberamish]

We went through this twice with one of our GSP's. Here is a description off one of the vet web pages. When our dog had it he left SEVERAL loose gifts all over. Most were almost jelly consistancy and EXTREMELY fragrant.

Giardia

Giardia is a protozoan parasite that lives in the intestine of affected animals. It is unclear whether there are several species of this parasite or whether there is one species that affect several different animals, including people. These small parasites are very easy to miss on a fecal exam and may not be present in the stool of animals infected with the organism. Repeated fecal exams are sometimes necessary to identify this parasite. Not all animals in which infection can be demonstrated have clinical signs. This leads some people to believe that the parasite may not cause disease . Most vets think that there may just be other factors, like the animal's immune response to the parasite that cause some animals to develop disease and not others. Clinical signs of giardia include weight loss, inability to gain weight appropriately during growth, diarrhea, vomiting, lack of appetite and greasy appearing stools. Them most commonly used medication for giardia infection is metronidazole (Flagyl). The organisms come from the environment and live in moist to wet areas. They are susceptible to quatenary ammonium disinfectants, Lysol and dilute chlorine bleach. Keeping the dog's environment dry helps a lot.

This disease may be contagious to people from infected dogs so good sanitary practices, like washing your hands after handling an infected puppy, are very important. If a family member develops similar clinical signs, a physician should be consulted.

Mike Richards, DVM

[lumbertick]

I don't want to hit the panic button, but heres a what I went through with my chocolate. Last summer I went through several bouts of diarhea and vomiting that I attributed to her scrounging something to eat. I ended up putting the dog down in October from kidney failure. The after a long converstaion with the vet, she concluded that my dog had probably ingested poison, possibly indirectly from a poisoned animal, and that the diarhea was linked to the slow deterioration of the kidneys. There was no way for me to know at the time what was going on...so my advice....for the 50 bucks or so that the vet charges for a visit....I would take the dog in to be sure.

I would also put an end to the neighbor visits...dogs that wander find trouble.

lt

[Bryce]

I posted this before but here again is a home cure for the trots. No food for the first day. Half ration for the second. Never had to take a hound to the vet on the third day as they have always been cured. Not sure how this works on twice a day feedings or what the cut downs should be. We have used this on labs since the mid 90's and beware that they will try to convince you that they are starving to death.

[Tripleplay]

Had a very similar situation this past December with my GSP. Came home to an absolute case of the trots all over the guest bedroom (luckily contained to one room). Had borrowed a carpet cleaner a couple of weeks earlier to do a different room so spent a few hours cleaning the carpeting. Go downstairs to hit the computer, TV or something--come back up to go to bed and the trots have struck again in the same room on the still wet carpeting. More cleaning until about 3AM.

Hit the vet the next morning. No firm diagnosis, but no food for 24 hours, then soft, canned food (very limited amount) for a couple of days. (this canned food was not grocery store bought, but from the vet). Dog spent all day in the laundry room for a number of days and day 1 of no food did mess up the laundry room floor but that was the end of it.

I seem to remember that if she continued having problems we were headed for a prescription but that was only after letting her body work it out.

[Marmot]

Status/Update:

February 15 - very early morning, wake up to family room with liquid deuces all over and a pile of vomit consisting of his last bowl of dog food; cannot hold it in kennel during the day while I am at work

February 16 - 20 - dog seems fine, normal energy, no notice of diarrhea

February 21 - early morning, wake up to family room with liquid deuces all over; cannot hold it in kennel during the day while I am at work; dropped deuces several times while in the yard after getting out of the kennel

February 22 to present - dog seems fine, normal energy, no notice of diarrhea

It seems as though his bowel problems are recurring. If it was a one time incident I would not be concerned.

I have a vet appointment on Saturday morning.

Marmot