Will someone just tell me it's going to be ok?

[Armi]

I have an 11 year old, healthy, lab cross. She has Previcox for her poorly, arthritic back legs. Yesterday she was horribly sick a number of times. Overnight she was sick multiple times and had bloody diarrhoea. This morning she was constantly retching.

DH took her for an emergency appointment at the vets. They gave her an injection to stop nausea and an antibiotic injection in case of infection in her intestines. We were given a sachet of rehydration fluid and doggy equivalent of Zantac. She has refused to drink the rehydration fluid and has only had about half a bowl of water today. She shows no interest in food (although we've been told not to feed her until tomorrow) and just keeps lying in the garden, looking depressed. She hasn't been sick since going to the vet. She hasn't had a wee or poo all day. When I persuade her into the house, she just looks confused and goes back outside again.

We're going to see how she gets on tonight and will go back to the vet tomorrow if she doesn't take on some fluids . Hopefully they will be able to put her on a drip to help her.

I'm really worried about her. She was so terribly poorly overnight. I know she's getting old and the inevitable will happen at some point, but I love her so much and am not ready to lose her.

[EasyToEatTiger]

Hand holding. I hope she pulls through. Dogs get viruses as well as us. I hope you get through the night and she feels better in the morning.

[tabulahrasa]

Have you stopped the previcox?

[Armi]

We have. I was only giving her occasional, small doses when she was feeling rickety.

My poor friend.

[tabulahrasa]

Ok, just because NSAIDs can have horrible gastric side effects.

Hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow.

If she's not and your vet can't find what it is, I'd give serious consideration to getting a referral to a specialist.

[tabulahrasa]

Hi, just wondered how she was getting on?...

[2plus1]

Our elderly lab had arthritis and a few tummy upsets when she was 11-13yrs old. We found that cimalgex was the best arthritis treatment for her sensitive tummy. When she had sickness and diarrhoea we gave her prokolin paste that seemed to make her more comfortable and symptom free quickly. As an older dog she was susceptible to retching quite a lot due to floppy membrane in her oesophagus /windpipe area. I hope your dog recovers soon. It is awful to constantly have that pts thought in the back of your mind but in my experience you will just know when they are ready for that. X

[Armi]

Thanks for the responses. She's much brighter today, thanks. Her breathing was awful last night and DH and I both thought the worst. We sat up with her and at about 3 a.m. she lifted her head and gave us one of her old sparkly looks. Her breathing got better and she slept. DH stayed off work with her today and she followed him around, a change from over the weekend when she just wanted to hide away from us. Still not eating much, but that's ok as she's drinking well. She's turned her nose up at chicken and rice so I've given her a small piece of bread and a Mini Cheddar (her very favourite thing). She initially refused it but I left it near her and when I looked again she'd scoffed it. Hopefully we'll get there.

Thanks for the advice and support.

[tabulahrasa]

glad she's a bit better...I was a bit worried TBH just because of the previcox, mine has an issue with NSAIDs and is completely banned from having them, so I'm paranoid, lol.

[Armi]

We're definitely exploring other options. She reacted badly to Metacam as well.

The poor soul. She's looking so sorry for herself.

[Armi]

Just an update - my girl has been admitted to the vet's, given pain relief and put on a drip to counter dehydration. She'll have an X-Ray and ultra-sound tomorrow to check her tummy. Whatever tomorrow brings at least I know she's not in pain and is being cared for.

[honeyroar]

She's in the right place, at least they'll be monitoring everything. Fingers crossed that she picks up soon. Hugs to you.x