Stella's Super Sick! Is this related to her spay or something separate?

Hello Everyone,

Some of you might have seen my posts about my puppy, Stella, getting spayed last Friday afternoon. Since then, she has been doing welll. I take her on small walks and keep her crated to keep her from potentially ripping her stitches. So far, her stitches and the wound on her stomach look fine. Her tummy is light pink, there's absolutely no redness or swelling. That's the good news...

Now to the bad news. Yesterday morning I noticed that she seemed to have a little diarrea when I took her out. Since then, she had diarrea multiple times yesterday (6-7) into this morning, and at 2am the vomiting began. She has thrown up 4 times. I have been careful to keep giving her water. She's eating and playing with ice right now. But since the 6am vomit, will not go to the bowl and drink on her own. She just gets it from ice cubes or licking my hand after I dip it in water. She's still quite lively, she's jumping and playing with the ice. I'm really afraid of dehydration, since that brings a whole other set of problems.

Ok, so now to my question--has anyone experienced this before at this time (several days after the spay)? Do you think it's related? Reaction to medicine? (Rimadyl)--she took her last dose of 4 yesterday. I was also thinking infection--yet the wound seems fine.

Or do you think it's just something she ate? I didn't feed her anything different yesterday. My roommate said she fed her a dried chicken strip that's a new brand, and she had eaten one the day before. Her dog ate one yesterday, though and is fine.

I'm going to call the vet right now to see what they suggest. I'm so worried about her. I have to work today and don't want to leave her :(

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Permalink Reply by Nicole, Stanley and STELLA! on October 14, 2009 at 6:42pm

Another Stella update: I just called the vet and so far she's been ok--no vomiting or diarrhea since she got there. They also said she was "acting like a puppy" when they took her out to the yard behind the hospital. :) She hasn't eaten yet, though, and they are fasting her until 7:00 PM. After that, they are going to give her a little food at a time. They're giving her the special ID? food, too. They are keeping her overnight. :( I miss her, but I think that's good, especially since she just had her operation. Someone is there watching them all night. It will be nice to get sleep, too, because I know that I would have stayed up with her again. I have to call back tomorrow morning, and if she was able to keep her food down she comes back home.

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Permalink Reply by Alice on October 14, 2009 at 6:50pm

When they send her home are you to continue with the food you've been giving her or will they want you to keep her on the food they gave her? Have they determined what was wrong?

Our vet recommended that food to us as well but we opted for Natural Balance instead and it worked wonders as it is a limited ingredient food, grain free with proteins a dog wouldn't normally get. If they want you to switch foods you may want to consider it. The ID food was expensive and I think vets push it because they benefit from the sales.

I'm glad she is doing better. She'll be so excited to see you tomorrow. :)

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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on October 14, 2009 at 8:54pm

Is that the Hills Science?? If so ..... I would recommend that you do a little research and read up about it. After Stella has recovered and is feeling better, of course!

That food is very low rated. I agree with Alice .... I'm convinced the vets must get a BIG kick back from that company to push that food because when you read about it you'd be hard pressed to find anything good to say about it.

But, please do your own research. I know there are many of us on this site that all have different ideas and views about all the different foods. And I'm sure many will weigh in. But this website is a good starting point http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

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Permalink Reply by Alice on October 15, 2009 at 12:44pm

My husband was all for buying that food just because the vet said we should. I looked it up and after reading all the ingredients I thought, how is this an improvement?

I use that site as well. It's a good way to compare foods

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on October 14, 2009 at 7:26pm

Bear didn't vomit after his neutering but he had terrible diarrhea for several hours. He wouldn't even come in the house, he just kept moving from one spot to another in the yard. The next day he was fine. I can only imagine how stressed out you must be - nothing like a sick puppy.