Should I wait this out or take him to the vet?

[mistymama]

We took our dog over to a friend's house on Friday night. He must have gotten into something over there because once we got back home he was whining, then threw up. What he threw up appeared to be Corn Pops, the cereal.

Ever since, he's been having super watery diarreah about 2x a day. He seems to feel fine, is eating normally and playing, etc. But I'm concerned because he had another almost totally watery stool this am.

Would you take him to the vet now, or wait a little longer? He's always had a super sensitive tummy and gets runny stools easily. We feed raw and that has really helped. But I've never seen stools this runny and it has me worried.

Any suggestions, advise?

[Ola_]

Well the first thing I would do is fast him for 24 hrs - I've found that this is the fastest way to resolve tummy issues, it's like it heals faster when it's not trying to process anything. The only thing I may give my dogs in that situation is a small spoon of pumpkin puree, and only because I know that it doesn't bother their tummy and helps bind their stools. If you haven't used it before I'd stick to no food at all.

With both vomitting and diarrhea, the big concern is dehydration. Was the vomitting just a one time thing or has it been going on since Friday? Is he drinking plenty of water? Can you check him for dehydration (pale gums, skin elasticity, etc).

Hope your pupper feels better soon!

[mistymama]

Thanks for the quick response Ola! He has not thrown up again since Friday night - just the watery stools about 2x a day. He is drinking plenty and is hydrated.

I will most certainly fast him today - I considered doing that yesterday but I wondered if maybe a boney meal might help firm things up. I got my answer this am!

[Ola_]

Yeah, I have tried a boney meal to fix up upset tummy diarrhea too and had the same results as you. But it does help for just plain soft poos though. I was actually surprised the first time I tried a fast to resolve an upset tummy, I didn't think it would do anything but it did! As long as he's drinking enough I'd do the same as you and work on it at home.

[mistymama]

Just wanted to update and let you know fasting helped him! Thanks for your help.

I was really worried about him yesterday morning because he was kinda low key and stayed in his crate instead of coming out to help ds get ready for school. But when I came home at lunch and let him out, he did a solid poop and seemed to feel much better after that. In fact, he was a little terror all afternoon!

[Ola_]

I'm so glad to hear it!