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My daughter's 2 yr old Chihuahua/Papillon/Minature

Sent to Pet Experts January 16 2006 at 12:19 PM
   

My daughter's 2 yr old Chihuahua/Papillon/Minature Pinscher mix suddenly began pooping small amounts of blood every 20 minutes. It also was vomiting. The Emergency vet did bloodwork, stool sample and found nothing wrong. The dog spent 24 hours on IV fluids, and now 72 hours later, seems to be OK. We're really shaken by this episode (and the cost was huge). Any ideas on what happened and how to prevent this in the future? Thank you!
Susi laorganera@att.net

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Age: 2; Male; Breed: chihuahua/papillon mix

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January 16 2006 at 12:27 PM (7 minutes and 17 seconds later)
         
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If this happened right after the dog had a really fatty treat it might have been a pancreatic inflammation but blood work should have found that.
However there is a medical issue commonly seen in toy dogs called HGE or hemorrhagic gastroenteritis.
You can read about this here
http://www.gvsvet.com/hge.htm
It could have been a food poisoning episode if the dog was given any 'old' meat or a cold cut to eat. Listeria, Campylobacter, Salmonella and other protozoan or bacterial diseases can cause these symptoms too. One of my vets years ago called it 'garbage poisoning'.
You did great getting her vet care fast and even though it was costly that probably saved your pet's life.
I wish I could tell you a prevention but there just isn't one other than not giving fatty treats or 'off' meat the HGE just has an unknown at this point trigger.
Hope this helps you!


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NancyH -- Pet Health Care, Rescue,Train,Breed -- 99% Positive Feedback on 7174 Pet Accepts
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January 16 2006 at 12:52 PM (25 minutes and 6 seconds later)
         
Relist: I want a different opinion.
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January 16 2006 at 12:53 PM (1 minute and 39 seconds later)
         
Just looking for more information. The answer I received makes a lot of sense in terms of the symptoms and eventual outcome, but to my knowledge the dog only eats safe, canned food--it's a picky dog. Just wondered if anyone had any other similar experiences and got a specific diagnosis. Thanks.
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January 16 2006 at 3:01 PM (2 hours and 7 minutes and 37 seconds later)
         
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Dogs can get into some of the craziest messes. They also like to steal treats from the trash. They can even pick up a piece of poop outside and it can cause what you have been seeing.

I agree with Nancy that you could have been seeing a pancreatic episode. When the pancreas is taxed, the enzymes are not produced in the right amount so food is not processed properly. This can happen when they steal something from the trash, eat a piece of ham or any other table scrap.

Since you know that she is sensitive to SOMETHING, I would suggest no table scraps at all from now on.

Let me know if you still have specific questions. I would be happy to discuss this more.

Tammy F. -- Pet Care Expert -- 99% Positive Feedback on 5067 Pet Accepts
15+ years-Pet care, Veterinary shelter medicine and infectious disease, Behavior training, Rescue
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January 16 2006 at 4:04 PM (1 hour and 3 minutes and 5 seconds later)
         
Reply to Tammy Falkner's Post: Wouldn't a pancreatic episode show up in bloodwork? As I mentioned, the doggie's bloodwork was entirely normal. That said, I would not put it past my daughter to give him a table scrap from time to time, though she eats no red meats and especially not fatty things (she's a marathoner).
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January 16 2006 at 4:05 PM (55 seconds later)
         
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Pancreatic issues might show up in bloodwork. It just depends on what bloodwork was ran. I would ask the vet about this and see if there were any red flags when this episode was going on.

Then go from there.

Tammy F. -- Pet Care Expert -- 99% Positive Feedback on 5067 Pet Accepts
15+ years-Pet care, Veterinary shelter medicine and infectious disease, Behavior training, Rescue
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January 17 2006 at 6:29 AM (14 hours and 24 minutes and 5 seconds later)
         
Thanks, this is really helpful!
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January 17 2006 at 6:30 AM (1 minute and 22 seconds later)
         
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