A few weeks ago, we were dealing with upset stomaches. Somewhere along the line, Paul picked up a stomach bug. So far, he hasn't shared with Annie. But for us, it's been a week of boiled chicken and rice.
The first time Paul had the stomach bug was a month after he joined our family. How bad was it? Bad enough it stained the carpet under the crates and we threw out everything in both crates. (That's right, it was so bad it went out of Paul's create and into Annie's next to him!) Paul did what I've learned is his standard response to not feeling well: went outside and dug a hole to lay in. As The Hubbs said, he looked too pittiful to be mad at him. Annie had a look on her face that said, "Get me away from him!"
The vet was closed by the time we discovered all of this, and their Aunt Karen said to take up their food for the night, gave me over the phone instructions on how to make bland food, and calmed me down. I had never dealt with a sick pup before and I was freaking out. She pointed out that until that morning, he had had a normal appetite, he had gained a few pounds since coming home with us, and that this was probably a bug he had picked up somewhere. She came over and hung out for a bit with us and said to just make a vet appointment for the next day. I called in the sub, made the first apointment, packed both Annie and Paul into the car (share and share alike is what I feared) and headed in.
Paul got antibiotics of some type and I got a hand written copy of the bland diet from our vet that I've stuck to ever since. Any time someone has an upset tummy, we try a few days of the bland diet before I go charging into the vet. If things haven't improved by day 3, we pack up and head in.
Warning: I'm not a vet, not by any stretch of the imagination. This is just what works for us.
Dice up plain chicken and drop it into plain boiling water (don't add anything other than chicken and water). Mix in plain white rice and wait for the rice to absorb the water.
Day 1: 1 table spoon of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. (be prepared for the sad and hungry look.)
Day 2: 2 tablespoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. (More of the sad and hungry look)
Day 3: 3 table spoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day (Maybe the first day of "normal output")
Day 4: 4 table spoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. Start adding in a few pieces of kibble with each serving (and by few I mean 5 or fewer pieces).
Day 5: 4 table spoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. Add in a little more kibble. Slowly shift your dog back to eating at their normal times/amounts. IF at any point over these 5 days, the output goes back to upset tummy, it's back to the vet and day 1 of the food.
Like I said, I'm not a vet, but this has been what we've done for every upset tummy we've had since. With in the first 2 days, usually things start looking and smelling much better.
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| I took this while cleaning out the crate outside. |
The vet was closed by the time we discovered all of this, and their Aunt Karen said to take up their food for the night, gave me over the phone instructions on how to make bland food, and calmed me down. I had never dealt with a sick pup before and I was freaking out. She pointed out that until that morning, he had had a normal appetite, he had gained a few pounds since coming home with us, and that this was probably a bug he had picked up somewhere. She came over and hung out for a bit with us and said to just make a vet appointment for the next day. I called in the sub, made the first apointment, packed both Annie and Paul into the car (share and share alike is what I feared) and headed in.
Paul got antibiotics of some type and I got a hand written copy of the bland diet from our vet that I've stuck to ever since. Any time someone has an upset tummy, we try a few days of the bland diet before I go charging into the vet. If things haven't improved by day 3, we pack up and head in.
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| Oh, tummy not happy |
Warning: I'm not a vet, not by any stretch of the imagination. This is just what works for us.
Dice up plain chicken and drop it into plain boiling water (don't add anything other than chicken and water). Mix in plain white rice and wait for the rice to absorb the water.
Day 1: 1 table spoon of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. (be prepared for the sad and hungry look.)
Day 2: 2 tablespoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. (More of the sad and hungry look)
Day 3: 3 table spoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day (Maybe the first day of "normal output")
Day 4: 4 table spoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. Start adding in a few pieces of kibble with each serving (and by few I mean 5 or fewer pieces).
Day 5: 4 table spoons of boiled chicken with plain rice 4 times a day. Add in a little more kibble. Slowly shift your dog back to eating at their normal times/amounts. IF at any point over these 5 days, the output goes back to upset tummy, it's back to the vet and day 1 of the food.
Like I said, I'm not a vet, but this has been what we've done for every upset tummy we've had since. With in the first 2 days, usually things start looking and smelling much better.
Poor you (and Paul)! Every time the boys poop gets remotely soft I start fretting that it's going to go 'full blown'! Glad he is on the mend.
ReplyDeleteI guess we're lucky that our pups don't have upset stomachs often. We have used pumpkin and Tylin powder. Though the image of it staining under both crates is too much!
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest reasons for taking up the carpeting in our house was this incident. That and Annie still wasn't completely potty trained after 2 years with us.
ReplyDelete