Any experience with ileus in dogs please - vibes for little Ruby.

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misst

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My much adored little Ruby started being sick yesterday but was bright and hungry and I just thought upset tummy. This morning I gave her Moti's sensitive tummy food fish and potato (tiny portion) which she wolfed down. She pooed normally yesterday but nil this morning. She vomited back all her undigested breakfast and then I took her to vet who gave her an injection for vomiting. She had no temp her heart rate was fine and tummy non tender. She was super bright and happy. I took her home for fluids only and a bland diet for later.

Lunchtime she vomited water back so I took her back to the vet and she vomited several times on the 10 minute journey and was very quiet on arrival. Bloods ok but scan showed something in her stomach which had become distended. They did an exploratory laparotomy suspecting a FB. No FB but lots of old food and fluid and stomach not emptying. Bowel checked and appeared normal.

They have flushed her stomach out and she is recovering on IV fluids and anti emetics and they will decide in the morning when to offer food - may be tomorrow or could be another day or so..

She was so bright first thing and was full of life. I trust my vet, they have always done well by my dogs, they are good people too. They have no obvious explanation for what has happened and I was driving home from work when they called at 7pm , and I was a bit shocked at the diagnosis. Basically her gut stopped working and we don't know why.

I guess I'm looking for anyone else who has had similar and the outcome. The vet sounded guarded on the phone. I will speak properly with them tomorrow when they will also have a better idea of wh ideat is happening. She is two and a half years old JRT with no previous health problems. Spayed at a year old. Wormed and vaccinated on time. Fed a high quality wet food. She is a darling girl and I am so sad at the idea of her being so ill and having such a large surgery.
 
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Pearlsacarolsinger

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Poor girl! And poor you! Sorry I have no experience if same but sending vibes for a speedy recovery. I wouldn't be surprised if vet gives steroids to kick start the system again. We had a Rottweiler who needed steroids for digestive issues, periodically, she was allergic to all sorts, after a very poor start in life.
 
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Thanks PaS I will ask some sensible questions tomorrow! I had to drop her off and run to work so I really didn't have time to think. He sounded quite surprised by the findings. I will ask about steroids. It really has come out of the blue. She has been such a healthy lively little dog.
 
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Sometimes if they get a bad GI infection it can cause their gut to stop working properly but normally this would be after severe diahorrea usually including GI bleeding & sloughing of gut lining or severe inflammation due to disease in other abdominal organs (normally the pancreas) & vomiting on its own normally would suggest obstruction. But hey animals are weird & like to make their own rules.

In severe cases it can take them weeks to recover (& sadly not all of them do) but those that respond to treatment well can be better within a few days.

Main treatment would be various prokinetics to get things moving & food little & often if they'll take it as starving the gut tends to make things worse (but difficult to get nutrition into a dog with a stomach that isn't emptying who is bringing everything up).
 
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misst

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Boulty said:
Sometimes if they get a bad GI infection it can cause their gut to stop working properly but normally this would be after severe diahorrea usually including GI bleeding & sloughing of gut lining or severe inflammation due to disease in other abdominal organs (normally the pancreas) & vomiting on its own normally would suggest obstruction. But hey animals are weird & like to make their own rules.

In severe cases it can take them weeks to recover (& sadly not all of them do) but those that respond to treatment well can be better within a few days.

Main treatment would be various prokinetics to get things moving & food little & often if they'll take it as starving the gut tends to make things worse (but difficult to get nutrition into a dog with a stomach that isn't emptying who is bringing everything up).
Click to expand...
Thank you Boulty
The strange thing is it is out of the blue no diarrhoea and no problems with vomiting until yesterday, no temp, great appetite - it seems to be idiopathic and has just "happened". This is my big worry. She has always been robust. Her nickname is miss indescructable or tank as she is tiny but so tough. She has never ever had any issues with health.
 
rabatsa

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My experience was bad. Eight year old greyhound. The vet asked for permission to pd him after euthanasia, for his own learning. It turned out that my boy had a lot of small tumours that did not show up on scans.

i hope that your girl has a better outcome.
 
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misst

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Thank you Rabatsa. I am less than hopeful. She is brighter in herself this morning and took a little fluid but still on IV fluids and analgesia and anti emetics. No tumours found anywhere in stomach, bowel was checked as much as possible and seemed clear. No obvious cause for this at all. I am even wondering if she has been poisoned by something she's scavenged but it seems unlikely. I don't think it is due to infection as no temp or raised heart beat initially. I would give permission for PM also if it comes to it as it is so odd. At the moment vet thinks we should persevere as she is bright again in herself. He has known us for many many years and cared for all our dogs and knows we are not keen on heroic measures without really strong cause. I am just waiting for a new update after lunch. It's devastating as she is so young and always been so well.
 
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She started vomiting again late morning. She is just regurgitating water so back to nil orally. She is not distressed, she has had an xray in case there was a FB in her oesophegus but this was normal and it was really just done because I think they are at a loss. He says she is still bright and getting a lot of fuss and attention. She is honestly the best natured dog we have ever had. Thank you for the good wishes.
I have looked up/googled her symptoms and it seems there is not much else that can be done - she is on the appropriate medication and at the moment it is not working.
 
Mrs. Jingle

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I am sorry it isn't a better update. But as Tiddlypom has said they are hardy little beasties.

And they can be quite contrary and apparently fail to read the 'this is what dogs do' handbook. Lets hope she missed the bad news sickness symptoms and just quickly improves and perks up and back to her normal self, leaving you all scratching your heads and non the wiser but very, very relieved.
 
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misst

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Thanks everyone. She is tough as old boots usually and the vet is very pleased with how she is so unphased by it all today and yesterday. He is a terrier man himself and said at lunchtime "she's my kind of dog" . He said she hasn't protested once about anything and just wants everyone to love her.
Mrs Jingle and Tiddlypom I think you are both right - she is definitely not rolling over and giving in and I think Mrs J that she did miss the "this is what do do" handbook on most things:cool:.
Will get an update when he has finished clinic about 7pm so fingers crossed for a bit of improvement.
 
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Pearlsacarolsinger

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misst said:
Thanks everyone. She is tough as old boots usually and the vet is very pleased with how she is so unphased by it all today and yesterday. He is a terrier man himself and said at lunchtime "she's my kind of dog" . He said she hasn't protested once about anything and just wants everyone to love her.
Mrs Jingle and Tiddlypom I think you are both right - she is definitely not rolling over and giving in and I think Mrs J that she did miss the "this is what do do" handbook on most things:cool:.
Will get an update when he has finished clinic about 7pm so fingers crossed for a bit of improvement.
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed!
 
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misst

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Vet just called. She is very chirpy. She had a walk in their garden and he said she was very interested in everything and passed a tiny poo. She then was allowed to have a very small drink and she actually ate a couple of pieces of kibble. He feels cautiously optimistic that if we continue supportive therapy her gut will start to work again. If she is vomiting tomorrow we need to think about biopsies (but he is unconvinced it would show much and she is already being covered for inflamation and infection). He also said he would be speaking to a referral centre if nothing is happening but again is unconvinced they would be able to offer much more. I am very happy with my own vet at the moment and trust them so am keeping everything crossed that she might be turning the corner.
Thank you everyone for all the support xx
 
DabDab

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Keeping everything crossed news is still positive today.

Possibly not quite the same but I did have awful gut issues with my jrt x for about 14 months. Sounds similar to yours in that she would be absolutely fine for days/weeks/months and then would have sudden onset of either vomitting or diarrhea. The vets would give her anti-sickness injections and we ran all sort of tests but never really found anything. The only thing that would allow the episode to pass was complete food withdrawal for 2-3 days. I did also start syringing aloe Vera into her which did seem to help but that might have been just coincidence.

Anyway, the vet suspected that it was some sort of pathogen that she had managed to ingest at some point that caused the issue, but we will never really know. She had the issue from age 6-7 and is now 15 and to my knowledge hasn't vomitted in the last 8 years.

Fingers crossed your girl gets past it too
 
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