Hello, this is the first time I have sent in a message.I hope I do it right!!
I wondered if anyone could shed any light on what could be wrong with our beautiful pup, Martha. She is 6 months old and she became ill with sickness and diahorrea last week. She was also bleeding from her bottom. The vet gave her an injection and a course of antibiotics, also some special dog food with electrolytes or something! We took her back a week later as she still has it (but not the bleeding this time thank God).She was given another injection and another course of antibiotics and more special dog food. The vet has asked us to provide 3 samples of poo, but I am not sure what he is checking for. Martha is looking really thin and poorly now!!
I just hope they can find out what it is.
Joanna

From the poo samples he can culture a plate and see what bacteria might be present and what antibiotics they would be sensitive to.  I hope she picks up meantime but the culture takes some time so the sooner you take the samples in the better.

Hi Joanne

When we had to provide 3 poo samples for one of ours (for exactly the reasons Isabel described :) ) the vet asked us to take them on three successive days and to try to get the samples from the first poo of the day. That way they can be more certain of at least one of the samples containing any bacteria that are present, the reason that the vet gave being that bacteria are not necessarily shed into every poo!  Good luck on finding what ails your girl and don't worry too much, they can lose weight very quickly but can also get it back on pretty sharpish :)

Hope this helps,

Lesley

Thankyou both for your replies. Martha just seems so run down. I feel really bad like I'm starving her and she is wasting away to nothing! She now appears to have a urine problem as she is having accidents in the house, whereas before she was dry. She also has an eye infection which we are just wiping with boiled water. It is really annoying her as it semms very itchy. Poor baby!
Hopefully the labs will be in by the weekend. The nurse said today that the tablets might be making her thirsty therefore she will drink more and wee more. I don't see much evidence of her drinking more. Martha is also dripping water from her mouth all the time which I guess could be teething? Maybe that is also making her feel low.
Jo

Hi Joanna,

I know how you're feeling because one of my boys had a sudden, unexplained weight loss, and he looked horrendous   We were mortified by his appearance as it looked as if we were starving him.  Unlike Martha though he had no symptoms and seemed well in every other respect, so he had to go through a stack of tests.  We never found out exactly what had been the matter, and the vet had to treat on a ruling things out basis.  But to reassure you, when he started to gain weight, he did it very quickly and was soon looking very much improved.  Try not to feel bad; I know it's hard not to, but you're doing all the right things and hopefully when the tests come back the vet will be able to pinpoint what is ailing Martha and be able to treat her :)

Her dribbling could also be caused if she is still feeling nauseous.  For her weeing in the house, I would revert back to the way you house trained her, by giving her loads of opportunity to go out for wees and praise her to the hilt when she does go outside, but I would also mention it to the vet next time you see them just in case it is something untoward.  You could also clean the areas where she has wee'd in the house with a solution of biological washing powder as this will get rid of all the smells that might tempt her to use the same spots.
I do hope that she soon gets well, it must be such a worry for you :(

Good luck, and let us know how Martha is getting on :)

Lesley

Thanks Lesley, I don't feel so bad now!!
Today Martha doesn't seem to have the runs, but there again, it is sometimes on and off for a couple of days. Yesterday and today though she has been salivating really badly. You can see her mouth dripping all the time, and it runs down her legs and tummy. Last night she actually left a little pool on the carpet where she had laid. Do you think this could be connected to her tummy problems or just because she is teething age?? As you can tell, we haven't had a dog before, and Martha has had stomach problems for the wholetwo months we have had her. We don't really know what is the norm!
Joanna

Hi Jo,

The drooling may be for either reason, or perhaps because Martha is a bit stressed by feeling poorly.  The best thing would be to ask the vet; it is most likely to be nothing to worry about, but the vet will set your mind at rest :) My breed tend to be droolers anyway, (it just gets worse if they are feeling sick), so a puddle of slobber where they've been lying isn't an unusual sight :D What breed is Martha?

What a shame your first pup has had these tummy troubles since you got her :( However, don't despair, with your vet's help you'll get to the bottom of whatever is troubling her and hoepfully it will be easily treatable.  Welcome to the world of dogs - as you'll have found out having them brings enormous pleasure, but can also cause a lot of stress   And don't worry about being new to it, you'll learn as you go along - we all do and all of us are still learning new things about dogs all the time! 

I hope your test results are in soon - keep us posted and give Martha a tickle on her tum from me :)

Lesley

Just to let you know that it turned out Martha had Campolybacter Jejuni. The vet has given her Erythromycin, and a dozen tins of ID dog food. She has now finished these and we have put her onto James Wellbeloved because the Bakers got slated on this site!!  Her stools seem to be getting firmer, but still don't seem quite right yet. Also, she has developed chronic wind, every half hour or so. I am wondering if it is likely to be the food, so I have bought a different flavour to see. I am secretly worried that it is part of a stomach problem that she seems to have had since we got her. I have started to give her natural yoghurt as was suggested on the site. If that fails I will try the charcoal biscuits.Thanks for your help
Joanna

Hi Joanna,

I'm glad you finally got a diagnosis and that Martha is being treated :)  Be careful with changing from one food to another, even if it's a different flavour of the same brand.  The best way to do it is by gradually adding a bit of the new food, and then a bit more until you are solely feeding the new food.  If you do it too quickly it can cause tummy troubles.  The live yoghurt is a good idea since she has been having antibiotics.  Has the vet asked to see Martha again?  I understand that Camylobacter can take quite a bit of shifting, so it may be that her poos aren't right because it's not wholly gone yet. 

If you are worried that she has a stomach problem on top of the Campylobacter it would be best to talk it over with the vet, but it could simply be that the Campylobacter isn't quite gone yet :)

Best wishes

Lesley