Today was an unforgettable Christmas...
At 2 a.m., I woke up to the sounds of JoJo retching. The contents of each pile (there were 4 this time) seemed to be a slurry of mostly digested food, mucous, and water. His last meal was 6.5 hours prior.
We cleaned up the mess, gave JoJo some cuddles, and went back to bed. 2 hours later, I woke up again to the sounds of him retching. This time, the contents of each pile were mucous, flecks of blood, and some water. Again, we cleaned up the mess, gave him some snuggles, and went back to bed.
Another 2 to 3 hours go by, and he is retching a 3rd time, multiple piles again. Contents were slimy/mucousy stuff that was more pink in color this time and contained more flecks of blood. At this point, I knew for certain we had to make the trip to the E.R. vet as soon as it opened in 2 hours.
I took JoJo to the vet, and he got sick for the 4th time. Again, he made multiple piles. There was more blood than before. I'm glad we were at the vet so that the doctor could inspect it for herself, versus pictures I took from the earlier incidents.
Their first thing to rule out was parvo, which was negative. (Woot woot!!)
Their second option was that he ingested something he shouldn't have. I pay pretty close attention to him when he's chewing on toys and treats, so I was confident that was probably not it.
So, the doctor really didn't have any answers at this point. We got sent home with aggressive anti nausea medications and left with a bill of only $458 dollars, of which over half of that was medications alone between what I took home and what was administered at the office. I anticipated a heaftier bill, honestly.
I've been worried sick all day, wondering what could have happened. You don't just get an upset tummy for no reason and start vomiting blood...
Well, my mother in law pointed out that one possibility could be that he ingested some rock salt from outside. We live in a rental unit, and the property managers are in charge of care of the grounds. I have been trying to get ahold of them all day to see if their product is a pet friendly option, seeing as all of their units allow dogs.
But again, I watch him pretty closely, especially on walks, because he's in a phase where he's really interested in eating poop that he finds outside.
All in all, we were discharged and JoJo hasn't gotten sick since we've been home, which is further proving (per the vet's words) that it is most likely NOT an obstruction/blockage. He is still low on energy, but he ate all of his chicken and rice, plus he's been drinking more water.
It's been a really tough day and I'm incredibly exhausted, so I can't even imagine how the little guy feels. All he wants is cuddles right now ♡.
ETA: update as of 12.26.22 at 9am, we are back at the E.R vet. His stool is now very dark, almost black. We called the vet and they said to come back as soon as we could for fecal testing and bloodwork, possible xrays.
At 2 a.m., I woke up to the sounds of JoJo retching. The contents of each pile (there were 4 this time) seemed to be a slurry of mostly digested food, mucous, and water. His last meal was 6.5 hours prior.
We cleaned up the mess, gave JoJo some cuddles, and went back to bed. 2 hours later, I woke up again to the sounds of him retching. This time, the contents of each pile were mucous, flecks of blood, and some water. Again, we cleaned up the mess, gave him some snuggles, and went back to bed.
Another 2 to 3 hours go by, and he is retching a 3rd time, multiple piles again. Contents were slimy/mucousy stuff that was more pink in color this time and contained more flecks of blood. At this point, I knew for certain we had to make the trip to the E.R. vet as soon as it opened in 2 hours.
I took JoJo to the vet, and he got sick for the 4th time. Again, he made multiple piles. There was more blood than before. I'm glad we were at the vet so that the doctor could inspect it for herself, versus pictures I took from the earlier incidents.
Their first thing to rule out was parvo, which was negative. (Woot woot!!)
Their second option was that he ingested something he shouldn't have. I pay pretty close attention to him when he's chewing on toys and treats, so I was confident that was probably not it.
So, the doctor really didn't have any answers at this point. We got sent home with aggressive anti nausea medications and left with a bill of only $458 dollars, of which over half of that was medications alone between what I took home and what was administered at the office. I anticipated a heaftier bill, honestly.
I've been worried sick all day, wondering what could have happened. You don't just get an upset tummy for no reason and start vomiting blood...
Well, my mother in law pointed out that one possibility could be that he ingested some rock salt from outside. We live in a rental unit, and the property managers are in charge of care of the grounds. I have been trying to get ahold of them all day to see if their product is a pet friendly option, seeing as all of their units allow dogs.
But again, I watch him pretty closely, especially on walks, because he's in a phase where he's really interested in eating poop that he finds outside.
All in all, we were discharged and JoJo hasn't gotten sick since we've been home, which is further proving (per the vet's words) that it is most likely NOT an obstruction/blockage. He is still low on energy, but he ate all of his chicken and rice, plus he's been drinking more water.
It's been a really tough day and I'm incredibly exhausted, so I can't even imagine how the little guy feels. All he wants is cuddles right now ♡.
ETA: update as of 12.26.22 at 9am, we are back at the E.R vet. His stool is now very dark, almost black. We called the vet and they said to come back as soon as we could for fecal testing and bloodwork, possible xrays.
