I have c*vid and a 4-month-old puppy with diarrhea

[jasperr]

I just tested positive for c*vid and I have a fever, fatigue, chills, my voice is practically gone. My puppy has had on-off diarrhea (possibly colitis) that we’ve seen the vet multiple times about now. The fecal test panel hasn’t come back yet and she’s on prescription diet now instead of on chicken & rice. Which I feel very bad about since I when she seemed to get a tiny bit worse, I called the emergency vet and the vet tech told me to go back to chicken & rice. I can’t stand up that long to figure out making it for her.

She’s in good/normal spirits, she seems pretty unbothered by her potty problems, but cleaning up with her is tiring. Playing with her is tiring. Walking her is tiring. My husband also has c*vid although not as bad, but he had to do overtime today and the puppy is just so frustrated. She can’t literally eat any of her chews right now until we have got to the bottom of the diarrhea.

I feel so bad. Both physically and mentally and it makes me cry that I can’t do anything with her. Which makes my symptoms about 10x worse.

This was just a vent. Any tips and empathy for managing a puppy when you’re sick are appreciated though.

 

[trioxiori]

@jasperr Hang in there I am so sorry you are going through this. A week after we brought our now 6 mo puppy home every one in my home tested positive for COVID. Luckily everyone but was better within a month, I unfortunately am the unlucky one that is still suffering from the after effects of COVID and I feel like its interfered with me bonding with my pup. As much as possible try and have someone else in the house take care of the pup. If this isn’t possible get an ex-pen and use potty pads and newspapers to line the ex-pen. If you have a backyard take the pup out as much as you can. Also make sure that when you are sleeping you are within hearing distance of the pup so you can hear the puppy if its in distress. Otherwise give your self some grace it sucks having COVID with a young pup.

 

[jasperr]

@trioxiori She’s luckily trained to potty on a grass patch on our balcony. But the poops… she seems to not have much control over and so I have to clean it al up lol. My husband is very poop averse so I have to do it but luckily he’s ok with entertaining her and taking her for her walk around the block.

She’s also crate trained pretty well these days so that’s good. Today when I napped, she napped on the bed with me for 4 hours before she needed to go so that was extra nice. And comforting having a little pup with me.

ETA: and thanks for the well wishes of course!

 

[doreenpayne]

@jasperr Best you can do it make a three day supply of chicken and rice and put that in a frozen kong. That should keep the pup occupied for a long time. So sorry, I hope you feel better. If we were neighbors I’d boil you the chicken myself.

 

[jasperr]

@doreenpayne Aw thank you!

 

[uspenski]

@jasperr Just went through something similar and had to have my puppy on the plain chicken and rice diet for weeks bc of diarrhea. Turns out, my pup developed food intolerance/allergy.

Turns out I had to switch from Iams puppy chicken hard food to Purina puppy salmon and rice hard food. Made all the difference. Perhaps discuss the possibility with your vet? Idk, just a thought, but definitley follow their guidelines. Hope you and your puppy feel better soon, friend!

 

[jasperr]

@uspenski Yep! If her panel comes back all clear, the next step is to look into allergies. Poor girl.

 

[scotty114]

@jasperr My husband and I tested positive for Covid within a couple of days of bringing home our 10 week old puppy. It was really exhausting to take her out every one hour(we live in a 2nd floor apartment and theres no elevator) we didn't use pee pads cause I was scared that she might rip it off and eat it when we were asleep. I almost cried everyday for a week cause I was so weak and felt guilty about not being able to take care of her. I'm not working currently so I take care of her for the most part. I thought that getting a puppy was the stupidest decision I ever made and was thinking about giving her back to the breeder. Fast forward one month, I love my baby girl and looking at her makes me very happy except for the times when she annoys me lol. Puppies are super hard to raise, even more harder when you have Covid. But you'll get through it. Stay strong and get well soon.

 

[jasperr]

@scotty114 Thank you! I’m glad you got to the other side!

My puppy has certainly been challenging even without the added sickness but she’s getting better every day and I love her so much.

 

[richy1995]

@jasperr If you have them, give her a cold carrot. It's a cheap chew, that has no impact on her digestive system. But she will love the cold feeling on her gums. And it gives her something to do.

 

[stephendoxey]

@richy1995 Though dogs can't digest carrots (like us and sweetcorn) so not sure of the dog had diarrhea already whether adding more undigestable food would be wise.

OP, have the vets recommended bark powder at all? We used it when our puppy had slightly runnier poos and it worked wonders. We also now use it if she is having a richer treat or just a bad day! She's a labrador so naturally has a sensitive belly (even if they do like to eat everything )

 

[richy1995]

@stephendoxey Because the carrots aren't digested, they come out as a solid. This helps with cleaning the anal glands. If you have a dog that has extended diarhea, there can be a build up in the glands even resulting in infection.

 

[jasperr]

@stephendoxey No, they haven’t! They’ve just said to feed a bland diet or prescription food and we were prescribed metronidazole the first round and anti-diarrheal the second round. I’ll talk to them about that next time. Thanks!

 

[jasperr]

@richy1995 She’s a bit picky so she’s not very interested in carrots. She likes ice though!

 

[aoife]

@richy1995 amen my baby likes the feeling on her gums

 

[jedi__knight]

@jasperr This won’t help immediately, but there are freeze dried bland foods for dogs. You just add warm water (or microwave) and let it absorb for a few minutes. You could easily add some extra water and freeze it for a yummy bland treat.

This is the one I’ve used. It’s a bit expensive for long term or large dog use, but it might be worth having a couple bags on hand. It comes in a few flavors so you can even switch it up. I first bought it at my local pet store, but if you’re stuck home it’s available on chewy.

 

[jasperr]

@jedi__knight Oh I had no idea this existed! Thanks!

 

[sunnynatalia]

@jasperr For chews, try freezing a wet hand towel. I wet it, twist it and tie it in a knot, then put in the freezer. Makes a great teething chew and has only water. Supervise the pup if they are an aggressive chewer like mine… we have to take it away once it’s de thawed and starts to get strings, but she loves it for the 30-45 mins it stays frozen!

 

[jasperr]

@sunnynatalia lol I’ve done this and she also starts ripping the strings haha!

 

[snowballowen]

@jasperr One thing I would recommend as a good "chew" for her is chicken broth. Just take the leftover water from boiling chicken and freeze it in her food bowl. It'll take at least 45 mins if not longer to get through it if you make it at least an inch thick. And shouldn't make her poops worse, since it's just water + chicken juice.