Miya gets really sick for the first time with a virus
When your pet is really sick, you feel very bad for them. Here is one of our dog illnesses post.

Our sick pet Miya

Our Miya woke up one morning vomiting up bile and having severe diarrhea.  Her poor little body was shaking and hacking to get out whatever was upsetting her system. She refused to eat her food and even a treat. She just found a quiet place to lie and went to sleep. An hour and half later the vomiting started again!  This continued for the entire day. Our Veterinarian Dr. Suzie suggested keeping Miya off food for the day hoping that whatever it was would clear her system and our Miya would be her bouncy self again. However the next day she wasn’t any better. In fact every time she took a sip of water she would vomit.  We booked an appointment to see Dr. Suzie to find out what was going on with Miya.

Miya’s visit with our Veterinarian

Dr. Suzie knew right off the bat something was wrong with our Miya just by looking at her. By this time Miya was very lethargic and getting dehydrated. Dr. Suzie asked us a number of questions. Since Miya is a Labrador Retriever, they can and will eat anything.

• Were we missing anything in the house? Like a sock. Miya does like our socks.
• Did she get into the garbage? Why yes Miya got into a couple of plastic baggies with food in it. One plastic bag was found the other was not.
• Has she been eating anything she shouldn’t? Miya is known to eat the other dogs poop.

In our case we answered yes to all of the questions. That’s our Miya!  Since we had pet insurance for Miya it was a relief not having to worry about whether we would get the care Miya needed. (Future post coming on pet insurance).  Dr. Suzie recommended a number of blood tests to check her levels. She also recommended an x-ray just to make sure nothing was stuck in her tummy.  As Dr. Suzie was taking Miya to the back, my daughter Stephanie had one request “Dr. Suzie, please look after Miya she’s my dog and my best friend! “ Dr. Suzie assured all of us especially Stephanie that she would take care of Miya and find out what was wrong with her.

Miya’s test results

The good news was the Miya had nothing stuck in her tummy or intestines.  No socks and no plastic bag! However the x-ray did show that her intestines looked inflamed. The blood test results were not very good. Her complete blood cell count level (CBC) was very high, 562 to be exact. A CBC over 400 could be a sign of pancreatitis. So we had to wait another couple of days to see whether it was pancreatitis or a very bad gastrointestinal tract infection. Dr. Suzie sent us home with medication for Miya to take as well as a special diet and food to calm her stomach and intestines down. If Miya did not show any signs of improvement by morning, we were going to have an ultrasound completed and more tests.

By morning Miya had a much needed restful night. She didn’t vomit but she was still quite lethargic. So I began giving her very small amounts of food with her medication. By 10:00am Dr. Suzie called to see how her patient was doing. Miya was keeping her food down and beginning to brighten up. Great news!  We decided not to go through with the ultrasound. By the next day Miya wanted more food. She was also sticking around the other dogs more. By the third day, Miya was almost back to herself.  By the end of a week, she was back to her old tricks and playing with Meesha.

Gastroenteritis the official medical term

Looks like Miya had Gastroenteritis. This medical term refers to the inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, usually the stomach and intestines. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or reactions to new foods.  Miya had all the signs that come with Gastroenteritis of abdominal discomfort, diarrhea and vomiting. Most cases of acute Gastroenteritis improve rapidly after re-hydration, which happened in Miya’s case. However if things had not improved in forty-eight hours, we would have been looking at having her re-evaluated.  Dr. Suzie suggested that Gastroenteritis was a common condition seen in a veterinary practice. However early recognition and treatment are important for getting your pet back to its normal “bouncy” like Miya.

Miya on the mend

It is frightening when your pet gets ill. In our case Miya couldn’t talk to us to let us know what was happening. However in her own way she was trying to tell us something was wrong. Knowing your pet and how they behave on a regular basis helps you identify when things aren’t quite right. We knew when Miya went off on her own; when she didn’t want to eat, and especially when she was vomiting so much. It helps when you have a Veterinarian you trust like we do with Dr. Suzie. We had great faith in Dr. Suzie getting to the right diagnosis and helping Miya get better.

Summary

Have you had a pet that has gotten very sick? Dogs can get a wide range of dog illnesses. Perhaps you would like to tell us your story and how your family dealt with it. Our dogs are part of our family, so they get whatever treatment they need to stay healthy. Thanks for reading our story.