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My puppy is not well!

bethandglen Nov 29, 2008 06:34 PM

She hasn't been eating well and we figured she was just being picky, but all day today she has been lethargic, just wants to sleep, plays a little, but nothing like her usual self. She did eat a tiny bit, but only if we hand fed her. But then she begs and looks at her food, whines, then walks away. I'm not sure what is going on, her tummy is not hard or distended, she's going potty okay, no runny poops, drinking water okay. Her nose is dry mostly, so I'm not sure if she has a fever. I don't have a regular thermometer, only a digital one so I don't know if that would work to take her temp or not. She just seems really sad and my heart is breaking not knowing what to do for her.

I have an appointment on Monday morning at the vets, we don't have any kind of emergency vet here, and at the moment I guess it's not really an emergency, I just feel very very scared and helpless. Oh, she also has slightly runny eyes, no cough or sneezing or anything like that though. Just praying it's maybe something she ate (my DH did give her some ham yesterday) and not something super bad (like Distemper!)

Does anyone have any ideas what this could be and what I can do to help her feel better until Monday?

Thanks,

Beth

Replies (4)

Shboom Nov 30, 2008 02:39 PM

Beth take a deep breath and relax... hopefully your pup just has an upset tummy. Dogs... even adult dogs have a very sensitive digestive system. Puppies even more so. Right now it's not a good idea to give your pup people food... especially ham if it's high in sodium. People food can be just to rich for a young dog. As I wrote in your other post, you need to find one good quality puppy food and stick with it. If for some reason you need to switch foods you need to do it gradually. Slowly add the new food into the old food over the course of a week or so until the switch is complete. This gives the dog's digestive system time to get used to the new food. You can also find good quality treats to give your pup instead of the people food. Hopefully your DH will understand and not be tempted to give him people food until he is older. Let us know how you make out after the vet appointment.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

bethandglen Dec 01, 2008 12:42 PM

Thank you so much, Lexi is much better now, completely normal in fact! So it must have been something she ate. Since we had Thanksgiving dinner here on Friday with several people it could have been the ham or something could have dropped to the floor when I wasn't looking. At any rate, I am extremely relieved my little girl is better and back to her playful self!

We have put her back on dry food totally, the wet food added to her food seemed to just be making her more picky. We bought some Chicken Soup for large breed puppies and I've been mixing it in small amounts with the Iams. She LOVES it! While she still balks a little at having just the dry she does go back and eat it, this morning after some fussing around at first she wolfed it all down. She did have a little bit of runny poop yesterday, hasn't gone yet today so I don't know if this will continue or what. We see the vet this afternoon so I plan to have a big food discussion with him. So far at least I am pretty impressed with the Chicken Soup, their website is very informative. I just wish more stores carried it, our local Pet Supplies Plus has it but none of the others. I am also considering putting our kitty on their kitten food, she is on Purina One now and does not like it - plus she poops constantly!

Anyway, thanks again for the advice, can you tell I'm a new furbaby mom or what??? LOL

Beth

pharrow Dec 01, 2008 03:58 PM

Glad to hear Lexi is feeling better!

Shboom Dec 01, 2008 09:51 PM

Beth nice to see that Lexi is feeling better now. Don't worry about being a new furbaby mom or asking to many questions. We were all there at one time.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

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