Help! Dog acting strangely - Page 1

Echo has suddenly started licking the carpet, the furniture, the hard floor, frantic licking.  I read on here once it was a sign of bloat in a dog.  She also is swallowing frequently and distressed.  She isn't gagging altho she did hack a couple of times like she had a hair ball (no surprise after liking the carpet).  I wasn't sure what to do so I gave her some smooth peanut butter to lick out of her food bowl and gave her fresh water.  She gobbled up the PB and has been drinking a fair amount of the water (less than a cup but more than she ever does in one standing).  I let her outside but forgot the flashlight so no sure what transpired out there.  She came back in, licked the floor somemore, drank some more water.  We walked her around some and she let a couple of good burps.  She had her dry kibble at 5pm CST, played normally, chasing the ball and doing some OB, nothing rigorous about 2 hours after she ate.  This started about 8pm and lasted a good 20 minutes.  She has since calmed down and is lying at my feet.  I kept feeling her stomach and could find no rigidity but she was uncomfortable with me poking her.  What the hell just happened? 
Any help would be appreciated.
Deb

I would take her to a vet clinic that is open late just for piece of mind.  If it is bloat and you wait till tomorrow you might be too late to help her!

Vickie
www.PowerHausKennels.com

Vickie,
Thanks for the quick response...if it is bloat, would she calm down so quickly?  She is lying at my feet sound asleep now.  What other signs do I look for?
Deb

Those are symptoms of bloat get her to the ER vet immediately.

         I just read about giving Gas X if you suspect bloat I think it was 1 to 2 adult doses, but do go to ER as well ....I hope everything is ok....Give an update as soon as you can.....Prayers and thoughts....


                     Deanna...: )

        

Just got back from the Emergency Vet.  Echo is resting comfortably right now.  They took x-rays and put her in a back room to observe her for about an hour.  She was too busy sniffing around and making friends with everyone in the back to lick anything.  The x-rays showed her stomach very full (no doubt the water she had) and she was acting nauseous especially when they prodded her tummy.  They gave her a shot for that and told us what to watch for and if any doubt bring her back in.  She let a belch that stinks to high heaven.  Phewee!  She had diarrhea when we came home, probably nerves.  They kept asking what she could have to into...absolutely nothing.  They were concerned about the constant, frantic licking.  I told them I heard it was a sign of bloat and they said yes, licking of the lips but not objects.  That just blew their minds.  No way did she get ahold of something.  She is an indoor dog and the house is puppy safe.  She doesn't get into the trash, nothing.  New bag of same old dog food...wonder if we got a bad bag?  Ca. Naturals, venison, grain free.  She's been on it a couple of months at least and doing well.  I'll be up & down all night with her...they said she could be in pre-bloat and too soon to tell.  I'm thinking work may have to wait until Monday.  I'm a wreck and won't sleep until tomorrow.  

I do have to share this...there were a mother/daughter couple in the waiting room with their cat and Echo went straight up to them and parked her butt between them and made new friends.  Like she had known them for years.  This dog doesn't know a stranger. 

Thanks guys!  I'll let you know if anything changes.
Deb

Thanks for the update,,,I am glad you guys are back home safe,,,,Goodnight...


           Deanna,,,: )

Hi Debi, keep a very sharp eye on her...my girl would lay down, act very settled, but she was still bloating, in sort of a slow motion bloat because her bowel was plicated. They gave her reglan, subcutaneous fluids, etc, but when I brought her back in to the vet her x-rays show her stomache was very distended. They gave her pepcid, more fluids, & let her come home, but we went back to the vets several days in a row. Her tummy was uncomfortable but not firm, & her stomach never went into torsion, but we had a nerve wracking week. She did not do the licking thing, but I have heard that in other dogs, not just lip licking, but carpets, etc. Almost like they're trying to gag themselves (maybe my carpets would be yuckier than most !)
Good luck, keep us posted! jackie harris

i,ve had 2 older male die of bloat.Jack was 8,at that time i only fed my sheps.once a day,in the morning on kibble..i always leave at least 2 hrs.after feeding before excercising.This particular day,Jack vomited his breakfast and before i could get to it he had eaten it again,this happened 3 times.He appeared fine thru out the rest of the day till evening time when he became very restless,pacing,licking,digging at the carpet.up and down like a yoyo.no distension of the abdomen could be seen.he kept trying to gag up.I phoned the local vet surgery(now out of hours)The person on the phone said it didnt sound like a torsion as stomache still not distended.Advice keep an eye on him.He settled down,lying at my hubbys feet..after being in bed for a couple of hours,woke up and saw frothy  white stuff on floor.Phoned vets again and as stomache not appearing/feeling bloated was told to bring him in in the morning.Hubby left for work around 5am,approx.6.30am Jack woke me up(to say goodbye)as he died in my arms a few minutes later.I,LL SWEAR HE SUFFERED A TORSION.He was a fit healthy boy the day before and because i trusted the person on the other end of the phone at the vet and NOT MY OWN GUT FEELING  i let my beautiful sweet old boy die in agony,so IF YU EVER SUSPECT YOUR SHEP.IS SUFFERING A TORSION,RING VET AND TELL EM YU ARE ON YOUR WAY,NO ARGUING.I,ve never forgiven myself for letting Jack die like this.The 2nd time with Caesar was easier to detect as he blew up in front of me 5mins or so after he,d been fed(kibble)As he was nearly 13,the vet and i decided it was best to put him to sleep.HOW IS YOUR BOY THIS MORNING?Hope he recovers.Carole Spelman RHEINMEISTER GSDS(UK).PS Sorry Jack was 10 not 8.dont know why i put that.

I keep Rennie Deflatin and wind-eze in the house for just those symptoms.  Having had a shepherd that started to bloat on 4 or 5 occasions in his life.

At the first signs of bloat/wind discomfort, throw 2 deflatin or the like down the dogs throat - get the dog to lay down on it's left side, place a wrapped hot water bottle under the dog around the stomach bowels area.  Get your head down and listen for bowel sounds, if you can't hear any start massaging the bowel until you hear normal grumbling bowel noise.  It can take upto an hour to get the bowels moving again if it's taking  awhile throw another couple of wind eze/deflatin etc down the dogs throat most importantly keep the dog on the floor and keep massaging the bowel, it's the bowel that needs to be got moving.
Once the dog starts burping or farting or both, the bloat will start to subside and the dog will very quickly be back on it's feet.

Bloat  is an over generalised word usually used to imply gastric torsion, but a dog can bloat without torsioning, if the bloat is attacked head on right from the start.  A dog bloating or being unable to expel excess wind, doesn't have to mean that the dog will torsion if you can get that wind out.

Unfortunatly in my experience a dog that does this has the tendancy to do it again, and there's always the chance that you won't be there one day, and thats the day the bloat leads to a torsion.

Obviously if you think the dogs gone past the first stage, gum colour is bad etc get the dog to the vets, but that advise right at the start of it, before any of the rest of it kicks in can save your dogs life.  It can even be done on the way to the vets if someone else can drive you.

I won't take credit for the advice, that has to go to the standard poodle breeder that wrote an article about 15 yrs ago, on inbreeding and the consequent raise in instances of bloat within her breed.  I remembered that article that I had read, and it saved my dogs life when I had no way to get my dog to the vets!

So just thought I'd share because it may save someone elses.