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My kitten has Seroma after being spayed. She was prescribed Clavamox and is now having diarrhea and loss of appetite. Is this okay or should I stop the Clavamox?
How lose it typically take for diarrhea from eating something wrong to resolve? (Dog, no other symptoms)
Question for Dr. Krista; sorry, complicated question(?)
First, to review for benefit of others reading this question:
Patient: Cookie
Rottweiler, spayed female, 2 years old
Presented with lethargy, anorexia, vomiting and diarrhea (threw up only twice and one time diarrhea, then taken to vet, given antiemetics and antibiotics; diagnosed with pancreatitis; getting better since – this was Monday)
During exam foreign material found in stool (grain and corn; we think she got into the horse feed) painful cranial abdomen, low and large bowel diarrhea, enlarged submandibular nodes – this part worries me because these were temporarily enlarged not long ago; resolved quickly, though)
As I’m reviewing the blood results, there are things I could understand as being consistent with digestive distress/pancreatitis but some which are concerning me, namely the globulin and lymphocyte levels, even though they are not extremely low but low nonetheless.
Beside the cPL which is clear in its meaning, the free T4 is low – I assume this is what is meant by not testing for hypothyroidism in ill animals, because the thyroid hormones would be low with any disease process? Is that correct?
I would figure that the ALT/unhappy liver enzymes would also be consistent with such insult to the body, is that correct? And I imagine same would apply to bilirubin in a situation of digestive upset?
The values that concern me are the globulin and the lymphocytes, particularly together with the "easily aggravated" sub mandibular lymph nodes in the mix, particularly as it seems that lymphopenia would be present with both CPV and lymphoma … ? I’d assume that a) Cookie was recently vaccinated for CPV and is improving too rapidly to think CPV? Lymphoma has been on my afraid mind since the first time they were found enlarged.
It also says, though, that lymphopenia could be a result of underactive glands (the source doesn’t say which ones) so would that perhaps have to do with the lowered thyroid function during the digestive distress?
Didn’t find much on low globulins, other than immunodeficiency types of situations, which doesn’t seem to apply. What is the "life-span" of a globulin, and if short, would the low globulins have to do with the unhappy liver?
Can you, please confirm about the free T4 and talk to me about the globulin and more importantly the lymphocytes?
Blood results attached.
I will let Dr. Krista address your specific blood questions. Were you interested in the holistic approaches to evaluating blood work? Also, not being able to tolerate an occasional eating splurge is considered an early warning sign that a dog is not completely healthy, so there would be many things to do at this point.
I wonder if Cookie has had prior digestive issues?
Hello. My 5 year old male, neutered cat has had diarrhea for a little over 24 hours. I am going to call my vet in the morning. Until then, is there anything I can do to stop it or slow it down? I have canned, pure pumpkin on hand. I also have a diarrhea medicine, in tablet form, that my vet gave me for my dog.
Thank you very much.
Dawn
Hello Dawn,
Thank you for your question.
I am sorry to hear about your kitties tummy upset.
There is no magic anything that stops diarrhea. Especially of it acute (last day or so).
The best thing to do is to keep your cat calm and quiet and go to the vet in the morning.
I would bring a fecal sample when you go (even if your cat stays inside). If you collect it now place it in a double secured baggie and refrigerate, (sorry, gross, I know).
If your kitty has not had severe episodes then it is unlikely that he has become dehydrated.
I would never give medicine that has been prescribed for another pet without your vets ok (especially if it was for another species). Cats have a very sensitive liver and difficulty with some drugs that are safe for both us humans and dogs. So as a rule never give anything to a cat without knowing it is safe by asking your vet.
If the diarrhea is severe or your cat is acting like he is not feeling well I would recommend you go to an emergency room tonight.
I wish you and your kitty the best.
Sincerely,
Krista
Krista Magnifico, DVM
Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
Jarrettsville, MD
http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com
Thank you very much Dr. Magnifico. The diarrhea has become worse in the last 12 or so hours so, I am concerned about dehydration. I did see him drink some water a few minutes ago, which is good. And I actually just heard him urinate in his litter box which is good too.
I am actually a client at Jarrettsville Veterinary Center. I was the person with the silly hound mix dog in the waiting room last Thursday. ; ) I will call when the office opens in the morning for an appointment.
Thank you again,
Dawn
Hello!!
No food for the rest of the night. If he is acting normally he is prob not dehydrated.
We are open at 8. The doctors arrive at 8:30. But the techs are there at 7:30. The techs can help you if you feel you need to be there ASAP.
See you tomorrow.
Krista Magnifico, DVM
Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
Jarrettsville, MD
http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com
My dog Bandit is an 85 pound Border Collie mix rescue. On my morning run today from 10 to 11 am, he had diarrhea. He went three times and by the third time it was straight water. What should I look for or do for him today?
Hello Diedra,
If your dog is not feeling better , or if the diarrhea continues you should bring him to see your veterinarian as soon as possible.
Diarrhea can cause dehydration and an anti-diarrheal, or fluids may be indicated.
In most cases acute diarrhea is short lived and self limiting. But diarrhea of longer than one day, or severe in its onset should be addressed by your veterinarian.
If the diarrhea persists, or you get concerned you and Bandit can see me at the clinic.
Sincerely,
Krista Magnifico, DVM
Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
Thanks!!!
How long, of course … I HATE auto correct.
I usually expect diarrhea to resolve within 24 hours, if it lasts more than that I take my pooch to the vet. Are you sure he/she is not running a temperature?
No temperature, no other symptoms.
This is a prompt for you to learn some home care techniques that can help in any situation. Also a good prompt to buy some books on holistic care for dogs. Then you will be able to help your dog quickly move through most problems.
I strongly recommend getting some training in understanding the wide range of
approaches to health so you can be in charge of what you choose for treatments
for your animals – given by you or by your integrative veterinarian. There are so many different ways to stimulate healing that
you never need to give up trying to treat any problem. Of course, this time I assume the diarrhea cleared up. When dogs are healthy, though, they can eat almost anything and not get any diarrhea. From books, on-line and in classes you can
learn Reiki (which can take the “bad” out of vaccines and any needed
drugs, or even make food healthier), massage, HTA (healing touch for animals), TTouch, acupressure, flower
essence therapy, all of which are 100% safe to use for any problems. There are
many more approaches you can do to help heal your animals with some training
since they need to be used more carefully – homeopathy, herbal medicine,
Chinese herbs, aromatherapy. In addition to classes there are many very good
list serves filled with people experienced with not vaccinating and feeding raw
meat diets. Classes are found through your health food store, by phone or
on-line. As with human health approaches, there are many different opinions, so
you need to experiment and see what makes your animals more or less healthy.
I also recommend finding an integrative veterinarian with whom to work, and I know there are some good ones in Montreal. This
is a person trained in many different approaches, including using conventional
drugs only when absolutely needed. Working with one can increase the chance
that your cherished companion can live a long and healthy life after recovering
from this current problem. There are good ones and great ones, and a few
homeopathic veterinarians will consult by phone or email. You can go to the web
sites for each type of holistic practice and use their referral list to find
one near to you. Many practitioners are members of only one or two of the
organizations, so you do need to go to every site to find who is near you:
1. Wide range of other treatments: http://www.AHVMA.org, American Holistic Veterinary
Medical Association and http://www.civtedu.org.
2. Homeopathic veterinarians (these can often help you by phone if no other
holistic practitioners are nearby that you like): http://www.theAVH.org and
http://www.DrPitcairn.com.
3. Chiropractor – http://www.animalchiropractic.org
4. TCVM (Acupuncture and Chinese medicine): http://www.IVAS.org,
http://www.avaa.org & http://www.TCVM.com
5. Herbal
– http://www.VBMA.org
6. Postural rehabilitation – dogs and horses – http://www.posturalrehabvets.com/Postural_Rehabilitation/Find_a_Practitioner.html