Our 8 yr old lab became ill about 2 weeks ago with occassional vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite and thirst, depression. He had played with a dead mole in the yard and our vet thought he probably got a stomach bug from that. He was given antibacterial meds and nausea meds but improved only slightly. No fever. Blood draw showed most things in the range of normal, no blood parasited, slightly elevated WBC. Then our 4 month old aussie vomited after dinner and again the next night. She has not lost appetite or thirst but is depressed and inactive. She is MDR1 positive so I'm hesitant to give her the tylan prescribed and would really like to know what this could be, or what they should be tested for. Her stools have been firm, and both dogs are current on vaccinations.
I'm sorry to hear that both of your dogs are not feeling well.
I do get fairly concerned any time that a puppy is depressed and inactive.
The fact that both are up to date on vaccinations is very good. My first thought was that this could be parvo virus. It still is possible that it is some type of a viral disease but we don't see a lot of stomach flus in dogs.
Do they eat any of the same type of treats? There have been recalls lately involving chicken jerky treats. Some of these have had salmonella contamination. And there are still some on the market that have not been recalled and yet some dogs are getting very sick. If you have fed them chicken jerky treats at all then I would mention this to your vet.
What about food? Do they share any food at all? If so, are you near the end of the bag or at the beginning? If this is the case then mold in the food could be a possibility.
A parasite still is a possibility even if the fecal tests were negative. Giardia is a parasite that doesn't always turn up well on fecal exams. If this were my case I would likely be prescribing a medication such as metronidazole which is usually good for Giardia just in case.
It is also possible that there is something completely different going on with the puppy as well.
Any time that a puppy is unwell I recommend a vet visit mostly because their little bodies don't have a lot of reserves to fight dehydration. If Gem is really lethargic then it sounds like you may need to have her looked at.
I wish I could give you more specific advice. Hopefully this has helped, but let me know if you have more questions.
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Customer reply:
Thank you. They do not share the same type of food or treats, no chicken jerky treats for either. They are both in the middle/end of their bag of food, not a new bag. The blood test was what showed no parasites....
Sounds like I may need to take them to a different vet than the one they've seen already. I thank you for your answer.
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Dr. Marie is a veterinarian who practices in a busy animal hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. She created Ask A Vet Question as a resource for good, accurate veterinary advice online. Dr. Marie treats dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rats. She has been a vet since 1999.
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