The foregoing is not intended to circumvent your vet but can help you to understand how to treat a sick dog until the vet can be consulted and help you to understand how to best aid convalescent care. Sometimes puppies/dog's get sick, how we treat them at home can make a difference and also help with diagnostics. If you think your puppy is sick you need to investigate a few things and make some notes.
Puppies get into everything and even seemingly harmless plants in the yard such as grass, leaves or twigs can make them seem ill and sometimes with what seems to be at an alarming rate. Parasites can also make a puppy sick and puppies and parasites go paw in mouth literally. Stress also plays a role in sickness with puppies.
Sick puppies will pick at their food or refuse to eat, sometimes they will want to drink excessive amounts of water or not want any water at all. Usually if a puppy is sick his stools will be off, loose to diarrhea. Diarrhea can include mucus and a small amount of blood indicating bowel irritation. They will be depressed and not active on their own. And while puppies may not seem stressed they very well may be, even enough to raise their body temperature beyond normal. Normal temp for a dog is 101 to 102.
If you think your puppy is sick by all means consulting a vet is the thing to do, but sometimes things can be waited out for a few hours or overnight if need be. It's also important to have some basic information in the event you do need to seek out vet care. A good place to start is to think about the days activities and where the puppy has been and how much supervision he has had or not had. If a puppy is throwing up yard debris it's quite possible they just got too much yard and you might be in for a up and down night.
Steps to follow and chart: Check body temp by using a rectal thermometer a human old fashioned type. Ear digitals are not accurate enough and a temp on a puppy has to be taken in the rectum. Shake down the thermometer until the reading is 96°F or less. Lubricate the thermometer with some Vaseline or lubricating jelly. Grasp your puppies tail at the base and raise it. Hold it firmly so your puppy will not sit down. Gently insert the bulb portion of the thermometer into your puppies rectum about an inch. Leave the thermometer in place for 1-2 minutes, wipe it off and read it. Write down the time and temp. If your puppy does not have a fever or has a mild fever to 103 do not be overly alarmed but note it. Chart any other unusual behavior such as frequency of urination or need to defecate and the quality of the stool. Willingness to eat and if puppy is keeping down food. Posture, sick puppies will often stand very stiff and not be relaxed.
As previously noted puppies will often want to drink excessive amounts of water when they do not feel good and this can create problems, so monitoring intake is essential and some times even withholding water is necessary. It's my rule of thumb if a puppy throws up to withhold water for approximately an hour then offer a small sip, about a tablespoon. If that is kept down in thirty minutes offer the same or an ice cube. Continue to offer small amounts of water frequently, but under no circumstances should you allow free choice water to a puppy who wants to tank up. Often too much fluid will cause throwing up and aide in dehydration. Chart intake.
It's important to assess he quality of your puppies stool, is it formed, semi soft, or full blown diarrhea? Frequency is also important to note. Chart quality and quantity as well.
Most often it's been my experience that if your not dealing with ingestion of something that has upset the system you probably have a parasite issues going on. Puppies immune systems are immature and they are susceptible to everything and remember parasites go paw and mouth.
The most common non-threatening issues but still serious that needs veterinary care, medication and supportive care are Coccidia and Giardia (see papers on both for explanation). Generally with these parasites puppies will be at first slightly off, not interested in food and stools will be soft, but in a matter of a few hours they can become seemingly quite ill. Refuse to eat or drink, and stools will turn to runny or diarrhea. Their stool will have a foul very strong odor and there may be blood in it. The normal course of treatment for these parasites can include a fecal examination, sub-q fluids, and medication and a bland diet.
Bland Diets:
Commercial Products:
Available via your Vet only: Science Diet ID canned and dry formulas available.
Homemade:
Mix the above in a food processor or fully mash with a potato masher. Feed several small meals ¼ to ½ cup per feeding depending on size of puppy/dog.
Bring water and broth to a boil add rice cook covered for 20 minutes on medium to low making sure you do not boil over or boil dry. Add cottage cheese and feed as above.
Once your dog is starting to feel better and poops are getting better you can add to these mixtures some protein in the form of:
Normally after about 3 to 4 days of bland food you can move your dog back over to their normal diet by adding in ½ of the amount of their normal kibble to the above leftover mix ups.
