# Sick puppy after visit to the groomers



## BBluvBentley (Mar 24, 2013)

EDIT #2: Another update 03/26/13 - Bentley is back to behaving like his normal self. He's got tons of energy and definitely has his appetite back. He's been eating his rice and chicken with much enthusiasm and running around like usual. The only thing that has been unusual is his poop. As mentioned in my update somewhere further down in this thread, his first couple poops since beginning to eat again were loose and very dark. Researching this, it seems as though it may have been dried blood? Anyway, today he went poop again and while it was a little more solid and was actually normal colored, there was red mucous in it. I'm assuming this is like fresh blood? I'm waiting to see what his next poop will look like because he seems to have recovered from his illness completely in all other aspects. Any ideas?

EDIT: Update 03/25/13 - Still no idea what caused his upset stomach, however, he did wake up feeling better today. I called the groomer and asked, but she said they did not have any treats or food whatsoever at their place, and that nothing was given to him. I got him to eat some of his plain rice when he woke up this morning, where as before he would turn his face the other way. He was also was sniffing around and interested in what I was eating for breakfast, so it's made me think he's gotten his appetite back, although not fully. 

He was also eager to go for a walk, so we did, and he is now back to roaming around the backyard like his curious, usual self. Although I'm watching him like a hawk so he doesn't eat anything. He seems to be doing a lot better so I am holding off on taking him to the vet today. He also pooped a tiny bit on our walk, but it was loose and much like diarrhea (normal colored though compared to his very dark brown, firm stool 2 days before). 

Now I'm just figuring out what I can continue to feed him and not. He's not really into the rice because I think it's just not as tasty, so I'm thinking to mix a little yogurt with it and then later add a little boiled chicken.



ORIGINAL POST:

Hi there, I thought I would share my story to see if any of you have had any similar situations with your puppies.

I took my 8 month old shih tzu, Bentley, to a new groomer 4 days ago to get a bath and cut. He was pretty stressed out during the ordeal (as I was told), and this was his first shave. When I came to pick him up (4 hours later), he was a little disoriented. The disorientation didn't worry me since he usually is sleepy and disgruntled after visiting the groomers. But he normally bounces back to his hyper self after 2 or 3 hours. This time, however, his lethargy continued on for the night. He only ate a little bit of his dinner and I had to bribe him to come outside to potty with a couple training treats. The next morning, I woke up to find yellow vomit on his mat (with what looked to be a few chunks of food in it). He intermittently vomited yellow bile a few more times that morning, then a white, foamy vomit a couple times after. Concerned, I immediately took him to his vet and the vet performed an examination. Bentley had no fever, slightly pale gums, a normal heart beat, and a somewhat tender belly. Bentley was also not drinking any water or food that morning. The vet prescribed 5mg of Pepcid AC and a bland diet of boiled chicken and rice. 

Bentley remained lethargic for the rest of the day and refused to eat (including refusal of the Pepcid AC). He took a couple sips of water in the evening. The next day, he woke up and went potty, and his poop was big and solid, but darker than usual. He continued to remain lethargic for the rest of the day, with the exception of a few minutes of running around when we had kids over at the house, and had not vomited since prior to his vet visit. On the third day after (today), I woke to find some white, foamy vomit again near his bed. He has been drinking water when I put his bowl near his mouth, but again refuses to eat. He continues to just lie around and sleep. I emailed his vet, since they are closed today, and his vet emailed back saying he would be okay not eating today, but to bring him tomorrow to do some blood work and an xray on his belly to see what was causing his illness.

Sorry for the long story, but I just wanted to include all the details. I can't imagine what would make him sick except for something happening at the new groomers. He had no change in diet prior to that and nothing out of the ordinary happening. I'm thinking the anxiety and stress of it all weakened his system or maybe the groomers gave him disagreeable treats when they tried to calm him down to be shaved? I would like to assume that no ill activity occurred while he was there because the business has been around for awhile and my family friend seemed to have a good experience.

Any advice, similar stories, or feedback?


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Any chance the groomer tranquilized him?
Did they do a flea treatment? Some flea shampoos can be toxic to some dogs. I know Hartz had a number of problems with that.


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## BBluvBentley (Mar 24, 2013)

Spotted Nikes, I'm calling them first thing tomorrow to see if they did any of the above or fed him something, or if he had access to something indigestible that he could have swallowed. 

He has bouts of energy (like when the door bell rings or family members come home) for a couple minutes, then is back to lying around and being sleepy. I'm so worried :/


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## aussiegirl6 (Mar 16, 2013)

BBluvBentley said:


> Hi there, I thought I would share my story to see if any of you have had any similar situations with your puppies.
> 
> I took my 8 month old shih tzu, Bentley, to a new groomer 4 days ago to get a bath and cut. Originally, I had made the appointment with his usual groomers, however, once he got there (10:30 am Thursday), they called and said that Bentley had some matting on his underside where his harness had been and brushing it out would take too long. So they gave me the option of having him shaved or bringing him back next week to be brushed when they have more time. He has a beautiful coat which I do regularly brush (although he hates being brushed), so I decided to hold off and wait the extra week. I thought about his tangles being brushed out more and more, and realized it would probably be a painful experience for him since I know it hurts him when I try to brush just one tangle out of his hair myself. So I called up a new groomer, who had been referred to me by a family friend, and they had an opening that same day. So I drove Bentley over to the new place and explained that he had some matting so he would probably need to be shaved. They said they would take a look and let me know. They called me 20 minutes into the appointment and said Bentley was very stressed out and getting nippy with the brushing and that yes he would indeed need to be shaved. So I came back and told them to shave his underside where the matting was and trim everywhere else.
> 
> ...


Yes, take your finger and poke down his back along the spine. See if they caused back pain to this dog during grooming. Dogs will stop eating if their backs hurt as they associate the pain with bending their heads to eat and stop eating. While some might mistake it for a stomach problem it indeed might be pain. 
My neighbor's Aussie stopped eating for 3 days and her vet wanted to do over $500 dollars worth of testing for gastrointestinal problems and she could not afford it. Took her to my vet and he took a "needle" like for acupuncture and went down her spine and she flinched her back in pain. Cost $68.00 dollars for a cortisone shot and exam. Dog fine that night.


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

Boil some boneless, skinless chicken and rice and feed frequent small meals of it for a day or so, then start mixing in a little of his food with it.


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