# Late night at the emergency vet



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Poor Bella. It sounds like she's really uncomfortable. I hope it's nothing and that it's just a temporary reaction to the treats.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Vhuynh2 said:


> Poor Bella. It sounds like she's really uncomfortable. I hope it's nothing and that it's just a temporary reaction to the treats.


The treats were Pet Fresh dog food, available in the refrigerated section of Walmart and most grocery stores. I've used it before, but it was a different blend. It smells really good, and works like magic for Bella, but the rest will unfortunately be tossed in the trash today.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

We had a similar experience with Cody last week and ended up at the ER one night. His ray showed lots of gas and food, but no twisting. I had given him 8cc of Bloat Buster when he started with his symptoms..... no vomiting for him but constant, frantic pacing, eating grass. The ER vet had us use the Bloat Buster (from Natures Farmacy) twice more over 12 hours and also give him a Pepcid AC every 12 hours for 3 days.


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## FeatherRiverSam (Aug 7, 2009)

This happened with Woody two years running when I was visiting my parents down below. We're still not sure exactly what caused this excessive throwing up. Both times he spent one night in the ER. X-rays, blood tests all came back negative. I went to see a specialist the second time and the best he could up with was a possible allergy and recommended switching to a grain free diet.

Haven't had the problem since, knock on wood, and that was about two years ago.

I hope Bella is doing better today...I know how disconcerting this can be.

Pete & Woody


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Apparently, bloat is very uncommon for dogs of this age. There was a Malamute in there who had just had surgery for bloat. He showed me the X-ray, and noted what bloat looks like. Bella's just showed some gas, and possible fabric and string. I have it on a CD. I couldn't figure out how to transfer it to my hard drive, or I would have posted it. They used some high tech software to burn the CD. Interesting stuff. 


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

"the rest will unfortunately be tossed in the trash today. "

Don't toss it in the trash. Bag it label (so you don't accidently use it) it and save it in the fridge for now. If it is the food it may be contaminated or something so you will want to keep it and the code numbers if you have to talk to the company at some point.

Good thoughts and prayers that Bella continues to improve.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

With the fabric and string, the vomiting and the yanking at her tail it sounds to me more like blockage.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

When Brady had the string blockage, only gas bubbles showed up in the xray, and over a period of three days, the gas bubbles got bigger. It wasn't until he had the ultrasound that they could actually see anything. In hindsight, I would have had the ultrasound 4 days earlier, it would have saved me a lot of money, heartache, and Brady this discomfort.


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## Jessie'sGirl (Aug 30, 2010)

I too would be worried about blockage. If she continues to vomit, I would take her back to the emerg vet for more x- rays.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Here's the xray (laying on her side). I took a screen cap from the CD.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Jessie'sGirl said:


> I too would be worried about blockage. If she continues to vomit, I would take her back to the emerg vet for more x- rays.


She hasn't vomited since about 3 AM last night. So far, the small amount of kibble I gave her at 10 AM has stayed down, although there have been a few retching episodes. Now, she wants to go outside, so I'm going to go take her for a short walk.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Has she had a stool?


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## sharonvk927 (Jan 13, 2013)

I am going to worry until she gets better...I feel so bad when dogs are sick because you don't know really how bad they feel. please keep us posted.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> Has she had a stool?


30 seconds ago. As we speak, she chowing down snow like she hasn't eaten in days. 



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## xoerika620xo (May 25, 2012)

sorry about bella. I hope she feels better soon. Keep us updated. wishing her well. Hugs from chester and I


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Just inspected her stool. All I see is a bunch of her own hair. Perhaps that is the string like substance the vet saw on the X-ray. 

No retching so far on the walk, and she appears to wanting to run around, which isn't going to happen. 


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I also agree it sounds like a blockage- she does have a lot of gas on her xray. Good luck to you.


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## Goldens R Great (Aug 19, 2010)

I'm sorry to hear about Bella. Poor girl.

My third golden used to do this occasionally - the coughing, retching and licking. It would last hours. She would pace and constantly want to go out. She would try to eat grass and leaves outside and carpet fuzz in the house. I would take her to the emergency vet, they would xray her and the xray always showed a lot of gas. (I swear it always happened in the evenings when my regular vet had closed for the day.) Each time she was diagnosed with acid reflux and they would give her meds to calm her stomach. It would take awhile for the medicine to kick in.

Probably more info than you need, but a few years later she developed a chronic vomiting issue - kind of a long story - but basically I found out she had a food intolerance issue. The point though is once I switched her to limited ingredient food she never had another acid reflux episode again.

It does seem like Bella had a reaction to the new treats you gave her. 

I'm glad you took her to the ER last night.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Maybe more info than needed, but two normal stools yesterday, and one a little bit ago today. She normally goes twice a day, occasionally only once. 

I just gave her a little more kibble in a Kong. 

I would hope that if it was a blockage, the vet would have been able to recognize that. 


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Goldens R Great said:


> I'm sorry to hear about Bella. Poor girl.
> 
> My third golden used to do this occasionally - the coughing, retching and licking. It would last hours. She would pace and constantly want to go out. She would try to eat grass and leaves outside and carpet fuzz in the house. I would take her to the emergency vet, they would xray her and the xray always showed a lot of gas. (I swear it always happened in the evenings when my regular vet had closed for the day.) Each time she was diagnosed with acid reflux and they would give her meds to calm her stomach. It would take awhile for the medicine to kick in.
> 
> ...


That sounds very familiar. Not only was she pulling her own fur off her tail, but licking her hair off the area rug and her crate pad. 

I'm thinking it was the Pet Fresh treats. I'm going to bag it up and throw in the freezer just in case. 


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Nairb said:


> 30 seconds ago. As we speak, she chowing down snow like she hasn't eaten in days.
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


That's good news (the poop that is). You might want to ask your vet if she could have a Pepsid AC....really helps their tummy feel better.


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

Obstructions are not always easy to diagnose even with xrays.


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## queenbee (Mar 1, 2013)

I hope Bella feels better soon! 

I am by no means an expert--but since she is eating and defecating, I doubt it's a blockage. Could it be a food allergy? 

I completely understand the anxiety you must be experiencing. I hope this resolves soon and that you get some answers.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I would be worried about blockage, too. It sounds to me like she ate something (toy? sock?) she shouldn't have, and she's trying to bring it back up again.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

hotel4dogs said:


> I would be worried about blockage, too. It sounds to me like she ate something (toy? sock?) she shouldn't have, and she's trying to bring it back up again.


Although anything is possible, we're extremely careful about leaving stuff like that laying around. Outside, we watch her like a hawk. I'm following her around the yard as I type this. If she swallowed something, it would have to be quick. 


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

This is so distressing. I'm hoping all is back to normal soon.


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## Jessie'sGirl (Aug 30, 2010)

Normal pooping is a good sign.
I'm really paranoid about this stuff because Jess has had two obstructions.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I also suspect blockage and things like floss/fishing line do not show up well on radiographs. Any chance?


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Last month or so Rose ate a piece of yellow plastic (looked like a cap of some kind) I have no idea where she picked it up. They are quick and sneaky - if she picked it up during our walk she must have hidden it in her mouth until we got home and chew on it once no one was around. She once managed to pick up a log from next to the woodstove in the basement, carry it all the way upstairs and put it by the fireplace where she figured no one can see her chewing on it.


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## HolDaisy (Jan 10, 2012)

Thinking of Bella and hope she's feeling better soon.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm so sorry to read this thread...... 

I'm also thinking obstruction or irritation based on the ordeal I had with Bertie a few nights ago. He swallowed either a burr or a tooth, and had been chewing a bone the hour before. Next thing I know he was frantically coughing, retching, swallowing hard, pacing, and trying to eat everything he could get his mouth on. 

I gave him a whole lot of bread and it pushed the item - whatever it was - down and past. Thankfully - otherwise, he and I were going to spend our evening at the ER vet. 

I'm glad her symptoms have eased up and she's apparently feeling better. Keep an eye on her stools for the next few days. Sammy especially was one of those dogs who would eat washcloths, socks, etc. When he passed away (cancer, ruptured spleen) and they did a necropsy, they found a piece of washcloth in there.


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## Mayve (Aug 21, 2012)

Nairb, 

I'm just seeing this now. I'm glad Bella appears to be feeling better. Let us know how she is doing today. 

Sage had an episode two weeks ago where she was vomiting and just not feeling well. It's such a helpless feeling, if only they could talk and tell you where it hurts etc.

I'll keep you and Bella in my thoughts today...

Karyn


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

How is Bella today?

Another thing popped into my head- by any chance do you use Trifexis or Comfortis and did you dose her before the vomiting started? Our Toby had a terrible reaction to Comfortis the second month we used it on him- enough to get us switched to Heartgard Plus (until Interceptor returns) and Parastar Plus for fleas and ticks. His reaction was similar to what you describe with Bella, started about 8 hours after I dosed him.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

She seems much better today. Took her out for a poop earlier. Lots and lots of her own hair in the poop. Perhaps that's the string like substance the vet saw, although looking at that xray, I'm not sure how anyone can see anything other than gas. Apparently, dogs can get hairballs from excessive grooming. I've also noticed her licking hair from the rug a few times. I guess that means even more vacuuming!

I don't think she's 100% yet, but past the point where I have huge concerns. 

Thanks for all of the kind words.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Great to hear Bella is feeling better. Molly occasionally throws up hair balls. In fact just last week she threw up one in the car. 


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

What impressed me most throughout this ordeal was Bella's great attitude! Even at the emergency vet, she walked in wagging her tail. All she wanted to do there was play with the staff and another dog who had just had surgery for bloat. 


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

Glad to hear she's on the road to recovery--do keep a watch if she continues to lick the carpet as it could mean she has an upset stomach that she's trying to coat. 

I have a girl with an undiagnosed GI problem--GI specialists referred her to neurology, neurology referred her back to internal medicine, we've done endoscopes, exploratory surgery & they can't find a reason as to why she has bouts of frantic gulping, licking & pica episodes--tummy is firm & gurgling during these bouts--they're only recommendation is prozac which I find it hard to believe it's behavioral when her stomach is gassy & clearly hurting her. I think we're making progress using gas-x strips, pepcid & cerenia had no effect on settling her.


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## xoerika620xo (May 25, 2012)

im glad bella is doing better. I know how helpless you must of felt when it all first started. When chester was about 12 weeks we had a vomiting episode and i was so scared, thankfully he got better and is now one energetic pup =).

ill keep checking up on you guys. *Hugs*


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

SheetsSM said:


> Glad to hear she's on the road to recovery--do keep a watch if she continues to lick the carpet as it could mean she has an upset stomach that she's trying to coat.
> 
> I have a girl with an undiagnosed GI problem--GI specialists referred her to neurology, neurology referred her back to internal medicine, we've done endoscopes, exploratory surgery & they can't find a reason as to why she has bouts of frantic gulping, licking & pica episodes--tummy is firm & gurgling during these bouts--they're only recommendation is prozac which I find it hard to believe it's behavioral when her stomach is gassy & clearly hurting her. I think we're making progress using gas-x strips, pepcid & cerenia had no effect on settling her.


Thanks for the info.

The more I think about it, the carpet licking episodes were associated with this particular episode. I have noticed hair in her poop before, so I'll keep a closer eye on her. 

One positive is that she's never had runny stools, and has only thrown up once (ate too fast) prior to this.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Hey, I'm just seeing this now. I don't know how I missed it yesterday. Thread titles with "emergency vet" usually catch my eye.

Sometimes they get a little sick and then they do something like yank fur and eat it. The fur may not be the cause but rather a symptom as she did something silly to try to comfort herself by gnawing and swallowing fur.

The whining and pacing would have scared me too. I'm glad you went to the e-vet.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

tippykayak said:


> Hey, I'm just seeing this now. I don't know how I missed it yesterday. Thread titles with "emergency vet" usually catch my eye.
> 
> Sometimes they get a little sick and then they do something like yank fur and eat it. The fur may not be the cause but rather a symptom as she did something silly to try to comfort herself by gnawing and swallowing fur.
> 
> The whining and pacing would have scared me too. I'm glad you went to the e-vet.


I'm not sure if the fur she pooped out this morning was from a blockage, or the hair from her tail that she ate Friday night. How long do you think it would take to fully digest hair?


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Nairb said:


> I'm not sure if the fur she pooped out this morning was from a blockage, or the hair from her tail that she ate Friday night. How long do you think it would take to fully digest hair?


I have absolutely no idea. Sometimes stuff seems to go through really fast; sometimes it takes a day or more. No clue. I just wanted to suggest the idea that the fur might actually be a result of the GI issues, not necessarily the cause.

If it was just garbage gut (ate something gross or got a gastro virus), then it goes away after a few days on its own. We've had a couple of times where one of the boys got REALLY sick like that and it was nothing. Jackie got so sick once (extreme, malodorous vomiting) that I sped to the vet in a complete panic. He had gas in his intestine just like Bella, no blockage, and it passed mostly within 24 hours and completely by 48.

Except for the fur, it's pretty similar to what you describe with Bella. That's why I mentioned the fur thing. She may be a dog who simply barbers and eats fur when she's stressed.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Could be. Fortunately, I haven't seen her eat fur off her tail or the floor since Friday night. 

Just took her for a short off leash walk and a few retrieves of the Chuckit ball. She seems fine now, although she still may have some discomfort for all I know. 


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

I've just been reading a book on dog nutrition. Dog's systems work slower and different than ours do. Sally's mom might be the one to explain it better. The way I understood it they can eat a bunch. Their system will send through part of it quickly as it digests but the entire meal can take 8 hours or longer. It's part of how they can eat decaying food that would make you sick. Their stomachs are more acidic and the food sits in there longer being broken down.

I've been afraid to read this thread, to be honest. I'm so, so glad that she's doing better. I've lost a dog to a blockage before and you were so, so smart to go to the vet. Better safe than sorry.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Is it a safe assumption that a bowel movement 30+ hours after she initially threw up makes it unlikely that there is an obstruction at this time (regardless of whether or not there was one to begin with, because we don't know for sure).

Edit: this morning's bowel movement was the second since she threw up. That isn't unusual since she often only has one per day, but usually two. I haven't fed her as much over the past couple days either. 


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

They can still have bowel movements after obstruction, especially partial obstruction. It's not proof that there's no obstruction, sadly. However, the more normal the movements, the less likely an obstruction is.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Here's a picture of her tail. The picture doesn't tell the whole story. It looks like someone took a pair of scissors and made several random cuts. At least we know she has a good scissors bite!










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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

Wow...that is an impressive bite...


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Here's a close up of the tip. Looks like 4-5 good size bites. Looks like crap about now. Hope nobody thinks I did that. LOL










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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

If I saw that on a dog, I definitely would think the owner did it! Lol. I had never seen anything like that before. 


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Just getting to this. First, I am so glad you took her in and she is doing better. Second, wth !, if she swallowed all that hair, no wonder she was feeling bad. Flem has pulled ateeny strand off a couple of times but nothing like that.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Thalie said:


> Just getting to this. First, I am so glad you took her in and she is doing better. Second, wth !, if she swallowed all that hair, no wonder she was feeling bad. Flem has pulled ateeny strand off a couple of times but nothing like that.


The tail episode was after we got home from the vet. She had never done that before, and hasn't done it since. I'll be using bitter apple at night for a few days, just to make sure she doesn't get in to the habit. I assume it was due to the extreme discomfort she was experiencing that night.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

My girls sometimes barber hair post heat.... And they have also done it post whelping and then vomited up giant hairballs...


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

Here's hoping that the loss of tail feathers is the worst of it.


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## CarlosW9FE (Jul 17, 2012)

So glad to hear Bella is much better. What a scare. So glad you took contacted the vet immediately. 

We just had to call our vet after we found a section of my wife's rubber boot sole chewed off with some little pieces on the floor and it was nowhere to be found. We assumed that Annie ate it like a piece of rawhide and we got concerned about a blockage. The vet told us that if she started showing symptoms of a blockage such as vomiting and/or diarrhea to bring her in, however she did not show anything out of the ordinary. It's been 4 days now and we still keep watching her closely. Darned if we know where that piece of rubber boot sole went to.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

wd9t said:


> So glad to hear Bella is much better. What a scare. So glad you took contacted the vet immediately.
> 
> We just had to call our vet after we found a section of my wife's rubber boot sole chewed off with some little pieces on the floor and it was nowhere to be found. We assumed that Annie ate it like a piece of rawhide and we got concerned about a blockage. The vet told us that if she started showing symptoms of a blockage such as vomiting and/or diarrhea to bring her in, however she did not show anything out of the ordinary. It's been 4 days now and we still keep watching her closely. Darned if we know where that piece of rubber boot sole went to.


Hope it all comes out in the end. I've read that stuff can stay in there for a long time. 

I'm leaning toward no blockage with Bella. I now think the hair she pooped out was from the tail biting and carpet licking on the night of the vomiting. I've seen hair in her poop before, but nothing like that. Of course we still have a ways to go before we can rule anything out. I'll be taking her for a walk in a bit. I'll stand there for 20 minutes waiting for her to poop if I have to. 

One thing I believe I forgot to mention yesterday. The vet thought the gas in the xray could have been a result of her retching and heaving. I'm still suspicious of the Fresh Pet food I was using for treats. That's the only thing that came up, along with bile and foam. Her Pro Plan meal from about 7 hours earlier stayed down. 


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Another poop just now! That's her normal two for the day. About the usual size and consistency. Very little hair this time. 


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## Gwen_Dandridge (Jul 14, 2012)

Nairb said:


> Another poop just now! That's her normal two for the day. About the usual size and consistency. Very little hair this time.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


Yay for normal poops!!!


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## Goldens R Great (Aug 19, 2010)

I'm glad to read Bella is doing well. That is very good news.


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Happy to hear Bella is doing well!


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Nairb said:


> The tail episode was after we got home from the vet. She had never done that before, and hasn't done it since. I'll be using bitter apple at night for a few days, just to make sure she doesn't get in to the habit. I assume it was due to the extreme discomfort she was experiencing that night.


I apologize, I read too fast through the initial post and the other pages. I am happy she is doing fine.Sorry about the misunderstanding.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Thalie said:


> I apologize, I read too fast through the initial post and the other pages. I am happy she is doing fine.Sorry about the misunderstanding.


No problem. It's not always possible to read every post. 

I try to update a lot on stuff like this in the hopes that people reading learn something in case something similar happens to their dog. I know I've learned a lot over the past 48 hours. 


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Nairb*

Nairb

Just saw this and so GLAD Bella is doing better!


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## sharonvk927 (Jan 13, 2013)

So glad Bella is doing better.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

She just hacked this up. Before rinsing it in the sink for several minutes, it was about the size and shape of a hot dog, and very heavy and dense. At first, I thought it was a section of a very large rope. It appears to be all hair. This didn't just accumulate over the past few days. She has been watched like a hawk almost all hours of the day, and has not been seen eating hair since Friday night.

It's amazing to me that she has been able to pass anything through her system with this in there.

I'll attempt to dig into it later, to see if there's something else in there, but it won't be easy.


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## Sunny08 (Mar 6, 2012)

Wow...poor Bella. Hope she feels better soon. If it was an allergic reaction to the treats, maybe you can try to look at the ingredients and compare them to the products that you know did not upset her system.

We had this with one of the treats with ours and we tracked it down to flax seed/oil. Stopped the treats and she got better.

I hope she feels better. Ours has on ocassion "given us back" the strings or parts of stuffed toys.

Big hugs to Bella!


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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

Nairb said:


> She just hacked this up. Before rinsing it in the sink for several minutes, it was about the size and shape of a hot dog, and very heavy and dense. At first, I thought it was a section of a very large rope. It appears to be all hair. This didn't just accumulate over the past few days. She has been watched like a hawk almost all hours of the day, and has not been seen eating hair since Friday night.
> 
> It's amazing to me that she has been able to pass anything through her system with this in there.
> 
> I'll attempt to dig into it later, to see if there's something else in there, but it won't be easy.


Wow! So glad she brought it up finally. Charlie has had some "hair hacking" as well, although not quite to that extent. They make a product for cat hairballs that helps disolve those big clumps of hair so they pass through the system easier - may be something to ask your vet about. It's over the counter and petroleum based - they just lick it off your finger. I haven't tried any with Charlie because he has soft stools for other reasons and I don't want to make them any softer, but use it on my cat all the time to disolve/prevent hairballs.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I took a pair of very strong scissors and cut it up in to several small pieces, and dried it off a little with a hair dryer to get a better look. It's all hair! If I dried it completely and pulled the clumps apart, it would probably fill a sandwich bag. 


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

wow that's amazing! Is she feeling better since getting that out of her tummy?


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Bentleysmom said:


> wow that's amazing! Is she feeling better since getting that out of her tummy?


I would hope so, but she may need a day or so to recover from throwing that thing up. It was rock hard. Couldn't have been pleasant. 

I don't quite understand how these things develop. First off, we don't see her eat hair on a regular basis. Could be just from grooming? She's not exactly an excessive groomer. I don't understand how the hair gets stuck in there.


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## Ohiomom9977 (Jul 27, 2012)

Nairb said:


> I would hope so, but she may need a day or so to recover from throwing that thing up. It was rock hard. Couldn't have been pleasant.
> 
> I don't quite understand how these things develop. First off, we don't see her eat hair on a regular basis. Could be just from grooming? She's not exactly an excessive groomer. I don't understand how the hair gets stuck in there.


Do you crate her?? Charlie will lick the hair off the floor of his crate. It's not really an issue when we crate him at night as he sleeps, but if crated during the day the crate is mysteriously spotless when I let him out, however in the morning I have to sweep up the shedded hair - it's not a ton, but if he licked it up every morning I think we'd have a problem. The few times he's hacked in the last couple months (just a couple times), it's been bile and some hair.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Ohiomom9977 said:


> Do you crate her?? Charlie will lick the hair off the floor of his crate. It's not really an issue when we crate him at night as he sleeps, but if crated during the day the crate is mysteriously spotless when I let him out, however in the morning I have to sweep up the shedded hair - it's not a ton, but if he licked it up every morning I think we'd have a problem. The few times he's hacked in the last couple months (just a couple times), it's been bile and some hair.


We crate her when she's home alone (not all that often), but there's still a lot of hair in there when we let her out. I vacuum it out whenever I vacuum the floor. That thing could have been developing for a long time.


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

Nairb said:


> I would hope so, but she may need a day or so to recover from throwing that thing up. It was rock hard. Couldn't have been pleasant.
> 
> I don't quite understand how these things develop. First off, we don't see her eat hair on a regular basis. Could be just from grooming? She's not exactly an excessive groomer. I don't understand how the hair gets stuck in there.


That's a new one on me too. I've never had a dog with a hair ball. It makes me wonder now because Ky is like a cat, she grooms herself several times a day. Her fur is shorter that a GR but still.....:yuck:


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## Sheldon (Feb 27, 2013)

I know it was in the belly.......but that looks almost like tennis ball fuzz and has that color?


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## Mayve (Aug 21, 2012)

Poor Bella...I hope that takes care of it. I wonder if there is anything you can give them, like cats if they are excessive hair lickers/eaters....IDK..just something that popped into my head this morning.

Give Bella a hug for me, she's had a rough week...


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Sheldon said:


> I know it was in the belly.......but that looks almost like tennis ball fuzz and has that color?


That's probably just the bad lighting. It came out the color of her hair stained with yellow bile. I didn't see any tennis ball fuzz. As soon as she started pulling fuzz off her tennis balls a while back, I replaced them with a Chuckit ball.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Mayve said:


> Poor Bella...I hope that takes care of it. I wonder if there is anything you can give them, like cats if they are excessive hair lickers/eaters....IDK..just something that popped into my head this morning.
> 
> Give Bella a hug for me, she's had a rough week...


I'm going to check in to that.

This also makes me wonder if this had anything to do with her extremely poor manners at CGC class last Thursday.


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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

I hope that she now has gotten all of it out of her tummy. I can't imagine all of that feeling good in there.


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## Goldens R Great (Aug 19, 2010)

Goodness! I'll bet you were surprised to see that come up! 

My second golden, Addy, vomited hairballs a few times. They were just like what you described. I remember being quite surprised to see it the first time. Addy was a little bit obsessive about licking the carpet and also licking my other golden so I knew how she ingested the hair. I would also find little bits of nylabone and tiny pieces of toys in the hairballs.

I do remember Addy acting a little "off" for a day or two previous to her throwing up the hairballs.

I agree that Bella's been accumulating the hair for awhile. Poor girl!


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## Cathy's Gunner (Dec 4, 2008)

Just seeing this and so glad she got that out of her tummy. Poor Bella, hopefully she will be feeling better soon.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Bella*

So glad that Bella is alright and that the hair ball is out of her! 
Have never heard of this either!


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## pshales (Oct 9, 2012)

Wow! Just saw/read this thread! Glad your girl is better! I could definitely relate to the using Google in the middle of the night, GF and I have done that very thing on more than one occasion with Sunshine. 

That hairball is big enough to need a collar and a name. I hope Bella is over this episode now. Thanks for posting the progression of it all-these types of threads are really helpful for me as a new puppy-owner!


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Oh wow I'm glad Bella was able to get that up.. That is a huge amount of hair..


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

That is a lot of hair! I'm not going to look at the hair in my dogs' poop the same way again after seeing what Bella threw up. Wow! Yes, my boys sometimes have hairy poop. :uhoh:!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Dallas Gold said:


> That is a lot of hair! I'm not going to look at the hair in my dogs' poop the same way again after seeing what Bella threw up. Wow! Yes, my boys sometimes have hairy poop. :uhoh:!


I just want to know how it gets stuck in there. I understand its not digestible, but why wouldn't it just pass through? Those individual balls that made up the log she coughed up were very tightly wound. They could have been forming for months. 


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Nairb said:


> I just want to know how it gets stuck in there. I understand its not digestible, but why wouldn't it just pass through? Those individual balls that made up the log she coughed up were very tightly wound. They could have been forming for months.
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



Oh my, poor sweet Bella! I am glad you found your answer to what's been making her so uncomfortable. One of our springers once got into some garbage, and exhibited on-and-off vomiting for a day or two. She was still eating fine, so we attributed it to a tummy upset from the trash and forgot about it. 3 weeks (?!?!?!) later, she threw up a peach pit. 

I am also surprised the hair did not pass through - sorry if this is gross, but I used to work at a wildlife park, and every once in a while the wolves would catch something furry. They would eat it all, bones, hair, etc. and then they would poop out the bones, which would be tightly wrapped in fur. It's nature's way of protecting their innards from being punctured by bones. I always thought it was way cool.


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