Vet or wait and see??

[Sirrahsim]

I don't know anything about dog health so please educate me!!
This morning when I went to get Ginger out of her crate I found her crate and herself coverd in diarrhea. She always lets us know if she needs to go out when she is in her crate so I don't know what happened. Is it like with a ahuman and I just need to give her lots of fluids, or do I need to get her to the vet??

[Jods]

Well I would clean her up and wait and see. but if you feel you should go to the vet by all means go! If you decide to wait and see. make sure she is drinking and eating ok and when you put her out see how she acts outside if shes still having runs or is fine now etc etc.... Poor baby girl hope she feels better soon

[4 Dog Mother]

How is she acting? If she is acting really lethargic and won't eat or drink, I would call the vet. Otherwise I would clean her up, try to get her to drink some water or lick some ice cubes because just like people she can become dehydrated. I would probably hold off on the food a little bit to see how she does. If she goes outside and still has diahrea, I would probably fix her some rice or something bland for her stomach. She could have a bug,or eaten something she shouldn't have. Let us know how she is doing!

[Sirrahsim]

I got her cleaned up and scrubbed down her crate as soon as I got up and discovered what had happened. I let her out in the yard for a while and she was running and jumping and acting like a goof ball. Now that she is back inside in her crate she is laying there looking at me with the most pitiful face. She only ate about 1/3 of her kibble but she is enjoying her ice cubes a little so hopefully everything will be ok. Poor girl

[pitc9]

Maybe she got into something yesterday and just couldn't hold it.

The poor thing!
Keep her food portions small today and make sure she drinks water.

[lute]

If she keeps this up and doesn't eat much I would definately take her for a vet visit.

[shais_mom]

I agree with what everyone else said.
Have you had a storm recently?
I was at my friends house a couple weeks ago and their then 10 week old lab puppy was in the crate when we had a helluva thunderstorm. I could hear him howling and whining and I went to check on him and he had had diarrhea. I think the storm scared the poop right out of him!
poor ginger.

if you have trouble getting the smell out of the crate (I know when Keegan messed in her crate or has diarrhea in the house - it must just stick to my nose b/c I feel as though I can smell it for DAYS) cheap toothpaste and cheap mouthwash gets the poop smell out.
I just scrubbed it really well with cheapie toothpaste -hose it off - poured cheapie mouthwash on the floor of the crate let it sit for a couple minutes then hosed it out and let it air dry.

[Sighthounds4me]

When we have tummy upsets here, we fast for 24 hours (trust me, it WON'T starve the dog), provide water at all times, and wait and see. After 24 hours, we feed bland (boiled hamburger and rice, nothing more), and gradually, over a couple more days, reintroduce the normal diet.

If things don't improve in 24 hours, off to the vet we go. Diarrhea is nothing to mess around with, because a dog can dehydrate quickly if he is moving his bowels often. If it's not often, it's not much to worry about, unless it's prolonged (longer than 24 hours).

Some people, including vets, might recommend Immodium for dairrhea. I don't like it, because it works by slowing the gut. That means that whatever it is causing the problem is stuck there longer, potentially making it a longer-term issue.

[Sirrahsim]

She hasn't had anymore diarrhea since I made this post so I think we are in the clear. Thanks for the advice everyone! I will keep this thread in mind in case she gets sick again.

[Ginger's Mom]

Missy, my advise was the same as everyone else's (wait and see, and don't give her much to eat), so I didn't bother to post. But I have been checking to see how our Ginger was. Glad to hear that she seems to be feeling better.