Yesterday (Friday, March 31st) morning Zoey gave me a little scare. It all started with some diarrhea on the kitchen floor before I could get her outside. And a little more outside, though not quite as yucky. Once I’d gotten her back inside and had taken care of Zen’s bathroom needs, I prepared some Olewo dehydrated carrots for my girl. They’ve always helped before, so I figured they would again.
The carrots helped firm up her stool a little bit, but what alarmed me was the tinge of bright red blood in her after-breakfast stool. I always have a poop pickup bag in my pocket so I used it to scoop up the poop. I brought Zoey in the house (leaving the poop bag on the porch) and called our backup vet to make an appointment. Then I sent a text to our regular pet sitter to see if she could stay with Zen while I took Zoey to the vet. Luckily she said could so that was good. A couple of hours later, I gave Zoey some more of the carrots.
Once we were at the vet’s and in an exam room, I told the tech that Zoey had been eating acorns off the ground – despite my numerous attempts, both successful and not, to prevent her from swallowing them – for quite some time but more so over the past week. I had even picked one up and put it in my pocket to give them with the poop bag. I also told her that Zoey was still eating her poop whenever I wasn’t close enough to stop her. 🤮 I forgot to mention that the “No Poo” chews I’ve been giving her the last couple of weeks may have finally started working. Then the tech took Zoey and the acorn back to the treatment area.
After about ten minutes, the vet brought Zoey back to the exam room and sat down to talk about what he suspected and how to treat it. The fecal labs were still in progress, but without TMI, I’ll tell you that Zoey has some intestinal parasites. The vet was also curious to know how I knew about the Olewo brand dehydrated carrots. I told him that I had learned about them some years back from one of my pet blogging friends (Joy at My GBGV Life) and have been using them ever since. He had learned about them from a veterinary parasitologist who had told him a few years ago that this particular brand of dehydrated carrots does an excellent job of killing off intestinal parasites that have become antibiotic resistant. So, obviously, I’m going to keep giving them to the Z Kids, just like I had with their predecessors.
As if all the GI tract upset wasn’t enough, as I pulled into the driveway at home, poor Zoey expelled her entire breakfast on to the back seat and floor mat. All the stress of the day was too much for her. The pet sitter was kind – and sweet – enough to keep Zoey with her and Zen while I cleaned up the mess, even knowing she might be a few minutes late to her next appointment. (She did arrive on time, though, she told me later on.)
As the evening wore on, Zoey started feeling better so I started her on the meds the vet had sent home with us. She was more tired than usual, but still felt well enough to play with Zen a few times before we all went to bed. She’s still a bit tired today, but I can tell she feels much better after a good night’s sleep.
in my heart 4ever 
So glad your precious girl is feeling better. I’ve never heard of those carrots-do you give them regularly or just when there’s digestive upset? Carrots are a high glycemic food so I know Elsa likely isn’t a good candidate but they might work for Norman. On the plus side (if there is one when one of fur-babies are not feeling well), sounds like you got a good head start on spring cleaning for both the house and the car. 😉 Sending hugs and gentle ear rubs for the kids.
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Actually, I give them the carrots every morning. They really do a good job of keeping the GI tract healthy. That is when they’re not eating acorns or their own poop.
The house is spring cleaning is done until my bro gets here and can help me move furniture. The car, thank goodness is clean again.
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Good to know, thanks. You’re a lot further along than I am on spring cleaning. Good for you!
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I’m so glad Zoey is feeling better! I need to get some of those carrots too, I forgot about them. I think I tried their beets for a while with Luke since those have health benefits too. I stopped, thinking I’d get local fresh beets instead, but of course that never happened! My good intentions don’t always pan out! 🙂
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Zoey says thank you! She and Zen are back to their weekend whackies, so there’s no doubt she’s feeling better.
I even had to fish another acorn out of her mouth last night. 🙄
Oh Lord, how well I can relate to good intentions! Bogie never would eat the beets, even if I left them dry, and Ducky would usually eat around them. She liked the carrots, but Bogie got finicky so I stopped trying with him. Zen used to eat the carrots from on top of his food, but now I have to mix them in with the canned food in the morning so he’ll eat them. Zoey is my canine trash bin, so far, so I just put the carrots on top of her kibble and she gobbles it all up. She also eats fast, so I have to put her food in one of those Outward Hound slow-feed bowls that look like a maize. It’ll work for now, but once she’s full grown, I’ll probably have to revert to a Kong Wobbler or something similar. Or just find a better food that she can’t “inhale”, but that I can afford.
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That had to be very scary for you, but I’m sure glad you were able to see a Vet that quickly. I’m so glad to hear that almost normal showed up at your place.
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Thanks! Yes, it was scary. Especially knowing that acorns can be really bad for dogs! But, thankfully, our backup vet practice is the same one that took such great care of Bogie and Ducky for us after the debacle occurred at our former vet. And they took great care of the Zs, too, until Dr. S. opened his own practice. So I knew Zoey would be in good hands. Yes, almost normal is here and making way for normal.
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Glad everything seems to have resolved itself safely for everyone !
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Thank you!!
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We have bowel issues here, off and on…they get meds from the vet, and soon we are back into the runnies once again. UGH. They do nosh on all kinds of things out in the yard, bt who knows what the particular offending agent is.
I will have to check out those carrots. Pumpkin only helps a wee bit.
Glad Zoey is feeling better, Sheesh, that was way too stressful.
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Do try the carrots! Unlike the pumpkin, you don’t have to worry about them having the opposite effect as long as you go by the “feeding chart” on the back of the bag. I’m now giving them both 2 tsps. per day. And if I need to, I can give them more.
Zoey says thank you.
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I just ordered some!
Hope it makes cleaning up easier outside, and less of those ‘I gotta get out there now, mom’, trips! LOL!
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Thank GOD you took her to the Vet…….quickly……acorns are poisonous. Highly poisonous. I am so glad she is ok. Thanks for the carrot tip, I had never known about those.
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I knew the acorns “weren’t good for” her – as in could give her tummy aches – but I didn’t know they were poisonous. And the vet didn’t say as much. Hmm. I was looking for Joy’s original post about the carrots but couldn’t find it. I guess she archived it. Anyway, now that we’re treating her for the intestinal parasites, hopefully she’ll stop eating her poop and especially the acorns. I did notice though that the only thing she picked up off the ground this morning was an old piece of tree bark. I took it away from her and tossed it over the back fence. She was doing a lot of sniffing, but didn’t bother with the weeds or acorns, or even her after-breakfast poop. 😃👏
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from the Blue Cross website “Acorns contain tannins, a type of chemical that is toxic to dogs. If eaten, acorns can cause upset tummies and, though rare, they can lead to liver and kidney failure and be fatal.
It is also possible for them to cause a blockage of the intestines in smaller dogs.”
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Thank you for sharing this! I’m going to forward it to the vet!!
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If the Vet doesn’t know this I would find myself a new Vet 😉 I have known this for YEARS…….ingesting pine needles are also extremely dangerous as well as the obvious, pebbles, rocks. When I walk Levi I let him sniff but always have my hand at the ready on his leash to pull his head up right away if I have to. I don’t give him much “lead” unless I can tell things are totally clear.
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In these parts, the choice of vets is quite limited; but I agree he should have known and said something. At least now I know and will keep it in my “arsenal of knowledge.” And don’t forget about the cocoa mulch. I remembered about the rocks from all of Jen’s posts about Leroy’s IBD.
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Yep I knew about cocoa mulch too but thanks for the reminder!
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