I almost forgot to write about my poor baby’s incident a couple of weeks ago. One morning as I let Maximus out for him go peepee and poo poo, I noticed he was acting weird – he stayed on the “poo position” for a few seconds as if he was going to poop some more. Obviously he was having diarrhea. There came out drops of blood from his butt hole. I was so worried seeing this. From the time we woke up, he wanted to go outside like every 10mins and then threw up 2x in the last 30mins. I didn’t want to leave him in his crate the whole day, I was afraid to come home and see blood all over and my Max gone L so I called the hospital and the receptionist said I should bring him in right away. It was about 9am, I called my boss to let him know I won’t be in the office but I will work from home.

I got to the hospital and they took him in. when I was called in to one of the examination rooms, the med assistant asked me what happened. After a few minutes, the vet came out and examined him. She said they will run numerous tests on him and figure out if it’s viral, parasitical or a blockage in his intestines. It all sounded good to me and I thought this was great. Few minutes after, the med assistant comes out with a paper containing the list of tests and other things the vet wrote down. Everything on the list had a corresponding amount and it totaled to $500! The vet visit is $40 then X-ray procedure of $140, then about 4 different tests (Parvo virus, fecal, etc.) and then 3-4 different kinds of meds and other items I cannot remember. When I saw the estimate, I didn’t know what to feel. Doing the tests is not an assurance that they will find the real cause. It’s like “trial and error and on to the next one” procedure type AND the worst part is on my expense!

As I was left in the exam room to think about things, I felt so helpless and I felt I was being robbed! I love my dog so much but I cannot afford this type of expense right now. Even before I got a dog, I promised myself, I will only pay for so much when it comes to my dog. I have heard too many stories of people paying thousands and thousands of money for their pets and I told Mario, I will not do that. Pets are pets and no matter how much I love mine, he is not human that I will “need” to put into surgery or whatever. Right now all I can do is hope and pray this was nothing serious. I lost my faith when the vet didn’t know what was wrong yet she wanted me to pay right away. With or without any findings, I will have to pay. If they rule out blockage upon seeing the x-ray film, they will either perform surgery or let it pass out naturally. Whichever way I go… I will come out of that hospital paying at least $500!

And so the med assistant came back and showed me a revised list. The vet took out some things and the amount was still about $300. I honestly think my dog did not pick up a virus or a parasite because he is a well puppy and he just had his shots a week ago. Yes we went to Fresno and he interacted with Boogie (Nash’s dog), but that dog is healthy and a very well dog! Impossible.

So I finally said, ok… let’s do the X-ray. They took Max in. I was outside talking to the receptionist who does the billing. They don’t offer any payment plans or such. I have to pay everything upon Max’s discharge. Ouch! I honestly told them this amount was still too much for me. So the receptionist held off, went in the back and next thing I know, she was telling me I will only have to pay $85 for visit fee of $40 plus meds of $45. Are you kidding me?!? Whatever happened to the urgency and importance of all those tests etc? That sucks huh! If I could actually get away with this right away then why would they give me a long list and tell me BS! How can prescribe meds if they said they didn’t know what my dog was suffering from?! I did not care to ask anymore. All I wanted was to get Max back, get the meds, pay my bill and get the hell out of there!
Next concern was administering 3 different types of meds. 2 of them were every 12 hours where 1 had to be taken 2 hours before other meds and 1 was just once a day. My routine for 7 days was wake up at 6am to administer med #1. Wait for 2 hours to give his med #2 then wait for 1 hour to give him med # 3 then after 30mins, feed him. Then after 12 hours, the schedule continues. Even on the weekend, had to do this routine. The vet mentioned cleansing his tummy with “bland diet” but she did not push through with it. Maybe she thought I won’t do it due to financial problem. Little did she know, I researched bout it and gave Max the best remedy for diarrhea. Thanks to this website: What Should You Feed a Dog with Diarrhea.

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Here is how to properly put your dog on a bland diet.
First, withhold all food for 24 hours. This will allow your dog’s system to clear before beginning the new foods. A bland diet typically consists of the following:

• Low-fat, cooked meats such as chicken or lean hamburger with the fat drained off
• Boiled white rice
• Cooked oatmeal
• Boiled sweet potatoes
• Plain yogurt

Feed a mixture of about 50/50 of the meat and either rice or oatmeal. You can also include small quantities of the sweet potato and/or yogurt. Simply add either of those ingredients into the meat/rice or meat/oatmeal mixture. Be sure that at all times, including during the 24 hours in which you withhold food, that fresh water is always available to your pet.

Another food that many pet owners swear by for the treatment of diarrhea in their pet is canned pumpkin. It must be 100% pure pumpkin and not a flavored pie filling. Interestingly, pumpkin may help with constipation as well as with diarrhea.
If the cause of your pet’s diarrhea is fairly minor, it is likely that feeding a bland diet will clear it up. Once the stools are no longer loose, you may begin to slowly reintroduce the dog’s regular diet.
As mentioned earlier, there are times when it is important that you get your dog to the vet right away. This is true the diarrhea is accompanied by any of the following symptoms.

• Lethargy
• Appears to be in pain
• Is sleeping a lot more than usual
• Has runny or watery eyes
• Has a fever
• Appears to have abdominal pain or is bloated
• Seems to be dehydrated.

Any of the symptoms listed could be the sign of a very serious condition. Getting your pet to a vet or medical hospital quickly is important in such cases. When visiting a vet or emergency pet hospital, it’s a good idea to bring a fresh stool sample. This can assist in diagnosing any medical problems.
So what should you feed a dog with diarrhea? The answer is a bland diet, but only if no other symptoms are present. If there are other symptoms, then a visit to the vet is a good idea.
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I went to Pet Smart and bought 2 cans of Science Diet Chicken & Rice flavor, mixed it with rice, 2 spoonful of pumpkin and sometimes put 2 spoons of yogurt. And that is what I fed Max until his poop went back to normal.

Luckily, halfway done with the meds, I saw sharp plastic objects and staples in Max’s poop. And the bleeding went away. Pretty much, this was causing the bleeding and as soon as it came out of him, everything was fine. We were lucky he never had a fever, never showed any signs of decline in his health and he never really looked sick at all. My prayers have been answered and I am glad I did not fall for the huge vet bill!