# Healing thoughts for Gemma.



## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

So on top of her peeing issues, now since yesterday she is having very frequent loose bowel movements with mucous and a tiny bit of blood. We called the vet's office and they told us to let her tummy rest today and later we can give her some boiled chicken and starchy water. They told us to call back and come in if she gets any worse or starts changing in behavior. She's acting totally fine, she just keeps running to go potty. I feel so bad for her because I have been in the same boat with my GI issues and I know how it feels!

She hasn't gone potty for a few hours now. It seems to have settled down. I didn't feed her anything since 8pm last night and it's 2:30pm now. I am wondering if she has a beef intolerance because this is all happening while feeding her raw beef and Acana Ranchlands which is mostly beef. She ate Grasslands before which is lamb and it didn't seem to ever bother her. I have a 2.5kg bag of Ranchlands on the way but I've contacted the seller and asked if it would be possible to change my order to Grasslands instead. I think we'll have to start a trial process to see if certain foods upset Gemma's tummy.

Oh, we're also going to have to give her vitamin C in the form of effervescent tablets because there are no plain pills here. The vet said it's okay and that we just have to dissolve them in water and syringe the water down her throat. My poor girl.


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## Rocky (Jan 25, 2010)

Poor Gemma. Hope she will get better soon!!


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## pam6400 (Oct 5, 2008)

Oh feel better soon little one!


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

Oh, dear sweet Gemma! Feel better soon!

Toby and I send our hugs and kisses to Sweden!!!!


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Poor baby. Can you get Tree Bark/Slippery Elm powder? It is great giving after upset tummies, Harley has frequent bouts of sickness/diarrhoea and a short fast and some Tree Bark powder soon sorts him out.
When you make up the vit c solution, if you just leave it to stand for a few minutes it stops fizzing. She may drink it unaided as it tastes sweet. We put effervescent vit c tablets in a bucket for doing the guinea pigs waters, and our dogs always try to drink it out of the bucket!


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Thank you all for wishing Gemma well. I hope she feels better soon.

Stella, I'm not sure if that's available anywhere here, but we can look around.

I have my doubts that Gemma will drink the sweet vit C water, but I was wondering if I put a piece of chicken and/or a little nutrical in the water if it would make her more interested, or if it would just be more gross to her. I am really not looking forward to trying to syringe it into her.


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## Kalisee (Jun 1, 2012)

LittleGemma said:


> Thank you all for wishing Gemma well. I hope she feels better soon.
> 
> Stella, I'm not sure if that's available anywhere here, but we can look around.
> 
> I have my doubts that Gemma will drink the sweet vit C water, but I was wondering if I put a piece of chicken and/or a little nutrical in the water if it would make her more interested, or if it would just be more gross to her. I am really not looking forward to trying to syringe it into her.


Try putting an icecube in there..she might try and play with it while drinking.
Feel better soon Gemma!!


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I can send you some if you want, it is handy stuff to have in. It is about £6 or £7 for a big tub. You can probably get it online I would have thought.
Try different things to get her to drink the vit c. Remember dogs usually love things we find gross!


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

Sorry to hear about Gemma, if you have plain white rice, boil that with the chicken and give it to her. The rice helps stop the diarrhea, it always works for us. Keep us posted!!


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Kalisee said:


> Try putting an icecube in there..she might try and play with it while drinking.
> Feel better soon Gemma!!


I wonder if I actually froze the liquid in an ice tray if she would try to lick it. She licks licking cold stuff so maybe she would lick it in ice form?



Wicked Pixie said:


> I can send you some if you want, it is handy stuff to have in. It is about £6 or £7 for a big tub. You can probably get it online I would have thought.
> Try different things to get her to drink the vit c. Remember dogs usually love things we find gross!


That is a very sweet offer. We are going to look for it locally and online first. Hoping we can find some, but I have my doubts here.

My boyfriend just brought back effervescent tablets from the store and I realized they contain sorbitol, which I know can cause diarrhea.  Not sure if I should try giving these to her while she already has diarrhea that we're trying to fix. Ugh.


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Zorana1125 said:


> Sorry to hear about Gemma, if you have plain white rice, boil that with the chicken and give it to her. The rice helps stop the diarrhea, it always works for us. Keep us posted!!


We've got some porridge rice that they recommended. They told us to first boil a bit of it in extra water so that there is just starchy water to try to give her, then we can try giving her solids like the porridge and some boiled chicken if she seems to be doing better. They told us we should let her tummy settle before trying to feed her again.


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## nabi (Nov 25, 2004)

Hope sweet little Gemma is feeling better today....hugs to her...
pure pumpkin can be helpful with GI issues...either diarrhea or constipation...


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

I would't give a dog sorbitol. (or any other artificial sweetener, nasty things) We just get them from the cheapy supermarkets over here (like Lidl) and they don't have anything dodgy in them.


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

nabi said:


> Hope sweet little Gemma is feeling better today....hugs to her...
> pure pumpkin can be helpful with GI issues...either diarrhea or constipation...


Thanks, Kathleen. She's doing a little better but still having loose stools with mucous. I hope she doesn't have worms or something even worse like colitis.

I know about the pumpkin trick, but there is no pumpkin in Sweden. Canned or fresh, it doesn't exist. The only place I've heard of it being is at a specialty store called the "English Shop" and it's only located in big cities like Stockholm and Göteborg, which we are not close to.



Wicked Pixie said:


> I would't give a dog sorbitol. (or any other artificial sweetener, nasty things) We just get them from the cheapy supermarkets over here (like Lidl) and they don't have anything dodgy in them.


That's what I thought, Stella. I was like umm, this has artificial sweetener in it, we should not give her this. Apparently sorbitol is in some dog products like toothpaste but I still don't believe in any creature consuming artificial sweeteners, plus they have a laxative effect which is the last thing Gemma needs right now.

The vet said that the pharmacy should have regular vitamin c pills, so we're going to check again tomorrow. If they don't have regular pills, maybe they have chewable tablets instead that I can just slip into a piece of chicken and she won't notice.


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Lol, Gemma wouldn't drink the starchy water even when I boiled chicken with it to give it a chicken flavor, so I just went ahead and gave her chicken and rice in the water and she's not liking it. She must be one of the pickiest dogs in the world.


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

Just a warning - vitamin C can cause the shits if a dog isn't used to it. It needs to be introduced slowwwwly


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## teetee (Aug 25, 2011)

Get well soon Gemma bug!


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## Zorana1125 (Oct 24, 2010)

LittleGemma said:


> Lol, Gemma wouldn't drink the starchy water even when I boiled chicken with it to give it a chicken flavor, so I just went ahead and gave her chicken and rice in the water and she's not liking it. She must be one of the pickiest dogs in the world.


Poor baby! Maybe she doesn't have an appetite. I hope she comes around! My Lola is really picky but she loves chicken and rice. Maybe she will like it if it's not so runny?


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

flippedstars said:


> Just a warning - vitamin C can cause the shits if a dog isn't used to it. It needs to be introduced slowwwwly


Oh damn, thank you for the warning. Maybe I should try to calm down her diarrhea first before giving her much vit c. I want to see if the chicken and rice actually helps, then there's a better chance of knowing if it's a food intolerance or if something more serious is going on.



teetee said:


> Get well soon Gemma bug!


Thank you. 



Zorana1125 said:


> Poor baby! Maybe she doesn't have an appetite. I hope she comes around! My Lola is really picky but she loves chicken and rice. Maybe she will like it if it's not so runny?


She actually ate it after I fed her a few pieces by hand and she figured out that it was okay. She lapped up all the water too so that was good. I'm hoping the starch helps her like the vet's office said it would.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

Didn't read all posts so forgive me if I'm repeating what someone else has said.

Chicken wings, the bone will firm her up.
Steamed pumpkin if you can't get the USA type canned pumpkin, or a jar of babyfood pumpkin.
Plain natural yoghurt.

I got exactly what you're describing after feeding raw beef, if seems there's many that can't take it from what I've read, I can't help but wonder why on earth that is, you'd think that meat is meat really, be it lamb, goat, pork. I gave mine diced pork pieces the other day and none of them would touch it. Thank goodness for ZP, which I thought is what you'd switched to, what with all this grasslands, ranchlands stuff?


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

AussieLass said:


> Didn't read all posts so forgive me if I'm repeating what someone else has said.
> 
> Chicken wings, the bone will firm her up.
> Steamed pumpkin if you can't get the USA type canned pumpkin, or a jar of babyfood pumpkin.
> ...


Can't get pumpkin here, but plain yogurt for sure. We have chicken wings already as well.

She's still eating Acana because she would not touch the dry ZP no matter what I did with it. I was feeding her raw beef for a week and then she had two meals with Acana Ranchlands after I got some in the mail and all this started happening. She used to eat Acana Grasslands and did fine with it so I'm going to switch her back. She's still going to get a raw meal in the evening, but I don't think I will be using beef anymore. Will have to use pork or chicken. Can't afford lamb here unfortunately.

She had one yucky poop after she ate her chicken and rice this evening, but so far nothing else which was over 5 hours ago. So this is an improvement. I don't like feeding her grain and never have, but the starch was suggested to firm up her poo. Whatever I have to do right now is fine. It's not going to be long term. I just want her to stop pooping 10 times a day!


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## BlueJax (Jun 25, 2012)

Just finished reading this thread and glad to hear she is starting to feel better! Chicken and rice always seems to help my guys with occasional GI problems. Lots of hugs to Gemma.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

LittleGemma said:


> Can't get pumpkin here, but plain yogurt for sure.


What the heck? What sort of a country is totally devoid of pumpkin, that's just madness - no wonder the natives are all so "pasty" if they can't get a decent, affordable feed of meat & 3 veg every night for dinner


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## Finn (Sep 14, 2010)

I'm surprised at no canned pumpkin, too. I swear by the stuff for my Chi tummy issues.


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

I have had a house full, and just saw this. So sorry Gemma wasn't feeling good, but I hope she is on the mend now.


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## Chihuahualuv2 (Jun 13, 2012)

Hope she is feeling better! It's so hard to see them not feeling well. Chloe was sick all night about a month ago, it sucks feeling so helpless.


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

How is Gemma? Did she eat anything? I'm worried about her!


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

AussieLass said:


> What the heck? What sort of a country is totally devoid of pumpkin, that's just madness - no wonder the natives are all so "pasty" if they can't get a decent, affordable feed of meat & 3 veg every night for dinner


I know, right? I came here right after Thanksgiving and was looking for pumpkin to make pumpkin pie, and my boyfriend had never even heard of pumpkin pie! They have no canned pumpkin anywhere, and fresh is very rare and only at a certain time during the year. When I go to the US and come back to Sweden, I'm smuggling back 10 cans of pumpkin with me!



Finn said:


> I'm surprised at no canned pumpkin, too. I swear by the stuff for my Chi tummy issues.


Yeah, it sucks!



lulu'smom said:


> I have had a house full, and just saw this. So sorry Gemma wasn't feeling good, but I hope she is on the mend now.


Thank you, Tina. She's getting there, but still not perfect.



Chihuahualuv2 said:


> Hope she is feeling better! It's so hard to see them not feeling well. Chloe was sick all night about a month ago, it sucks feeling so helpless.


I know, it's an awful feeling being so helpless when they're sick. I hope I'm helping her as much as I can.



pupluv168 said:


> How is Gemma? Did she eat anything? I'm worried about her!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


She has eaten chicken and rice twice now. She is doing okay. Still having icky mucousy poop issues but they are way less frequent now.


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## missydawn (May 29, 2012)

So sorry your baby has not been feeling well Caitlin!Prayers for baby Gemma!!


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

missydawn said:


> So sorry your baby has not been feeling well Caitlin!Prayers for baby Gemma!!


Thank you, Sheila. She is definitely doing better. Still yucky poos, but now at a normal rate instead of almost every hour. I think the rice is helping.


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## Jayda (Jun 15, 2012)

Lady is hoping Gemma gets better soon. Take care....I agree no pumpkin in a can is really weird! 


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## Jayda (Jun 15, 2012)

How is she doing? Hopefully she is feeling back to normal!


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Jayda said:


> How is she doing? Hopefully she is feeling back to normal!


Thanks for thinking of her. 

She is still having soft, mucousy stools even after only feeding her the chicken and rice diet since Friday. My boyfriend has been in school all day yesterday and today but tomorrow morning we are going to call the vet and likely make an appointment unless they recommend something else. I'm a little worried it isn't a food intolerance now since the new diet hasn't changed what her stools look like. I would like to have a fecal done to check for worms or something like that. Crossing my fingers that Swedish vets aren't also weird about fecal testing. I was looking up the online pricelist of procedures for the vet hospital next to us and the only fecal test they had listed was a fecal test for salmonella.  I really hope they do more than test for just salmonella.

So I'm continuing her on boiled chicken and rice (she's getting nutrical as well for a bit of added nutrients) until we see a vet. I would really like to get her back on raw/Acana, though!


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

Jayda said:


> Lady is hoping Gemma gets better soon. Take care....I agree no pumpkin in a can is really weird!


No, pumpkin in a can is what's really super weird, just ask the rest of the world.

I presume they do it for those millions of Moms who bake pumpkin pie, which is equally as weird to the rest of the world, pumpkin isn't for pies, it's for roasting, steaming and mashing with taties 

I wouldn't go to the expense of testing for worms, just worm with Drontal or similar, costs a few pennies and is effective - I can never work out why Americans test, usually once a year from what I gather, for worms ... it really confuses me.


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## teetee (Aug 25, 2011)

dang Caitlin..and Gemma! Gemma, you need to get better, your momma is stressing! Caitlin, I hope that she gets well soon and the vet figures out what's going on AND that it's nothing serious..xoxo


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## Teddy76 (Aug 28, 2012)

*Poorly Gemma*

Sorry to hear Gemma is poorly, (my oldest Daughter is called Gemma)
I hope she feels better very soon x


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

AussieLass said:


> No, pumpkin in a can is what's really super weird, just ask the rest of the world.
> 
> I presume they do it for those millions of Moms who bake pumpkin pie, which is equally as weird to the rest of the world, pumpkin isn't for pies, it's for roasting, steaming and mashing with taties
> 
> I wouldn't go to the expense of testing for worms, just worm with Drontal or similar, costs a few pennies and is effective - I can never work out why Americans test, usually once a year from what I gather, for worms ... it really confuses me.


Lol, pumpkin pie is the best! Oh, I miss it so much. It's my absolute favorite desert with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'm drooling!

Well, I thought I should test her in case it's not just "worms." I don't know exactly what to do, but I guess the vet will (should) have the best recommendation. Funny enough, we bumped into my boyfriend's old elementary school classmate at a pub this past weekend, and it turns out she's a vet at the hospital just a 5 minute bike ride from here. We're going to see if we can get an appointment with her. Apparently becoming a vet in Sweden only takes 5.5 years of school. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. 



teetee said:


> dang Caitlin..and Gemma! Gemma, you need to get better, your momma is stressing! Caitlin, I hope that she gets well soon and the vet figures out what's going on AND that it's nothing serious..xoxo


Thanks, Tiffany. I am going out of my mind stressing. My anxiety levels are so high that I'm on the verge of panic attacks. I just want to find out what's wrong so I can get on the right path to treating her. On top of all this, she's being a potty monster and peeing all over the floors! And they are not leaky pees, she is peeing full blown pee puddles in front of our bedroom door as if that spot is her new toilet. Seems more like she's going through some potty training relapse than a UTI since it's not little leaks all over the place, and more full-sized pees in specific spots, so I'm having to watch her like a hawk.



TobyChi said:


> Sorry to hear Gemma is poorly, (my oldest Daughter is called Gemma)
> I hope she feels better very soon x


I love the name Gemma for a human girl. I wanted to name my firstborn daughter Gemma, but a puppy came first, lol.

Thank you for the well wishes.


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

It only takes 5.5 years of school?!? Is that including an undergraduate degree, or is that just vet school?


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Caitlin, give Gemma a kiss from me and try not to worry so much. 
Dee, I agree that pumpkin as a dessert is very strange indeed! But then the Americans don't get savoury pies, do they? Pie to them is always sweet, never meat lol.
As for the worm testing, I don't routinely worm with chemicals, so I get a worm count done to check they don't have any. I just don't like to pump them full of unnecessary chemicals. I did resort to Drontal this summer as they kept picking up fleas, but so far they have never had worms/eggs in their worm count. I use melon seeds and such that are considered natural wormers. IMO it is a similar situation to over-vaccinating, so my dogs only get chemical treatments when they actually need them.


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

missy_r said:


> It only takes 5.5 years of school?!? Is that including an undergraduate degree, or is that just vet school?


That's including undergrad. 5.5 years for the whole deal. Pretty crazy considering it's 8 in the US. I was amazed when my boyfriend told me she was a vet because she is 27 like him, and I was like wow, she must be fresh out of school then? And then he told me nope, she was in school for 5.5 years.



Wicked Pixie said:


> Caitlin, give Gemma a kiss from me and try not to worry so much.
> Dee, I agree that pumpkin as a dessert is very strange indeed! But then the Americans don't get savoury pies, do they? Pie to them is always sweet, never meat lol.
> As for the worm testing, I don't routinely worm with chemicals, so I get a worm count done to check they don't have any. I just don't like to pump them full of unnecessary chemicals. I did resort to Drontal this summer as they kept picking up fleas, but so far they have never had worms/eggs in their worm count. I use melon seeds and such that are considered natural wormers. IMO it is a similar situation to over-vaccinating, so my dogs only get chemical treatments when they actually need them.


Thanks, Stella. I really hope she is alright. I'm just glad she isn't showing any other symptoms of something being wrong. She's still acting completely normal and disgusting trying to eat her poop. ukeright:


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## Aquarius (May 8, 2009)

Poor Gemma, I hope you find out what is causing this, a day or two you can expect now and again but this is a bit long - I hope the vet is able to help  hugs to her!

PS no pumpkin in a can here either


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## teetee (Aug 25, 2011)

You might have already mentioned this, but what is taking so long? You've been talking about Gemma's pee issues and stuff for a while now. Are they not able to pin point it or..I'm just trying to understand. I hope Gemma feels better. And stop eating your poo's Gemma! haha


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## talented79 (Jan 30, 2008)

hope Gemma feels better


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## LittleGemma (Apr 1, 2012)

Oh, I should have posted here that Gemma is fine now. Guess it was just a stomach bug or some irritation due to eating raw beef.


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## Cream Chi's (Jan 24, 2011)

So pleased little Gemma is doing better, it's such a worry when our little angels are poorly. How old is she? 

Can I also ask why she is having vitamin c?


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