# Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis - Have you heard of this??



## Tracy73 (Oct 9, 2011)

Hi Everyone, I am new here but wanted to share our tragic story with you about 2 of our baby chihuahua's.

On Saturday 24th September we were in the middle of decorating and my 2 baby chi's Mia and Trinity were playing in the playpen. Mia was a 4 month old chocolate Chi she was stunning. Anyway late Saturday afternoon she seemed a little sleepy and I just put it down to her bouncing around like crazy, she had not been sick, no diarrhoea nothing, so we just thought she was slightly off colour.

Sunday she seemed quieter than usual but again it was not something I could have rang my vet about and given any symptoms about. She just seemed a bit miserable and tired.

Monday morning we had some guys coming in to decorate and I left my tiny babies upstairs as Mia was always a bit nervous around strangers, I went back upstairs about 40 minutes after initially coming down, to top up food and water and went I walked into my bedroom I was hit by the most horrendous smell. It smelled like stale blood, when I looked Mia had had a case of Exploding Diarrhoea, the bed and crate were splattered with blood. I went into pure panic mode and grabbed the phone and rang my vet, they said it sounded like parvo and to bring her straight round, which we did.

Literally overnight she had gone from being a chubby puppy to looking like a neglected pup, you could see her ribs, she would not eat nor drink, vet checked for parvo and it came back negative, we were over the moon thinking that was the worst it could be. How naive can you be??

Mia was put on IV's for fluid and glucose, given antibiotics and something to ease her tummy. The vet to be honest did tell us it was 50 50 whether she would survive or not mainly due to her being so tiny. Anyway we hoped and hoped and hoped for a miracle that was not to be. Mia had to be pts the following morning at 10am. She had started fitting and even under sedation it could not be stopped, so we called a halt as she could no longer fight. To say we were heartbroken would be a complete understatement.

At the same time Mia went to the vets they recommended we get Trinity vaccinated she was 9 weeks at that time for parvo just in case Mia had it. On Wednesday night around 10:20pm Trinity had a awful bout of diarrhoea and slight vomiting, I rang my vet straight away to be told to just give her water, anymore diarrhoea or vomiting and ring us straight back. I spent half the night watching her terrified we would lose a second pup. When we got up early this next morning I heaved a sigh of relief as there was no vomit or diarrhoea.

That was a very short lived relief as when I put her down she was walking like an old lady not bouncing like a 9 week old puppy. I rang my vet and explained in a morning she normally is excitable and bouncy and this morning she is tired and lethargic they asked us to take her in.

Again we took her straight down and all they could find wrong was a slight temperature but because of what had happened to Mia they decided to err on the side of caution and to admit her. She was hooked up on IV;s with fluid and glucose and antibiotics etc. For 2 days she held her own and we had just started to hope that she was winning. On Friday the vet said she had started to refuse food and was still vomiting and having diarrhoea.

On Saturday they released her to come home, I was sooo happy until I saw her. You could see every bone in her body I was heartbroken and when I picked her up and her whole body flopped to one side, I knew we would lose Trinity too.

I rang the vets they came straight round to us, we could not get her to eat so once again her blood glucose levels had fallen dramatically so she had to go back on IV's again.

Sunday morning at 8am the vet rang me to say she had started bleeding from her back passage but the bleeding was coming from further up the digestive tract, her advice was too euthanise as she had also collapsed, so once again we had to let another baby go.

Mia's cause of death was HGE which is Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis, and its NOT contagious but Trinity died of the same thing just 4 days later.

For all you pet owners out there please just take a few seconds to read up on HGE it can hit any dog at anytime there is no specific reason, no one knows what causes it. It could be viral, bacterial, or food sensitive, either way its more common in toy breeds, and that couple of minutes reading could mean the difference between life and death.

Its too late for both my babies, make sure yours at least have a chance by educating yourself about it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.xxxx.


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## michele (Jan 12, 2009)

So sorry ,that is tragic what a shock for you.Thank you for posting that must have been hard for you,but i hope it saves another life


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## Tabitha (Jul 30, 2011)

So sorry to hear this tragic news.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

This is horrible news. Did they ever give you a reason? Was it the food? Did they get into a toxin? Virus? I would want to know WHY so I could try and prevent that from happening in the future. I am so sorry this happened to you. What a heartbreak. 

I found this article which does a good job explaining what it is, but nobody knows what causes it. Awful.

Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis in Dogs - Whole Dog Journal Article


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## TLI (Sep 3, 2008)

Yes, it does occur spontanesly for no known reason. All 4 of my pups had it, December will be 2 years ago. I almost lost all 4 of them. It's just as you describe it. The most, awful horrible thing you'll ever have to see your pup go through. Luckily, mine were all treated immediately, within the first 12 hours of getting it, and all survived. They all had to stay in the hospital on IV's, Lexie being the longest. 5 days. We were given no guarantee on whether they would make it or not. I don't even like to relive that horrible experience in my mind. One minute they were all happy, bouncy, 110% healthy, and in just hours near death.  I'm so sorry to hear your story. I can relate more than you know. RIP sweet little ones. 

Many that get HGE do not live.  And they do not know what causes it.

The "bloody" smell is awful!!! It's a smell you'll never forget. The diarrhea looks like runny strawberry jam. It is projectile too. Everywhere!!! Lexie literally had blood running out of her behind. A constant flow.


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## Charlotte~ (Apr 5, 2011)

This is so heartbreaking  
Thankyou for posting this, I hope it raises awareness, it certainly has for me.


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

What a terrible thing to happen. Thanks for sharing your story.


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## KayC (May 3, 2005)

I am so sorry about your tragic experiences and the loss of both of your babies. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Many (((((HUGS))))) to you. I did learn something new.


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## svdreamer (Feb 20, 2010)

This sounds like what Billy had. Bloody vomit and the strawberry jam explosive diarrhea. I immediately took him in and they gave him the sub Q fluids and antibiotics and he pulled through just fine, but it was so scary there for two days. The vet first thought he had parvo, but he had had all his puppy shots. Him being older, just over a year, and bigger, almost 6 pounds, may be how he pulled through. Again, I am so sorry for your two little pups.


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## CHITheresa (Apr 30, 2011)

That is so sad, sorry your loss. Thank you for sharing.


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## felix93 (Apr 2, 2009)

I am so sorry for your loss but thanks for sharing the story.


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## bayoumah (Nov 30, 2010)

hi thank you for shareing your nightmars im so sorry for you loosing the 2 babies i can tell you love so much


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## johnsonperson (Apr 1, 2014)

*I lost my chi to this*

I know this is an old thread, but I'm glad it is here. I am very sorry for your loss, and do not intend to re-open any old wounds. Reading your story has brought me comfort--not in your suffering by any means, but because what happened to my baby has been so hard to grasp, and the vets' answers so unsatisfying. Knowing that someone else has been through a similar situation with a similar end is helping me understand everything that happened to my pet. 

In late January this year, just after my Boogie turned 5 years old, my husband came home to find blood all over our home and the dog nowhere to be found. When he finally found her, she was so weak she was unable to get up or make noise. We took her to the emergency vet immediately, and they gave her fluids and put her in overnight for observation. When we left her, she had perked up and I thought everything would turn out ok. But in the middle of the night, the bleeding (which never really stopped) erupted again. We had to return to the animal hospital the next morning, and what had been our beloved baby was reduced to a comatose, trembling ball of suffering. We made the decision to put her down and went home to an empty house, completely shocked. 

I'm sharing my story because this all took place within about nine hours. When we left for work, Boogie had diarrhea. I was concerned that she wouldn't eat her food, but she had always had a finicky stomach--diarrhea and vomiting weren't all that unusual for her, especially when under stress, and we had been traveling quite a lot for the holidays--so I didn't think too much of it. We took her on a morning walk and everything. By 7pm, she had deteriorated into such a state that she could not recover. I have been kicking myself every day that I did not come home at lunch to check on her. But I had absolutely no idea that an animal could bleed to death from stress in a single day. I'm sharing my story so that people know it IS possible. If you have a Chi, I think it's obvious that they are very sensitive and can be high-strung. Now I know that this can have very serious physical consequences if they are not closely watched. This knowledge would have completely changed my behavior that day, and might have given Boogie a better chance of surviving.


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## Chiluv04 (Dec 19, 2013)

johnsonperson said:


> I know this is an old thread, but I'm glad it is here. I am very sorry for your loss, and do not intend to re-open any old wounds. Reading your story has brought me comfort--not in your suffering by any means, but because what happened to my baby has been so hard to grasp, and the vets' answers so unsatisfying. Knowing that someone else has been through a similar situation with a similar end is helping me understand everything that happened to my pet.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So very very sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine what that must have been like. There are no words. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## debrawade10 (Oct 10, 2013)

I am so sorry for your loss, such a tragedy to go through for all of you.


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