I need dog help! Should we take my dog to an emergency vet?

Call the emergency vet and discuss the issue. If it is a blockage and you delay it could cause internal damage.

Let us know what happens.

Dogs with an upset stomach will eat grass , I would take him to the vet.

Okay, he just went on a walk with my father, and was acting normal…but not normal when he got home. Weird.

Maybe walking takes the pressure off a blockage or lets the stick shift. If he is not acting normal call the emergency vet- they are very kind and will be able to tell you over the phone if they think you need to bring him in.

:::::Edit- Yay! Syz is here!::::

Maybe he see’s the house as a bad place , and doesn’t feel settled there just now .

If he’s not exhibiting vomiting or diarrhea, you’re probably ok to wait and monitor his behavior for a while. And be careful no to get tunnel vision – it’s possible that his current problem may have nothing to do with the stick and may be something unrelated.

Eating grass is commonly seen with an unset stomach – try to restrict that. If he seems nauseated, withhold food and water for about 4 hours. If there’s been no problem in that amount of time, offer a limited amount of water and monitor. If that stays down, offer a bit more. Still no problem, offer a small meal (either his regular food or something bland like boiled rice with a tiny amount of chicken for flavoring).

Will he let you manipulate his abdomen? If you gently compress his stomach, it should feel fairly relaxed and soft. If he tenses (called splinting), vocalizes, or tries to bite (!), that’s an indicator that you should contact your emergency vet.

If he’ll let you, lift his lip and check his mucous membrane color (his gums) – they should be a nice, healthy pink. If they seem pale or blueish or grayish, call the vet.

If he begins intractable vomiting, straining to defecate, or diarrhea, go ahead and call.

And as always, trust your instincts – you know your dog better than anyone.

Is it bad to see if he’ll eat dinner? Because if he refuses food, we’d definitely call the vet. But, because he threw it up..I’m hesitant to call.
okay, reading @syz‘s response

I’d take him to the vet
NOW

@syz Thanks for the advice. I’ll try compressing his belly and seeing how he reacts.

I hope he’s doing okay!

Okay, so we felt his belly all over and nothing hurt him. He didn’t resist or complain (he’s pretty calm about things like this normally) So, my father is holding off on feeding him, and keeping an eye on him for a while.
He’s mainly my parents dog, but also the family dog. Apparently he’s been throwing up all week, I just didn’t know because he’s been doing it in their bed. Maybe the bread he ate finally got the stick to come out??

Oh man… I guess there’s nothing to say after @syz, but I hope he feels better soon!

Okay, it’s been an hour.
We attempted to feed him his regular dinner, and he won’t touch it :( But, he’s begging from us, for our dinner (which is usual for him)
He was drinking water, and then within 20 minutes, he threw up the water.
I told my parents we should call the vet, but they’re still monitoring her. I hope he’s okay. :(

I would take him in as he is obviously in pain.

Please keep us posted.

I hope this answer finds you at the vets now. That poor dog has a problem that needs immediate attention.

You better be at the vet right now!

He has not been taken to the vet, it is not my decision to take him or not. I want to, but my husband and I cannot afford it. My parents want to wait until tomorrow. He just ate his dinner, and is drinking water. We’re going to watch him, and take him for a walk to see what kind of poop he has. Hopefully he keeps the food down.

Yeah. Your dog is sick and will only get worse if you don’t bring him in. I’m sure you don’t want him to suffer.

Did you go to the Vet?

Ok, let’s not be too harsh on cash, here. There’s a lot to be said for falling on hard times. If she can’t afford it, she can’t afford it. She’s obviously very concerned about her pet, but she’s doing what my parents did when I was growing up. They couldn’t afford to take me to the doctor and we never had insurance, so we only went for extreme emergencies. It didn’t make them bad parents… well, that alone didn’t… but, not everyone can go to their fancy doctors every time there’s a suspected problem. If you’re going to spend a couple hundred dollars on a visit and some procedure, you better be damn sure it’s necessary. She’s not being neglectful, she’s weighing her options.

@ubersiren – lurve. Also, I think people keep missing that it’s not solely her dog. Her parents have the ultimate decision on what to do. Cash is looking for something to do for the dog – looking for help. Not for criticism.

I am thinking positive thoughts for the whole situation and hope we get a good update by morning.

@cak, “Cash is looking for something to do for the dog – looking for help. Not for criticism.”

Speaking for myself and probably most (if not all) of the others who posted here, we ARE only trying to help. In our opinion, the animal is sick and suffering. The answer FROM US is to take the dog to the Vet right away. Should we feel that the animal must be taken to the vet right away yet say “It’s OK. You asked us for answers. The answer, TO US, is to go to the Vet. You don’t have a small problem there. But since you can’t afford it, it’s OK. Let the dog suffer”???

What IF it was a child and, like @ubersiren posted, casheroo could not afford health care. Do we say “It’s ok. Your child does NOT have a minor illness in our opinion but since you can’t afford it don’t take care of it”??

It’s not personal to @casheroo by any stretch of the imagination. She asked. We answered to the best of our ability. Nobody’s “being hard” on cash. No one’s criticizing her personally. And some people are merely trying to convey the urgency in the situation that they feel it to be.

I really didn’t take any offense to any posts. I was just stating…this is not my dog, it was not my decision not to take him in. It’s just easier to call him “my dog” than type out “the dog that used to be mine, but I gave to my parents but we live with him too”

@Quagmire If I felt it was really an emergency, I’m sure my father would have felt the same way…this dog is his baby. We know the dog pretty well, so I was going by his personality. I’ve had dogs all my life, so I knew sort of what to look out for, but still wanted some expert advice (and was waiting for @syz)

The dog ate dinner around 10pm, kept it all down. He also ate his breakfast at normal time, and went for his normal morning poop. He is acting completely normal and just like himself. I’m thinking throwing up the stick made him feel quite crappy and that’s why he held off on eating. We’re still watching him, and making sure his poops are normal. But, everything seems to be fine. From what I had read online, it was the getting the stick out part that we should have been concerned about…but none of us knew he had even eaten it. I’m glad it came out easily though.

HOOORRRAAAYYYY!

I just love a happy ending!

@casheroo Thanks for letting us know.

@Quagmire – Yes Quagmire. I wanted the dog to suffer. I am the devil and wanted the dog to suffer. Clearly, from what I said that is what I wanted to happen, I’m so glad you read my mind.

With syz’s advice on the board, the best info was out there. They were doing the best they could and keeping a very close eye on the dog. Thankfully, the dog is feeling better.

@casheroo missed this question as not been on line for a couple of days, it seems like your dog has made a good recovery, so hope all continues to be well xx

well the grass thing doesnt really concern me. my dog eats grass simply just because he likes it. but if hes been acting weird, not hyper, then maybe take him to the vet. check his gums, if they are losing color DEFINITELY take him to the vet. it could have nothing to do with the corn dog. my dog is like the most hyper dog ever and one day he just started laying around and he was NOT himself at all. he was losing color in his gums, not eating, and so we took him to the vet and he had a serious blood disease and his organs were shutting down. we had to put him down that day :( so if i were u get a vet as soon as possible!

My main concern about eating sticks is that he could get a splinter. Even if he throws up the stick, it could have left a bit or poked a hole which could cause infection and death. That’s NEVER good. You need to do everything you can to keep him from eating hotdog sticks.

@casheroo So how is the dog doing these days?

@YARNLADY Thanks for asking!
Actually, the dog goes to the vet more often than not :( He has allergies, and woke up the other day with a giant swollen eyebrow, he probably got stung by a bee. Prior to that, he got a weird infection in his paw, and had to go on all sorts of medications because they didn’t know what caused it…and now he’s chewing on the same paw again :(
And three days ago, our cat knocked a hamburger on the floor..and it had onions in it. Poor dog had diarrhea for an entire day, and was pooping all night. He’s better now.
He just got his thyroid rechecked, because he’s losing hair about his eyes. The doctors aren’t sure why it’s happening, so they think it might be dermatitis or allergies…maybe thyroid.
He’s an 11 pound dog with so many issues! But, no issues from the stick at least lol

Thanks. The previous dog I had was a money pit, with allergies and skin problems, and infections for the entire 10 or so years of her life, but I loved her anyway. The one I have now is totally normal, thank goodness. He eats high quality, store bought food, and has only been to the vet’s once for a foot injury, beyond the regular heart worm and Advantage treatments.

Thats why we have our dog insured!!! He would have cost us a couple of hundred pounds withing a few weeks of having him, due to a cut paw!!