Intestinal Blockage timeline

[ZekeZira]

If a dog were to have an intestinal blockage, how long would it take for symptoms to appear. It turns out that Zeke destroyed a bed while kenneled last weekend and ate some stuffing. He pooped out the stuffing Sunday afternoon. On Thursday evening, he had diarrhea and that has continued. He has also had a bit of vomiting here and there. Even with all this, his appetite is good, though I am only giving him rice. He is also as playful as ever. I got some pro pectin for him yesterday and that has seemed to help to stem to Big D. Any thoughts as to if the two "events" are related. Surely if he had a blockage, it would have shown up before now, right? Maybe just a virus picked up at the kennel during the playtime? Like kids in daycare?

Thanks!

 

[Gatorblu]

I've never had to deal with a blockage, thankfully. But it is quite possible that your pup may have an infection. I think I would take him to the vet to make sure, or at the very least give them a call. You may be able to just bring in a stool sample. Last time I boarded Thor, he came home with an intestinal infection that took about a week to present itself. Hope Zeke is feeling better soon!

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

When my dog ate a part of his blanket, my vet said it was very possible it could have been done 3-4 weeks prior to his symptoms. It's just at what point do the pieces clog up those tubes. It depends on what was eaten too, obviously something like a hoof is going to show up faster than small pieces of something (ie rawhide) that can clump together to form a larger "mass" before causing a problem.

So, it really just depends, anywhere from 12 hours to a few weeks is my answer. If you suspect this you need to go to the vet and probably get an x-ray to see what if anything is in there. And in the mean time take all bedding away so it doesn't happen again. My dog almost died from an intestinal blockage, very scary stuff, long recovery time, and very expensive.

Also no reason to just give rice. Typically for a bland diet it's one part chicken to two parts rice (so you can do 1 cup chicken to 2 cups rice). He needs the protein and more nutrition than just plain rice.

 

[ZekeZira]

Just a quick update - Zeke is just fine. Yay! I really think it was just a little virus or nervous tummy from being at "Camp". We had normal poops on Friday evening so that was a relief - for him and us. I felt bad for my little (BIG!) man. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[LillyBear]

Glad to hear Zeke is fine. I'm sure you guys releived..... Lilly has gotten pretty bad about eating stuff. Baseball caps, pencils, notebooks, you name it. I've been worrying about the blockage thing with her.