My 8 Month old Dog, Samuel....

Question
Ok, I know you are not a vet, but I have no other options at this moment. Samuel (our dog) was diagnosed with mange about a month and a half ago. He just now completed all of his medication, and has cleared up and got his hair back. Now since earlier today he is unresponsive, not eating, and threw up plain water that I had given to him to keep him hydrated. We do not have a lot of money right now, or financial situation has dramatically changed, so I cant really afford to rush him into the vet. Please if you know something let me know what I can PLEASE do for him. Thank you so much.... Amanda

Answer
Hi Amanda,

Your dog's current condition probably isn't at all related to mange he was recently treated for. Mange doesn't cause lethargy or vomiting.

The unresponsive behavior is what concerns me the most. When a dog is conscious, but unresponsive it could be a sign of a serious or life-threatening illness, such as: poisoning, Brucellosis, Rabies, Blastomycosis and many more.

It is time to seek veterinary help for vomiting if your dog vomits more than a few times, if the vomit is ejected extremely forcefully, if there is blood in the vomit or obvious abdominal pain, or if your dog seems particularly depressed or weak, has a fever, or retches unproductively
If your dog vomits once or twice, has no fever or obvious abdominal pain, and is no more than slightly depressed (inactive), you can probably treat the vomiting at home. So the call is yours, as to whether or not your dog needs immediate treatment.

If you think your dog needs to see a vet now, contact your vet and explain your financial situation. Some vets allow the bill to be paid off over time. Call your local Humane Association or Animal Shelter. Many times they know of reduced cost vet clinics in their area.

There is credit you can apply for to be used especially for medical and veterinary proposes. Read more about the Care Credit service here:
http://www.carecredit.com/

If you think you'd like to try and treat your dog at home, here's what to do:
Give your dog irritated stomach a rest. Do not feed your dog for twelve to twenty-four hours following vomiting. At the end of twelve hours , you can offer a very small amount of soft, bland food such as cooked white rice and skinless chicken breast, pasta, or skinless potatoes mixed with low-fat cottage cheese (9-to1 ratio). If your dog keeps this small meal down for about four hours, another small meal can be offered, then another about four hours later. If no further vomiting occurs, the next day's meals can be normal-sized portion of bland food and the following day you can return your dog to a regular diet.
Water should be offered only in small amounts but frequently in order to combat the tendency to dehydrate that accompanies vomiting. Large amount of food or water distend the already irritated stomach and usually cause vomiting to recur. An easy way to have water available in small portions is to place ice cubes in the water bowl and allow the dog to drink the liquid that accumulates as the cubes melt.

Give it 48 hours, if your dog doesn't show signs of improvement, or gets worse, then you need to see a vet.

Best of luck,
Patti