My puppy ate sticks, won't eat, lethargic. Should I see a vet?

Hi, you need to have Arya checked over sooner than in a couple of days as she might deteriorate to the point of not being able to get better. I would not feed her and just offer small amounts of water little and often every half an hour and book an appointment to get her checked over.

Yes, I do think you should take Buddy into a vet now. I'm wondering if what he has been eating in the yard has made him sick or if he has a stomach illness. The vet can diagnose what is causing his symptoms and can treat him.

I can certainly understand your concerns about Finn's stick ingestion, but the good news is that it sounds as though he's still doing very well at home. Stick ingestion is a bit of a tricky situation. Even if you had taken Finn to his vet immediately after he'd eaten the stick, your vet would likely have advised against inducing vomiting. The induction of vomiting of potentially sharp objects risks perforation of the esophagus, which is extremely dangerous. The only other ways to get the stick out are a) wait for it to pass or b) surgically remove it. At this point, the fact that Finn is doing well at home (namely eating, drinking, and acting normally without any vomiting or diarrhea) indicates that it's still more than reasonable to simply wait and give him more time to pass it. While I can't definitively tell you that surgery is absolutely not indicated without having examined Finn, it doesn't sound as though it's something that you need to urgently pursue by taking him to the vet. For the time being, I think it's reasonable to continue monitoring Finn closely at home. If you notice anything change, such as a loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, retching, gagging, or diarrhea, be sure to take him to see his vet right away. Otherwise, feeding him a bulkier diet, such as bread and rice, pumpkin, and boiled chicken may help him to pass the stick through his stool a bit more efficiently. I hope this helps and that everything goes well!

The good news is that usually corn dog sticks don’t cause too much trauma in terms of the sharp edges. Sometimes, they don’t even eat any, they just chew it. If Pax is acting great, give him a slice of bread which can stick to the sharper pieces and ease their passing. That being said, it can still cause some vomiting or diarrhea and if you see these, or if you see lethargy or any other concerning signs, it time to take Pax to your vet.

I would be concerned that Bell hasn't returned to normal after 12-24 hours. While heat injury is possible usually dogs have issues sooner than now such as seizures, diarrhea, bruising and/or collapse. She could have a problem with her GI tract, something stuck in her esophagus or even a respiratory issues causing her changes. If she continues to cough, seems lethargic/lack of energy, or has any vomiting, diarrhea or continues to have a decreased appetite today she needs to be seen by a veterinarian. I would try calling your veterinarian today as they sometimes have an oncall service or an emergency veterinarian on call to answer questions as well.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. I would monitor Ripley for now as there are no clinical symptoms to be concerned about. What I would recommend doing would be to feed bread slices with pure canned pumpkin to help booked up the feces around the object to help prevent it from causing any punctures in the intestinal tract potentially. If you begin to see any symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy, abdominal pain, inappetence or anything else out of the ordinary I would get Ripley seen by a veterinarian sooner rather than later and have abdominal x-rays taken to see if the stick has caused any issues. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

It sounds like Ginny definitely has some GI distress going on if she is very lethargic, vomiting, and not eating. I would schedule a vet visit to have her examined if it continues, and if she seems in severe distress, has a very painful abdomen, or looks bloated, bring her in ASAP or to a local ER clinic. Various causes, such as general GI upset, obstructions, parasites, illness, pancreatitis, etc can all cause similar symptoms to this, so an exam to find the cause is best.