Colon Infection in Dogs: Ounce of Prevention, Pound of Cure

A few days after a newly discovered coastal hike I noticed something was a little different on my walks with Berlin.

Her normal “morning constitutional” had become loose. In fact, over three days, it was growing progressively loose. By the third day, even the products of our evening walks had digressed.  Berlin is not one to get into anything she shouldn’t, and I mean anything (I’ve left an entire meal on the coffee table only to return to it untouched minutes later), so with nothing else out of the ordinary, I committed to keeping a closer eye on her.

It wasn’t long before Berlin’s condition escalated.

I returned from errands that same evening to find Berlin had been sick, from both ends, all over the apartment. This is only the third time she has been sick in the nearly 5 years I’ve shared with her. The first was post spay surgery and the second resolved itself within a morning. Given her track record, I was optimistic that this too would pass quickly. Plus, knowing her increasing anxiety at the vet, I did not want to add any additional stress with a hopefully unnecessary visit.

To my heartache, over the next 12 hours she got sick, in one form or another, every 1-2 hours. When I thought she was making progress (you have to feel pretty good to be rolling over for belly rubs right?), I would just as quickly see her face turn yellow as she prepared for the next release. My amazing girl would get off the bed and sit by the door to let me know she had to go outside to relieve herself. With no reprieve and the color of the discharge turning to red, I headed to the vet at the break of day.