08/31/2026
Update on Bentley 🐾💙
Well, it’s been about 10 days since our first scare with Bentley. Initially, his X-rays showed that he had something in his stomach that definitely wasn’t supposed to be there. He ended up spending the night at the vet receiving fluids and laxatives to help get things moving. Thankfully, he came home, continued having bowel movements, and wasn’t vomiting, so we were hopeful that whatever our little rascal got into had passed.
Unfortunately, this past weekend he started acting nauseous again and developed diarrhea, and by Saturday night he began vomiting. By Sunday, his burps had an absolutely horrible, foul odor, and his diarrhea smelled just as awful. I didn’t really think we were dealing with another blockage because he was still having bowel movements, but I knew something wasn’t right.
Back to the vet we went this morning. The GOOD news is that his X-rays look great! 🙌 His stomach and intestines are clear, so whatever he originally ate that he wasn’t supposed to, he did pass. At this point, we’re wondering if this little rascal may have gotten ahold of a dead animal—possibly a bird or something similar—and eaten part of it, causing some type of gastrointestinal infection or irritation.
We sent out a f***l sample today to hopefully get some answers. Our vet also told us that Giardia and Coccidia are going rampant right now. We haven’t even been taking our dogs on walks since having our litters back in May because we try so hard to avoid bringing home all the yucky stuff, but unfortunately, dogs can pick these parasites up in so many different ways.
Giardia can be contracted by ingesting microscopic cysts from contaminated water, soil, grass, puddles, f***s, shared water bowls, contaminated surfaces, or even by licking contaminated paws or fur. Wildlife and other infected animals can contaminate an environment without you ever realizing it. Coccidia is also spread through contaminated f***s, soil, grass, food or water, and dogs can become infected by ingesting infected prey or animals such as rodents. This means a dog doesn’t necessarily have to be around another obviously sick dog to be exposed.
Symptoms can include very foul-smelling diarrhea, soft or watery stool, mucus in the stool, vomiting or nausea, decreased appetite, abdominal discomfort, lethargy, dehydration and sometimes weight loss. Some infected dogs may have mild symptoms or even no obvious symptoms at all, which is another reason these parasites can be so frustrating.
For now, we are waiting on Bentley’s f***l results to determine exactly what we’re dealing with and how we need to move forward. In the meantime, our vet has started him on a couple of different medications to help settle his GI tract and get this boy feeling better.
Apparently Bentley has decided that one expensive veterinary adventure wasn’t enough for the month. 😂🤦🏼♀️ We’re just thankful his X-rays are clear and there is NO blockage. Now we wait for the f***l results and hopefully get some answers for our sweet boy. Keep Bentley in your thoughts! 🐾💙
