My dog up untill early evening yesterday has not been feeling good. She has not eaten anything for almost a day but she is drinking water. She is sluggish. Nose is dry but cold. Steady breathing not to hard, her ears twitch like she is cold. She threw up last night and she has been eating leaves from our house plants for some odd reason. We're not sure what is up.

How old is she?

(The eating plants has no 'odd reason' Dogs self-medicate.She'll be eating plants because her stomach is upset. Dogs eat grass to help them vomit or to quell a sick stomach.Some eat other plants for more subtle reasons.One of mine regularly seeks out particular species of plant, plants which I later discovered were known to herbalists as suited as remedies )

She is only 9. This morning we gave her some ham with a pepto-bismol in it but she did not eat that. We also gave her some dog food mixed in with some chicken broth and turned her nose up at it. She is almost going on a day with out eating and that is worrying me the most.

Don't worry about her not eating, in itself.That's just a symptom.She's not eating because at present her stomach is upset.

In nature wild dogs, such as wolves, may go for days without eating because they are dependent on the chance of a kill or the chance of finding carrion.They are designed for that. That explains why a domestic dog will bolt its food and act as though it may never see another meal, to the extent of eating so much so fast that it vomits.It should know that it will be fed regularly every day, but isn't going to take the chance, and will sometimes carry food off to hide or bury what it isn't able to eat at the time.

She's not going to starve herself to death!

Don't give the bitch antacids or other human digestion remedies: she's a dog and her digestion is not quite like ours! (You only have to think what disgusting things a dog eats, to appreciate that.The dog has a very strong stomach and can eat rotten food which would certainly upset us).

Unless the dog starts to show other, marked, symptoms, I'd leave her.If she starts to look ill in herself, her condition worsens, then you need the vet. Otherwise,she'll eat when she feels ready. Keep an eye on her, but, from what you say, it looks as though you can give her another 24 hours without concern. I have a Yorkshire terrier who has been behaving exactly like this.She would go 48 hours without eating before she could bring herself to do as much as sniff at food but she did, eventually, start to pick at food and then resume normal eating.

We called the vet and they said give her some white rice with a little chicked broth and see what happens. Well she fianlly ate something and she is feeling better. Not sure what the whole problem was but we'll make sure to prevent her from getting into things she should not. BTW is it ok to give her heart worm meds if their a month past their exp. date?

No.

Doug, you did the right thing by calling the vet -that is always the best course of action. If you can describe her symptoms well enough, they may be able yo recommend home treatment -as they did- and you can avoid an expensive vet bill.
But I would caution against giving your dog any sort of people medicine without first consulting your vet. People and pets are different, different sizes, different chemistry -different doses of different medicines are required. If the vet says okay, that's one thing, but don't just assume that a med that works for you will be harmless to your dog.
And no, don't give your dog anything that has expired.

i think one month past the expiration date should be fine, but call the vet and ask. i know my vet would okay it. pet medications are expensive.

Sounds to me like a case of Dog Stomach Flu: I don't know if there really is such, but ours gets periods of stomach ills which I call the flu. Her actions/reactions remind me of our seasonal stomach flu, thus that is what I call it.

Around here we treat with rice mixed with bullion flavoring - they come in cubes and in packets and in jars. One cube to a cup of hot water, mix until dissolved - one teaspoon of the loose stuff to a cup of water. Cook the rice in the 'soup' water, let cool. Chicken flavoring appears to be slightly easier on the stomach and even a sick dog will eat a little.

There are pet grasses sold through pet stores, its wheat grass. You can either buy the already grown grass (cats especially love it) or you can get wheat grass seed and plant a tray: http://www.sproutpeople.com/seed/wheatgrass.html

BTW Wheatgrass is good for humans too

Let the dog eat grass, that will cause the dog to vomit - this is a good thing since the dog is purging the stomach.

Dogs are prone to develop wheat sensitivity as they get older, not to the grass, but to the wheat seed/grain that we make flour out of. Actually its a gluten sensitivity, part of the make-up of wheat grain. It can cause skin conditions, upset stomach, diarrhea, vomiting, and a few other not so nice things. Onset of an allergy can be sudden, while the dog may have eaten wheat for the past 9 years, now suddenly its sensitive to the wheat.

Dog food is bulked up with wheat (flour), thus you need to get one that is not. Rice and lamb diet food (expensive? yeah sort of) has no wheat in it.

It is possible that the dog food you have is causing the problem. Switch to a lamb and rice diet and see what happens - its a bit easier on the stomach and good for the 'dog stomach flu' for a week after the illness - see if that makes the dog feel better. Once well switch back to whatever you used before, if symptoms return, take the dog to the vet and say what you have done.

Around here we always keep a bowl of dry kibble down. Each new dog that comes in our house goes through a week or two of scarf until they vomit - but in the end they understand that the food is always there and will change their eating patterns. Our current dog will take a mouthful of kibble to her blanket (bed) and drop it, then lay there and eat a piece of kibble, snooze a little, take another kibble.

Her over all consumption of dog kibble is less than 2 cups a day - she is a lab/rott mix - a fairly large breed - wider and more bulked up than a black-lab due to the rott.

If the dog is scarfing down its one meal a day, try leaving food down all the time - yes for a week or so the dog will go crazy, however once it gets the idea that food is always there it will 'graze' and not be a glutton. This will have a long term positive impact on the stomach. Dog kibble swells in the stomach (Just add water and see) unfortunately a dog can make themselves sick or sicker by eating dry kibble to fill an empty stomach, the kibble swells and the dog vomits to purge the excess, gets hungry all over again, scarfs again - sometimes even eating what it has purged.

Expiration dates on vitamins, drugs, etc usually mean that the medication is no longer at optimal potency. While you are dosing the dog if you give the dog the expired one, it will not be a full dose, it will, after a month post due, be slightly less potent, and mayn't do the trick.

6 months after most drugs are so low in potency you are better off taking none. In some cases the chemicals decay into toxins - so you really do not want to give anyone those expired drugs too far past expiration date.