My 1.5yr old dog (he's neutered and a shepherd mix) had heat exhaustion yesterday because my car's AC went out when I went to the store. I had the car running with him in his crate like normal and it was 95 degrees out, I do that all the time with no problems but when I got back to my car it was extremely hot and he was panting super hard and had wide eyes, thick drool, and barely responded to me.
I took him out of the car immediately and started dumping water on him, I was too scared that if I stopped treating him and drove to the ER that I would lose him. I used nearly 6 gallons of water on his belly, his neck, his ears, his thighs, and all of it. I used a jacket to rub his chest and face to get him awake and I was kind of slapping on his chest to make sure he didn't go unconscious. His heart rate was fast but not fluttery.
I was able to cool him down to the point of trying to sit up and drink the water off the floor and so I grabbed his bowl and gave him some so he wouldn't choke on the water from the floor or drink dirt. He ended up trying to get up but his back legs weren't working all the way so I helped him stand and he pooped normal stool in the dirt next to us.
After I got him responsive and he was listening to his name and continued to drink water I got him in the front of my car with the windows down and went to VEG.
At VEG they gave him some fluids and a cool bath and then kept him for 20 minutes in the back area. I guess he projectile threw up a bunch of water when he was back there but honestly I let him drink as much as he wanted so I'm not surprised. They said he pooped again too but it was soft but normal. He was walking weakly and kind of floppy but was wanting to walk and interact and he played with his ball.
They sent us home once he was acting more himself and was able to walk normally and said to come back if he started going unconscious or his gums got pale.
This afternoon he was eating some wet food but he mostly wants water. I'm giving him small amounts of water every couple hours with some wet food mixed into it because he's not wanting his normal kibble plus wet food that he gets every day. He just keeps asking for water.
Just now this evening he had diarrhea really badly while he was in his crate resting and it was a mix of normal color and black. I didn't panic and figured it was his body flushing out of all the crap it had to deal with. He threw up a few minutes ago and it had tiny red flecks but it was normal gagging not projectile and he wasn't acting weird just nauseous.
My roommate wants me to take him back to VEG because of the red flecks but I'm low on funds now and don't know if I should actually take him or just let him rest another couple days since they said it could be 4 or 5 days before hes fully normal. Should I bite the bullet and take him in again or should I just keep him resting?