[Allie]

Hi all,

I am desperate for some answers. I have a 1 year old shih-poo (shih tzu/poodle) named Teddy. About 2 months ago he started throwing up once everyday..mostly in the morning early hours and sometimes at night. After he threw up 2 days in a row I immediately tried to put him on a bland chicken and rice diet. He was unable to keep that down so I decided it was time to contact the vet. The vet took x-rays to check for blockages, did blood test and gave me some antibiotics as well as special RX food. His x-rays looked good no blockages however his blood test came back with a high white blood cell count and a high liver count (which was what the antibiotics were for because the vet concluded he had some type of infection.) While on the medicine and food Teddy didn’t throw up once..he was on the food for about 2 weeks. Unfortunately after I went back to his normal food the throw up continued. I called the vet and he told me to switch his food to a simple dry food..so we chose to feed him the “Wellness Simple” salmon & potato formula. This has seemed to help, Teddy went almost 2 weeks without throwing up and now more recently almost 1 week without throwing up. We had more blood test done just last week to see if everything was back to normal and the vet just called and informed me that all his blood work is normal however not even 2 minutes after I got off the phone he threw up (first time since last Tuesday, today is Monday.) My fear is that he will slowly go back to throwing up daily. I have read articles about IBD which I know cannot be detected through blood work but through a scope. I’m not sure what else to do or if I should wait it out and see if he doesn’t throw up again since the first time he threw up if was yellowish bile which I believe was because he did not eat the night before. I would just hate to wait and something terribly be wrong. He does not act weird, he is still playful and eats like normal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

[anonymous]

It might be time to get another opinion, I would schedule an appointment with another vet asap, record and labs can be faxed. Do you have a veterinary school near you? Maybe they could refer you to a Veterinary Internal Medicine Specialist.
From what you describe, the dog has not responded to treatment by the current vet.
Two months is a reasonable amount of time to wait and expect to see results.
Do you have a diagnosis? Additional testing may be needed. Put a call in to the current vet if you want to stay with him, tell him your concerns, see what he advises.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by anonymous.

[anonymous]

He may just have a sensitive stomach? Are you feeding him small meals with water added 2 or 3 times a day?
I would not free feed (leave food down), if he hasn’t vomited in almost a week, that is improvement. I reread your post, see how he does…..
PS: Maybe you should go back to the prescription food? You mentioned he did well on it.

[Christi B]

Has your dog played with any toys that have loose strings? Like rope type? Those can wind around intestines.

[Allie]

I think he may have a sensitive stomach, which is why we switched to a simple food diet. When it comes to free feeding, I think that is where I am stuck because he does not have a “set schedule” of when he eats, he pretty much does when he is hungry..I wish I would have made him have a set schedule when he was a puppy but I always left food down for past dogs and it was never a problem. I do want to try the smaller meals 2-3 times a day but don’t know where to start (don’t know when to put food down). Any suggestions for that? I was thinking about going back to the prescription food but wanted to see how this dry food worked, I could always ask the vet and see what he thinks.

He only has one rope like toy..but he doesn’t play with it as much as the others.

[anonymous]

This is what worked for my senior dog that had a sensitive stomach, presoak the kibble with water in the fridge overnight, store in a tightly closed container (about a 2 day supply). Give about 1/4 cup (or less if he is under 12 pounds or gains weight easily) mixed with a tablespoon of topper/soft food and a splash of water. Dogs love routine, so start whenever your breakfast time is, say 6am, then a snack maybe half of the morning amount of food (or at least a bite) at about 10 am (if possible), 2pm small amount again, always with a splash of water. Then suppertime a regular meal like the am one, then at bedtime 10-11pm give him a bite but no added water and a bathroom break, of course.
Put the food down, if he doesn’t eat, pick it up and store in the fridg, offer at the next mealtime. Always have fresh water available, bathroom breaks at least every 4 hours (if possible) and after meals.
Do not leave kibble down……unless your vet tells you something different. It’s okay if he skips a meal or two.
PS: Start brushing his teeth once a day, small breeds have lousy teeth, see YouTube for how to videos.
If you have to leave him unattended during the day, just leave a couple of small dog biscuits, not the bowl of kibble.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by anonymous.

[anonymous]

I forgot to say, when you put the food down I would wait 10 to 20 minutes for him to eat, otherwise, pick up the food.

[Susan]

Hi Allie,
The stomach/bowel is the hardest to diagnose, bloods normally all come back good nothing wrong, X rays are a waste of money, I’ve done Ultra Scan same every thing looked great, I recommend having an Endoscope & Biopsies done, you will get some answers, make sure vet does about 2 small biopsies, cause when they looked down Patches esophagus into stomach everything looked great, I’m so glad we had the biopsies as well, 3 days later results said he has Helicobacter-Pylori & IBD, the Helicobacter makes you feel very sick & vomiting… I’ve had it 3 times when I was younger…
Is your boy on any ant-acid medications?? My boy was put on Losec-(Prolosec) & this has helped heaps & rotating between 2-3 kibbles this way he doesn’t start getting use to the same ingredients in his kibble, I rotate between a Fish kibble & a Lamb kibble both grain free then I feed a lower fat-8% grain kibble “Canidae” Platinum is also very easy to digest Patch eats the Canidae when I start to see he’s becoming unwell with his stomach pain, Kcals are 342Kcals Per cup.. fat-8% protein-20% carbs-49% carbs are a bit high but fat & protein is nice & low, so stomach, pancreas & liver doesn’t have to work hard…. you may find a low Kcal kibble with less carbs. the Platinum is like a vet diet but has better ingredients, Canidae use human grade ingredients.. http://www.canidae.com/dog-food/products
Have look at “Taste Of The Wild”, Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb the Kcals are 338 Kcals per cup, Protein-25%, fat-15%max, Carbs-38%, this was the only food Patch got better on & didn’t start vomiting, eating grass & do sloppy poos after eating it for 3-4 weeks, we tried a few of the Wellness formulas, he did well for the first 3-4 weeks then he was vomiting & doing yellow sloppy poos, the “Wellness Simple” Salmon & Potato the Kcals are too high at 446Kcals per cup, I have to stay under 370 Kcals per cup for Patch….Higher Kcal kibble are more dense, so more work on the stomach & pancreas..
To find the Kcals per cup look on the kibbles web page find the kibble you want & look under “Feeding Guidelines” it should be there, sometimes they don’t put the Kcals per CUP they put Kcals per kilo…
also are you feeding 3-4 smaller meals a day? this helps…

Wellpet make Wellness, Holistic Select & Eagle Pack, brands.
have a look the “Holistic Select” Adult/puppy Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines Grain Free, Kcals are 341 Kcals per cup.. Carbs 32%. or they have single novel protein formulas, Duck Meal & rice or Lamb Meal & rice….but I found the Salmon & Potato grain free to be the better one http://www.holisticselect.com/
After 4 years of trying most kibbles I now feed the “Taste Of The Wild” Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb the “Holistic Select” Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines & the “Canidae Platinum” all in my cupboard in air tight containers, then the kibble bags are properly sealed & put in another plastic bag & big air tight container so they all stay fresh in a cool room… I also ask Patch some mornings which one (kibble) do you want to eat & let him smell the 2 different brand kibbles, he always picks his TOTW Roasted Lamb kibble, so that kibble mustn’t make his feel sick or give him his pain….
Maybe take back the bag of Wellness Simple bag, its a money back kibble, I always just say to the lady he won’t eat it, its easier that way then going into it’s making him vomit & do sloppy poos, when I did email Wellness the lady said it can take anywhere from 1 day to 6 week for food sensitivities to show symptoms but I think its something more with the Wellness cause Patch did the same on the Wellness Whitefish & Sweet Potato & the Wellness Senior….Yet he can eat the Holistic Select Salmon & Potatoes & is doing real well See if they have the TOTW Roasted Lamb or Holistic Select, Adult/Puppy, Salmon grain free there & swap over, the TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb has limited ingredients & once you introduce 2 different kibbles you can feed 1 kibble for a few days then just go straight onto the other kibble once they have been introduced, rotating also makes his stomach stronger….4 years ago I could never just give a new kibble, it took me 3 weeks to introduce it, now I introduce the new kibble when I’m 1/2 way introducing & poos are firm then I just feed the new kibble but that has taken 3-4 yrs also a good dog probiotic Purina Fortiifloria is suppose to be very good, they tested 10 dog probiotics only 3 probiotics were good & had live cultures, the Purina’s Fortifloria was one of the good ones..

[Author]

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