[TheMattTrain]

I posted a few days ago about my dog vomiting but got no response. I hope that updating the situation might get a few hits.

My dog, Yahtzee, is about 11 months old. She's a lab/chow mix, 60lbs. On Wednesday, around noon time, she started vomiting. She threw up about 8 separate times, somewhere between 2-4 times on an occasion. We called the vet who told us we should bring her in to get checked out. When we did that, he gave her a shot to calm her stomach and provided some prescription dog food to give her in the morning and we were told to fast her for the night.

In the morning, Yahtzee didn't want to eat. She drank a little bit of water, then stopped. She started drooling excessively. In the morning, she had a very small bowel movement with mucous in it. We called the vet again. He told us to bring her in again to get looked at. He checked her stomach and said that she doesn't have any pain there. We were given some anti-vomiting medications along with an antibiotic and told to keep an eye on her.

This morning, day 3, we get up and she's still not feeling well. She's been pretty lethargic all day until the afternoon with the exception of trying to chase down a bunny this morning, nearly ripping my arm off. She stopped drooling, started drinking and eating again, and even got a small bowel movement out tonight. She was walking up and down the steps with me and even went to sit on the front porch to watch the birds, which is a typical behavior (the first one in 3 days!). She ate some boiled chicken and even some of the prescription dog food around lunch time.

Things seemed to be improving, but fast forward to about 4pm. She's drooling again, refusing food, but is drinking water still. I took her out to see if she would go poo because she hadn't since Yesterday morning. She'd been struggling to go all day, but I could tell she wanted to. She managed another small one with a lot of mucous in it. It was also dark in color.

She doesn't seem to be in any pain, but she looks miserable. She puts her ears back and just lays on her bed with those "puppy dog eyes."

Anyone have any suggestions about what to do for her tonight? The vet is closed for the weekend.

 

[Loki Love]

Did the vet check for an obstruction or anything? Do you have an E Vet that you can take her to?

 

[TheMattTrain]

He didn't do any blood work or ultrasound or anything. She's still going poo, so it doesn't seem like that would be the problem, does it? This is my first dog as an adult, so I don't know much. By E Vet I assume you mean emergency Vet. There's one that's about 45 minutes away. I live in a seasonal beach town, so there's not many services down here, especially in the "off season."

 

[Loki Love]

I'd be concerned about an obstruction - it may only be a partial obstruction. Clearly there is still something wrong and I'm not sure, given the signs she's displaying, that I would wait the weekend out. I'd probably be taking her in to the E Vet.

 

[luv mi pets]

If you are not happy with what this vet is telling you take him to another vet. Has the vet done any x-rays? If my dog, I would insist on a x-ray or even a barium series to check to see what is happening inside the dog.

 

[spotted nikes]

My vote is for partial obstruction. I agree you need X rays or barium series.

 

[LilasMom]

Why was a dog food prescribed?

 

[TheMattTrain]

I think I'm going to wait for another 8 hours or so to see if she improves at all today. If not, I'll consider the E Vet.

She was given prescription food because she was vomiting a lot and the doc thought this stuff might be easier on her stomach.

It's also not that I'm not happy with the Vet. I think he's actually really good and has been doing well with this whole situation. He calls me to check up on her and whatnot. I think what that we had been seeing improvement until yesterday around 4:00/5:00 so we all assumed she was getting better.

She still has some energy. She perked up at some bunnies this morning on our walk and rushed to go pee. I agree that a partial obstruction might be the problem. I've gotta go out this morning, but I'll see how she's feeling when we get home. If she'll take food or water or anything. If not, I'll be finding an emergency Vet.

 

[TheMattTrain]

I wanted to add that she's seemingly not in pain. My wife works in a geriatric facility as a Physical Therapist and said that all of her patients who have obstructions are hunched over in pain. The doctor even said that Yahtzee would be hunched over or at least flinch when you press on her stomach. I realize Yahtzee's a dog and not a person, but I press on her stomach every morning to make sure she's not in pain, and she doesn't flinch.

She just seems wiped out and nauseated.

 

[LilasMom]

I would think feeding a completely different food would make her more sick, not less, especially since the prescription food is full of terrible ingredients. What brand of food was your dog originally on and what brand of prescription food did they out her on?

 

[Bordermom]

I would think feeding a completely different food would make her more sick, not less, especially since the prescription food is full of terrible ingredients. What brand of food was your dog originally on and what brand of prescription food did they out her on?

I'd bet it's I/D which is a bland, easy to digest canned food. (could be another name but just plain easy to digest, overpriced food). Most vets will suggest it as an option (much like boiled chicken and rice) for dogs with digestive issues.

I agree with others that you should have more tests done if she's not improved yet. Dogs don't show the same signs of pain like humans do - we were talking about that last night how humans with c-sections are in bed for a week and dogs are bouncing off the walls a day later with the same thing....

Hope she's doing better soon and you get some answers!

 

[TheMattTrain]

She normally eats Purina One Puppy Formula and was given a Purina wet food product... W/D. There's also a Nutrition Diet E/N can that we were given as well. Haven't tried the E/N one. That's for diabetic dogs...

We actually got the Vet on the phone this morning. She said to monitor her closely. She's not concerned if she doesn't eat right now because nutritionally, she doesn't need it. She might just be refusing because she feels sick. She also said to try to get her to drink, so we're trying water, chicken broth, Pedialyte, and she even said to try gatorade if we want to.

Since we got home she tried some water but still not eating. Doc said to grab her some Pepsid AC at the CVS to give her in addition to her antibiotics and anti-vomiting med. I swear this dog is never going to let me touch her face again after I put all these pills down her throat!

 

[TheMattTrain]

I wanted to add that Yahtzee used to eat the blanket that we kept in her crate with her. We took that away about a week or so before she got sick. The Monday before she got sick (she got sick on Wednesday afternoon, and was having normal looking, regular bowel movements until Thursday morning) we had her at the PetSmart groomers. I'm not saying anything happened while she was there, but it's another factor. There could have been another sick dog, maybe she "got into something" while there, perhaps picked up an infection somehow... I don't know.

I'm racking my brain for something that could be partially obstructing her system.

She has had some fluids today, I'd estimate about 8oz or so. She's a 60lb dog, so not enough obviously, but at least it's something. Chicken stock isn't appealing to her. Haven't tried gatorade yet, but she refuses pedialyte too.

 

[spotted nikes]

Try boiling some boneless, skinless chicken and white rice. Let cool, and give her small meals of that frequently. Save the water. Freeze it, and skim off the fat. Thaw, and offer her that to drink.

 

[TheMattTrain]

We've done the chicken and rice. She was eating chicken yesterday but has since stopped. She would never touch the rice.

She's very much a food motivated dog, so obviously this isn't normal for her. She has had some more water today... It seems like she's more willing to have some when we come back from a walk. Her urine is relatively clear considering that she's not eating/drinking much. I've seen it almost neon before when she was healthy. She's not going like a horse or anything, but she's peeing out a fair amount and like I said, it looks relatively normal.

She's also been trying to eat grass. She's picking out a certain type of weed, it seems, and I'm not sure what it is, so I'm trying to make sure she doesn't eat too much of that... I know sometimes dogs like to eat grass to help them vomit and calm their stomach...

 

[LilasMom]

I am not sure if this is the cause of her illness, but Purina is a pretty terrible brand, for both the regular food and prescription formula. I would definitely consider switching foods when you can. All the grains are not very nutritious and make the pancreas work harder, not to mention the chemical and unnamed protein sources (menadione, poultry meal (?), animal fat/digest(?)). Pretty scary ingredients, and you get healthier food for cheaper

My dog eats grass as well when he gets sick, and throws it all up ten minutes later.

 

[TheMattTrain]

Just an update: Yahtzee drank more water tonight after we walked her. She's probably in the 15oz area for the day. Not normal amounts, but her urine is still relatively clear. Gonna pop another antibiotic in her tonight and see how she is in the morning.

As far as food goes, I'm planning on talking with my wife about switching her to something else in the next couple of weeks. She's gonna be getting off of puppy formula stuff soon, she's almost a year old, so I figure we can get her off once she's done her current bag. I know to mix it together until she adjusts. I just hope she starts feeling better soon.

 

[Hambonez]

I worked in a vet hospital for five years between college and grad school. We had a pup once come in with an obstruction that kept shifting, making it so *sometimes* the dog could digest, and other times not. The dog would vomit for a few days, not want to eat, then be seemingly improving for a few days, then back to the barfing. This went on for weeks because of a stubborn owner who didn't want to pay for surgery and kept wanting more opinions (despite an xray and ultrasound suggesting something was in there). Turned out the dog ate an ostomy bag and several socks, none of which the owner realized were missing. I think if she doesn't perk up I'd start some more testing, xrays, ultrasound etc... They can be so sneaky about ingesting stuff!!

 

[luv mi pets]

Pretty amazing what dogs will eat. Depends on where the foreign object is at in the dog's system if the dog blocks up. If it is in the stomach and stays there, dogs will not have the greatest appetite but will still eat. I do not think it is the dog food. If that is your dog in the picture, labs are notorius for eating anything and everything. The hunched up dog look is the norm for a blockage, but not always. I knew of a bull terrier that went for months with intermittent vomiting. X-rays, barium series, meds, foods were all prescribed to this dog. Everything on the x-rays looked fine, even the barium series. The barium emptied from the stomach with no shadowing of an object. Finally the vet and the owner agreed to do surgery. A small toy was discovered in the dog's stomach. Dog obvisouly did not realize what he did. Still had stitches in belly from surgery, went to be boarded for a nite at a kennel. The dog swallowed another toy that had rolled in it's cage from another dog.

lesson learned; sometimes the best thing when no answers to a casual approach, do surgery to see whats going on inside.

 

[begemot]

If you are not happy with what this vet is telling you take him to another vet. Has the vet done any x-rays? If my dog, I would insist on a x-ray or even a barium series to check to see what is happening inside the dog.

This. Given how common and dangerous obstructions are in dogs, it seems really weird to me that your vet hasn't done x-rays, with the information given.