George Is Vomiting And Off His Feed

[Guest Ilenya]

I'm new to posting on any kind of chat room, so hope I'm doing this right!

 

George, age five, and Mazie now 7, came to our home last summer and are delights.

 

However, for the last couple of months George has been having stomach upsets, and more often recently. He still loves to go for walks on the leash, and to run in the back yard and play with his toys indoors.

 

Both dogs have had intermittent diarrhea -- very soft unformed or semi-formed, not watery -- since arriving. They do not have hookworms, just recently tested for this again. They've had dental work and are having another cleaning in two weeks -- George really needs it more than Mazie this time.

 

With snow and really cold weather in Vermont, both dogs have taken to eating frozen feces. I've tried but can't pry the stuff out of the snow and I'm not good outdoors in really cold weather anyway, and I'm usually at work during daylight hours.

 

For the diarrhea, the vet thought it was related to diet and said eliminate the canned food and if that doesn't work, change the dry food; experiment. I'm still just a couple of days into eliminating the canned food and George seems to be sulking and not interested in the dry food alone. When he was eating, he drank lots of water afterward and I could hear his stomach gurgle.

 

About a month ago George started throwing up or burping and hacking trying to throw up on several evenings.

Once he threw up a lot of partially digested food. Mostly it is small to medium amounts of clear watery fluid and a little bit of broken up pieces of kibble.

 

It could be related to diet -- California Naturals Lamb and Rice. I was adding a couple of teaspoons of Mereck canned food (a variety). Stopped that about three days ago. Both dogs have been on this since we got them last summer. No problems until the past six weeks or so.

 

It could be related to eating "poopsicles." Ugh. Tips on how to stop this? It wasn't a problem in warmer weather.

 

It could also be related to stress, as his tummy problems (barfing) worsened about the time my husband was negotiating for and accepting a job out of state and now I'm preparing to put our home on the market, have painter crew here during the day, etc.

 

Are there home remedies safe and suitable to help him feel better? Thanks much for any assistance you can provide.

[RobinM]

You said the vet saw them correct??? If they saw the vet recently, I would ask the vet if it were OK to give them 1 (ONE) pepcid in the morning, prior to eating. That will usually stop the rumbly tummies.

 

Definitely keep them away from the poop. Clean it up in your yard as soon as they go so they can't get to it and make sure they don;t get other dogs poop. All my dogs have formed by yucky poop becasue of the supplememts we give, we deal with that.

 

I know you can add in a small amount of CANNED PUMPKIN. NOT THE PIE FILLING! MAKE SURE IT'S NOT THE FILLING FOR PIE, as that is sweetened. This will help firm up the poops. No more than ONE tablespoon mixed in becasue too much will cause loose ® poops. They'll love it too!

 

It's definitely not normal to be throwing up often.

Edited February 20, 2008 by RobinM

[Guest luckydog]

Don't feed just dry kibble, put a glass of warm water in the bowl with the kibble to soften it up and make a sort of gravy. Easier for the the dog to eat and digest.

[Burpdog]

Pepcid, possibly ginger capsules. Problem is that if it is due to stress, these will calm his stomach but not do much to correct the problem.

 

Have you tried a different protein source? If the poop is soft, maybe they would do better on the chicken.

[Guest rubysdad]

I'm new to posting on any kind of chat room, so hope I'm doing this right!

 

George, age five, and Mazie now 7, came to our home last summer and are delights.

 

However, for the last couple of months George has been having stomach upsets, and more often recently. He still loves to go for walks on the leash, and to run in the back yard and play with his toys indoors.

 

Both dogs have had intermittent diarrhea -- very soft unformed or semi-formed, not watery -- since arriving. They do not have hookworms, just recently tested for this again. They've had dental work and are having another cleaning in two weeks -- George really needs it more than Mazie this time.

 

With snow and really cold weather in Vermont, both dogs have taken to eating frozen feces. I've tried but can't pry the stuff out of the snow and I'm not good outdoors in really cold weather anyway, and I'm usually at work during daylight hours.

 

For the diarrhea, the vet thought it was related to diet and said eliminate the canned food and if that doesn't work, change the dry food; experiment. I'm still just a couple of days into eliminating the canned food and George seems to be sulking and not interested in the dry food alone. When he was eating, he drank lots of water afterward and I could hear his stomach gurgle.

 

About a month ago George started throwing up or burping and hacking trying to throw up on several evenings.

Once he threw up a lot of partially digested food. Mostly it is small to medium amounts of clear watery fluid and a little bit of broken up pieces of kibble.

 

It could be related to diet -- California Naturals Lamb and Rice. I was adding a couple of teaspoons of Mereck canned food (a variety). Stopped that about three days ago. Both dogs have been on this since we got them last summer. No problems until the past six weeks or so.

 

It could be related to eating "poopsicles." Ugh. Tips on how to stop this? It wasn't a problem in warmer weather.

 

It could also be related to stress, as his tummy problems (barfing) worsened about the time my husband was negotiating for and accepting a job out of state and now I'm preparing to put our home on the market, have painter crew here during the day, etc.

 

Are there home remedies safe and suitable to help him feel better? Thanks much for any assistance you can provide.

 

1 tablespoon of meta mucil is the cure. If you must feed some canned dog food, then 1/2 can of canine WD.

[Guest charmsmom]

I would try fasting for one day, then start with boiled chicken, add in rice, and then GRADUALLY work back to a kibble diet. If you want to change foods, that would be the time to do it. You really don't want to do a sudden change. Do they eat a lot of grass? That can be a sign of a bad diet, too.

 

Poop eating can be stopped with a stool guard on the muzzle, but you don't want to leave it on when you can't watch the dogs.

 

HTH!!

[Guest rosebudd]

Have you ever considered a raw diet?

[ahicks51]

Canned pumpkin and yogurt are often suggested. If these don't work and there's no underlying medical cause, try beet pulp. It works here with our hounds, and I've sent samples to several people who have similar results. Find a feed and seed store that has beet pulp (pellet or shredded); it'll run about $10 for 50 pounds. Add ~1 tablespoon or so to each meal; folding it in with peanut butter to make it edible is strongly suggested. Works great.

 

If you can't find any locally, drop me a line (I don't think you can send PMs yet) and I'll send you a box with just enough to try it.

 

Good luck!