What To Do About Beau's Tummy?

[RobinM]

This has been going on for a while (2+ weeks) and as of Monday we upped the pepcid to 2x a day (xtra strength) and 2- 500mg of flagyl BID. As per the vet.

 

He was OK Tuesday and was ehh for breakfast and dinner on Wednesday. At 4PM this morning he started whimpering which meant he wanted to go out. He stayed outside for 20 minutes walking along the fence line eating whatever grass he could find. Came back in, only to wake us up again 20 minutes later to do the same thing. His tummy is rumbling and gurgling enougt that you can hear it across the room. He can not eat this morning. Beau is very thin to begin with. He is at his racing weight so if he loses he starts looking emaciated. I am worried about my baby Beau.

 

Any ideas what this can be and how it can be treated? I will be bringing him in on Saturday to have bloods done. Vet wasn't overly concerned on Monday when I spoke to her. She said I really needed to have Beau on the flayl a good 10 days before.... but I am wondering if he should be symtomatic during the course of meds.

 

I am about to leave for work. I hate leaving him without breakfast and feeling sick. I hope he will be OK till I get home. Today is a short day for me, I will be home by 3 (Office party which I don't go to).

 

 

 

[Fiona3]

Robin, I am so sorry you are seeing your Beau so uncomfortable. You mentioned he was eating grass. Our Tasha cannot eat grass without getting stomach distress (vomiting, loss of appetite, etc.) and she gets a gurgling stomach as well. There is something about the grass that just sets her off. She is on I-D diet because it seems to be the only food that she digests really well or won't turn up her nose at as she has sensitive stomach issues which she only developed last winter.

 

Could Beau be having the same problem? When she had stomach upsets in the past we got her to eat chicken soup, mashed potatoes, some boiled chicken & pasta - all things that were soothing until her stomach was on the mend (which took a few days).

 

Good luck with your beautiful Beau - I hope you have some solutions for him soon.

[RobinM]

Robin, I am so sorry you are seeing your Beau so uncomfortable. You mentioned he was eating grass. Our Tasha cannot eat grass without getting stomach distress (vomiting, loss of appetite, etc.) and she gets a gurgling stomach as well. There is something about the grass that just sets her off. She is on I-D diet because it seems to be the only food that she digests really well or won't turn up her nose at as she has sensitive stomach issues which she only developed last winter.

 

Could Beau be having the same problem? When she had stomach upsets in the past we got her to eat chicken soup, mashed potatoes, some boiled chicken & pasta - all things that were soothing until her stomach was on the mend (which took a few days).

 

Good luck with your beautiful Beau - I hope you have some solutions for him soon.

 

I'm hesitant to switch foods on him when he is like this. he is on Pro plan sensitive stomach and I have to admit this started after the food change although it could be coininsidental, I don't know,

[CaliforniaGreys]

No ideas here Robin, but please give him a hug from us. Hope he feels better when you get home.

[patricia]

Sending prayers and hugs.

[crazygang]

Talk to your vet again, I can only say what works for my boy......usually have a 100ml bottle of Kaogel to hand from my vets for my greyhound give him a spoonful of this when he has a gurgly tummy sometimes gulping grass down then retching afterwards with loose bowel 'motions'.

 

I feed him a little biscuit late at night before bedtime (supper) to ensure he doesn't have his breakfast on an empty tum.

 

This all seems to help him.....

[RobinM]

Talk to your vet again, I can only say what works for my boy......usually have a 100ml bottle of Kaogel to hand from my vets for my greyhound give him a spoonful of this when he has a gurgly tummy sometimes gulping grass down then retching afterwards with loose bowel 'motions'.

 

I feed him a little biscuit late at night before bedtime (supper) to ensure he doesn't have his breakfast on an empty tum.

 

This all seems to help him.....

 

Kaogel is for the big D- though isn't it? Beau doesn't have D.

 

He will go for lab work Saturday. This can't go on like this. My poor boy has a tummy ache.

[Guest Winterwish]

Robin so it's not the big D but lack of appetite? I wonder of the flagyl could be causing that. Then,the lack of appetite - followed by hunger - then tummy ache,followed by Beau's yearning to eat grass to fix the belly ache or maybe nausea that could be from flagyl possibly? Just putting that out there to you as steps that may be happening possibly.

 

What was happening that Beau needed the flagyl,was it the big d? If that's under control,maybe he could be taken off of it?

Edited December 18, 2008 by Winterwish

[RobinM]

No- he never had D. He had lack of appetite and a VERY VERY GURGLY tummy. Loud enough to wake us up and it always starts about 4 AM. He waits us up by crying to let us know he wants to go out and he then spends up to 1/2 hour at a time in back.

[Chicocat]

Robin, have you tried giving him a snack before bedtime?

[Batmom]

What was he eating before? Did he have problems on his previous food?

[RobinM]

Batmom- he was on proplan chicky and rice. His poop was always yucky- no worms - just yucky BUT his tummy was OK.

 

I Switched (Slow switch) to pro plan sensitive stomach and shortly after, this started.

 

Think in the middle of this, I should switch him back?

[Batmom]

Yep.

 

It could be a bug or a virus, but I'm always really suspicious of symptoms that start around the time of a food change.

[RobinM]

Talked to Dh about it and he said we've been through prob 3 bags of it already. Would it start this far into it?

 

Seafood allergy? He ate nothing until about 5pm - and he ate a milkbone and about a cup of boiled chicken and rice.

 

Will try more later. He's losing weight and is so thin to begin with.

[Batmom]

Depends on how long to get thru those 3 bags vs. how long he's had troubles. Kind of a crapshoot. If he was eating it awhile and not having problems, it could be he developed a sensitivity to something in it during that time ... or it could be his problem is completely unrelated.

 

Have you tried him on rice and beef / chicken for a week or so? I like beef because it has more fat and thus more calories. Harder to get enough calories in a dog feeding chicken altho some dogs do tolerate it better.

 

Not much help, eh? I hope he turns around soon. He's a sweet handsome kiddo who deserves to enjoy his food and not have grumbly tummy all day.

[RobinM]

Thanks, Batmom ( AND everyone else)

 

I think we've been on the sensitive tummy since Sept. I THINK. I also think DH is wrong. he may have bought 3 bags but i bought some too. We did a slow transition.

 

 

I could try the beef/ rice for a week. What percentage fat do you suggest? I don't normally buy meat. For Beau- anything!

I am also going to have his blood done on Saturday and see the vet...again. This has been going on too long. He is losing weight and like you said, he shouldn't have to feel this way.

 

[Batmom]

I would probably start with something like 1 - 1.5 cups rice DRY MEASURE and 0.5 lb. ground beef per day, divided into 2-3 meals.

 

Cook the rice of course; I like to add some extra water so it cooks up good and soft (for 1.5 cups dry, I'd use the 3 cups water called for plus an extra .75 cup). Beef -- unless pup has a lot of trouble with fat, I get medium fatty, cook it gently, and leave all the fat in. Sprinkle of parmesan cheese or biscuit crumbs on top if that helps attract attention.

 

1 cup dry measure of rice, @ 675 calories, half a pound of beef, @ 400 calories. At the ratio of 1 - 1.5 cups dry measure of rice and half a pound of beef, you're talking pretty low fat.

 

If he tolerated that for a couple days, I'd probably up the beef to .75 - 1.0 lbs to get some more calories in. Dunno what you normally feed, but I'm guessing at least 1400 calories per day? You wouldn't be feeding this forever, tho -- maybe 3 days initially to see if it helps his tummy, then a couple more days for stabilizing and switching over to something else.

[RobinM]

I

 

1 cup dry measure of rice, @ 675 calories, half a pound of beef, @ 400 calories. At the ratio of 1 - 1.5 cups dry measure of rice and half a pound of beef, you're talking pretty low fat.

 

I was with you until the calorie content...

 

The rice I have is 120 per cup. What the heck kind of rice you got in Illinois!!??

[Batmom]

The 120 per cup is probably talking about COOKED measure, not dry measure.

 

ETA: So, if your rice is 120 calories per cup when cooked, start with 2 cups cooked rice and 1/4 - 1/3 lb. cooked ground beef per meal. Easier?

[Guest greytbookert]

Hi Robin... Poor Beau!

 

I thought I would throw out the idea of possibly trying Slippery Elm Bark powder. We used it for Booker when he had tummy issues and it is suppose to sooth the digestive tract. I hope you have some luck soon!

 

 

[RobinM]

The 120 per cup is probably talking about COOKED measure, not dry measure.

 

ETA: So, if your rice is 120 calories per cup when cooked, start with 2 cups cooked rice and 1/4 - 1/3 lb. cooked ground beef per meal. Easier?

 

Gotcha! thanks.

 

Hi Robin... Poor Beau!

 

I thought I would throw out the idea of possibly trying Slippery Elm Bark powder. We used it for Booker when he had tummy issues and it is suppose to sooth the digestive tract. I hope you have some luck soon!

 

What is that and where is it bought?

[Guest greytbookert]

Hi Robin... Poor Beau!

 

I thought I would throw out the idea of possibly trying Slippery Elm Bark powder. We used it for Booker when he had tummy issues and it is suppose to sooth the digestive tract. I hope you have some luck soon!

 

What is that and where is it bought?

 

I got ours at an apothecary shop, locally in Sturbridge. I bet some health food stores carry it. Slippery elm bark is just a powder from the tree bark. Here is some info on it. http://www.naturalherbsguide.com/slippery-elm-bark.html We consulted with a holistic vet, who specializes in nutrition, who suggested that we use this while helping Booker get over his belly troubles.

 

The site that I linked above, talks about capsules. We didn't find capsules but we found the actual powder at the apothecary store. Try your area for a wicka store (that is what ours is ) They might actually ship some to you.. here is their web site http://www.earthspirits-herbals.com/

 

 

[MerlinsMum]

Aaaargh I just typed a long post and it was eaten up

 

Beau Beau Just wanted to add that when I asked the vet what kind of beef to buy (since we're vegan I don't have a clue about this stuff), she recommended ground beef that was 80% lean... not quite sure what that means, but apparently I had to look for the packaged ground beef that had a 80% - 20% sticker on it. She said to avoid anything higher than 80%. Not sure if that helps...

 

I worried a lot when I heard Merlin's tummy get all gurgly because that's one of the symptoms Soul had before he got really bad bloody stools, but I noticed that after he had his meal his tummy stopped gurgling, so it was obviously just hunger. Same thing may be causing Beau's gurgling, especially if he's not eating that much. Did he eat his food last night?

[RobinM]

I don't think the gurglies are from hunger because they usually start @ 4AM, after he's eaten the day and night before.

 

He ate a cup or more of chicky and rice about 5 pm and then at about 8 pm he had almost a cup of kibble with chicky and rice.

 

He ate breakfast, late today ( i was able to offer it an hour later as I am home and could wait it out) kibble, chicken and rice. I have to go out and buy the beef and more rice today. I will speak to vet about doing nothing but the beef and rice for a week.

 

This is maddening. We are day 5 of 1000mg of flagyl and pedcid x-tra strength.

[MaryJane]

Maybe I missed it in the thread, but how much does your dog weigh and how much are you feeding per day?

 

I totally agree with previous threads of moving your pup to a diet of hamburger and rice for a few days and see if it makes a difference. I like hamburger better because some greyhounds have allergy issues with chicken. I would just try the switch to hamburger and rice first and see if it works. The only other thing I might add is that you might want to use the 85 to 90% fat hamburger at the beginning because some greyhounds do not tolerate the extra fat on a fast switch of diet and switch to the 80% later.

 

For comparison purposes, my greyhound gets his dinner of about 1/2 to 1 cup of hamburger with 2 cups of rice and 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables. He also gets a breakfast of about 1 & 1/2 cups oatmeal with 1/2 to 1 cup meat (or 2 eggs). This is for a dog of about 85 pounds......

 

He also gets about 4 medium/large dog treats a day. Hmmm, he also gets some toast around noon. I'm also a vegetarian so it's a little strange that my dog gets "real meat".

 

Have you tried giving a big cookie before your grey goes to sleep? It could be that he cannot go 8 hours without something in his stomach ...