Sensitive Gut/Skin/Picky Eater

[MilliesMom]

Hoping someone's got good advice because we're at a loss, our vet is closed for another week (a team member had Covid-19), and our back-up vet couldn't see him today.

Fozzy Bear is a 3-year-old white Poodle/Terrier mix who weighs about 17 lbs.  He's a very sensitive, very food-picky dog.  He tends toward stomach upset, and for months the vet had him on a dose of Meprazole 10mg. an hour before breakfast.  He hasn't required it for a couple of months.  He also has a history of allergies (mostly scratching) that caused infections in his floppy ears.  For the last 2-3 days, he's had on-and-off vomiting.  Today he vomited the pill wrapped in a little cheese.  Yesterday and today, he had watery diarrhea.  He is not acting sick at all (VERY interested in the cats' food), and an hour after he vomited, he ate chicken, white rice, and broth.  He kept it down and ate voraciously.  A couple of hours later, i gave him baby sweet potatoes for the diarrhea.  (I don't have pumpkin.)

In the past, he's tried everything including ProPlan Sensitive Dry and wet.  The vet had us switch to Dr. Harvey's Canine Health (the red label).  Hubby mixes it in with ground turkey one week and ground beef the next.  He's been rejecting it for days, so I've added salmon or cooked turkey thighs to get him to eat it.  Worked for awhile, but that was that (we're left with a large, expensive bag of Dr. Harvey's), and we just gave him a can of Alpo, which he loved...before the belching and vomiting started  So here we are...

He usually takes Daily Multi Plus from Pet Health and Nutrition Center, Vitamin C, Omega-3 Pet, and pet colostrum.

Any suggestions?  Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[greysmom]

Given that this is a greyhound forum, take anything with a grain of salt.  First thoughts are checking for parasites, and bloodwork for pancreatitis.  If he has diarrhea make sure you keep checking him for dehydration as it can happen quickly in small dogs.

Poodles are notorious for food sensitivities.  The thing that jumps out to me is that you're switching his food a LOT.  Find a protein and a carb source that he tolerates and stick with that.  Several *small* meals a day, not one or two big bowls of food.  Don't do add ins or different toppings as it can just makle them pickier.  If you have to home cook for him for a while, like several months, it won't be too expensive since he's a small dog.  But it sounds like he might need a prescription diet of a hydrolyzed protein.

If the omeprazole before breakfast helped him, I would probably go back to that.  It may be worth it to discuss other allergy shots or meds such as Apoquel with your vet - who is more familiar with your dog than any of us here.

Until you can get in to your vet I would feed him a combo of overcooked brown rice (more fiber than white rice), and rinsed ground turkey.  If the turkey doesn't agree with him you can use any ground meat cooked and rinsed to remove any fat.  Several small meals a day.

Good luck.