Dog with stomach trouble. Any vets in the house?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Dog with stomach trouble. Any vets in the house?

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:00:14 AM EDT

I normally would just bring her to the vet, but we just moved and I can't find a decent one...

Anyway. We usually feed her Solid Gold Wolf King dog food. We ran out, and since we have to order it to get it, we picked up some higher-end stuff from the pets store and fed it to her for a day. We got our shipment the next day.

The day after we fed her the new food, her stools were soft, etc. Then she started to refuse food. At first, we thought she liked the cheap food better (since they spray it with fat). Then she got gas, bad.

This has been going on for a couple of days, but she's very active and happy. She does eat, but has to be coaxed. Her stools are normal now, but she does have gas and her stomach is making rumbling noises.

She won’t eat this morning…

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:03:01 AM EDT

[#1]

RTA: She has thrown up a couple of times...mostly slightly foamy mucusy stuff. Through all of it, she has been very active, running around, etc. She has delevoped a sudden interest in eating grass.

Oh, and she is a 75 lb mutt who is inside ulness we take her out. About 1 year old.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:04:17 AM EDT

[#2]

Could never figure out a dogs stomach...mine will eat garbage, horsepoop, anything laying around and be none the worse for wear, but change their food and they get the runs, gas etc.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:07:37 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Could never figure out a dogs stomach...mine will eat garbage, horsepoop, anything laying around and be none the worse for wear, but change their food and they get the runs, gas etc.

Ha! This is so true.

When I switched puppy foods, I slowly phased out the old food for the new. Your dog also might be allergic to an ingredient in the new food.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:07:59 AM EDT

[#4]

Are you certain she did not get hold of something in the yard or house and chew it up? I have a 7 year old GSD that has been at the vets now for 2 weeks and 2 operations because she chewed up strips of cotton toweling (at the vet's office while I was boarding her!) It is a good sign that she is eating some and not throwing it back up, but don't wait too long if she continues to refuse food or starts throwing up...internal stuff can kill damned quick!

I'd FIND a vet!

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:09:00 AM EDT

[#5]

some dogs just need time to adjust to the food. I use to feed my dog the supermarket brands but their batches were never consistent and it gave him diarrhea.
I switched to Iams and never looked back.
If the dog is puking and shitting consistently(diarrhea) for 24 hours I would take him to the vet. It might be something besides the food.
It happened to my dog and something was definitely up when he turned down a dog treat

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:10:11 AM EDT

[#6]

Mine does the same thing occasionally. Ive been switching the brand once in a while trying to find something she likes. When she gets gassy or throws up I just take away her food for 24 hours, then feed her a little bit at a time for a couple days. Just enough so she eats it all as soon as it gets in reach :).

I think in her case she is probably chewing on something nasty when i let her outside since I live in the country and regularly blast possums that get in range. So I just give her stomach a while to settle.

Im no vet but it seems to do the trick.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:10:41 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Could never figure out a dogs stomach...mine will eat garbage, horsepoop, anything laying around and be none the worse for wear, but change their food and they get the runs, gas etc.

Very True.

Dogs are funny like that.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:11:08 AM EDT

[#8]

If the dog is eating grass thats usually a sign of intestinal distress... so is excessive gas.
The foamy muccus in the vomit is normal with vomit.
I think the dog is having problems with something other than food.
Is the dog drinking tap water only? Maybe the dog is drinking sitting water outside?

I would just take the dog to any local vet for this one... just to make sure.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:13:07 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Could never figure out a dogs stomach...mine will eat garbage, horsepoop, anything laying around and be none the worse for wear, but change their food and they get the runs, gas etc.

Ha! This is so true.

When I switched puppy foods, I slowly phased out the old food for the new. Your dog also might be allergic to an ingredient in the new food.

Thats a good point.
You normally want to take minimum of 10-14 days to change over to new food so they don't get intestinal distress.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:16:20 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
If the dog is eating grass thats usually a sign of intestinal distress... so is excessive gas.
The foamy muccus in the vomit is normal with vomit.
I think the dog is having problems with something other than food.
Is the dog drinking tap water only? Maybe the dog is drinking sitting water outside?

I would just take the dog to any local vet for this one... just to make sure.

Only *filtered* tap water...

Also, I only gave her the new food for one day.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:20:09 AM EDT

[#11]

Hmm was it Nutro by any chance? That stuff is known to cause dogs to have lots of gas.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:22:06 AM EDT

[#12]

Lets see, only one day of different food and that was couple days ago so I don't think it was the food because it would have been over by now.

It sounds like water is not the problem.

New house/environment is the most likely the cause. Do you think she may have eaten anything in or around the house? Any chance of the dog eating any kind of poison? Or poisoned mouse? When was the house sprayed for bugs? What did they use? Does the dog have any sign of the shakes/tremmors?

These are all just guesses.

I still say take the dog to a local vet.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:23:58 AM EDT

[#13]

Try holding her off of food for 24 hours. After that give her multiple small meals for the next day or so- about 1/4 cup every 3-4 hours. Build her back up to her normal feeding schedule/amount slowly over the next couple of days. If she still has problems or gets worse take her to a vet to diagnose.

Posted: 2/2/2006 8:29:32 AM EDT

[#14]

The foamy vomit is not a good sign. Might not be terrible or anything but that would concern me. You might try giving her some can pumpkin since shes a big dog she can eat an entire 16 oz can. Most dogs like it. Its a natural laxative/stomach calmer. It will push out anything inside her stomach that is upsetting her.

Patty

Posted: 2/2/2006 9:01:16 AM EDT

[#15]

I work with several vets the following is a collabrative effort of 2 of them.

Not enough information...What breed of dog (Schnauzers and other small breeds get special attention cuz they are prone to all sorts of GI problems, pancreatitis, etc.)? How old? When did the move take place? Just the stress of a new environment is going to cause some off feed issues. Adding a diet change, esp going from something like SGWK to anything else off the shelf, can cause a problem, although if it was just one day's worth of feeding, it is highly unlikely that it would cause GI problems for more than "a couple of days." With that being said, is the dog a STRICT dog food kinda dog or does it get table scraps? Does it spend much time outdoors...if s/he does, is that time unattended? Was s/he kenneled or spent time with someone else lately? Could s/he gotten into anything else or been exposed to anything else (dead critters, sick dogs).

Chances are it is just a dietary intolerance thing from being switched and switched back, especially if the dog never receives any other sources of food (his/her stomach would be very sensitive to diet changes if it is used to one type of food only.) Depending on how long ago this diet change was...I would just ride it out.

The more severe issue is that the new shipment of SGWK may have a spoiled ingredient in it. They are a smaller company with much less QC than, say a Science Diet (whom I still think have the best formulated diets.) With the upset of gut flora, there could be a bacterial overgrowth...a stool sample to the vet would be a good idea IF the soft stools persist.

I tend to be a minimalist, so as long as the pup is BAR, I wouldn't get to worried.

Fun stuff. Good luck.

there you go.

Posted: 2/2/2006 9:12:42 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
The foamy vomit is not a good sign. Might not be terrible or anything but that would concern me. You might try giving her some can pumpkin since shes a big dog she can eat an entire 16 oz can. Most dogs like it. Its a natural laxative/stomach calmer. It will push out anything inside her stomach that is upsetting her.

Patty

Yes. And Brocolli and carrots. The fiber works wonders.

I have a dachshund that used to get intestinal problems every time a bird flew overhead (at least it seemed like it at the time)

Another thing that helped was making him run a lot. If your dog chases balls or rubber toys, throw them as much as possible. If you have stairs throw the toy up the stairs so she runs up and down them. This always staved off a trip to the vet for my dog when he started throwing up or getting ill.

Posted: 2/2/2006 5:54:31 PM EDT

[#17]

Not enough information...What breed of dog (Schnauzers and other small breeds get special attention cuz they are prone to all sorts of GI problems, pancreatitis, etc.)?

Mutt. ½ American Bulldog, ¼ Rottweiler, ¼ GSD.

How old?

Just over 1 year.

When did the move take place?

Two months ago…

With that being said, is the dog a STRICT dog food kinda dog or does it get table scraps?

Strict diet. No table scraps.

Does it spend much time outdoors...if s/he does, is that time unattended?

She is crated during the day, and exercised/played with at night. She is rarely out of view.

Was s/he kenneled or spent time with someone else lately?

Nope.

Could s/he gotten into anything else or been exposed to anything else (dead critters, sick dogs).

No other dogs, and exposed to nothing I know of.

Depending on how long ago this diet change was...

About a week ago.

With the upset of gut flora, there could be a bacterial overgrowth...a stool sample to the vet would be a good idea IF the soft stools persist.

I’m going to try to find a vet pretty quick here.

I tend to be a minimalist, so as long as the pup is BAR, I wouldn't get to worried.

Thanks for all of the help…

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Dog with stomach trouble. Any vets in the house?

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