Pup getting sick

natnifnolnacs

Hi,

We have an 8 month old lab/GSD x who is constantly vomiting. I'm trying to figure out whether he just has a weak/sensitive stomach or whether it is just over eating and the fact that EVERTHING goes in his mouth.

He is on "Big dog" from Gain foods on 2 meals a day. He will also occasionally get a bit of fresh meat but not too much. Twice over the last week I have given him a dental stick only for him to get sick almost immediately. He doesn't seem to be ill or anything, he's still bright and happy, but he still vomits at this stage almost daily.

Sometimes it seems in response to something (like the dental sticks or there is another treat we have stopped giving him which seemed to have the same effect) but other times we don't see him eat anything and he will still get sick, sometimes hours after a meal.

He was in the vets maybe a month or so ago and had bloods done and nothing showed up.

Any advice on what we should do? A change of food? Cut out treats?

Thanks

andreac

I would take the dog back to the vets or get a second opinion. Is the dog vomitting on a daily basis? What does the vomit look like? Is it foamy stuff?
Sometimes when they eat grass etc they can just vomit up foamy stuff.

What are his poo's like?

I would cut out everything bar the dog food, and i would even try the dog on a bland diet of chicken and boiled rice for a few days and see does that help.

sohsoh

Hi,

I have the same cross breed and he has suffered the same condition, if you can call it that. Our vet also checked him out and couldn't find anything either. I, personally, put it down to the GSD sensitive stomach.

We slowly changed his food so his daily diet of a 'small' portion of tinned food mixed with dry food formulated for sensitive stomachs. He is also fed twice a day. He doesn't vomit or try to vomit as often now. Sometimes we get a great run and other times he may not eat properly for up to 3 days. The only treat I give him now are slices of raw carrot which he devours, even if he isn't eating his dog food. If however, he refuses the carrots I take it that his stomach is really aggrievated and cook him some chicken and rice which settles him again. After that I slowly build up the amount of dog food I give him as the vet said it's not good to put him straight back on full portions.

Hope he sorts himself out.

natnifnolnacs

andreac wrote: »

I would take the dog back to the vets or get a second opinion. Is the dog vomitting on a daily basis? What does the vomit look like? Is it foamy stuff?
Sometimes when they eat grass etc they can just vomit up foamy stuff.

What are his poo's like?

I would cut out everything bar the dog food, and i would even try the dog on a bland diet of chicken and boiled rice for a few days and see does that help.

If it's not daily it's every 2 days. he tends to go through cycles with it I guess. His poo's are fine most of the time. The vomit is very clearly what he has eaten, sometimes completely undigested, sometimes partially (this is a lovely topic isn't it?!)

We've done the chicken/rice thing for him several times when he goes off his food completely and it sorts him out for a while.

sohsoh wrote: »

Hi,

I have the same cross breed and he has suffered the same condition, if you can call it that. Our vet also checked him out and couldn't find anything either. I, personally, put it down to the GSD sensitive stomach.

We slowly changed his food so his daily diet of a 'small' portion of tinned food mixed with dry food formulated for sensitive stomachs. He is also fed twice a day. He doesn't vomit or try to vomit as often now. Sometimes we get a great run and other times he may not eat properly for up to 3 days. The only treat I give him now are slices of raw carrot which he devours, even if he isn't eating his dog food. If however, he refuses the carrots I take it that his stomach is really aggrievated and cook him some chicken and rice which settles him again. After that I slowly build up the amount of dog food I give him as the vet said it's not good to put him straight back on full portions.

Hope he sorts himself out.

It's good to hear that maybe it's just the cross breed. Labs love to eat and a sensitive stomach doesn't seem to stop him! I think we'll try change his food, I'll call in tomorrow and see if there is anything a bit more suitable for him and see how that works. He does seem to like carrot as well so I'll cut out other treats for now and see how we go.

Thanks

fatmammycat

sohsoh wrote: »

Hi,

I have the same cross breed and he has suffered the same condition, if you can call it that. Our vet also checked him out and couldn't find anything either. I, personally, put it down to the GSD sensitive stomach.

We slowly changed his food so his daily diet of a 'small' portion of tinned food mixed with dry food formulated for sensitive stomachs. He is also fed twice a day. He doesn't vomit or try to vomit as often now. Sometimes we get a great run and other times he may not eat properly for up to 3 days. The only treat I give him now are slices of raw carrot which he devours, even if he isn't eating his dog food. If however, he refuses the carrots I take it that his stomach is really aggrievated and cook him some chicken and rice which settles him again. After that I slowly build up the amount of dog food I give him as the vet said it's not good to put him straight back on full portions.

Hope he sorts himself out.

My GDS had a sensitive stomach too and it completely stopped when I switched him to a raw diet. And I literally mean overnight. Might be soomething to consider if your dog keeps having bouts of the same illness.

yaya*

natnifnolnacs wrote: »

Hi,

We have an 8 month old lab/GSD x who is constantly vomiting. I'm trying to figure out whether he just has a weak/sensitive stomach or whether it is just over eating and the fact that EVERTHING goes in his mouth.

He is on "Big dog" from Gain foods on 2 meals a day. He will also occasionally get a bit of fresh meat but not too much. Twice over the last week I have given him a dental stick only for him to get sick almost immediately. He doesn't seem to be ill or anything, he's still bright and happy, but he still vomits at this stage almost daily.

Sometimes it seems in response to something (like the dental sticks or there is another treat we have stopped giving him which seemed to have the same effect) but other times we don't see him eat anything and he will still get sick, sometimes hours after a meal.

He was in the vets maybe a month or so ago and had bloods done and nothing showed up.

Any advice on what we should do? A change of food? Cut out treats?

Thanks

Our lab went through this for years- it started when she was on pedigree chum back in the very early days-vet changed her to Hills ID - made a bit of a difference but at least once a week she was getting sick-always got sick after any of those pedigree chum treats too. Finally, changed her to Burns and the Burns treats-that was 6 months ago and she hasn't gotten sick once!!! This is after years of cleaning up her sick- cant believe we didn't see the light sooner!!

StompToWork

We have the same cross, and he's just coming up on 8 mths. My god, this pup has a sensitive tummy!! With the lab in him, he's going to scavenge a hell of a lot, so you have to be careful there isn't a blockage. As long as he keeps most food down, and his poos are fairly okay, then there probably isn't a blockage.

However, I would definitely suggest getting him to the vet for an x-ray.

natnifnolnacs

I went out to the local pet shop and had a chat with them. They recommended a change of food (over a few days) and to try him out on this.
http://www.redmills.ie/ie/pet/products/product/?id=619&parent=1772

It's hypoallergenic and all sorts of stuff

We'll cut out everything else, start him on that and see how he goes.

@stomptowork - We've had him in a few times checking for blockages as he has eaten tennis balls and all sorts! He's perfectly clear, it's just a stomach issue.

Nody

If I don't remember incorrectly that's a store brand so they would recommend one version or another no matter what dog or issue you got (and the brand is not that good in the first place). That's purely by memory from other threads though so other people should comment further on it.

ISDW

natnifnolnacs wrote: »

I went out to the local pet shop and had a chat with them. They recommended a change of food (over a few days) and to try him out on this.
http://www.redmills.ie/ie/pet/products/product/?id=619&parent=1772

It's hypoallergenic and all sorts of stuff

We'll cut out everything else, start him on that and see how he goes.

@stomptowork - We've had him in a few times checking for blockages as he has eaten tennis balls and all sorts! He's perfectly clear, it's just a stomach issue.

Is it actually that one they said, the mother and puppy or that range? i wouldn't be giving that food to an 8 month old pup, if they do a junior, try him on that one.

natnifnolnacs

Nody wrote: »

If I don't remember incorrectly that's a store brand so they would recommend one version or another no matter what dog or issue you got (and the brand is not that good in the first place). That's purely by memory from other threads though so other people should comment further on it.

In fairness, they didn't try to push a brand on me at all. They talked through a few of the different foods, I chose that one.

ISDW wrote: »

Is it actually that one they said, the mother and puppy or that range? i wouldn't be giving that food to an 8 month old pup, if they do a junior, try him on that one.

I don't follow, it's for puppies or pregnant bitches, I don't see a problem feeding him that?

Stheno

fatmammycat wrote: »

My GDS had a sensitive stomach too and it completely stopped when I switched him to a raw diet. And I literally mean overnight. Might be soomething to consider if your dog keeps having bouts of the same illness.

Same here

natnifnolnacs wrote: »

I don't follow, it's for puppies or pregnant bitches, I don't see a problem feeding him that?

It's ok from the perspective it's salmon and rice so might be gentler on his stomach.

However it's got a very very high level of protein at 29% which I personally think is too high for a dog who is not especially active.

natnifnolnacs

Thanks for the advice folks. I'm trying him on the new food for a few days and we'll see how he does. I'm mixing it with his old food so it should be a bit better on his stomach without being a big shock to the system. So far, so good - we are one day puke free

Stheno

natnifnolnacs wrote: »

Thanks for the advice folks. I'm trying him on the new food for a few days and we'll see how he does. I'm mixing it with his old food so it should be a bit better on his stomach without being a big shock to the system. So far, so good - we are one day puke free

Best of luck with it

Do observe his behaviour, any sudden changes could be due to an increase in protein. This is based only on my behaviour, I accidentally put my four dogs on a high protein food a few years ago and they went slightly nuts, when I switched them back to a lower one they were fine.

natnifnolnacs

Stheno wrote: »

Best of luck with it

Do observe his behaviour, any sudden changes could be due to an increase in protein. This is based only on my behaviour, I accidentally put my four dogs on a high protein food a few years ago and they went slightly nuts, when I switched them back to a lower one they were fine.

Good to know, I'll keep an eye on him. He's fast asleep here beside me so nothing like that so far anyway!

Rommie

Holy beejebus, the amounts to feed of that food is crazy! A 20kg five month old pup should be on 1130g? Anyone else think that's a hell of a lot of food to be giving a dog a day?

Stheno

I've found it depends on the quality of the food, no offence OP.

Less filling foods in my experience guide up to three times what more expensive foods do, and when you switch to the more quality foods it's shocking to see how much less does for your pets, I felt guilty moving from Dr. Johns to Autarky after checking autarky out, it's not perfect, but it works for my dogs, and they get less than half what they got on Dr. Johns.

At twice the price of Dr. Johns I was saving on overall costs of food, and my dogs were and still are, much better coat and health wise on it.

natnifnolnacs

Yeah it's a ridiculous amount. I questioned that in the shop, they went off and had a look I presume on their website and said 550gr per day, which is pretty much what he is on with his normal food. The guide they provide does seem fairly excessive. Anyway, I only bought a 3kg bag so I'm not overly committed to it!

As a slight aside, if anyone has any recommendations for a decent food they think might help, please do put forward your suggestion. I'm going purely on what the pet shop tell me and my own cop own. This is my first dog so I welcome any advice! My upper limit would be about the €50 mark for a 15kg bag.

natnifnolnacs

I thought I would update this. It's been around 2 weeks now and he is much better. We've cut out almost all of the treats that he was getting (some I didn't know about!) and that has helped a lot. He has been sick a few times, but strangely this seems to be from excitement. He was playing with another dog yesterday (who he knows well and they get on great) and it's either the amount of activity, or over excitement that makes him sick!

Any advice on this?

Dodd

I could be wrong but here's a though.

Maybe feed him the same amount of food but in 3 meals a day instead of 2 meals until he is older.

I know with kids they can have a good feed and then run around causing them to be sick.

DBB

Dodd wrote: »

I could be wrong but here's a though.

Maybe feed him the same amount of food but in 3 meals a day instead of 2 meals until he is older.

I know with kids they can have a good feed and then run around causing them to be sick.

Could have a point here Dodd! Your point begs the question of the OP: have you noticed any relationship between the time your dog eats, and when he throws up in the situations you describe?

natnifnolnacs

DBB wrote: »

Could have a point here Dodd! Your point begs the question of the OP: have you noticed any relationship between the time your dog eats, and when he throws up in the situations you describe?

Not yet, I've only just really figured out that they are connected...He ate an hour ago and is going over to the other dog for a few hours this evening while I go to work so we'll see what happens!

icanmunch

I had the same issue with my GSD when she was a pup. I was told to add water to her food when feeding her. I also switched her food to best for my dog(check their site) and havent had any problems yet

Dodd

If you add the water to the dry food just before you feed the dog it will make the dog eat slower because it has to take the food out of the water.
My dog used to eat very fast and I did the above now she eats much slower with no water added.

icanmunch

thats the exact same reason i was adding water Dodd!

dharma200

personally, as in for the long term benefits for the dog, I would consider raw feeding. One of our larger dogs, before we completely switched to raw feeding, had very sensive stomach, bad breath, crap coat of hair.. we have all three of our large dogs on a raw diet and it is unbeleivable, the health change, the coat change, behaviour change, the health of their gums, teeth etc. There is loads of info online etc. I personally cannot recommend this diet enough and wouldnt consider feeding my dogs dry food, or pet shop food, or even food that a vet recommends for that matter. HTHsx

Dodd

icanmunch wrote: »

thats the exact same reason i was adding water Dodd!

I know what you mean,I just wanted to say add the water just before feeding other wise the food will soak up the water and it will make no difference.

natnifnolnacs

ok, so he was sick within 2 minutes this time. I was literally just dropping him off and he was sick before I left. I'm wondering if it is actually the excitement because he wasn't really there long enough to even get that worked up....The mystery continue!

It doesn't seem to bother him at all though, he's perfectly happy and energetic and apart from this is very healthy so I'm just not sure really!

DBB

My westie used to upchuck within minutes of a meal if he went downstairs (I used to live in an upside-down house with kitchen upstairs and sitting room downstairs!), or, if he drank more than a certain amount of water at any time... He'd sort of burp and up it'd come. The vet reckoned the valve between his stomach and oesophagus was faulty. Would either scenario cause the pukes in your dog?

natnifnolnacs

DBB wrote: »

My westie used to upchuck within minutes of a meal if he went downstairs (I used to live in an upside-down house with kitchen upstairs and sitting room downstairs!), or, if he drank more than a certain amount of water at any time... He'd sort of burp and up it'd come. The vet reckoned the valve between his stomach and oesophagus was faulty. Would either scenario cause the pukes in your dog?

I wouldn't have thought that to be the case...He'll often get a walk in the morning pretty soon after eating (maybe an hour after) He'll come back and drink loads of water with no problem.

He had eaten nearly 2 hours before going anywhere the other night so it wasn't exactly an immediate reaction. One thing that has just occurred to me is that he went straight for the other dogs food. He only managed to eat a few bits of kibble before we removed the food, but that may well have something to do with it. I'll make sure he doesn't get any the next time and see how we go.

I just thought I would chance him with a dental stick there and again he was immediately sick so it's definitely an intolerance to food of some sort!

natnifnolnacs

Another update - he has been pretty much perfect for the last month. We have stuck with no treats (apart from the odd bone or bit of carrot) and no vomiting. We make sure he hasn't eaten before going over to see the other dog and all seems to be well.

However, I just found a treat at the back of his press. it was a bakers, meaty twist. He ate half of it and was immediately sick. Dental sticks have exactly the same effect on him. It seems to be something that is in the very processed foods that he can't tolerate at all. At least we have it pinned down now and know what sorts of things he can't have which is great.