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Dog hungry but can't keep food down

charmedone
February 25th, 2007, 08:32 AM
I have a 9 yr old female dog that has been vomitting over the past three weeks but not on a regular bases. At first i thought she had something in your throat, but after taking her to the vet, i was advised it wasn't. Her stomach is sensitive and he gave me this medication that i am not sure what it really does for her and it doesn't seem to be working. It is called Sulcrete? She was also given can dog food to try out and see if she can keep it down. Unfortiantitly she is still bring her food up. Do you have any suggestions. I have given her gravel (half tablet) before this med and it seemed to work better, and i have given her pepto which did alright to for the first day. She still has energy but you can tell she doesn't want to be getting sick. What can i do?:pray:

badger
February 25th, 2007, 09:29 AM
Back to the vet. I wouldn't give her any more gravol or pepto. Obviously there is something else going on and she needs more tests.

mummummum
February 25th, 2007, 11:44 AM
I'm not familiar with Sulcrete and and can't find any references to it. But, I agree after such a prolonged period of vomiting, your dog needs to see a Vet. Chronic vomiting is often a signifier for more serious diseases and if left untreated can cause at the least, dehydration along with a host of serious disorders.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23700.htm&word=vomiting

Tommysmom
February 25th, 2007, 12:44 PM
The 'sulcrete' is probably sulfacrate, my dog has had that too. From my understanding it's an ulcer medication that prevents burning the esophagus when the dog throws up and helps soothe the stomach. It won't stop the vomiting though, we used other meds to stop the vomiting and the sulfacrate soothed the tummy and throat to repair the damage done by constant vomiting.

mummummum
February 25th, 2007, 12:56 PM
Ahhh... that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification Tommysmom. I wonder why the vet wouldn't prescribe anything for the reflux/ vommiting itself though ? :confused:

Tommysmom
February 25th, 2007, 01:50 PM
Yeah, that sounds a bit odd eh? Each time we've had the sulfacrate, we've had omeprazole for the reflux and metronidazole to help with the vomiting, never just the liquid sulfacrate on its own. Wonder if the vet thinks it's an ulcer? I'd definitely hit the vet up for some more information about the reason for the meds at least.

mummummum
February 25th, 2007, 02:01 PM
But if it was a suspected ulcer you would think they would prescribe as you Vet did, something for the acid and reflux reduction and an antibiotic. Hmmm... would love an update when you get back from the Vet charmedone !

rainbow
February 25th, 2007, 03:05 PM
Did your vet do any blood tests or xrays?

rubyredslipper
February 26th, 2007, 11:37 PM
You may want to check out mega esophagus. Medications help but will not stop the vomiting. Only feeding your dog in an upright position will help. Mega esophagus has a support group and lots of wonderful information. I hope that is not what your dog has. X-rays will show it if he/she does and the group is very helpful.

charmedone
March 3rd, 2007, 03:57 PM
VT is still sick and i have read all that responded to my question. Tommysmom ..you said the vet gave another medication to help stop the vommitting did it work and what was the results. I was wondering if my dog is not having BM's if that can cause all this...it is so hard to tell for she likes to hide when she does her stuff. We try to follow but that doesn't always work...if this keeps up then i will have to take her back to vet, but he didn't seem to know to much when i talked with him...just here is the med and food and see what that does. I will look into another vet since i just didn't get a good vibe from this vet. Thanks for any help and if you have any other things you can think of that i should be asking vet when i go and visit please let me know.

Tommysmom
March 3rd, 2007, 05:34 PM
Charmedone, I'm so sorry to hear she's still sick. Tommy's had vomiting problems since he was 8 weeks old, so we've gone through quite a few different medications for it. The sulfacrate is always at the same time as metronidazole and omeprazole (I think the brand name is losec, it's an antacid).

We suffered a bit of a setback recently though and the specialist is trying a new drug, she's apparently had a ton of success with it in cats and dogs the last little while. It's mirtazapine, which is an anti-depressent in humans but in dogs and cats it quells nausea, calms the tummy, stops vomiting and increases appetite. It has worked WONDERS the last week or so that Tommy's been on it, better than anything else we've tried so far. I don't know if anything like that will work for you, as there are so many different causes of vomiting, but it's worth asking your vet. I know our vet wouldn't have tried it except that he works very closely with our specialist and he's seen her use this drug on so many of her patients lately with great success. It apparently has very few side effects too, we've actually seen no side effects at all so far.

Feel free to pm me if you have any further questions... I've been researching vomiting issues for 4 months now, online and in books and with two different vets and an internal specialist as well as the emergency clinic vets, trainers, every person in every quality pet food store I can find, etc... I've driven people crazy with questions and stuff, but I've accumulated a fair bit of information along the way.

Just some questions for you too... is your dog actually vomiting, or is she regurgitating? Which food is she on now? I doubt that not having bm's can cause the vomiting, but they can be related - the same thing can be causing both, and the vomiting can cause lack of bm's. If she is not absorbing her food, then there will be little left to come out. I've bored this board over and over with Tommy's tummy issues, but seriously... feel free to pm me if you have any questions I might be able to help with.

rainbow
March 3rd, 2007, 06:19 PM
Charmedone, I think it's a good idea to take your dog to a different vet. It sounds like the one you went to is missing something. Good luck and please keep us posted. :fingerscr

charmedone
March 11th, 2007, 08:47 AM
You may want to check out mega esophagus. Medications help but will not stop the vomiting. Only feeding your dog in an upright position will help. Mega esophagus has a support group and lots of wonderful information. I hope that is not what your dog has. X-rays will show it if he/she does and the group is very helpful.

This is what my dogs has and i would love to know where to go to be active in this support group. Hope to hear from you soon.

badger
March 11th, 2007, 10:20 AM
Charmedone, you didn't say if you had taken your dog back to the vet, maybe a different vet?
It just sounds as if you're struggling alone, here and in your new thread, and I think that might be a mistake because despite all the things you've read, you really don't know what's going on. I wonder if your current vet (the one you don't like) would refer you to a specialist?
Dogs can't live on liquid diets, unless they are complete invalids. Please do some research and find someone to help your pooch.
'Sensitive stomach' could mean absolutely anything.

TeriM
March 11th, 2007, 01:29 PM
Have you actually received a vet diagnosis for this condition?

If not is it possible that the dog is reacting to his food. You stated that he has thrown up over a three week period but not all the time. This could indicate an intolerance to his food. What have you been trying to feed in the mean time? What type of dog food are you currently feeding? I would recommend trying something that has totally different ingredients.

I would recommend firstly seeing if the dog will drink some diluted chicken or beef broth ) use 1 part broth to 2 parts water. If that stays down then try extremely small portions (about 2 tbsp) every few hours. I would recommend making a bland food recipe for example .. hamburger (that has all the fat rinsed off it) and rice or oatmeal. Chicken (no skin) is also very easily digested and is a good choice. After a few successful days then slowly start adding in the kibble. It should take about a week before total kibble.

charmedone
April 25th, 2007, 08:09 AM
V.T has gone through so much since i last posted. She would not eat when she came back from vet, and the medication stopped her from eating. Then i tried Metoclopramide. Which worked up till about 3 days ago. Not sure if i need to increase the dosage now or change it. But will call vet to find out my options. She has Myasthenia Gravis, and i am not sure about having her try new medication since i am worried from what i read about prednisone it can make things worse for her. I was wondering more about the medication you said you used (mirtazapine) what is the results so far and was their any side affects.

As things are right now, you would not think she is sick. She is very active and she enjoys all the things she normally did before becoming sick. That is why i didn't want to try the new medication. I don't want her to be used as a test dog for medication for my vet never really had any real experience with this disease. She only say it in school..not very comforting to hear.

Anyway...any help would be nice ... will check back again soon.

Thank you..
V.T.'s mom

Maya
April 25th, 2007, 01:00 PM
Not sure if you've already seen this link but seemed to have a fair amount of info on the problem:http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_myasthenia_gravis.html

LittleMissLevi
April 25th, 2007, 04:08 PM
I am not sure why someone would use mirtazipine for what sounds like a GI problem. mirtazapine is an antidepressant medication that blocks the reuptake of serotonin and noradrenaline. Sucralfate is a coating medication for the GI and works in the same way as gaviscon. The vet should not be giving a K-pak (antibiotic,proton-pump inhibitor combo) unless they have tested for H.pylori, which is a bacteria, that can cause ulcers. Metoclopramide is like a strong version of gravol and will help with nausea and vomiting, the only problem is that it does not actually repair the stomach. I would ask your vet about a H2-antagonist like Zantac (ranitidine) which will help decrease stomach acid production or a proton-pump inhibitor (omeprazole or Prevacid) which will stop acid production in the stomach. Both of these are commonly used for dogs with ulcers.
Presently my dog is taking Zantac because she was vomiting and it is working very well, no vomiting unless I forget to give her the medication.

Hope these options help a little bit and let you talk to a vet with some confidence.