*sigh* Tummy problems for Tommy AGAIN!

[Tommysmom]

YES, we are going to the vet this morning! I've taken the morning off work and we go in at 10:30. But since nobody seems to be able to get his poor tummy working right, maybe you guys have some ideas.

Tommy finally eats, but not enthusiastically - although at least I can get food into him, which is more than he was doing weeks ago. But now for the last two mornings he has vomited up some kinda foamy stuff, once with some food bits in it and today without. Then just half an hour ago he squatted to poop but almost nothing came out - just a small little bit of soft poop and a puddle of mucous type stuff. If you put your hand on his tummy now you can feel it gurgle and rumble. And he's a little tooting machine now too, lol.

He finished his Amoxil on Sunday. He's been sneezing too. Otherwise he is affectionate, friendly, playful, energetic.

Allergies? Sensitive tummy? Too many carpet fibres that he loves to eat? Tummy bug that just didn't clear up when the antibiotics were done? Defective puppy who thinks his mommy just doesn't have enough to do and should take him on car rides more often even if it is only to the vet?

Any ideas? I'm fed up, we've been dealing with Tommy's eating and tummy problems for about 6 weeks now. If I can't get a solution today we're going to a different vet when my husband gets home this weekend. I'm tired of seeing my poor little guy suffer through bouts of tummy issues, he deserves better than this.

[Hunter's_owner]

So sorry to hear that things haven't gotten better. It is so sad to see them going through all this and not knowing how to help.

I don't have any ideas to help, but I am hoping that the vet this morning will find out what is happening. And I agree with you wanting to see another vet if your questions aren't answered.

[jawert1]

Hopefully this gets to you prior to you leaving for the vet, but when you're there, have them do an upper/lower GI x-ray, preferably with barium. This will show any "soft" blockages (i.e. cloth, hair, string) that may not show up on a regular x-ray. I went through this with my Peaches in 2004, they x-rayed her and found nothing, until they added the barium and her poor little tummy lit up like christmas. She had ingested and partially digested a canvas curtain tie, which when the last bit of it couldn't be broken down, it stuffed her up intermittently. She ate, would get the runs, be fine for a few days on bland diet, and then it would be back to small runny poo's or occasional bile-ish vomit. Good luck, I hope you get to the bottom of what's ailing him soon, and please keep us posted on how he fares

[technodoll]

yes, good luck at the vet's... "been there, done that" with the fussy dog that won't eat and can't digest anything Some puppies just have it rougher than others. please keep us posted!

[Tommysmom]

Thanks for the good wishes!

I definitely will ask for the x-ray - at the rate this guy eats carpet fibres, nothing at all would surprise me! That's one of the reasons I liked this vet office, because they have all the equipment on hand for diagnostics and surgeries and stuff rather than having to go elsewhere if needed... hopefully they can do that today and we'll have an easy answer.

What do they do if there IS a soft blockage?

[jawert1]

With Peaches, they opened up her abdominal wall, but did NOT go into the stomach. They felt along the stomach, large and small intestines and essentially "hand moved" the remainder of the curtain tie to where she was able 2 days later to expel it on her own (which is how I know what it was). If it had been larger or harder when they felt her tummy, they would've also opened that up, making it a much more difficult recovery (2 sets of sutures, you get the idea). I'm glad you have a vet facility you trust, I'm of the same mind when it comes to good service and a fully functional surgery "in case".

[Tommysmom]

Thanks for the info... at least now I have some things to discuss with the vet. Along with presenting him an absolutely disgraceful poop to study, hehehe. What a great job he has, LOL. I may have to pay him lots and lots of money, but HE has to examine poop... well, at least that's how I make myself feel better about it, lol.

[jawert1]

heheh double whammy him and take a sample of Tommy's vomit as well (if you can). They may be able to do a comparison of the two and see if there's something else that's either passing or not, or a common bacterium that isn't getting nailed by the antibiotics

[krispyk577]

how do i post my own thread about a question i have about my dog being sick? please help...sorry to interupt any dicsussion

[Hunter's_owner]

You go into the Pet Health forum, and towards the top of the page on the left hand side opposite from the page numbers, there is a button "New Thread". You click on that and the rest is the same as what you have already done here.

[Tommysmom]

Well, it looks as though we might have some things figured out. The vet thinks it's one of three things: an infection that didn't quite clear up with the last round of antibiotics, a permanent sensitive tummy, or IBS/IBS type of tummy condition.

Since the testing for IBS and things of that nature is rather involved and must be done elsewhere, we've opted to try another round of two antibiotics this time, a special gastro food, and a new kind of supplement filled with good doggy gut digestive enzymes.

I was a bit skeptical, since of course the gastro is Medi Cal and doesn't look like a very good food from the ingredients. The supplement is brand new and is from Purina, another company I didn't think was too wonderful. But... for the first time EVER I have watched Tommy eat all his food - straight from his bowl - and LICK THE BOWL afterward! So obviously it's agreeing with him, at least for now! He was tentative to try it, and only had a little bit for lunch, but then as soon as I put down his dinner he rannnnnnn to it and started eating.

He did throw up again this morning though, mostly a mush of food, my hair (yeah, no matter how often I vacuum I leave as much hair around as he does), possibly some carpet fluff and what looks like a tiny piece of newspaper. Is it normal for doggies to vomit this kind of stuff up from time to time? He's not sick like yesterday, his tummy seems fine and he ate breakfast very enthusiastically and played and walked and all that stuff. If he's going to chew on hair or carpet from time to time, is it normal to cough it up like cats do?

[chico2]

Tommysmom,I was going to suggest,if you did not get any satisfactory answers from your vet,to try the Guelph Veterinary Hospital,but it looks like little Tommy is doing better
I've never been there myself,but I've heard they are reasonable and very thourough.

[pitgrrl]

Originally Posted by Tommysmom

I was a bit skeptical, since of course the gastro is Medi Cal and doesn't look like a very good food from the ingredients. The supplement is brand new and is from Purina, another company I didn't think was too wonderful. But... for the first time EVER I have watched Tommy eat all his food - straight from his bowl - and LICK THE BOWL afterward! So obviously it's agreeing with him, at least for now! He was tentative to try it, and only had a little bit for lunch, but then as soon as I put down his dinner he rannnnnnn to it and started eating.

Both my dogs went through a few years of trying to get colitis under control, and as much as it pains me to say this, sometimes the Medi Cal gastro food can help to give the dogs system a break till you re-group and figure out what else to try.

My own expereince though, is that although the gastro food can calm GI problems down for a while, longer term it's cr*ppiness shines through and the dogs overall condition suffers.

[technodoll]

Originally Posted by pitgrrl

sometimes the Medi Cal gastro food can help to give the dogs system a break till you re-group and figure out what else to try.

i agree... it *can* help, short-term, and that's a wonderful thing! it's the long-term you want to avoid

[Tommysmom]

I know... I wince every time I see the ingredients on the bag, too. I figure if this does the trick and Tommy gets better, then we'll find him something good for gastro that's not this crappy!

I have to say though, even my vet doesn't see this particular food as a long-term solution. I don't think he thinks it's that great either, just happens to be good for this particular instance. He even said that once we get things under control we'll try weaning him off this stuff and see how he does. If he still needs a gastro food, then I guess I'll be finding one we both can live with!

Ugh... he keeps coughing it up though, nice little piles of mush. They think he might be eating toooooooooo much at a time now that he's finally eating, LOL. So first he WON'T eat... now he eats TOO much at a time... my poor little messed up puppy!!! Someday we'll get it all together!

[Prin]

Did you say what he's eating now? I'm wondering because my dad's Jack is quite sensitive to some foods... So maybe it could be an intolerance?

[Tommysmom]

He's on Medi Cal gastro formula right now, for doggies with tummy issues... right before that he was on Canidae. Nothing seems to agree with him! Even now... he's so excited about the gastro food, he LOVES it, but he keeps puking it right back up shortly after eating! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Will we ever find something he likes that stays down???

[pitgrrl]

In my experience, if you have one of those dogs who has GI problems, it's a big experiment in patience and creativity to find something that works. It only took me, oh, close to 3 years to finally settle on a food that consistantly gets good results

Anyway, worry about the getting him well now, and then start the search for a long term diet.

[Prin]

My dad's jack was doing well on the Solid Gold Just a wee bit.. It's more dense so they don't have to eat their body weight in kibble every day. And the ingredients are different than a lot of foods...

[Tommysmom]

Thanks guys... it's good to know at least that other dogs have had problems too!

On the bright side... I fed Tommy just little bits of food tonight every half hour, and it's stayed down! Yayyyyyyy! It's heartbreaking, because he finally found a food HE likes and wants to eat, and I can't let him just eat a meal all at once yet. But, at least he's eating and it's staying down and everybody's happy!

[technodoll]

maybe he just has a small stomach?

[angeldogs]

Good to read Tommy is doing better.poor little guy.

[rainbow]

Glad to hear that Tommy is doing better. How much and how often do you feed him?

[Tommysmom]

We're pretty much down to a few pieces of kibble at a time to end up at around 1/8 cup morning, lunch, dinner, snack... his tummy just seems a bit small to take much more than a few pieces at once though. If we keep it small, he keeps it down, but if we let him eat a whole meal at once it just ends up coming back.