Dog being sick - how to stop
Discussion
Hi All,
I need some help regarding our approx. 10 years old Pug/Jack Russell cross. He has now been back and fore the vets for about 2 months and we still have a worrying problem. The vet has been very helpful but says there is nowhere else to go with treatment and the next stage would be to open him up to see what is going on which we obviously want to avoid if at all possible.
It started in early December when Alf was sick a few times over the course of 2 days. On the third day there were spots of red blood in the vomit which was foamy liquid. We took him straight to the vet and he was given an injection to stop the sickness and some cimetidine acid control/ulcer treatment tablets. A possible ulcer was mentioned. The following night he urgently wanted to go out and a load of mucus mixed with blood and faeces came out of his behind. He went straight to the vet as an emergency and an infection was diagnosed with colitis and further injections and anti-biotics were given.
Over the coming weeks there was some improvement but a further incident of the blood/mucus occurred mid December and once again to a very limited extent in early January. During this whole period there has been vomiting. Sometimes he will go days without it happening and sometimes straight after food but usually it involved foamy yellow liquid a while after eating.
He has been back to the vet a number of times and has had further courses of anti-biotics, a couple of courses of steroids and is still on the cimetidine (quarter of a tablet 3 times a day).The last anti-biotics which were a powerful wide spectrum type finished on Saturday. After the last course of steroids,anti-biotics and cimetidine all the sickness stopped but a couple of days after the tablets stopped he started being sick again so went back on the anti-biotics and a few days later the cimetidine when I noticed that the signs of him about to be sick stopped when I gave him a plain dog biscuit..
The sickness now occurs at about 5am - 6.30am each morning. He is being fed rice/pasta and chicken or turkey or fish 3 times a day and has been on this diet since the start until the last few days when we have tried some natural dog food with no negative effect.
He will usually start licking his lips a lot before being sick.It is now a foamy yellow/clear liquid.
We have tried varying the feeding time and even giving him some pepto bismol last thing to stop the sickness but it is still there.
He hasn't lost any weight except for about 500g from 13kg at the start and that seems to be back. His temperature has always been ok and blood tests in December were clear and a stool sample test a few weeks ago was clear.
The last thing we want for him is an operation and if the condition is to stay as it is then we will manage it but the worry is something else is going on and for his sake if we can stop the sickness we want to. He does get upset by it. He is a rescue dog which is why we are unsure about his age and he is incredibly friendly and intelligent.
Any thoughts or advice would be extremely welcome as we are very worried. Many thanks.
I need some help regarding our approx. 10 years old Pug/Jack Russell cross. He has now been back and fore the vets for about 2 months and we still have a worrying problem. The vet has been very helpful but says there is nowhere else to go with treatment and the next stage would be to open him up to see what is going on which we obviously want to avoid if at all possible.
It started in early December when Alf was sick a few times over the course of 2 days. On the third day there were spots of red blood in the vomit which was foamy liquid. We took him straight to the vet and he was given an injection to stop the sickness and some cimetidine acid control/ulcer treatment tablets. A possible ulcer was mentioned. The following night he urgently wanted to go out and a load of mucus mixed with blood and faeces came out of his behind. He went straight to the vet as an emergency and an infection was diagnosed with colitis and further injections and anti-biotics were given.
Over the coming weeks there was some improvement but a further incident of the blood/mucus occurred mid December and once again to a very limited extent in early January. During this whole period there has been vomiting. Sometimes he will go days without it happening and sometimes straight after food but usually it involved foamy yellow liquid a while after eating.
He has been back to the vet a number of times and has had further courses of anti-biotics, a couple of courses of steroids and is still on the cimetidine (quarter of a tablet 3 times a day).The last anti-biotics which were a powerful wide spectrum type finished on Saturday. After the last course of steroids,anti-biotics and cimetidine all the sickness stopped but a couple of days after the tablets stopped he started being sick again so went back on the anti-biotics and a few days later the cimetidine when I noticed that the signs of him about to be sick stopped when I gave him a plain dog biscuit..
The sickness now occurs at about 5am - 6.30am each morning. He is being fed rice/pasta and chicken or turkey or fish 3 times a day and has been on this diet since the start until the last few days when we have tried some natural dog food with no negative effect.
He will usually start licking his lips a lot before being sick.It is now a foamy yellow/clear liquid.
We have tried varying the feeding time and even giving him some pepto bismol last thing to stop the sickness but it is still there.
He hasn't lost any weight except for about 500g from 13kg at the start and that seems to be back. His temperature has always been ok and blood tests in December were clear and a stool sample test a few weeks ago was clear.
The last thing we want for him is an operation and if the condition is to stay as it is then we will manage it but the worry is something else is going on and for his sake if we can stop the sickness we want to. He does get upset by it. He is a rescue dog which is why we are unsure about his age and he is incredibly friendly and intelligent.
Any thoughts or advice would be extremely welcome as we are very worried. Many thanks.
Thanks for the replies.
In answer -
He was being fed once a day at about 630pm before the problems started. We then switched to twice a day -morning and evening - and since the early morning sickness started we split the evening meal so he is fed at about 630-7am,6pm and 10-1030pm. He has a few small plain dog biscuits in between but no other treats etc. There has never been any problem with food before. Overnight he eats at about 10-1030pm and then the problems seem to start from about 5am.
Yes the vet has mentioned it being bile that he throws up.
There is no chance of him eating things he shouldn't as we supervise him outside and the garden is sealed off. He had eaten some grass early on in the process which eventually came out about 4-6 weeks ago but none since. Also a couple of weeks ago I did see a piece of paint or very thin plastic about the size of half a finger nail in his faeces and we have no idea where that came from.
In answer -
He was being fed once a day at about 630pm before the problems started. We then switched to twice a day -morning and evening - and since the early morning sickness started we split the evening meal so he is fed at about 630-7am,6pm and 10-1030pm. He has a few small plain dog biscuits in between but no other treats etc. There has never been any problem with food before. Overnight he eats at about 10-1030pm and then the problems seem to start from about 5am.
Yes the vet has mentioned it being bile that he throws up.
There is no chance of him eating things he shouldn't as we supervise him outside and the garden is sealed off. He had eaten some grass early on in the process which eventually came out about 4-6 weeks ago but none since. Also a couple of weeks ago I did see a piece of paint or very thin plastic about the size of half a finger nail in his faeces and we have no idea where that came from.
undred orse said:
Thanks for the replies.
In answer -
He was being fed once a day at about 630pm before the problems started. We then switched to twice a day -morning and evening - and since the early morning sickness started we split the evening meal so he is fed at about 630-7am,6pm and 10-1030pm. He has a few small plain dog biscuits in between but no other treats etc. There has never been any problem with food before. Overnight he eats at about 10-1030pm and then the problems seem to start from about 5am.
Yes the vet has mentioned it being bile that he throws up.
There is no chance of him eating things he shouldn't as we supervise him outside and the garden is sealed off. He had eaten some grass early on in the process which eventually came out about 4-6 weeks ago but none since. Also a couple of weeks ago I did see a piece of paint or very thin plastic about the size of half a finger nail in his faeces and we have no idea where that came from.
Not trying to be clever but one of ours is a proper scavenger & always hungry due to medication. We've had stuff lobbed over the fence from oiks in the street plus dead birds from various predators. Also, there are Kites in our area & sometimes, they drop "stuff".In answer -
He was being fed once a day at about 630pm before the problems started. We then switched to twice a day -morning and evening - and since the early morning sickness started we split the evening meal so he is fed at about 630-7am,6pm and 10-1030pm. He has a few small plain dog biscuits in between but no other treats etc. There has never been any problem with food before. Overnight he eats at about 10-1030pm and then the problems seem to start from about 5am.
Yes the vet has mentioned it being bile that he throws up.
There is no chance of him eating things he shouldn't as we supervise him outside and the garden is sealed off. He had eaten some grass early on in the process which eventually came out about 4-6 weeks ago but none since. Also a couple of weeks ago I did see a piece of paint or very thin plastic about the size of half a finger nail in his faeces and we have no idea where that came from.
Probably not relevant in your case but our little bugger once tucked into a dead pigeon that landed in the garden.
Boosted LS1 said:
I had a collie that was very sensitive and once we put him onto Iams kibble the problems ceased. He was fine for the rest of his long life.
this might be a good idea. Dry kibble and drinking water is a good dlet which may help settle stomach.https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hills-Science-Plan-Adult-...
So obviously a stomach ulcer can't be ruled out and needs to be kept a close eye on (have they they tried omeprazole) stomach ulcers can be found if they have a vet good with endoscopy, still requires a ga but hopefully avoids exploratory surgery.
The other option is to try feeding very late ie midnight with something like a weetabix (soaked in water) for a few days to see if that relieves the early morning nausea.
The other option is to try feeding very late ie midnight with something like a weetabix (soaked in water) for a few days to see if that relieves the early morning nausea.
bexVN said:
So obviously a stomach ulcer can't be ruled out and needs to be kept a close eye on (have they they tried omeprazole) stomach ulcers can be found if they have a vet good with endoscopy, still requires a ga but hopefully avoids exploratory surgery.
The other option is to try feeding very late ie midnight with something like a weetabix (soaked in water) for a few days to see if that relieves the early morning nausea.
Thanks for the suggestion. Something else for us to try. The other option is to try feeding very late ie midnight with something like a weetabix (soaked in water) for a few days to see if that relieves the early morning nausea.
Good thought re the endoscopy and we’ll check the treatment that’s been tried.
Many thanks to everyone that’s taken the trouble to reply. We’ve revisited our thoughts on each suggestion or point raised so all have been valuable.
Sound a bit similar to what my dog has been through. Extreme sickness and diarrhoea last summer, inside the house mostly.
Multiple visits to vets, emergency vets, blood tests, poo sample analysed, etc. Initially thought it was enterititis but poo sample and blood test indicated this wasn't the case. She was operated on as they thought she might have had a blockage so they had a look inside, but her heart rate dropped dangerously low so they stopped and stitched her back up.
Vet called it a day and said there's nothing more they can do.
She's still occasionally sick (mostly bile) and has diarrhoea but nowhere near as bad as last summer. She wakes up sometimes not wanting her breakfast, but by tea time is desperate to eat again.
She was referred to a specialist but external events have happened that has culminated in her pet insurance being cancelled (by a bitter wife going through a divorce) and I simply have no money to pay for this referral myself.
The dog is a 3 year old lab. Bless.
Multiple visits to vets, emergency vets, blood tests, poo sample analysed, etc. Initially thought it was enterititis but poo sample and blood test indicated this wasn't the case. She was operated on as they thought she might have had a blockage so they had a look inside, but her heart rate dropped dangerously low so they stopped and stitched her back up.
Vet called it a day and said there's nothing more they can do.
She's still occasionally sick (mostly bile) and has diarrhoea but nowhere near as bad as last summer. She wakes up sometimes not wanting her breakfast, but by tea time is desperate to eat again.
She was referred to a specialist but external events have happened that has culminated in her pet insurance being cancelled (by a bitter wife going through a divorce) and I simply have no money to pay for this referral myself.
The dog is a 3 year old lab. Bless.
Edited by MYOB on Wednesday 31st January 12:45
bexVN said:
undred orse said:
Thanks bex. That hasn’t been mentioned. He said the blood test showed nothing back in December when he was a lot worse.
Worth checking if they did this as it is a separate (in house) test, not always part of the regular kidney, liver, glucose tests etc. Many,many thanks for your help bex. It has been a great help and we really appreciate the time and trouble you took to respond.
We are in the dark as to what triggered it but hope we can find a way forward. At least we now have something the work with.
I am so happy to read this (obviously not that he has Pancreatitis!) . Reminds me why I can still love my job. I really hope your four legged friend starts feeling better now!
Not always a reason for why it starts happening but at least it can hopefully be managed. Thank you so much for the update
Not always a reason for why it starts happening but at least it can hopefully be managed. Thank you so much for the update
Edited by bexVN on Monday 5th February 21:56
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