# Help! My Great Dane Puppy Keeps Throwing Up!



## Michellekirsten (Sep 12, 2011)

My great dane puppy is 12 weeks old. After rescuing him two and a half weeks ago from a woman who was unintentionally starving him, he has trouble keeping food down. He was the runt of 11 puppies and had to fight to get any sort of food. He was half the size of his siblings. My mom took one of his brothers and upon taking both of them to the vet, her's weighed 24lbs and Oliver, mine, weighed only 12lbs. Her puppy has grown significantly over the last two and a half weeks, Oliver has only gained a lb or two.

I was giving him 1/3 cup of Purina Puppy Chow 4 times a day with warm water and rice cooked in chicken broth until 2 days ago. When he was eating that, he was happy and energetic but after eating would get the hiccups and would throw up about half a tablespoon after he was done eating. It was improved from when he couldn't keep any food down the first few days we had him. 

2 days ago I started giving him closer to 1 cup and he is still throwing up, though now he throws up all of it, within 5 minutes of eating. I wanted to up his food amount because although he's gained a pound or two, he is not really growing or fattening up like his brother who is growing in leaps and bounds. I'm considering switching to Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy Chicken & Rice to see if perhaps he's allergic to the dyes and some of the ingredients in the puppy chow. I'm hoping that may correct the problem but I'm really unsure of how to handle this. Can someone give me some suggestions? I've already taken him to the vet three times in the last 2 weeks and I'm trying to avoid it again unless this persists and the help I receive here doesn't help.

Thanks!


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## mustlovedogs123 (Mar 23, 2011)

check out this web site! http://petprojectblog.com/archives/dogs/megaesophagus-and-the-bailey-chair/


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

Please give more vet information. Did the vet check for parasites ,and what the vet said?

As for puppy food, what brand was he on when you rescued him? 

The Blue puppy food you mentioned would be a good one and the switch should be made gradually. Try not to feed too much at one time and stick to only the puppy food and nothing else until you get him to settle down . I would go with 3 meals a day and start of with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup and wetting the food is fine but not with anything warm, just room temp.... Make sure to space his meals apart evenly thru the day. You may need to slow his eating down, gulping can cause the hiccups. You could take a large flat bowl and place a small bowl upside down in the middle to slow him down. You can also find bowls at your pet store for this purpose , Break-Fast comes to mind as a good one , however there are many on the market that will meet this need.

At this point I would very much advise you to go slow, you have time. There are many here on DF that are very knowledgeable about puppies and feeding issues and I am sure you will get a lot of good advice. You may also want to post in the Dog Food section.

Good Luck , oldhound


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

What did your vet say? Did s/he check him for megaesophagus? Did s/he do xrays? http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_megaesophagus.html


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## Michellekirsten (Sep 12, 2011)

The vet checked for parasites and there were none but we wormed him anyway. He had horrible fleas, worst I've ever seen, but we've since taken care of that as well. He had a blood test done and it was found he was anemic. The vet gave me a multivitamin (liquid) to give him that is rich in iron. I give it to him as directed, twice a day. Also, he had an upper respiratory infection that the vet gave him a shot of long lasting antibiotics to take care of and that's all cleared up now. Also at one point he was given a shot to help with his upset stomach, I'm not sure specifically what that was. It seemed to help at the time. Since then he has started his vaccines. and been given his heartworm pill. 

Also, when we asked the woman what food she was giving the puppies she said that she bought whatever large breed puppy food was the cheapest at the time. 

But thank you, you're advice will be useful and hopefully over time I can get him to eat and keep his food down! I just fed Oliver his lunch, a 1/2 of a cup, a mix of his original food and the blue buffalo. I put some water in it, let it soak for a minute and fed him. I purchased one of those metal balls that go in their dishes when they eat a few days ago to slow down his eating; it seems to be helping a little with the hiccups but he still gets them 1 out of 2 feedings. It's been about 20 minutes and he has thrown up a little, about a teaspoon of orange, creamy fluid and three pieces of dog food. It's an improvement compared to him throwing up all of it.


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## Michellekirsten (Sep 12, 2011)

No, he did not take any x-rays. Should I make an appointment to have that done?


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Michellekirsten said:


> No, he did not take any x-rays. Should I make an appointment to have that done?


If it was my pup, I would. I'd also wonder why, considering the breed (predisposed to megaesophagus) and symptoms, he didn't suggest one.


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## Michellekirsten (Sep 12, 2011)

I'll call the vet now then. At one point he mentioned x-rays but when I went back, he said it wasn't necessary since he wasn't getting sick as much and had gained two pounds. He never mentioned anything about 'megaesophagus.' Honestly, I'd never heard of it until posting here today or I would have looked into getting x-rays done sooner.


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

You may want to watch after giving the HW pill dose to make sure he does not through it up. If by chance he does you will need to give that dose again.
I have had 2 rescue dogs treated for heartworms and it is way better to re-dose and be safe if a dose is lost or in question.

I do not know anything about the megaesophagus thing but I wish you and your dog well................

Please post how things are going.

Best , oldhound


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## Mr. V (Jan 28, 2010)

Could be a lot of things. In such a young dog though with these signs I'm thinkin a vascular ring anomaly until proven otherwise. This needs to be seen by a specialist, pronto. This dog is at risk for aspirating its food with so much regurgitation.

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23203.htm&word=vascular,ring,anomalies


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## Jenn~n~Luke (Aug 20, 2010)

I'm sorry to hear you baby is having such a rough go of it. I'd definitely be looking into whether ME is an issue...I have a friend with a dane that suffers from this and it's not pretty unfortunately. Also I'm concerned about the amount of medications along with vaccines your baby has been getting. Great Danes and vaccines are a tough mix to begin with, many danes don't react well to them at all, and adding antibiotics and flea meds,etc to it is too much, especially if you pup already has a weakened system. Oh well, too late for that now. PLEASE do not get rabies done until at least six months, (if it wasn't done already)and make sure it's not given in conjunction with any other vaccine at the same time. If it was already given, change vets, because you aren't dealing with a vet knowledgeable in Great Danes...and trust me, even with a healthy dane, you NEED an experienced vet.

Have you checked the calcium levels in BB puppy food? I'm not able to get on the site at the moment to check and see what the levels are.


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## Jenn~n~Luke (Aug 20, 2010)

Just wondering how many cups in total you are feeding t his pup? Because the amount of Purina you were feeding doesn't come close to what a growing dane would need in a run of a day, so it's no wonder he wasn't gaining properly. Once he's totally switched to the BB, he will need at least 4 cups a day I'm thinking, unless he has a super slow metabolism...these next few months are his highest growth times. They eat more.


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## victoriar (Aug 5, 2011)

The Great Dane breed can come with lots of problems. Here is a great link to help you Great Dane in all ways. I did read that certain HW med can cause problem in Great dane. Hope this helps.
http://www.greatdanelady.com/index.html


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

There are two types of throwing up to watch for.
1) Vomiting is slower, more controlled and from the stomach, usually with some warning.
2) Regurgitation is from higher up, is not as controlled, can happen as multiple, smaller amounts, and happens with little warning. 

Try to describe the difference to the Vet so that he can make the determination. Vomiting can be from various types of parasites or irritation. Regurgitation can come from anatomical problems (as suggested above), and sometimes can be alleviated by surgery.


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## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

Pawzk9 said:


> What did your vet say? Did s/he check him for megaesophagus? Did s/he do xrays? http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_megaesophagus.html


I was thinking the same thing. I would book an appointment for xray. At the clinic I work at, usually clients drop their pet off in the morning, fasted for 12 hours, in case the pet.needs to be sedated. If anything, to rule it out.


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## Michellekirsten (Sep 12, 2011)

The vet originally told me to only feed him that much, I had my doubts but due to the fact he was vomiting (yes, vomiting) he told me it was the best to only feed him a little at first until he could hold down his food. He was barely getting ANY food at the place I rescued him from so I was told not to over feed him as it would only make the vomiting worse. Over the course of a week or so, he stopped vomiting and would only regurgitate some of his food - still occasionally throwing up. This is when I switched his food. Purina seemed to upset his stomach. Since switching him, he has not thrown up at all and only has regurgitated a few times (over the last week). Perhaps just a kibble or two. He seems to have the most problem now with water which he occasionally regurgitates if he drinks too much at once so I've been monitoring that. 

I did take him to the new vet. She seemed far more considerate and concerned about Oliver's health. I told her I wanted x-rays done. They took regular, then the barium ones. His esophagus is in fact enlarged, though the first half is quite normal. His trachea is also slightly deviated downward. Today I am going to pick up his medications to help with mobility and the like. Although, for the last week he has not regurgitate much at all, ever since switching his food. Some water will come up every once in awhile and perhaps a kibble or two once a day. He's doing significantly better I'd say!

I'm feeding him 6 cups of food a day now, 1 cup every three hours mixed with a little warm water (between 8am-11pm). Right now this seems the best way to keep him from regurgitating and allow him to gain weight. He weighs about 22 lbs now which his still small for a great dane of this age (his brother weight 33+lbs) but he's gaining weight rapidly now since upping the amount of food he's getting. Over the last two days he's gained about 2-3lbs. So, it seems like he's doing much better now after a very rocky start.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Glad to hear he is doing better!


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

I am so glad you got a new vet that you like and one that is concerned about Oliver's health care. You are doing a great job , please keep us posted on Oliver's progress. I know from your post you are being careful about slowing his eating and drinking down and this is very smart effort on your part.

Food for thought: You may want to consider not giving food or water too close to bed time as you may not want him to sleep on a full stomach. I have never had a large breed puppy/dog , but , that still sounds like a lot of food to me. ( smile ) You prolly already thought of that but I just wanted to throw that in. I do know this , at this you know more than anyone. I hope things keep getting better for Oliver.


Best , oldhound


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## Michellekirsten (Sep 12, 2011)

Thanks! I'll keep everyone posted on how he's doing.

The vet suggested this much food until he puts on a little more weight, then we can lower it to 4-5 cups a day.


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## Jenn~n~Luke (Aug 20, 2010)

Actually with Great Danes when it comes to food, we WANT them to lay down and be relatively quiet after eating. It's a good habit to start from day one, otherwise as the pup gets older and the chances of bloat increase, you have a dog who is excitable or wants to run and play after eating and you then have to try and stop them. If this pup is having trouble keeping water and food down ((Great to hear he is doing better though!!)) then we want him to be quiet and calm even more so after eating. I agree with your vet...once he is back up to his ideal weight you'll want to keep him there. We want our Danes lean.


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