# dog throws up 1x about every other day for a week, what would cause?



## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

2 yo Dog is happy, frisky, loves her walks. Throws up 1x a day every other day for past week. Throw up is partially digested kibble. a mass not watery or biley. She does look pathetic after she vomits. SO I got to think her tummy hurts, but she doesn't object to my palpations. 

Dog is house dog, outside on leash only so she's not eating anything unusual.... she gets TOTW Lamb, so I started to switch her over to TOTW fowl yesterday.... has a history (year ago last episodes) of giardia, tested negative in a float to G the end of Sept (yearly fecals) Had Coccidia also over a year and a half ago, again negitive to C on the yearly fecal... Has also had fiber responsive colitis, again over a year ago... so I feed some sweet potato and a probiotic in her meals......

I'm going to call the vet tomorrow see what they say (bring her in and we'll put her on antibiotic would be my bet) 

But anybody else have a dog with a sensitive stomach? Or have this sort of thing happen?


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## Firem4nJoe (Oct 10, 2011)

Hi, Have you tried the Raw Meaty Bones diet? I have 2 sixteen month old whippet/kelpie crosses name Ellie and Buddha. I got them from the pound at 8 weeks old last year. Ellie looked healthy enough but Buddha reeked of death due to the poor quality food the pound feeds and the Coccidia bug he most likely caught there. The problem with Coccidiosis is that it's not always active so a negative test result doesn't mean it's not there. 
We were back to Vet every 5 weeks and sometimes more often to get the same bug treated. This all stopped a month ago when we started seeing the new local vet (Ellie gets car sick and it's walking distance) who took one look at them and merely suggested seeing what happens if we cut out all the factory processed pet foods from their diet and give them the natural raw meat and bone that dogs as carnivores should be getting anyway, and they were, but we were also feeding kibble and canned food. We haven't been back to the vet for anything medical since.

Within two days both dogs lost their coat odour and doggy breath, and in the following weeks slimmed down a bit, found bundles more energy, became calmer and more content, little bald spots started growing fur back, and they're effectively down to one meal a day. That one meal is generally a chicken frame but they do get other meaty bones for variety and a balanced diet, even table scraps like rice and vegetables are fine in small amounts. A lot of raw feeders seem to get hung up over bone to meat percentages, nutrient values and supplements. It's not all that important to stress over and I put it down to nutritionists and other niche marketers trying to force there way in. 

Apparently there's a difference between vomiting and regurgitating, I'm not sure what it is but your vet should be able to tell you. And If you take my advice and cut out the pet foods and just feed raw meaty bones/carcasses, human grade chicken frames, lamb necks, cattle organs, etc you'll be providing a perfectly balanced diet, should see almost immediate turn around health wise and rapidly cut down on vet bills, so don't be surprised to hear your vet trying all the new anti-bone arguments and scare stories on you, they've most likely been drilled into his head by the pet food company that funds him. A dog addicted to pet food might not be too interested in raw meat and bone if it's never been introduced before in which case fasting the dog for a day, except for water, will be quite safe to do and she'll be more likely to dig in to the new food. I suggest changing over cold turkey from processed food to raw food but gradually might be the only way to go with a picky dog. 

While Buddha might get the odd occasional Coccidia flare up due to stress or something, it's nowhere near as bad as it was in the "High Quality" pet foods.

I hope you find this helpful and wish you and your dog the best.


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## leafy (Jul 23, 2011)

Our dog has been doing this, too. She throws up bile, though. We are trying to rule out the possibility of food allergies. Under our care she has always eaten high quality dog food and treats with no wheat, corn and other stuff. She started out on a chicken diet with us and then we moved to duck. Currently we are on rabbit through the end of the year to see what happens. She is absolutely in love with the rabbit diet -- can't get enough of it apparently. She also takes 5mg of Prilosec every day. If this diet doesn't calm down her stomach then we'll need to look into other tests...

She gets 3 meals a day of all the same size: Breakfast, dinner and a bedtime snack. She is never more than 9 hours without food in her stomach and her stools have always been fine.


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

Firem4nJoe thanks for the reply. Interesting to note that Coccidia is present even with a negative fecal. I can't go raw for 3 reasons. 1) my dog has a beard and through I keep it short I can't take it all off. Therefore there will always be raw juices in her beard and in her water bowl. 2) I know a USDA international meat inspector chief who works in Wash DC. I know what's in our meat. I know it isn't safe for human consumption uncooked. 3) the real reason; I have a 4yo daughter who is well... a normal 4yo child. I am unable to prevent her from letting the dog kiss her on the lips, playing in the dogs water and food bowls, In other words I can not prevent this 4 yo from coming into contact with raw meat through the dog and putting it into her mouth....... and I'm afraid of her getting sick. 

my dog is a food hound, and would love the raw diet. From what I've heard from folks who go raw it is wonderful for a dogs health.


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

leafy, thanks for the reply as well. I'm going to try elemination as well and see if this is food allergy related. I never called the vet, dog just seems normal and the day got crazy. I'll try tomorrow. But I've realized that the dog gets grain free in her kibble (TOTW) but her treats for LLWalking are meatballs and thus have wheat flour in them. So I've compleated the switch from the lamb totw to fowl totw and will use chciken as training treats and see what we get. no barf today fwiw.


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

just an update fwiw; dog did throw up again. I got a vet apt for tomorrow afternoon. This am saw blood in feces, so the colitis is back.... but will know more after tomorrow afternoon. Poor poochy.. my other dogs never had these issues.


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

It is possible that colitis is causing problems and anti-biotics will help here.

The fact that your dog has Giardia and Coccidia as a past sickness brings this into your current symptoms
and would suggest the stress associated with the colitis flare up has cause dormant Giardia/Coccidia
to re-activate.

A negative test for Giardia/Coccidia does not mean it is not active , just not showing up at that time......

Ask you Vet about this , ASAP..................

Best , oldhounddog


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

HI Oldhouddog. Vet prescribed antibiotics in our Friday pm apt....

vet apt found (name I can not remember) an unbalence of bacteria in the gut. Prescribed an anti-vomiting med (Cerenia) and the Metronidazole (antibiotic) to cover a variety of bases. If not better by Mon to bring her back in. I'll be calling them first thing monday am...

Fri pm she tossed up the meds and dinner soon after eating. But she then ate it all up... and it stayed down...Sat am I gave meds and no breakfast, an hour later I gave small amts of chicken and sweet potato as training treats on our walk, dog threw up on walk. So in pm gave meds an hour before dinner.. Fed small dinner of chicken,rice, sweet potato and dog vomited up. Sunday gave meds in am she vomited them up asap, I gave a second time they stayed down. 3 hrs later I fed a frozen kong (her kibble, sweet potato puree and sp ******) that also seemed to stay down. This eve I gave her a small meal of rice, chicken, sweet potato and so far so good. 2.5 hrs later and still ok. Hope to give her her meds and they will also stay down...

So I am glad that food is appearing to stay down... but also worried that she immediatly got worse on Friday pm. Normally she'd throw up every other day, and about 4 hours after a meal..

I'm not freaked about her eating her meals.... I figure with regular water intake she'll be ok not eating full meals for a few days. What I am most concerned about is if the meds are actually getting a chance to be absorbed and do their job. I suspect thT there would be an injectable alternative that we could try. SO will discuee with vet tomorrow am and see what they advise...

fwiw the vet said that right now she's seen alot of dogs doing this exact same thing (throwing up hours after eating) including one of her own dogs. But she see's no link and suspects that it is just a coincidence..... SInce my girl has a history of Coccidia/colitis/giardia I suspect that somethign has stressed her system and thrown it out of wack and allowed something (coccidai or giardia or colitis) to take over....


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

Your suspicions are well founded.

History for Giardia/Cocci perhaps a little flare up of colitis equals "stress" and will re-activate dormant Giardis/Cocci.

Metro is the drug of choice among many Vets that suspect Giardia.

I have same with a few of my hounds, and , when this ugly monster shows up I treat w/ Metro&Sulfadimethoxine.......


Best , oldhound


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

When you get past this, feed your dog 2 tablespoons full of plain unflavored yogurt every day for at least 3 weeks w/meals.
Your dog will appreciate this little extra and you will too.

Best , oldhound


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

I usually do probiotic instead of yogurt b/c I'm avoiding dairy.

update; not parasites. but possible foreign object.

Called vet this am and took dog in for 10am apt where I told vet everything that had happened sicne Fri pm. I left dog there. Vet gave barium pills and took x rays every hour throughout the day. Also fed the dog little bit of the chicken (that I had given her) with barium die that was xray-ed as it went through. I met with the vet at 6pm and we reviewed the xrays and talked about a plan of action. Current theory is that there is an object in the stomach. I got to take doggie home for the eve, not allowed to feed but water ok. I'll bring her back in tomorrow am for one more xray and we'll decide what to do from there. But the likely outcome will be an endoscopy followed by surgery. I am afraid to go straight to surgery, and if she goes under anesthisa (sp sorry) for the scope then if they DO find an object they could go straight to surgery.... 

I dunno, right now I'm weighing the options.... Do a scope then if needed do surgery? Do surgery right away and skip the scope?

Before I left the office tonight I made sure that I have the vets typed and legible notes, as well as a CD of all the xrays. If my dog takes a turn for the worse overnight I'll drive her to the emergency clinic and have all the info on the case for the emeri vet to view..... better than me babbling like an idiot at 2 am with a sick dog....


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## +two (Jul 12, 2011)

Best of luck to you and please let us know how it goes tomorrow.


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

>>I dunno, right now I'm weighing the options.... Do a scope then if needed do surgery? Do surgery right away and skip the scope?<<

NRB ,

Sounds like you have a good Vet. Try to stay calm , if the object will not pass , any planned surgery/scope is better that an emergency for sure. 

Good Luck , old hound


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

getting nowhere on this one. no emergency at the momment. But no real idea of whats going on. Vets assesment after Mon and Tuesday following the barium pills was that there is no foreign body. Vet got a second opinion from the local e-vets on this. Dog has been full of energy, bouncing off the walls, very into her food and normal poop. She has vomited 1x Wed night and 1x Thursday pm. But I'd say that 75% or more food is getting through her system. I feed small meals 3x a day plus a small frozen kong (made with new perscription foods) , give an antivomiting meds 3x a day. Have been calling into vets everyday with a daily report. Spoke to vet today. She's leaning towards Helicobactor and thinks that I should drive to a city 2 hrs away and see a GI specialist who will scope dog..... treatment is a coupel hard core antibiotics and antacids for 3 weeks. I've got no real feel fo thie Helicobacter.... seems it is naturally occuring bacteria int he gut, but if out of control causes issues... I'm all for a GI specialist seeing the dog and getting to the bottom of this issue sooner than later. But I feel like my vet is just guessing.


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

NRB ,

I have read all of your post over again and did not find any mention of treatment meds for Coccidia.
My experiences with my dogs are similar to Firem4nJoe with respect to Coccidia.

I would treat for Coccidia before the jump to scope. I treat with sulfadimethoxine for 10 days. One of my hounds had problems that mirror what you have described and this worked for my dog.

Best , oldhound


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

Ok so you are saying that when your dog has coccdia it throws up but the stool is totally normal and you have no diarrhea?

You are correct. I have not been told to treat for coccdia. I will discuss that treatment option with the vet. I do appreciate your input and will examine the ideas you suggest but will always defer to a vet who has seen the dog in person.


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

The Vet is always the best source of health care info and I agree.
My point about Coccidia was that I had a dog that had very similar symptoms as yours and would throw up every day. Dog was sick on and off for 4 or 5 months and Vet treated for Giardia bc symptoms were not always clear and nothing pos on fecal test. The stool would be normal while on meds for Giardia , but after meds were over the stool would be OK on some days and not on others. A friend that breeds Redbone hounds suggested that I treat for Coccidia since I had already treated for Giardia. My Vet had my dog on Metro and Safe guard at different times and dog would still be sick when meds finished. So I gave it a try with Sulfadimethoxine for 10 days and dog got well and that was 1 year ago.

Good Luck with whatever you do and hope dog gets well soon.

oldhound


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

Ok. I didn't realize what you had gone through before. You may have mentioned that story before and I've just forgotten


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

oldhounddog I spoke to the vet about treating for Coccidia, she didn't feel that made sense, gave me a long and very involved answer as to why. I dillegently took notes, and agreed with what she was saying. But am I totally brain dead from work, a head cold and halloween to begin to explain exactly what it is that she told me. But short answer was no, it didn't make sense to treat for coccidia. Her thought was to treat "as if" she had IBS and food allergies. Once she's stable and no longer throwing up to wean her off the meds and start to introduce different foods. Sorry I don't have the capacity to explain the specifics. She is urging me to see an internal medicine specialist, and one that specificly deals with GI issues. 

My vet prefers a specialist who is located 2.5 hrs away. They could see me as soon as next Tuesday. Typically they do a consult on one day then make a second apt if we need to scope.... But since i'm coming in from far away they would "see what they could do" about doing a consult and scope on the same day.... but then again it could be that we don't need a scope. Problem is that if I see this specialist adn I have to go back for follow up I am in a bad position. I just don't have that kind of free time. for a 5 hour roundtrip drive and a couple hours at the vets office. (7hrs total at least) 

My vest second choice is an hour+ away. They have internal medicine people but not a die hard GI specialist like the previous guy. The Dr my vet recomended can't see us until the 15th, 2 weeks from now. They could have another general internal medicine vet see us as soon as this Friday. They ask that you come in the morning, do a consultation then leave the dog there all day for testing and picke her up in the evening and go over treatment recomendations... SO with this vet I'd do 2 trips over and back in the same day, about 4.5 hrs+ on the road...and another 1.5 to 2 hrs with the vet...

I guess each a


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## oldhounddog (May 31, 2010)

NRB,
Hopefully the new treatment for IBS and food allergies will work and you will not need the specialist. If at all possible it would be good if you and your dog could be well soon as holidays are right around the corner. I know it is tuff to keep everything going with so much on your plate and sick too. Good Luck...

Best , oldhounddog


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## NRB (Sep 19, 2009)

just an update. Saw the GI specialist on Tuesday am. He wanted to do less invasive tests and rule out a few things before the scope. So we did a barium swallow focusing on the esophagus, an abdominal ultrasound, and blood tests for pancreatic functions and cortisol levels (trying to rule out Addisins Disease) All but one of the blood test are in and all results normal. WHich is good b/c scary things not found. But bad b/c dog threw up 2x today and we'll be doing a scope next week. She did eat and keep down (so far) her lunch and her dinner. Specialist is leaning twards IBS or IBD. sucks. Dog is pooping normal, happy so far.

Also I'm to keep her on the HA diet and give the Metaclopimide (sp??) anti vomiting meds. Local vet had me up the dose by 5mg this evening.


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## Kelly.arnold45 (Jun 19, 2020)

Hi there @NRB, did you ever find out what was wrong with your pup? Having similar experience with mine and the vet doesn't know what's wrong. Same symptoms as yours!


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

9-year-old thread.


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