# Blue Heeler Puppy Vomiting Since we got her, Any Suggestions???????????



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

We got the puppy at seven weeks old and and she is now 4 months old. She has been vomiting 1-4 times a day ever since. Of course we immediately took her to the vet and on multiple occasions but are at a point where we don't know what to do anymore!!
Polly will eat, then walk in circles fighting the vomit, licking lips, sometimes ok, sometimes vomit (usually with some white foam and food). She will eat her vomit and is always hungry. She also will occasionally vomit in her sleep. Sometimes she vomits with stomach contractions and sometimes simply expels food shortly after eating. Mostly she will vomit within 5 minutes of eating but sometimes will hold food for as much as an hour before vomiting.
1)xray of stomach --nothing abnormal
2)xray of esophagus--vet said normal (however, would a puppies esophagus always
look normal even if it was predisposed to esophageal disorders? In other words, does the esophagus look worse as dog ages?)
3)dewormed 3 times
4)stool looks normal
5)puppy happy and energetic 
6)no temperature
7)fed chicken and rice (homemade), fed 7-10 times a day in small portions. Tried several foods as well, we also supplement with goat milk.
8)slightly underweight
9)given penicillin shot
10)3 days on anti-vomiting medication, does not work
11)tried antacid
12)antibiotics tried recently with no change.
13)Given raw honey to soothe esophagus and settle stomach
Thanks for going through list, any suggestions? Ever heard of a dog with these symptoms? Once again, we have been going to two different vets. At this point we are looking for anyone whose dog has been through similar conditions in order to possibly help identify this disorder. 

Next vet visit--Ultrasound and more x-rays, possible scope and/or X-ray with dye $1200 with possibly no answers of course.

Thanks in advance for advice, suggestions.
Rob
New Mexico


----------



## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

What are you feeding her? Could it be a food allergy? Could you try a different protein like venison, bison or duck even? Try a food with a single source protein that's also grain-free. You have to try a food for at least a month without any extras (including treats) to see if it is actually working. Of course, if she's vomiting it all out, then I suppose it's useless to try it again but maybe she's so used to vomiting. Just my two cents...

I would go for the ultrasound but what about a barium xray? The vet will give your dog some barium and then take xrays in several intervals. This way, they get to see how the food travels through the digestive system. I wonder if there's a blockage somewhere. You say her stools are normal....so she is still having a regular bowel movement? 

An interesting case, let us know if the ultrasound or xray shows anything. Maybe your vet should refer you to a specialist so that your money is spent on more specialized testing....


----------



## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

Have you tried something other than chicken? My dog has a chicken allergy and presents the same symptoms.


----------



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

flipgirl said:


> What are you feeding her? Could it be a food allergy? Could you try a different protein like venison, bison or duck even? Try a food with a single source protein that's also grain-free. You have to try a food for at least a month without any extras (including treats) to see if it is actually working. Of course, if she's vomiting it all out, then I suppose it's useless to try it again but maybe she's so used to vomiting. Just my two cents...
> 
> I would go for the ultrasound but what about a barium xray? The vet will give your dog some barium and then take xrays in several intervals. This way, they get to see how the food travels through the digestive system. I wonder if there's a blockage somewhere. You say her stools are normal....so she is still having a regular bowel movement?
> 
> An interesting case, let us know if the ultrasound or xray shows anything. Maybe your vet should refer you to a specialist so that your money is spent on more specialized testing....



HI,
Thanks for your response. Don't think it's a food allergy. We started with puppy chow, then chicken and rice, then turkey and rice, goats milk, pedialite. Doesn't seem to matter what she eats. Unfortunately can't wait a month for changes in diet, too crucial to get her nutrients. I agree that ultrasounds, barium would be next steps, or fiber optic view of esophagus and stomach. 

Bowel movements are normal and firm.

Just got back from Vet and new xray shows large gas bubble in stomach but no foreign objects. Question is what is causing gas bubble and how to get rid of it. I thought this might show that she has Bloat, makes sense to me that she gurgles and hic-ups and stomach rumbles, major gas going on but not getting out.

Thanks again for advice. 
Rob



katielou said:


> Have you tried something other than chicken? My dog has a chicken allergy and presents the same symptoms.


Hi,
Thanks for your response, we started with puppy chow and went to chicken and rice (thinking corn allergy), then went to turkey and rice. Can you tell me more about your dogs symptoms, specifics???? Thanks!!!
Rob


----------



## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

My dog can't have chicken or rice and he would literally be totally fine in himself and then eat and either throw up within five minutes or throw up about an hour later and then for a few hours after that he would throw up little amounts of yellow bile.

We did everything x-rays, scopes and eventually we did a full allergy run up.


----------



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for details, it makes me want to continue pursuing food issues for sure. Did your dog show signs of gas build up (hic ups , gurgling, stomach rumbling, etc) while going through this. Thanks in advance. rob


----------



## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

He would get a gas filled tummy then have burps for a while after he was done throwing up.

Get your vets to do a full allergy run up. 
The only thing that has worked for my dog is feeding raw.


----------



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks once again. Would you kindly share your recipe for raw with me? 
rob


----------



## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Your puppy should be checked for megaesophagus, I believe they have to scope the esophagus, rather than just an xray.

http://www.pets.ca/articles/megaesophagus-dogs.htm


----------



## elkielovr (Jun 26, 2010)

The barium study and ultrasound would be a great, non-invasive start to work her up - looking for pyloric outflow problems, any strictures, megaesophagus, etc. After that, an endoscopy and biopsies would be on the list. You can also talk to your vet about a GI panel, looking for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, or pancreatic insufficiencies. Good luck!


----------



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for your response. We are revisiting foods right now to rule this out first, less costly and less invasive. Rob


----------



## flipgirl (Oct 5, 2007)

pollypuppy said:


> Thanks for your response. We are revisiting foods right now to rule this out first, less costly and less invasive. Rob


Since your doctor has already done xrays on your dog's esophagus, you can probably rule out megaesophagus. I would speak to your vet about food allergies. dogs can have different reactions to allergens so one dog could vomit and the other could get diarrhea. I think it would be worth the time and effort to do some food trials. But the barium xray would be a good start as well. You may want to also try a grain-free food. Does your dog gobble up food? Try putting a big rock or kong in her bowl to slow her down. If she eats really fast, she's introducing gas into her belly which could be causing the big gas bubble. The barium xray isn't that invasive -just syringe feeding her white chalky stuff and then doing xrays at regular intervals.


----------



## EarthMonkey (Nov 14, 2009)

Our dog is also allergic to chicken. He would get horrible diarrhea, a vet suggested we change foods to see if it is a food allergy since none of the tests came back negative. We changed to lamb and rice and could see a difference in days. I fed him chicken again about a month or so later and sure enough the diarrhea was back.


----------



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for your input! We have taken out the RICE and feeding just chicken. POLLY IS ALREADY IMPROVING, WE ARE STILL CROSSING OUR FINGERS. Thanks to this forum we revisited the food allergy possibility MORE. Looks like we may get lucky, looks like she is allergic to Corn/Grains. There has been some type of grain in every meal we have tried so far (from kibble, to can, to homemade, etc). Thanks again
Rob


----------



## Miranda16 (Jan 17, 2010)

glad she seems to be getting better


----------



## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

Glad she's doing better! I was going to say that some dogs will have a poultry allergy, so chicken, turkey, duck, pheasant and even ostrich can set them off. If you are just feeding cooked chicken, that's not a good long term diet. Look into raw, something like primal would be a good high nutrient food for her and might do the trick...

ETA: Have you been in contact with the breeder? They should know if they don't already, what's going on and what you've been through. That way if it's a problem with another pup they can let them know.....

Lana


----------



## MollyGermanShepherd (Jul 20, 2010)

I'm glad your puppy seems better.
Molly is almost 14 months old and has also vomited a lot over her short life. We are now assuming it is a food allergy, also. Molly was also treated for worms 3 times as a young puppy and finally went to an intestinal low residue diet. She had one incident at 5 months when we thought she might have swallowed a foreign object and she had to have X-rays, an ultrasound and IV's but nothing was seen. We think it could have been related to a rawhide dog chew. Several weeks ago, she vomited 3 times over a 14 hour period, so we took her to the vet and we discovered she had lost 11 pounds.
The vet did a CBC, test for Addison's and a test for malabsorption and pancreatic problems, but they were normal.
Molly has always scratched at herself a lot but not enough to cause fur loss, but for more than a month, we had been noticing fur in her feces and even in her vomit, so that is why we moved to considering some type of allergy.
Molly likes to eat almost anything. We keep her in an area where she can't get objects in the house, but outside, she will eat bromeliads, acorns, palm nuts, grass, cat feces, etc. Five months ago, we had to stop letting her outside on her own because she would eat things. We walk her several times a day for exercise. Now, the vet told us to put a muzzle on her when she is outside so that she won't lunge at things and eat them. With the muzzle and the hypoallergenic food, she has not vomited for 3 weeks. We had to double the amount of her food, but she is gaining weight.
Molly is also taking famotidine twice a day now. Her stomach still sounds gurgly after meals for a while and sometimes she still makes groaning sounds while she's sleeping, but we think the groaning is just because she's stretching and sighing and not because she's uncomfortable.
Molly probably has a different problem from your puppy, but just wanted to share her experience.


----------



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

MollyGermanShepherd said:


> I'm glad your puppy seems better.
> Molly is almost 14 months old and has also vomited a lot over her short life. We are now assuming it is a food allergy, also. Molly was also treated for worms 3 times as a young puppy and finally went to an intestinal low residue diet. She had one incident at 5 months when we thought she might have swallowed a foreign object and she had to have X-rays, an ultrasound and IV's but nothing was seen. We think it could have been related to a rawhide dog chew. Several weeks ago, she vomited 3 times over a 14 hour period, so we took her to the vet and we discovered she had lost 11 pounds.
> The vet did a CBC, test for Addison's and a test for malabsorption and pancreatic problems, but they were normal.
> Molly has always scratched at herself a lot but not enough to cause fur loss, but for more than a month, we had been noticing fur in her feces and even in her vomit, so that is why we moved to considering some type of allergy.
> ...



Thanks for sharing, there are similarities. Especially the gurgling going on. I am now convinced a raw diet is the way to go. Or simplicity in order to determine problems. Even the best dog foods at the store can't be trusted and have far too many ingredients to determine if your dog's problem stems from food allergy. We are just feeding chicken, as it is working. We will give Polly a week or two of just this until she can recover from months of vomiting. I will be posting a Lessons Learned for my case so maybe some can learn from it. Thanks again for sharing.
Rob



Bordermom said:


> Glad she's doing better! I was going to say that some dogs will have a poultry allergy, so chicken, turkey, duck, pheasant and even ostrich can set them off. If you are just feeding cooked chicken, that's not a good long term diet. Look into raw, something like primal would be a good high nutrient food for her and might do the trick...
> 
> ETA: Have you been in contact with the breeder? They should know if they don't already, what's going on and what you've been through. That way if it's a problem with another pup they can let them know.....
> 
> Lana


Thanks!! We will look into a raw primal food. That will be next food we try for sure, just keeping her on chicken for now in order to let her recover a little bit. I am going to breeders house to inform them, may help other owners.
Rob


----------



## pollypuppy (Jul 19, 2010)

Hello all,
Just wanted to post a "Lessons Learned" with my dog. I have had many dogs over the past two decades and never a sick one.
I now take "raw food" very seriously as a solution and a "first step" towards almost any condition a dog may have. In other words,
start with FOOD issues before going to see a vet. Even though we did do this (to a certain extent), we always had some sort of grain
in her food. 
In my humble opinion:
-watch a puppy eat before bringing it home
-wait till puppy is 8 weeks old before taking from mother
-feed RAW no matter what, especially when puppy needs best nutrition early on
-don't go searching for exotic conditions your dog may have on internet 
-don't assume your vet (or several vets) will have any answers to your dogs problems
I hope anyone with similar problems will find this simple advice helpful. Thanks to those who responded and got 
me thinking more clearly on food issues, which solved my dogs problems.
Rob


----------

