[llin]

Jaeger who is alittle over four months has been vomiting for a few days now. Not all the time but enough to make me concerned. His vomit is mostly undigested food. We have been to the vet. Blood work and physical were normal, urine sample normal. We started on worming medication and he was given SQ hydration just in case but the vet said she could not see why he would be having these problems. We haven't changed his diet and I didn't think he has eaten anything he shouldn't have. He acts fine, like a puppy should and does not display any signs of discomfort. He is eating but not like he has been and he is having bowel movement although they are now more diarrhea. Two vets have said they think it may be food related (but his diet hasn't changed) or worms which the medication should take care of. Apart from a x ray they said I should just watch him. I'm concerned because of the undigested food, not eating as much and now the runny stools. Any suggestions?

 

[DogsR4Life]

Is there a university near you? They tend to have top diagnostic tools, fresh minds, as well as highly experienced professors. Did they rule out parvo?

 

[llin]

UGA is close. They have done all kinds of tests and a hefty vet bill later still nothing

 

[brw1982]

Is there a possibility of obstruction? I'd have x-rays done just for the peace of mind.

Did the vet prescribe any kind of bland or limited diet in the meantime to stop the diarrhea? Did they give him any thing to stop the vomiting?

 

[llin]

Just spoke to the vet and she wants to do a round of flagyl starting next week if he still continues to vomit and have the loose stools. And also feeding twice a day instead of leaving kibble in his bowel all day and then his "big meal" at night. Samples (vomit and stools) from this morning have no blood in them which is good news. She suggested doing an x ray as well but believes it is not a obstruction due to bowels sounds and physical but one more test just to make sure I guess. Thanks for your input.

 

[dapple]

I would double check for an obstruction or partial obstruction too.
If food is only going part way, and thrown up undigested. Some food could still be going through, and the rest not. This is what happened to a dog of mine.

 

[mmctaq]

What are you feeding? Did this have an onset that coincided with opening a new bag? If this was my pup, I would switch him immediately (without any transition) to another food... either a different brand of kibble with a different protein source, or (preferably) a cooked ground meat and mushy rice temporary diet... if you do the latter, I would do a ground meat which is different from the protein source in his current food.

 

[Fitzmar Dobermans]

I would also suspect a partial obstruction - do the x-ray for piece of mind.

 

[llin]

X-ray done and no obstruction, no free air. They did give him barum and will re-do another x ray in the morning. We started flagyl and the giardia test should be in tomorrow. It must be food related. At least for now there does not seem to be an obstruction which did give me a peace of mind. Just hate it when they aren't themselves

 

[brw1982]

I'm glad it's not an obstruction and that you're continuing to pursue an answer.

Hopefully it's just a little tummy upset bug or a bad bag of food. I hope he feels better soon!

 

[Sorceress_Mage]

When I read this right away I remembered how Hero had Girardia as a pup and we didn't know it. We kept changing his food and all. We had watched him like a hawk and know that he never swallowed anything to hurt him (my sweetie thought I was so neurotic). It turns out that Hero had Girardia when we had gotten him, because we had these problems right away. I just know I was so relieved that we could at least identify the problem and then solve it right away.

 

[Darkevs]

Hope your young boy feels better soon.

did you talk with your pups breeder? Is he on the same food she feeds?

 

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

It could be any number of things, but both of my Dobermans went through the same thing for most of their puppyhood (vomiting and diarrhea constantly), and it was food related for them. It took forever to find a food that worked for them.

 

[llin]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Xray this am showed no obstruction, great news. Girardia negative. So the vet thinks his belly got sensitive to the food. Feedings are twice a day insteading of allowing him to graze all day. Just frustrating to say the least. I just want him to start eating normal again. Vet doesn't want to change the food just yet. She wants to give the flagyl a few more days to see if it helps. We have been feeding him Purina Select which is what the breeder had him on. I am reseaching other foods for the sensitive belly so any suggestions would be grateful

 

[Darkevs]

not quite sure what the Purina select is.

I feed my guys Purina Pro Plan Salmon and rice and have never had any digestive issues with any of my mutts.

Hope your boy gets better soon!