Kezpipa

Thank you monsterpup, that's an excellent idea. I might use one of those vets - yes Northcote and Thornbury are two very close suburbs. We were told faecal analysis would be useless as so few pathogens would be likely to be picked up. At the time blood tests were - well, there was financial issues, as well as the way the vets talked about it - I just didn't have any confidence in them. They made it sound like a blood test was a complete shot in the dark? Based on Gemma's symptoms.

What is 'good quality' dry food, by ppl's standards? Like Eukanuba? Or is there something else? Sorry to sound complete uninformed BTW. We're in Brunswick vicinity, so all the suggestions thus far have been a bit of a drive - but still, a recommendation is preferred to random vets in our area. I don't know where I found the recommendations to withold water - it was a google search, and I just went to random forums etc. However on doing a similar search today it looks like people are equally inclined either way. The vet we went to said that withholding water was the right thing to do - however he had an idea in his head about what he thought was wrong with Gemma, therefore he was probably inclined to recommend a solution for her undiagnosed problem based on this bias.

I was feeding her both Pedigree PAL and Nature's Gift (wasn't sure if either was better - hey, I learned by example, from what my mum used to feed her dogs!, so I would swap to a can of the other type, each time). She initially was sick on the PAL, but has since rejected Nature's Gift too. I used to try to get her to eat dry dog food but she became really particular about it, so I stuck with canned food. Until I came to this forum I didn't have an idea about BARF (tho it makes sense - as long as you know about doggy dietary requirements! Actually I didn't even know that canned food was 'scientifically balanced' until I read posts on this forum... I didn't **think**, basically...)

Hi all, I've been reading this forum on and off for a while, I find the arguments about breeding and etc quite intimidating. Gemma is, I think, a longhaired chihuahua; I found her near the Merri Creek close to death in late 2003, the vet said she had been unable to give birth to a pup and it was dead inside her, slowly killing her. Lort Smith removed the pup and fixed her up really well. She is my first ever dog, although I'd hung out with my mum's dogs when I was young I had never been the centre of any dog's universe. She definitely teaches me a lesson every day I get with her Anyway, a couple of months ago she stopped being able to eat canned food - she started throwing it up. We quickly looked on the net and found that we were supposed to withhold water for a while, and food for 24 hours. Got her to a vet, was given pills (I can't remember what) and told to feed her chicken and rice for a set amount of time. OK, did that, then introduced canned food again after the set time. She threw it up again. Back to another vet, this time for more pills of a different nature and sachets to sprinkle on her food, for a set period of time. OK, did that, then re-introduced canned food. She threw it up. Back to a different vet, Gemma got an injection which made her -scream-, and we were given two types of special diet food, one was hypoallergenic, and the other was I think more of an 'organic content' type, or something similar. Back home, she threw up both types of special diet food. Back to another vet at Lort Smith, who suggested blood tests and screening but had nothing else to offer, and left me thinking - does this person have a clue what they're talking about? She's fine eating chicken and pasta or rice, but nothing else stays down. Her stool has been inconsistent, and was pretty mushy-looking for the first while with a yellower brown to it, but has gradually come to a more stable, clean-up-able consistency. She is still extremely cheerful and happy in herself. It's only if she eats something she shouldn't that she appears unhappy. There's nothing she could be eating to induce the ill-health; we have a small enclosed back yard, and we've closed her access to the cat litter box (which she had been getting into previously and we think that was helping trigger the vomiting), and we've become extremely tight with regards to giving her anything she shouldn't have (like a bread crust here, piece of cheese there). I am going to be flamed for bad pet ownership, I know, but I really am at my wit's end with this. Yes I should have done something earlier, I know... Any help at all... vet recommendations especially would be helpful. I've just gone onto fulltime work so money is less of an issue now. Just like I had no luck with mechanics until I found someone who had been recommended to me by other people who own my type of car, I am hopeful that there is out there, a 'right vet for the job'. :cringes, expecting backlash!: Sorry for the long post but I guess... /shrug/ Someone might have an idea of what it is from what I've said.