What Can Cause Dog Vomiting

[Aroha]

I have a 21mth old Belgiun Shephard that I got from a rescue centre 3 weeks ago. Since then after slowly changing her food from Ekun to Bonny and introducing meat to her diet she has been off and on sick constantly. In particular 4 days ago eating a large amount of grass and vomiting it back up. Naturally a sick dog. Then she comes right bright as a button for a few days and back to being sick again, eating grass or not she vomits up not long after food. I have taken away the fatty meat and cooked it and she was not sick but was the next day after cooking it (chicken). It has been obvious she has not had meat before as she actually didnt know what to do with it. Bones she now eats but once again after a small bone, spewed it up again. Even watered down milk 1/4 cup with 2 cups water and 1 egg she spews up at times. This vomiting does not happen every day but after 3 weeks its become apparant that every few days or so she vomits. She does not guts her food down either and definitly not a big eater. I have her on 2 smallish portions a day and a lot of food is wasted. I have had to put the Bonny with gravy or tuna water or some sort of meat juice to get her to eat the bonny. She rarely eats any of it dried unless she has vomited the day before and really hungry. I do not re-feed her if she has vomited. She will of course eat up her vomit if left there. Of course she just loves cheese which she gets a slice of maybe once a day. Thats the thin packaged slices, could this be a problem to. Maybe an intestinal prob, maybe stomach worms of some type that cant be treated with usual products, HELP. She has of course been vaccinated, worm treated etc before I got her.

Stools: Her stools appear normal the next day if she hasnt vomited the night before. No diaherrea just once the morning after she vomited up the milk and egg the night before but hadnt eaten a proper meal for 2 days. The 3rd day she ate her Bonny, no vomiting and fine again for another 2 or so days. Hmmmmm

Any advice/suggestions would be of great help as I live on an Island and the vet attends once a week. Goes to loo on cue literally every morning and arvo without fail. Does not appear to drink much water but is not that active due to being indoors most of the time as I have yet to put up a fence.

Also my BS comes from a tick free area and has been treated for ticks a day before she got here. Could this be a problem as her not ever having been treated for ticks before.

She was an abused dog, very nervy, taking time to adjust and trust people. Shes highly sensitive also but now trusts me to a degree.

Edited August 1, 2011 by kiwiauz

[Crisovar]

A visit to the Vet is what is needed and pretty soon I think.

[poodlefan]

1. Talk to the vet.

2. Put her on a very bland diet (boiled chicken and rice) or Hills I/D to see if that changes the situation.

You're looking at a range of possible causes from food intolerance to more serious issues. Personally I'd be looking into feeding a better quality kibble than Bonnie if you can afford to. Better off to feed something better that isn't going to waste from a value perspective anyway.

Some dogs are lactose intolerant, particularly if they didn't get cow's milk as pups. I'd be stopping any dairy too.

What sort of meat is she getting?

I suggest you keep a food diary. Note what and when you feed and when she vomits. You may identify the cause.

Edited August 1, 2011 by poodlefan

[becks]

Was she OK on her previous diet? Was that just euk?

It could be as simple as you giving her to many new things to eat in such a short space of time and her stomach not adjusting well. If the sickness is new since she moved in with you, I'd put her back to a very basic diet and take a couple of weeks to introduce again each new item at a time ie. chicken mince for a couple of weeks, then maybe add a different mince or chicken wings for the next couple of weeks into her diet. This way you can see if it is one of the new foods being a problem.

It may also be best to feed kibble as a separate meal to fresh food.

[k9angel]

Have you contacted the rescue you got her from? was she doing it whilst in care with them?

It could be change of diet, it could be something else, I'd be getting her to a vet for a good check up.

And just out of curiosity, what are you suppose to do in an emergency if the vet only visits once a week?

[Aroha]

Have you contacted the rescue you got her from? was she doing it whilst in care with them?

It could be change of diet, it could be something else, I'd be getting her to a vet for a good check up.

And just out of curiosity, what are you suppose to do in an emergency if the vet only visits once a week?

We have ferries that run every half hour to the mainland that allow dogs and one every hour or so is direct taking 30mins and 20mins for the direct one. After 12 midnight none till 4.20am so is a worry at times unless one know someone with a boat. We as from a coupla weeks ago have a qualified vet nurse here on the island for "advice" or checks etc, no treatment from her tho. The main problem here is ticks which is a primary concern for me even tho my BS is treated is still a worry for me. I am seriously considering moving in the next year. Many dogs here die from tick bites.

As for where I got her from, no they did not notice any sickness in her and fed on mainly Ekanubra as they only feed their dogs on the high quality stuff. They had her for 7mths and she was amongst another dozen or so dogs and looked well when i picked her up but needed a bit of fattening up love and care. Maybe I did overdo it but she seemed fine for the first few days and after a week looked really well, her coat even improving and only had vomited 2x but very little. This I expected with the change of food and enviroment.

I have now cut down her amount of food to 4 iddy biddy bonny feeds a day, barely half a cup every 6hrs or so with no more cheese and a half slice of bread dipped in blood typo juice or gravy as a small treat. This she has 2x a day. So far the past 2 1/2 days she hasnt been sick again but will get her checked out by vet when next she comes onto island.

Thanks for your help and concern, its appreciated.

Regards

Lori and Shiloh

[persephone]

I'm glad she has settled a bit .... keep up the good work

[Aroha]

Thanks to you all for your feedback, all are wonderful advice and I will be taking her for her vet check when the vet comes next. Sor far the past coupla days after taking away dairy products and the chicken she has not been sick but will keep a diary on her progress and let alll know how it goes.

Wonderful to have the support from you all here on DogzOnline Thanks to you all and hope all of you are doing well with your own pooches.

Regards

Kiwiauz

[JulesP]

I wouldn't assume she has been abused by her behavior. They can be a nervy breed.

[best4koda]

Hopefully the vet can assist in narrowing the problem down. It could be just the change in diet. Some dogs need to be moved onto fresh meat slowly if they have just been on a processes food diet. I would keep her on a simple diet for a while so she can settle down and give the stomache a rest then perhaps add something and see if it gets a reaction, and do that for a while only adding a new item once you know the previous hasn't had any reaction for a while. We had the runs after trying to move ours onto a better quality kibble, thought it was the change over...didn't get better so changed food slowly again...and just got worse. Bones gave her terrible runs as well and we ended up at the vets twice. Vets thought it was Giardia, EPI or allergies.

We went super bland diet and finally found supercoat sensative worked for our GSD. Then we slowly added fresh meat. She can now tolerate most meats as long as they are low fat but lamb meat and bones are a no no for ours. Oh expensive kibble just gives her the runs. So I can't complain, she's better on the cheap stuff.

Hope you find a solution quickly.