Moment of Truth

[MunasG]

SO... As most of you know, Nellie has had a reoccurring vomiting and regurgitation problem. She's on mends for two weeks now and in the first week, it didn't make a difference. At the start of this, the vet she had said that it could possibly be the raw diet she was on. I didn't agree because she was regurgitating before the switch. Anyway, last week, I decided to do a test on my own. I went back to feeding Nellie the Fromm puppy gold with some toppers if cooked chicken and for 4 days the vomiting/regurgitating subsided but boy oh boy the fart bombs and her poops were horrendous!!! Needless to say, she stopped eating the kibble as expected (very picky). So we went back to raw and low and behold after one day the vomiting and regurgitation came back!

So I'm left to wonder if it's indeed the raw?? I'd hate to even consider it because her coat, poop and energy is so much better on the raw. Am I in denial?? She is on. Big Country Raw a rotation of chicken and turkey dinner. The main ingredients are turkey - meat and bones; beef liver; apples; carrots; kale; spinach; blueberries; cranberries and kelp----- all organic, free range meat and hormone free. The chicken has the exact same ingredients with the exception of chicken meat and bones

Any thoughts?? The vet said she's too young to bother with an allergy test right now. Could it be some of the ingredients? Not sure what to do anymore

 

[Cbrugs]

Maybe try a different protein and see if that makes a difference? Can she be eating too fast? Jax is on raw and seems to vomit/regurgitate if he eats too fast. So when he gets his dinner, we now break it up and give it to him in 3 parts and smush it down in the bowl so he can't just inhale it. Knock on wood, but so far he has not vomited/regurgitated since we have been doing this. I also think he might have acid reflux or he might even get an inflamed esophagus but I am not capable of diagnosing that. He goes for his wellness visit with the vet on Monday so I will talk to them about it.

 

[Mavis]

We struggled with allergies for quite a while, although we always had Bambi on really good food. We finally tried Acana Salmon (or fishes - I can't remember - they only have one fish flavor, I think), and she has been really good ever since. Her coat is soft and shiny and she seems very healthy. The kibble is extremely hard and she wouldn't eat it at first. I tried breaking it up with a meat tenderizer and it didn't crumble even after repeated whackings. My husband crushes it now with a pliers every meal (yup - crazy) :loco2:. He mixes it with a little canned dog food and she loves it. Good luck.

 

[hannah]

Banksy did this when we started feeding raw. We just fed him small chunks at a time because he was eating too fast and gulping in air as he ate.
We also switched from just raw to raw in the morning and fromm kibble at night.
He used to turn his head at kibble now he doesn't anymore. The raw in the morning are both my dogs fave meals but they gobble the kibble up too now no problem. It's like the raw diet makes them more hungry or something.

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[2bullymama]

Can totally be something in the ingredients. How old is she again?

I know a Cane Carso that is allergic to carrots, I also know a Pitbull that is allergic to every protein you can thing of so he has to be on a strict fish diet.

 

[MunasG]

Can totally be something in the ingredients. How old is she again?

I know a Cane Carso that is allergic to carrots, I also know a Pitbull that is allergic to every protein you can thing of so he has to be on a strict fish diet.

She is 5.5 months old. I was thinking of getting a protein only raw food for her but concerned whether that will be balanced enough. At what age can they do an allergy test?

 

[Cbrugs]

She is 5.5 months old. I was thinking of getting a protein only raw food for her but concerned whether that will be balanced enough. At what age can they do an allergy test?

Jax is on raw and it's meat only, no veggies or fruits. I either get Vital Essentials patties or I order bison patties from a place online. They are completely balanced with the appropriate meat/bone/organ ratio. I give him some pieces of fruits or veggies every now and then.

Jax had an allergy just before he turned 1. It was an intradermal skin test for environmental stuff. The vets where I live will not do food allergy tests.

 

[2bullymama]

She is 5.5 months old. I was thinking of getting a protein only raw food for her but concerned whether that will be balanced enough. At what age can they do an allergy test?

Usually need ti wait to do an allergy test till at least 16 - 18 month for good results.


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[MunasG]

Jax is on raw and it's meat only, no veggies or fruits. I either get Vital Essentials patties or I order bison patties from a place online. They are completely balanced with the appropriate meat/bone/organ ratio. I give him some pieces of fruits or veggies every now and then.

Jax had an allergy just before he turned 1. It was an intradermal skin test for environmental stuff. The vets where I live will not do food allergy tests.

Ok that makes sense! I'll have to look for a protein only raw to start and see how that works.

 

[MunasG]

Hi all, so nellie is still vomiting several times a day and am just at my wits end now. I plan to take her into the vet again this friday, but before then, I wanted to reach out here to see if i can get some more help. I have been doing a lot of reading and it sounds like it could be a problem with her Sphincter which may require surgery. however, I've also read that putting them on a low-fat, low protein diet can also help with the vomiting.regurgitation. Does anyone have any experience with foods that are low fat and low protein? In either raw, cooked or kibble format. At this point, i am willing to try anything. The meds are not doing anything to stop the issue and its apparent there is more to this. I don't know if i should insist on the barium test and or scoping to be done already, but am worried about them putting her under. however, it can't be fun for her to be spitting up all the time. She threw after breakfast and after lunch too.

Yesterday i went to get her a new raw brand with chicken only to see if that will help, b ut she hasn't even started on it yet. Any help is appreciated.

 

[WeeDex]

This is such a shame - for both of you!

You may have mentioned this before, but does Nellie eat from a raised feeder? If not, that may be worth shot. Helped us completely with the regurgitating.

I would say you are doing the right thing by trying the single protein only. Are you able to get access to something completely different, like rabbit or boar perhaps? Maybe pork? Something she has never had before. I know chicken and beef can be huge problems sometimes. We also have big issue issues with root veg, peas, beans, potatoes.......

Our vet also doesn't recommend food allergy testing, so it's really trial and error for us too.

Fish may also be a good one to try, but it's often in kibble or wet form (certainly in the UK anyway). Maybe something to investigate though.

 

[MunasG]

This is such a shame - for both of you!

You may have mentioned this before, but does Nellie eat from a raised feeder? If not, that may be worth shot. Helped us completely with the regurgitating.

I would say you are doing the right thing by trying the single protein only. Are you able to get access to something completely different, like rabbit or boar perhaps? Maybe pork? Something she has never had before. I know chicken and beef can be huge problems sometimes. We also have big issue issues with root veg, peas, beans, potatoes.......

Our vet also doesn't recommend food allergy testing, so it's really trial and error for us too.

Fish may also be a good one to try, but it's often in kibble or wet form (certainly in the UK anyway). Maybe something to investigate though.

Yes she eats from a raised feeder. I have tried to get a single protein and went to just a chicken with no added fruits or veggies and she wont touch it! I am so frustrated. We are back to the fromm kibble now and she eats it on and off. The regurgitation has gotten worst so i called the internal medicine specialist and he said to come back in on Friday. He thinks the meds should have helped these past three weeks, but since they are not making a difference he thinks there's more to it. She seems to be regurgitating still with the kibble. I hope the vet gives me clearer answers on friday. Wish me luck!

 

[Cbrugs]

Yes she eats from a raised feeder. I have tried to get a single protein and went to just a chicken with no added fruits or veggies and she wont touch it! I am so frustrated. We are back to the fromm kibble now and she eats it on and off. The regurgitation has gotten worst so i called the internal medicine specialist and he said to come back in on Friday. He thinks the meds should have helped these past three weeks, but since they are not making a difference he thinks there's more to it. She seems to be regurgitating still with the kibble. I hope the vet gives me clearer answers on friday. Wish me luck!

Is it more than just acid reflux? Inflamed esophagus? Jax was regurgitating for awhile last month but then I started portioning his dinner out into 3 scoops so he wouldn't inhale it and he hasn't regurgitating since. He still has acid reflux and the vet told me I can give him Prilosec or Pepcid but I might start with Slippery Elm which is the "natural" equivalent.

Good luck and I hope you find answers soon!

 

[MunasG]

Is it more than just acid reflux? Inflamed esophagus? Jax was regurgitating for awhile last month but then I started portioning his dinner out into 3 scoops so he wouldn't inhale it and he hasn't regurgitating since. He still has acid reflux and the vet told me I can give him Prilosec or Pepcid but I might start with Slippery Elm which is the "natural" equivalent.

Good luck and I hope you find answers soon!

I have tried everything from hand feeding little portions at a time, pepcid, sulcrate, anti-vomit meds and all. The only thing i have tried is slippery elm. I have to take it myself to re-build my stomach as i`ve had many GI issues and cant eat gluten, eggs, dairy and a few other things. i can try putting that in her food and see. Right now she has forti flora added to her food daily. i don`t think its acid reflux. The stuff she regurgitates is sometimes undigested food ( which happens seconds to minutes after food)and sometimes white foamy liquid with a bit of undigested food in it. The thing is when she was in the emergency for two weeks fighting parvo, they had to put in a feeding tube to get her food as she was too weak to eat on her own. However, the tube kept falling out several times and they had to put it back in. i wonder if that could have affected her esophagus and causing these problems. because the regurgitation and vomiting started right after that. It was bad in the beginning and she aspirated on it and had pneumonia for two weeks. but she got through that and we were good for a few weeks and then it started all over again.

 

[Cbrugs]

I have tried everything from hand feeding little portions at a time, pepcid, sulcrate, anti-vomit meds and all. The only thing i have tried is slippery elm. I have to take it myself to re-build my stomach as i`ve had many GI issues and cant eat gluten, eggs, dairy and a few other things. i can try putting that in her food and see. Right now she has forti flora added to her food daily. i don`t think its acid reflux. The stuff she regurgitates is sometimes undigested food ( which happens seconds to minutes after food)and sometimes white foamy liquid with a bit of undigested food in it. The thing is when she was in the emergency for two weeks fighting parvo, they had to put in a feeding tube to get her food as she was too weak to eat on her own. However, the tube kept falling out several times and they had to put it back in. i wonder if that could have affected her esophagus and causing these problems. because the regurgitation and vomiting started right after that. It was bad in the beginning and she aspirated on it and had pneumonia for two weeks. but she got through that and we were good for a few weeks and then it started all over again.

I don't know how they would do it but I would suggest checking her esophagus. Maybe an x-ray? At the beginning of the year I ran Jax to the ER cause he was vomiting white foam in the middle of the night and making weird noises. It turned out that he had gas in his esophagus. It was just recently that I discovered Jax's acid reflux because he is constantly licking his lips and swallowing hard. But maybe Nellie is having some sort of esophagus issues?

I hope you are able to get this all figured out...hang in there!

 

[WeeDex]

Yeah I think the vet is the sensible option - it sounds like everything you are trying just isn't helping her and its so worrying for you to see her like this. Let us know how you get on on Friday.

 

[MunasG]

I don't know how they would do it but I would suggest checking her esophagus. Maybe an x-ray? At the beginning of the year I ran Jax to the ER cause he was vomiting white foam in the middle of the night and making weird noises. It turned out that he had gas in his esophagus. It was just recently that I discovered Jax's acid reflux because he is constantly licking his lips and swallowing hard. But maybe Nellie is having some sort of esophagus issues?

I hope you are able to get this all figured out...hang in there!

Yes! all the vets i've been to see believe it has something to do with her esophagus. Either megaesophagus or similar. but to confirm for sure they have to either do a barium test or a scoping. The barium test involves getting her to eat a dye pack of sorts and the vet watching under xrays what happens to the dye as it enters and goes through her GI tract. the scoping they'll have to put her under and send a tube with camera down her stomach to see whats going on. they didn't want to go through that route just yet because both can be stressful for her and the scoping requires anesthesia. At this point i just want them to do it and we can rule out or in what the issue is and how to deal with it. She has now refused the raw and is barely eating the fromm kibble. i just hope they have a better idea on friday. I'll keep you all posted!

 

[Cbrugs]

Yes! all the vets i've been to see believe it has something to do with her esophagus. Either megaesophagus or similar. but to confirm for sure they have to either do a barium test or a scoping. The barium test involves getting her to eat a dye pack of sorts and the vet watching under xrays what happens to the dye as it enters and goes through her GI tract. the scoping they'll have to put her under and send a tube with camera down her stomach to see whats going on. they didn't want to go through that route just yet because both can be stressful for her and the scoping requires anesthesia. At this point i just want them to do it and we can rule out or in what the issue is and how to deal with it. She has now refused the raw and is barely eating the fromm kibble. i just hope they have a better idea on friday. I'll keep you all posted!

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[WeeDex]

[MENTION=1917]MunasG[/MENTION] I happened to get emailed this video last night on a newsletter, and thought it may help you get some nutrients into Nellie while you wait for tests etc

Bone Broth Is Excellent Nourishment for Older Pets

 

[MunasG]

[MENTION=1917]MunasG[/MENTION] I happened to get emailed this video last night on a newsletter, and thought it may help you get some nutrients into Nellie while you wait for tests etc

Bone Broth Is Excellent Nourishment for Older Pets

Wow! Someone else on another frenchie network for my city also told me about this yesterday! She even sent me the recipe to make it and I was going to try it this weekend. Sounds like a healthy thing for her for sure. Thanks for sharing!! I'll update you all on the vet visit today.