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EWWWW!!!! My dog throws up everytime she eats hard dog food

Posted : 8/30/2014 5:36:06 PM

Ok here is some back round first>>>I have had my boxer Bella since she was 5 weeks old...When i went to get her 2 1/2 hours away the lady said she was 7 weeks and mama wouldnt feed them anymore...Which was NOT the truth.. That night she was so sick wouldnt eat and cried so bad and was vomiting. I stayed home from work took her to vet.. To my surprise the vet said she was NOT weened and she was starving and needed her mama... well that was not an option so i went to rural king and got puppy milk and lots of blankets she loved blankets.. She was able to lap the milk so i didnt have to use the bottle... she was so needy of me i had to carry her around wrapped in a blanket for weeks... I finally got her weened and eating Gravy Train canned dog food.. But when i try to give her hard dog food she vomits everytime every brand... I dont know what to do... I cant afford to take her to vet everytime she seems to change cause belive me she has been to the vet ALOT.. I have spent about 1,000 already on her in vet bills and differnt foods and she is 6 months old so i am turning to this to see if other people have had this problem... She eats a can of gravy train in morning about 5 and doent throw that up but when she eats her kibbles and bits durning day makes her throw up whole dog food and this goes on till its all out of her belly and then shes fine i have changed food from puppy chow to cheap rural king brand to science diet and nothing but canned works... so what are anyones thoughts on my issues

Michele68

Posted : 8/31/2014 9:58:38 AM

Sorry to hear about her rough start. She may have a very sensitive stomach, what did your vet say about the hard food? Can you crush it up with the soft or try soaking it a bit in water or beef or chicken broth? (low salt) I would start by trying to mix it with the soft and see what happens. Please keep us posted.

CarlisleIndiana

Posted : 8/31/2014 10:51:06 AM

The vet told me to change foods which we did and still same thing always throws up everytime... i was reading on where she may be eating to fast and then to much air makes her sick... she only does this with hard food... i have tried to do the soft and hard food and throws up hard food only... its crazy i feel like i am starving her cause wet food is not cheap we go through a ton about 2 cases in 2 weeks... but i cant always leave it down like i could hard food cause she goobles a can and then i am scared if i give her more she will over eat and throw up.. this is one of those this where i am just danged if i do and danged if i dont...

calliecritturs

Posted : 9/1/2014 12:16:58 AM

First -- try specifically what Michelle said -- don't *mix* it with wet food, but literally WET the dry food (add water and let it set a bit). Doing it this way will tell you if it is some ingredient in dry food she doesn't tolerate or if it is merely that she doesn't tolerate the dry kibble.

You can also home cook for her -- in honesty, none of the foods you mention are very good (and no, Science Diet is NOT a good food -- vets sell it, but it's still got sucky ingredients in it). Home cooking isn't an easy option and you must be super careful not to let the fat content get too high **and** to balance it, but it surely can be done. It is not cheaper = trust me on that. It is merely better food.

calliecritturs

Posted : 9/1/2014 12:20:30 AM

The other thing to try is sabotaging her efforts to eat too fast. Take a bunch of toys (balls, irregularly shaped toys) and put them in her bowl. Then put in just PART of her kibble. She'll have to move the toys to get the food.

Next thing is to put a mixture of kibble and something like beef heart (I can tell you how to cook it and heart is CHEAP -- like $1.70 a pound) cooked/steamed so the broth from the heart moistens the food and shove it in a Kong!! Give it to her in her crate -- let her work for her meal. She can't eat it fast, but it may help the digestion.

jessies_mom

Posted : 9/1/2014 9:52:07 AM

Hi and welcome to the forum; I'm sorry you're having problems finding a food that works for your pup. When you started offering her dry food, did you do it very slowly, offering her a very small amount, just a handful? That's the best way to introduce new food to a dog with a sensitive stomach, and boxers tend to have sensitive systems. What I would suggest is keeping her on the wet food she's doing well on for a few weeks to give her stomach time to settle from the many different dry foods you've been giving her. Then offer her a very small amount of dry food at one meal. If she doesn't vomit, do the same thing the next day and then very gradually increase the amount. You may want to try Science Diet Sensitive Stomach and Skin;

www.hillspet.com/.../sd-canine-adult-sensitive-stomach-and-skin-dry.html

My vet recommended it when our newly adopted dog was having problems with soft stool and vomiting. We had tried some very good foods ingredient-wise but he wasn't doing well. His stool is now firm and he doesn't vomit anymore, and he has a lot of energy. I may home cook for him in the future but he loves this food and is doing well. You may also want to join a boxer forum and find out what other boxer owners feed their dogs; good luck!!!!