Dog vomiting with all dry food.

You can provide your gal with homecooked foods that are nutritionally complete if you do some research. I did that for my crew for years until a move to the deep south and the heat (I think that was the reason) meant that homecooked resulted in screaming diaherra.

GSD's are known to have "sensitive" tummies.  No one told mine that until they got a bit older and then we too had some issues.  If she is doing fine on boiled chicken and taters, maybe try adding a tiny bit of a good quality kibble....and, I don't consider either you mentioned to be all that great.....if you continue to homecook, you'll need a calcium supplement.  That's critical.

A lot of dogs have sensitivites to grain fragments and glutens.  I avoid corn, wheat, soy, fragments, glutens AND any non-identified meat source.  If it says "poultry" on the label or "meat", no way am I feeding it.  Poultry could be anything from chicken or turkey to sparrow, and I want to KNOW what my dogs are getting.  My general rule of thumb is that the first two ingredients need to be a named meat source and a named meat meal.

You may not find a kibble that agrees with her.  You may have to mix kibble with homecooked or canned and rely primarily on the wet foods.

I'm betting that some of our food experts will be along with more advise for you.  Welcome to the forum!

A few questions:

1.  How long after it eats does the dog vomit?  a few minutes?  an hour?  a few hours?

2.  If it is a few hours later --sorry this is gross but important -- what does the food look like?  Has it been digested at all? 

3.  This is tricky -- if the dog is 'vomiting' right after it eats or even a short (relatively) while later -- is the dog actually vomiting or regurgitating?  There IS a difference.  Regurgitation is when they voluntarily bring food back up (because they are uncomfortable usually), but vomiting is totally IN-voluntary.  Has your vet explained the difference?  It DOES make a difference.

4.  Do you feed once a day, twice?  Have you tried breaking it down into smaller meals to see if it sets better?

5.   Does the dog throw up EVERY time?  Or just periodically (which brings us back to a regurgitation/vomit question). 

6.  Have you tried wet food?  Does it set better? 

7.  Have you tried soaking the food?  Does that work better?

8.  You mentioned accidents in the house -- and they're also looking for  "illness" -- has the vet done an actual urinalysis and bloodwork?  In particular, I'd want to see a full urinalysis NOT just a "strip test" looking for potential infection.  This is deeper diagnostically than it sounds -- food digestion has a LOT to do with the kidneys and catching renal problems ***early*** with a good urinalysis that is looking for microalbuminaria can be a big huge deal. 

If bloodwork has been done how does it look?  (and if no bloodwork, then why not?  I'd think they'd do that before tests for Addisons.)

My dog cannot eat any type of dry food for more than a few days without vomiting, bloody urine and either constipation or diarrhea.  She eats all canned and I add in meats and fish.  I've tried to add dry back in many times with all different brands and levels of quality with nothing working for very long. 

Glenda - Thank you for your response. So helpful!! I have been thinking of starting homecooked foods. And I did not know that GSD's had sensitive stomach's. Calliecritturs - 1. She throws up about 8 hours after eating (she eats at 7AM/7PM and usually gets sick around 3/3:30. 2. It is definitely digested food; no large pieces of kibble. 3. My vet has not explained the difference; nor has it been discussed with them. I will bring this up at our next visit. 4. Twice a day in Kongs, so she does not eat so fast. 5. It seems like once she starts throwing up from a certain food, the frequency picks up. But definitely not every time. 6. I have not tried wet food, also will bring this up with the vet. 7. I do not wet the food because I put it in the kong; otherwise she eats it in about 15 secs flat :) 8. The accidents only occurred on the ZD; as soon as she was off it she was back to drinking normal amounts of water and is not having any problems. They did do a full urinalysis and the only abnormality was that her urine was highly diluted (attributed to the food causing her to drink so much). All her other values were normal. The bloodwork was perfect (Vet's words, not mine). No abnormal values at all. X-Ray was also fine. The Vet admitted that they were stumped and at this point are doing the tests a specialist would do to save me money. She isn't losing weight other than when she was vomiting frequently and now she is stable. She doesn't' have a decreased energy level. The only time she didn't want her food was on the Royal Canine and that was because she was throwing it up. Its frustrating. I just don't want her to keep getting sick (and the rug will be happier too). Thank you both for your response!!!

You CAN put wet food in her kong.  Just stick it in the freezer once its stuffed.  Just partially freeze it so she doesn't get frustrated, but yeah, she can do canned in the kong.

Please understand that not all gsd's will have sensitive stomachs, but enough do that it's considered a  breed characteristic almost.

And, as Lori said, some dogs simply don't do well with kibble.  There are lots of options and alternatives, but it takes a lot of research and time to get it right.

   

Lady'sMom

she started drinking large quantities of water and started having accidents in the house

      Jessie did this when she had a pancreatitis attack.

Lady'sMom

Then she started vomiting her food. Back to the Vet, changed her food to Royal Canine Duck and potato. Within 3 days she was vomiting her food again.

 

   Vomiting is also a common symptom. Sometimes regular blood work doesn't detect it because the lipase that is checked isn't from the pancreas. There's a test called the spec cPL that measures the lipase from the pancreas;  Spec cPL Test

   Xrays won't detect it either. An ultra sound done by a skilled technician may detect it, but the easiest way is with the test I linked. Please don't wait too long; a seriuos attack can kill a dog. In the meantime, I would feed her boiled chicken with no skin and very well cooked rice (mushy). Feed her very small amounts several times a day.

 

Here is an article on pancreatitis:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2103&aid=335

This article shows how wide a range of problems can cause vomiting:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2090&aid=3574

This web page is on digestive disorders.  It concentrates on diarrhea problems, but some ideas like probiotics and soothing the digestive tract may help with vomiting.

http://www.dogaware.com/health/digestive.html

I am sorry Lady has so much trouble with her digestion.

Could you describe the throw up ? Does it seem to be the whole previous meal ? Only some of the meal ? Is it mixed up with yellowish bile ? Foamy ? When she throws up has she been eating grass right before ? Has she been exercised right before ? Does she get any snack between breakfast time and the time she most regularly throw up ?

The reason I ask all those additional questions (sorry to bug you) is that I switched my girls (9 year old Lab and 7 year old Golden Retriever) back to an afternoon snack (soaked kibble, 1/2cup each) a couple of years ago because I noticed my Lab regularly grazed grass and threw up when fed only twice a day, The throw up was mostly grass, with some bile or foam and did sometimes contain mostly digested kibble.  The afternoon snack has  taken care of that for the most part; there are still times when she goes and picks and chooses special blades of grasses then throws up but now we have no more kibble coming up with the throw up. When you said she throws up about 8 hours after eating, it made me directly think about the empty stomach throw up but I can be wrong.

A lot of us have had health issues with our dogs -- so you get quite a bit of cumulative experience here.  Janice is **THE BOMB** on pancreatitis.  I've had a couple of dogs with it but that lady knows more than anyone oughta have to know!  But she knows it well enough to help folks spot it.

There's bloodwork and ... **bloodwork**.  meaning -- find out how extensive a panel was obtained -- general bloodwork may show some kidney & liver values but something like a "super chem panel" (if Antech is the lab) will show finer points like amylase/lipase (which are indicators of pancreatitis) and other various values that can sometimes help diagnose stuff.

It takes longer to digest dry food than wet or homecooked.  And you'd think as long as there was something in the stomach that it wouldn't be 'empty stomach' except it may require too much stomach acid/enzymes to digest the food (I'm making hash of describing that but it's complicated).

You can get as specific with home-cooking as you want -- you can do a true elmination diet (particularly if you really suspect a food allergy of some sort) OR you can get a professional like Sabine Contreras or Monica Segal to write a diet FOR your dog (and they can be invaluable help -- I've known Monica for years and she *started* her business because she had a dog that just plain couldn't digest anything and she started cooking for her).

Lady'sMom

The only time she didn't want her food was on the Royal Canine and that was because she was throwing it up

 

  That sounds so much like pancreatitis. When I read about her drinking large amounts of water and wetting, it sent chills up my spine because that's exactly what happened when Jessie had her first attack. The lipase measured in a full chem panel is not form the pancreas, which is why it won't always indicate if a dog has pancreatitis. It's possible to miss it with the x-rays and blood work your vet did, but the test I linked in my other post will specifically measure lipase from the pancreas and is a very accurate test.

jessies_mom

It's possible to miss it with the x-rays and blood work your vet did, but the test I linked in my other post will specifically measure lipase from the pancreas and is a very accurate test.

Like I said - this lady knows her stuff.  The amylase/lipase ratio is a common indicator of pancreatitis but it's not infallible.  The test she mentions is better and pancreatitis can be a bugger to diagnose.

 

Thank you so much for all of the information. I have a question about the pancreatitis. As soon as she changed food, she stopped with the excessive drinking of water and accidents. My gut told me it was the food causing this and not something internal. Can this flare up and go away or is it a constant symptom? She has been great on the boiled chicken and potato. I add vitamins a few days ago and was going to start adding vegetables (a new one each week). If she has had no issues on the new diet, should I still be concerned re: pancreatitis? Kristy

Lady'sMom

. I have a question about the pancreatitis. As soon as she changed food, she stopped with the excessive drinking of water and accidents. My gut told me it was the food causing this and not something internal. Can this flare up and go away or is it a constant symptom? She has been great on the boiled chicken and potato.

   According to your first post, after a month on the z/d, she was drinking water and wetting, and also vomiting. When she was changed to RC potato and duck, she continued to vomit;

"She was on ZD for about a month, she started drinking large quantities of water and started having accidents in the house (which has not happened in the 2 years that I have had her). Then she started vomiting her food. Back to the Vet, changed her food to Royal Canine Duck and potato. Within 3 days she was vomiting her food again"

     Jessie has chronic pancreatitis. The first several months after she was diagnosed, we had her pancreatic lipase checked frequently (spec cPL test). Her pancreatic lipase fluctuated a lot (went up and down) until she was stable. When it was higher, she showed symptoms such as pain and not wanting to eat. You can help them to avoid flare ups by being very careful with their diet; a low fat diet is mandatory and when you change their diet, it must be done very slowly. The last diet change I did for Jessie was a year ago and I took three weeks to do it. When your dog started vomiting on the z/d, that may have been an indication that she needs a food with less than 10% fat. You also probably changed your dog from the z/d to the rabbit and potato too quickly, which would aggravate the pancreas more, making your dog vomit again and lose her appetite; you said she wouldn't eat the rabbit and potato. Dogs with pancreatitis usually heal faster on cooked food, which is probably why your dog is doing better on the chicken and potato.  Jessie was on a cooked diet for several months after she was diagnosed. I had an animal health care worker, who works with nutritionists, formulate the diet;

 Consultations at Monica Segal

 

  Although your dog is stable on the cooked diet, it's not balanced and she can't stay on it long term. I cannot say with certainty that this is pancreatitis but the symptoms fit. I honestly think you should pursue a diagnosis. You need to discuss this more with your vet and decide if the spec cPL test is the next step, or your vet may prefer to do some other testing.

 So, Lady's Mom, how is your girl doing now? What kind of treatment is she getting? I hope she's doing better.