vomiting immediately after eating? - update page 6

    • Gold Top Dog

    vomiting immediately after eating? - update page 6

    Sammy has a vet appt tomorrow, so this is more for information and things to bring up tomorrow than true advice on what to do, although both are welcome.

    Starting last Wed (ie, 10 days ago) Sammy vomitted after eating.  Like, 1-2 minutes after finishing.  It was the full retching, and muscle action typical of vomitting more than an involuntary regurgitation (he had that horrible sound and movement of a dog about to vomit).  It happened once Wed, twice Friday, once Sat and after that I changed his food and he was good until last night.  He vomited last night, and tonight with his dinner meals.

    He gets kibble with a scoop of canned, with his pill in it.  He hasn't changed kibble, canned or medication in at least 5-6 months, since he started meds.  The meds are clomipramine for anxiety.  We moved in May but routine has been the same since then.

    On Sat, I switched him to some EVO samples I had laying around until getting him new brand of kibble.  I tried new canned with old kibble; he was fine.  I tried old canned with new kibble; he was fine.

    When he vomits, I wait a bit and then feed him again and he ALWAYS has kept the second meal down.  Usually he finishes the first meal and then vomits but once or twice he stopped mid meal and vomited, and then finished eating and was fine.

    I've tried giving him canned and a pill 30-60 minutes before kibble and sometimes he's OK, sometimes he vomits once he eats kibble.  Today I fed him kibble and waited 45 minutes, and then his pill in a tiny bit of canned and a minute after finishing the canned he vomited it all up.

    Has anyone heard of anything like this?  As I said, we're going to the vet early tomorrow AM, but I like to have an idea of what's going on when I go in there, and I'm totally baffled on this one.  And googling it gave me a zillion results.

    He drinks, poops, pees, and acts, totally fine. 

    Anyone?

    • Gold Top Dog

    I have no ideas or advice but I'll be anxious to hear what the vet says. If you weren't going to the vet, I'd suggest using the cooked rice & chicken diet for a few days to a week and see if you still have a problem. Hopefully the vet will have an even better idea though.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Thanks for the support, Cathy.  I hope he has ideas, too, although more often than not we come with antibiotics Sad  But this time I don't see a need for it in the least.... but I'm a scientist by training, so I've tried all the "experiments" I can think of to narrow it down, and nothing's working.  It *seems* to be the combination of kibble and canned, any kibble and any canned, and only sometimes.  But, why all of a sudden would that make a difference? I've been shaking my head over it so far.  I suppose this is why we have vets Smile

    I was going to try something like chicken and rice, but because of all the kibble scares, I jumped right on that one, switched him to something else, and once he was on something else, he seemed better.  Go figure that it isn't as simple as it sounds.

    Oh well, 13 hours and we'll have some sort of answer, or at least pending bloodwork and tests!

    • Gold Top Dog

    You may be focusing on food -- but I'd also look at what he's doing (lying down and WHERE, on which side, etc.) -- because to ME, this sounds like a dog that could easily be obstructed.  *partially* -- literally sometimes it gets thru and sometimes it doesn't and the extra richness of the canned simply puts an already iffy tummy over the edge because it sticks everything to gether enough that the stomach enzymes are more of a problem.

    A partial obstruction can be a tough thing to find -- it's often something like a ball or something completely undigestible that just "stays" in one spot and sometimes obstructs the opening and sometimes doesn't.

    • Gold Top Dog

    I don't have any ideas but I hope it's nothing serious and he's just fine very soon! 

    You've probably already thought of this but could it be he's eating too fast?  If it were me I'd want blood work JUST to rule out any pancreas or issues like that.  But, probably I'm being over protective there. 

    Good luck tomorrow!

    Lori

    • Gold Top Dog

    When Bevo was younger, he used to vomit his food.  It came back up in the same condition that it went down.  (TMI, I know.)  At the time, I was working as a vet tech.  After bloodwork, x-rays, & a barium study, all of which were normal, his vet diagnosed him with "gut motility issues."  He started him on Metochlopramide thirty minutes before meals.  He was on it for around 2 weeks, & hasn't had a vomitting problem since. 

    Fingers crossed that you get some answers tomorrow!

    • Puppy

    The pancreas are 1 thing ur vet may ck out     Our vet told us this after our dog had a bout of vomiting

     

    • Gold Top Dog

    It's all good ideas, guys, thanks.  we go in about 2 hours so hopefully that will be beneficial!

    He ate fine this morning and has held it down just fine.  I gave him his pill in a teeny piece of fat-free cheese instead of canned though.

    I've thought of most of those possibilities, and since they're all more serious than I'd like it to be, I've been ignoring them.  Not good, I know, but when it cleared up totally after a couple days, I was so bent on it being the darn food!  The first time he vomited, I assumed he ate too fast, but for three years he's been with us, he's almost never vomited, so 6 times in a week is a bit out of character for a dog who chews each and every kibble 10 times.  I certainly hope it's not an obstruction, he's the least likely dog I've met to get into something that isn't food, but always a possibility with any dog, right?  He doesn't play with toys too much, he has each and every stuffie we've ever bought him still intact with squeakers; if it was something, I bet it would be something like the plastic from cheese or something food-related but not edible. And pancreatitis is a possibility, but I thought we'd be seeing much worse effects from it by now?  Your pancreas is so important that if something were off I highly doubt he'd be acting perfectly normal.  Pancreatitis doesn't seem like something that comes for a few days, and goes, and comes back.... but certainly worth checking out since it is so serious.

    He's due for bloodwork anyway, so that's a given, and we do have at least 3 past draws to compare it to, where everything was "normal".... some of his values have been on one end of the spectrum or other, though, so it's good to have that baseline.

    Amanda, hopefully something that sounds easy to treat like Bevo's "gut motilitity issues"

    Each and every possibility going through my mind just doesn't "fit" what I'm reading online, so it'll be curious to see what's going on. 

    Thanks for all the good thoughts, guys!

    • Gold Top Dog

     Hope Sammy makes out ok.  A couple of years ago, my hound had a few vomiting episodes, and it turned out that he has a pylorus that narrows too much sometimes.  So, I guess you could call that "gut motility issues" too.  Anyway, hoping for some benign and easily managed dx for Sammy.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Nicole - what did the vet say?

    • Gold Top Dog

    Sorry for the late response -- we had electrical issues all day.  Turns out DH needed to push a button, but didn't realize it until after a home depot trip and turning the power off to the house for a while. 

    Anyway.  Vet did a blood panel including a part to look for signs of pancreatitis, a fecal to look for GI parasites (girardia), tried to sell me $16 pepcid (FYI Target is $4 for 50 of them; I only needed 7) since apparently vomiting leads to acid, and acid leads to more vomiting; biopsy of the 'bubble' on his toe; and put him on z/d to both try to limit the things we put into his gut as well as try to sort out the allergies.  I feel no less confused after dropping $500 in an hour, but my pockets are certainly lighter!

    I honestly think the allergies are seasonal and not food related, but I'm willing to entertain the z/d for a while since I'm not sure how to do an elimination diet on novel proteins when I think Sammy has had everything I would have easy access to (chicken, lamb, beef, pork).  But, since the z/d is roughly the price of gold, we better see a good response, fast, or DH and I will be eating Ramen noodles for the next few months.

    Sammy had issues last year around Halloween and it was the itchy paws but also weird bleeding ulcerations.  Never did figure out a real cause of that, but we thought along the way he sensitized himself to lamb so he's been on chicken kibble since then.  Although possible, seems a bit odd to suddenly develop an allergy to kibble he's been eating for a year, so I'm wondering if it's something fall-related even though the itchies started in august this year.  We also moved and have more brush in the empty lot behind us, and it's been a weird summer, so maybe the fall allergies are starting sooner?

    Hopefully the blood work and fecal tell us something, but I'm not holding my breath.  If we can't find anything there and he still vomits, then we're on to x-rays and the like.

     Oh, if I'm feeding the z/d, that's all he can eat right, so any suggestions on how to get him to take pills?  I gave him the two today in cheese..... I think z/d is available in canned, but the vet is an hour away (from before we moved) so at least until next weekend I can't get back there, and of course I didn't even think about it until I got home.  putting it down his throat is okay once in a while, but gets really old pretty quick.  Or, should cheese be ok? 

    • Gold Top Dog

     Cheese is not ok, if they think it's a food allergy. Any vet should be able to give you a couple of cans of Z/D (though, be warned, it's worth double it's weight in gold!). Z/D has helped Emma's tummy, a ton.

     

    I hope that you get some answers, from this.

    • Gold Top Dog

    I don't get the impression that they have any idea whatsoever of what is wrong, food allergies or anything.  But, at least most of my money was spent on things like blood work, that any vet would do, and the darn toe bubble biopsy.

    I figured about the cheese, but had to ask. Smile

    Jennie, would I have to get my vet to call another vet to give me some canned since it's rx only?  Do you know if it's sold only in cases, or can I just get one or two cans? 

    I found an online thingy for a $25 mail in rebate, so that definitely will help offset the cost for at least this bag...

    • Gold Top Dog

    Jennie, how soon did you notice an improvement with Emma?  This bag should, theoretically, last us about 5 weeks.  Is there a chance to see something by then to know if we should continue or not? 

    • Gold Top Dog

     The vets I go to sell single cans, but they do cost more than buying cases. I have never had to have one call the other, but they could be weird about it, possibly. I doubt it, though. It's a complete diet, not anything that would hurt anybody.

     

    I saw an improvement within the first week, with Emma. It was immediately apparent that she was allergic to the wonderful, healthy, custom designed, home prepared diet she'd been eating. In 5 weeks, you should know, whether it's going to improve the puke issue, IME.  It can take up to 8 weeks to completely clear the allergens from the system, but within 5? You'll know if he's keeping it downBig Smile

     

    It is, however, VERY low calorie. Did you see that? 254 kcal/cup. You might be feeding more than you thinkWink