worried mom

[harleyrox]

This may be a silly question--but I'm concerned about my dachsie Harley. Is it ok for him to throw up four days in a row? He's thrown up once a day for the past four days. We took him to the vet on Tuesday for a check-up, and she could find no reason for it.Today was the worst--My husband was eating dinner on the couch with Harley's head on his lap (I know--bad habithttp://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/biggrin.gif), and all of a sudden....http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/sick.gif Luckily, Nick managed to get Harley to the tiled hallway nearby. I'm concerned--He's gotten sick before, but never so many days in a row. Other than the upset tummy, he seems to be fine--playing, running around, being his normal dachsie self. Thanks for any input.

~Christy

[Krista]

I'm probably not much help on this one.... a few questions.

What does the vomit look like...food, sticks, grass, foamy and yellow.....????

Has he been eating something he's not supposed to??

Is he eating his food? Do you feed him more than once a day??

Has he been checked for worms??

I know that if Rudy does not eat twice a day he throws up bile and stomach acid -foamy yellow-green. He just builds up too much acid and it upsets his stomach. I feed him twice a day and when he eats both meals it doesn't happen.

I know some people are anti-grain for dogs, but if it is just an upset tummy a little cooked oatmel or infants rice cereal can help absorb acid and soothe the stomach.

hope he gets better soon I'd call the vet if it happens again tomorrow.

[harleyrox]

Thanks for your help, Krista! So far so good today. The first three days it was foamy and yellow---and, he is not eating as much . We feed him reduced calorie Purina One. I don't think he likes it very much. We were feeding him the Purina One chicken--he liked it much better--but the vet said reduced calorie would keep his weight down since he is a couple of pounds overweight.

[Krista]

Well I'm glad he's doing better today.

I hope you don't mind If I make some food suggestions, as dog food is one of my favorite research topics.

Read your lables. There are many nast things hidden in dog food.
animal or poultry digest -dehydrated poop and parts
rendered meat-can be anything any part from cats, dogs, horses, etc
byprodcuts -head, feet, beaks not nutritious hard to digest and gross
corn and corn products -not easy to digest one of the most common allergies in dogs.
chemical preservatives like BHA - studies show thay cause cancer -they are just cheaper thanusing vitimins to preserve.

Most Purina Foods have some if not all of these items in them -though I have not read the lable of the one you are feeding. Even Eukanuba has byproducts and chemicals in it.
Science diet has some of those nasties in their formulas too. There are several very good foods out there without the bad stuff in them. I feed much less of these foods becasue the dog can actually digest all the good stuff -and there is much less stool.

While they may be more expensive, I found that I was still paying less than when I fed Eukanuba since he eats about 1/4 less. Not to mention the increase in his healthy and less poop to pick up. If you are iunterested, a list of the better foods and their websites is in a post called "do you know what's in your pups food" in the feeding forum -just change the view to 60 days and it should show up, or search for it.
-Many have Senior/Lite formulas too.

Hope he feels all better!!! SOON.

[Wienergal]

Harleyrox, I'd bet a large rawhide bone that the problem, just as Krista suggested, is the food! The foamy yellow vomit is just empty-tummy bile, and since Harley doesn't like the Purina too much, he's probably not eating enough; also, Purina is full of fillers--doesn't stay in the gut too long.

The premium foods really are better. If you have a really good independent pet store near you (that doesn't sell puppies!!), they might have some of the super-premiums Krista was talking about. I switched my two to light-formula Innova a few months back; it's a wonderful food--all human-grade, no fillers, lots of good stuff. My dogs LOVE it, and even Peaches, with her terrible skin allergies, is shiny and full-coated, at the height of allergy season. Many of these foods can also be ordered on-line.

If these aren't possibilities, and you can get to a Petco or PetSmart, you can still get some good premium foods there. Nutra light lamb and rice kibble isn't bad, and there's a new Nature's Recipe All Natural that's pretty good too. You can supplement the kibble with baby food, cottage cheese, egg, tuna, and salt-free canned vegetables if you like.

Also, how often do you feed Harley? Try twice a day, and be sure to give him a biscuit now and then. In my experience, some dogs are more prone to excess stomach acid than others. Farfel is, Peaches isn't. If Harley is, make sure his stomach isn't totally empty for long, long periods.

Good luck!

[Mark]

Hi Christy,

Feed Harley cooked white rice . . . If he keeps it down it's the food causing it, if he throws it up . . . he has an intenstinal bug of some sort and should see a Vet.

Good luck,

Mark

[Augie Dog]

Augie Pup had he same thing happen, but not as long. Yellow and foamy. We did not know any better and were giving him raw hide chew sticks. Did not make the connection. Switched to beef strips, loves 'em. No more pukey puppy. Guess the raw hide goes bad after being chewed on a left around.

We also are now feeding Innova Pup food, he is eating less (1 cup only at 5 months) and is gaining mass, now up to 14 lbs of lean pupper!