Need some help with P, please

[Penelope's Mom]

Hi all,

Those who know P's history know she's always had a sensitive stomach, which plays a part in her being so small. About 4 days ago, she started losing her appetite. Over the last 2 days, she's only eaten about 2 cups of food. She doesn't get excited when I feed her anymore and I know she's starving because she's constantly begging for people food. She threw up bile yesterday afternoon, which she only does when she gets too hungry.

She pooped water yesterday morning, but today her poop is back to normal, although a little dark. Last night, she ate almost a cup of food with no problems, and I fed her one cup of food this morning. She ate about half of it, then threw it up about 30 minutes later. Zoomie and Oliver both eat the same food and they are fine.

I guess I will start her on rice and chicken for a few days and see what that does to her. Thing is, she feels absolutely fine. There has been no decrease in her energy. She still plays and gets into trouble, just like always. She still drinks plenty of water and has no problem keeping it down.

Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on with her?

 

[scorning]

Sorry you are going through this, I think there are very few things that cause more stress than having a dog that won't eat. I have a Doberman with a heart condition that periodically goes off her dog food, which is not safe for her since she has to take so many meds that need to be given with food. We used to feed her Honest Kitchen all the time, but when she stopped eating we experimented with lots of other dehydrated raw foods. She would almost always eat Stella and Chewys, or Primal. This was prohibitively expensive for even a medium size dog, but we just used it to stimulate her appetite and then transition her back to her old food. After a particularly bad bought of not eating, we started feeding her Darwins, which is a prepackaged raw, for breakfast, and Honest Kitchen for dinner. We haven't had any problems since.

 

[twood71]

I'm kinda in your position, My boy Bosco has been having issues that honestly have not cleared up. He scratches his face raw twice a month, Bites at his thighs until bumps appear, losses his hair around his eyes from rubbing his eyes against objects. Has scratched his chin on the porch and has scars from it. Then The big issue is very soft stool. He has always had very soft stool.

After switching thru 2 kibbles in the past year that are good quality and he still has these issues is where I decided the raw diet.

I for one have thought the raw diet is complicated and I honestly believed you cooked it. But being desperate and not liking the experimental of the vets on him I decided to read up on this raw diet because I needed to do something and always seen on youtube and hear about how someones dog's health has turned around from the raw diet. So, I was miss informed on the raw diet, myths I call them.

Short story to go along with your need of help is that, I have come to believe that a lot of the health issues do come from the dry dog foods, I'm a believer of this now.

It's been only a week now on the raw diet. This is what I have seen already.
1. Firm stool, he actually dances after he poops!

2. No hard foul smells from him or his stool!

3. He has energy, but his energy level has spiked up 2 fold!

4. He never did this before, but now he will dance around me ready for me to lay his plate of chicken, egg and butter down(it's the food stage he is in right now, organ meat is coming.)!

5. So far he still scratches but it isn't as long, I actually haven't had to tell him to stop scratching, once I notice it he has quit.

I look forward to 3 months from now just to see where he is at with his health issues. I look forward to mixing sweet potatoes, Celery and carrots in his raw diet.

All I know to offer advice is consider looking into the raw diet, at this point for money I use to spend $55 dollars a week for kibble (ErathBorne & before that was TOTW) and now I'm spending$32 bucks a week. so thats a big plus as well that surprised me. I forgot to mention I'm feeding 3 dogs!. Granted there is other meats to add but, I have $20 dollars still there to purchase with before I go over my old budget previously.

I really hope this helps and If you already looked into this and have passed on it, then hopefully someone else might benefit from it!

Best wishes P!

 

[Jakesmum]

Poor P. I think what you have already said, try her on chicken and rice for a few days, see if that helps to reset her system (that seems to be the first thing my vet always tells me to try). She may have just picked up a stomach bug that needs to run it's course. I'm not sure about what the weather is like for you, but here everything is starting to melt and I know that as much as I try Jake inevitably will get into some sort of mud and pick up something that will irritate his tummy for a few days. I hope she's back to eating normally soon.

 

[Penelope's Mom]

I think it might be her food. She's on Pedigree right now, which I know is total crap but it is the only food that doesn't give her diarrhea and it keeps Oliver's hair from falling out. Her stomach is so sensitive, I'm afraid of switching her too many times to find another food that works.

 

[Brinsdad]

I would try the raw diet our pups are on and look fab we feed the 80/10/10 raw which does not include veg they get the odd bit now and then , sum say dogs need it sum say they don't but I think a raw diet with or with out veg is better than any kibble


No love like a bully love

 

[remi]

I think she needs her belly x-rayed. The history she has of chewing non-nutritive thing she may have a blockage (possible partial) . Nessie would get sick when shed chewed too many plastic bottles then would spew a rather large bundle of plastic and be fine. Remi has a sensitive stomach and is doing well on pro-plan sensitive skin and stomach. It is salmon based and only grain is rice. Message me on Facebook if you want to chat about it. We are in similar situations.

 

[Boxergirl]

I think Remi has a good point, and I'd definitely watch her closely symptoms of blockage. I swear one of my boxers had pica. We've been lucky that he's never had a blockage, but some of the things have made him feel pretty crappy until they came back up days later (sanitary pads and paper towels), or out - in a gush of bloody poo. I was thrilled when he outgrew his obsessive need to eat paper and cloth products. He went to ridiculous lengths to find those items too. Fwiw, P's mom, I've had six boxers. Three of them couldn't eat anything but Pedigree. I tried every expensive, grain free and grain inclusive food at the feed store and it gave them explosive and bloody poop. I was actually ashamed to tell people that I fed my dogs Pedigree. Especially when I encouraged others to feed non-grocery store brands. One of my boys right now has a very sensitive system. He's the one that eats more then Ella, my EM, but can't get over 50lbs of skin and bones. All tests are normal. I'm considering trying him on Pedigree just to see if the it helps him gain a little weight. I hear an apologetic tone in your post over the Pedigree and I don't think you should feel bad for feeding what works for your kids. Maybe it's not for P, but if it works for Oliver then I say don't change anything for him.

 

[twood71]

I think it might be her food. She's on Pedigree right now, which I know is total crap but it is the only food that doesn't give her diarrhea and it keeps Oliver's hair from falling out. Her stomach is so sensitive, I'm afraid of switching her too many times to find another food that works.

Just some things to consider, not pushing you on this, but there is so much I asked and read that it comes back to me.

First off the tummy being looked at is not a bad idea, I would consider that as well.

But, when I read your post again and you mention black poo, Bosco does that, the pattern was always very loose stool then every other week it get really watery and again go back loose and black a few days.

So in your post you mention the rice and chicken, this is another thing that had me consider the raw diet becuase real chicken and rice was used to heal a sensitive out of whack digestive system, so why wouldn't we just keep going with it if it works? Why feed it to our pups and after they do better then put them right back on kibble and then see the same problem appear agsin?

I read another thing that made me consider raw, it was said kibble is like an energy bar for us. If we miss a meal and eat a energy bar we survive but would we feed energy bars all the time for all meals to us or kids?

Again this is just some things to consider and I don't mean to help confuse you, I know it's already a confusing guessing game of what's wrong, but again just consider the comments.

 

[DennasMom]

My only thought, is that if she's hungry, but not eating the kibble you put down for her... for some reason she thinks that kibble is the source of her not feeling well?

If you know the food hasn't gone bad, then maybe it's an ingredient that she's sensitive too that builds up over time?

Or, maybe it is a cold/virus of some sort, and she'll be back to 100% in a few days. A bit of chicken & rice certainly won't hurt the healing systems, if it is a bug of some sort.

Hope she feels better soon!!

 

[Penelope's Mom]

Thanks, everyone. I do apologize for feeding Pedigree. There are so many more nutritious foods out there that they can be eating. I had a cocker spaniel that lived to be almost 14 and he ate it every day, so I don't know why I feel so bad about it, but I do.

Denna, the other dogs gobble up the food at mealtime, so maybe you're right. It's something that is building up.

twood, I have 3 dogs to feed, two of which suffer sensitivities or allergies, and although raw would be best, I simply can't afford it. Believe me, I would love to feed them raw.

As far as the x-rays go, I'm leaning toward having them done. This dog gets into more crap that I ever thought possible. Today, she destroyed a DVD and it was in so many pieces, I couldn't tell if she ate any of it. I've thrown away all her damaged toys and even her rope toys that she loves because she chews on it and it frays, and I know she's managed to ingest some of it.

 

[TricAP]

Poor Miss P - but even worse what you put your mom through!

2x what Boxergirl said, don't apologize for feeding what works for your dogs. I fed Pedigree to my labs for years and they all lived to be 12 to 14 years old. It does meet their needs. Even my boxer Bella for ate it while, until she too refused to eat anymore. In her 7+ years we have been through just about every food on the market. She simply stops eating them and nothing will get her to change her mind - not even toppers. Starts with her vomiting it up, goes through the diarrhea until we reset with chicken and rice and go to a new food.

So when it started again about a month ago we also mad the decision to make the change and have switched to raw in the past couple of weeks. It isn't as cost prohibitive as I first thought. Like twood71 we are finding it more cost effective to feed our 3 dogs than on kibble.

We'll keep sending good thoughts your way that Miss P is just being her princess like self and its nothing serious.

 

[Max's mom]

Bo eats pedigree. He's almost seven! He acts like a damn puppy and the only time we have issues with him is when he eats trash. Yes, he's a lab, but Pedigree works for him! I cannot feed him anything else kibble or we have diarrheapalooza and vomit everywhere!
Miss P seems to like to eat things she shouldn't. Maybe soemthing in there? sock, rock, part of a ball or cd? Who knows? I wanted to support you on the Pedigree thing but really have nothing more to offer to your situation than maybe she got something that she shouldn't have that is causing an issue. If the rice/chicken doesn't work, you may want to look further. Bo, Max and I hope she is back to her usual troublesome self soon!

 

[BeckyN]

I had a pit bull that lived to be 15 1/2 years old. She ate Pedigree every day. Shelby eats Wellness large breed with a scoop of Earthborn Holistic bison. Last night was $114.00 for 2 bags of food. What works for P is what you need to feed that baby. I know how nerve racking it is when one baby is sick and can't tell us. I hope she gets better, finds a food for her and stops tearing stuff up. Shelby eats toilet paper. I told her she could poop and wipe her butt at the same time. Good luck and keep us posted. We love P.

 

[Jakesmum]

You should not apologize for what you feed your dogs. If that's what they do well on then why change it and upset their systems. From what I see on here you are a great fur parent and have nothing to apologize for. Hopefully this is just a little blip on the radar and everything will be back to normal soon.

 

[musicdeb]

I'm kinda in your position, My boy Bosco has been having issues that honestly have not cleared up. He scratches his face raw twice a month, Bites at his thighs until bumps appear, losses his hair around his eyes from rubbing his eyes against objects. Has scratched his chin on the porch and has scars from it. Then The big issue is very soft stool. He has always had very soft stool.

After switching thru 2 kibbles in the past year that are good quality and he still has these issues is where I decided the raw diet.

I for one have thought the raw diet is complicated and I honestly believed you cooked it. But being desperate and not liking the experimental of the vets on him I decided to read up on this raw diet because I needed to do something and always seen on youtube and hear about how someones dog's health has turned around from the raw diet. So, I was miss informed on the raw diet, myths I call them.

Short story to go along with your need of help is that, I have come to believe that a lot of the health issues do come from the dry dog foods, I'm a believer of this now.

It's been only a week now on the raw diet. This is what I have seen already.
1. Firm stool, he actually dances after he poops!

2. No hard foul smells from him or his stool!

3. He has energy, but his energy level has spiked up 2 fold!

4. He never did this before, but now he will dance around me ready for me to lay his plate of chicken, egg and butter down(it's the food stage he is in right now, organ meat is coming.)!

5. So far he still scratches but it isn't as long, I actually haven't had to tell him to stop scratching, once I notice it he has quit.

I look forward to 3 months from now just to see where he is at with his health issues. I look forward to mixing sweet potatoes, Celery and carrots in his raw diet.

All I know to offer advice is consider looking into the raw diet, at this point for money I use to spend $55 dollars a week for kibble (ErathBorne & before that was TOTW) and now I'm spending$32 bucks a week. so thats a big plus as well that surprised me. I forgot to mention I'm feeding 3 dogs!. Granted there is other meats to add but, I have $20 dollars still there to purchase with before I go over my old budget previously.

I really hope this helps and If you already looked into this and have passed on it, then hopefully someone else might benefit from it!

Best wishes P!

It took Titan about 8-12 months to detox from the bad dog food after starting on raw diet. I almost gave up a few times because he got worse after a couple of months on raw diet but it was amazing the transition to the healthy skin and coat and he stopped the excessive scratching. Hang in there!

 

[musicdeb]

I'm sorry to hear about Miss P. How is she doing today?

 

[Penelope's Mom]

She ate a bit of food this morning and had a regular poop. She's still acting completely fine, other than her distaste for her food. If she's going to throw up what she ate, it'll happen within the next hour or so.

Oh, and Deb - love the pic of titan in his little rain coat.

 

[musicdeb]

Titan says, "thanks buddy".

Did she keep the food down?

 

[twood71]

It took Titan about 8-12 months to detox from the bad dog food after starting on raw diet. I almost gave up a few times because he got worse after a couple of months on raw diet but it was amazing the transition to the healthy skin and coat and he stopped the excessive scratching. Hang in there!

Thanks for the encouragement, Ill keep it in my head if I go thru some doubting times. I honestly have seen a first time positive reaction from this. I haven't even mention My 10 yeard old boxer and my other 5 month old EM boy. I have seen changes in them as well. They are hanging around me tho, lol They love daddy! He's got the food!

I plan on posting about them in a few months!.

Mrs' "P" if you could talk, tell momma whats wrong sweety! Momma worries about you as you know!