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Boerboel throwing up

Murray

Well-Known Member
Hello All,

I would like to give you a bit of history on my boy before I ask my question :p
In the spring 2010 I rescued a Boerboel Mastiff from a man who was beating him and caging him 10 hours a day while he was at work and then only allowed him an area of 6ft wide by 20ft long to run. When I heard of this man and how he was treating this poor boy I went to his house and knocked on his door. I said "do you have a dog that you have been beating?" Thinking he would tell me to go to h**l but didn't I said to him "I will take him if you do not want him." He opened the door and out came my boy . Wow all 170lbs of him came bolting out of the house. He jumped on me knocked me down and covered me in the feces from his paws. I got to my feet and said to the man I am leaving with him now. He said to me if you dont I am gonna kill him. Well I reported him as he has other animals which I am happy to say are no longer in his care. So I leave with the dog and nothing more. I find out later that this poor boy had never seen a vet in 2 yrs. Never been walked in 2 yrs, and had 3 broken toes. With a lot of attention and love and YES discipline, structure and MANNERS. Not to mention a lot of sleepless nights my boy is now disciplined,well mannered,loved, shown attention for no reason so he knows he can have it anytime he doesn't have to do anything for it. He gets fed good food, and I have spent over $500 getting him suited up with collars,professional and specialty made training harness made and shipped from Israel. He has 10 acres ti run in that is secured with fencing. He has a little sister (6 month old black lab) and a brother (2.5 yr old EM). So I bring him to the vet and get him neutered and get his shots up to date immediately. Nothing to report thank goodness and go figure after 2 yrs no vet he is good to go. They called him a Bull Mastiff and to be honest with you I did too. To me he looked like one and my vet should know right?Well not too long ago while out with my boy I ran into a couple that had what I thought was two Bull Mastiff's. Correction it just so happens they are breeders (legit) of Boerboel Mastiff's. Well just my luck :) so we begin to chat and weeks later I manage to make it to their house. They have 9 in total right now. My boy is a spitting image of the Boerboel. We did some compassion's and other things to find out my boy is a Boerboel. Wanting to get a second opinion I went to another breeder for their input. They also confirm my boy is Boerboel . So needless to say I had to educate my vet ;)
I have checked the wiki pages for the Bull and Boerboel Mastiff differences and let me tell you my boy does not scream Bull he screams Boerboel through and through.

Soooooooo sorry about that got carried away I will get to my question... I had my boy neutered and since I have brought him home (almost 4 months ago) and we have an issue with him throwing up. Now we thought that we needed to wait more then the two hours we were waiting after meals to let him run and play. Well I have waited so long as 4 hours and he still runs and throws up. I also notice that anything more then 1/2 cup of cold water makes him throw up. If he drinks too much after he eats, then he throws up so I can only allow him a little after he eats every 5-10 minutes. Then I do that 3 times and stop him for awhile before I allow him to drink anymore.

SO HE THROWS UP 3 HOURS AFTER EATING AND
AFTER HE PLAYS HARD
HE THROWS UP IF HE DRINKS MORE THEN 1/2 CUP AFTER HIS MEALS
HE THROW UP IF WATER IS TOO COLD

If I let him drink what he wants to he would drink 5+ cups each times he makes a pig of himself and wham he throws up so I have to stand over him to stop him ...

Why is he throwing up so much ? Does the neutering have anything to do with it?
I cannot deprive my boy of water but dont know what to do??/

I hope someone can help me
 

northernmastiff

Well-Known Member
Hi and welcome to the boards.

Wow, that is an amazing story and I am happy that he found a great home. I would recommend that you take him to see the vet to make sure that it isn't anything serious. One thing that I used to do to slow my Labrador Retriever down when he ate was to float his food. Give him his serving of food, you can also start with a smaller serving, and then cover the food with warm water. Make sure the food is floating in the water. Your dog will take much longer to eat and this may help with him throwing it back up. I know my Lab used to throw up occasionally if he ate too fast but after we started floating his food, he stopped throwing up. Now that he is 8 years old, we don't float his food anymore since he has learned to eat it slowly...at times almost too slow:). Make sure if you do this that you keep the portions very small at first to make sure that he isn't over filling his stomach with food and water. Good luck and I hope that he is feeling better soon.

Please post pictures of your dog as I would love to see him and your other pups as well.
 

PuppyPaws

Well-Known Member
Good for you for rescueing him! So glad to hear he found such a great new owner too!

Have you noticed if he is urinating A LOT more or having accidents in the house? It could be a lot of different things. I am no VET by any means but I wonder about diabetes??? Maybe not... I would go to the vet and have a work up done on him. The vomiting I am sure is a concern. You could try feeding him 3x a day instead of twice, that way he would get smaller portions at a sitting.... That might not be possible though, if your schedule is as crazy as mine is. I think a visit with the vet, is your best bet :)

Good luck and keep us posted.
 

GavTheMighty

Well-Known Member
Might want to start with what you are feeding him? Possibly look into a change of diet or try him on something homemade if what your feeding him already isnt, such as a bit of chicken and rice and see if he throws that up?
 

Bentley

Well-Known Member
Do you feed/ water him from raised bowls? I would try this as we had a similar problem (though less severe) with Ben that raised bowls stopped. Also, try floating a tennis ball in the water bowl as an obstruction to slow down his drinking pace. I hope this helps and my sincere admiration for the rescue.
 

JennQ

Well-Known Member
I am curious as well if he eating out of raised bowls? is the throwup undigested or even partially?. Because my BM would do this exact thing if he ate with his head hanging down below his chest. he had a very deep chest so when he hangs his head low to the ground to eat he had a tendency to take in more air, and the food did not go all the way down and the food just sat there and expanded causing him to throwup! Anyway I bought a raised feeder and one of those anti-gulp bowls to slow him down, then I also fed him twice a day (instead of once) and pre soaked his kibble so it was soft and expanded before he ate it, and I did not have any problems at after that!

YAY for you for rescuing him!!! WOOHOO!!! I agree with everyone else.. PICTURES!!!!
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
Congrats on what sounds like a wonderful new boy! I am glad he found you!

I would have him checked by the vet like suggested above and if everything is fine start trying some of the ideas above and seeing if that helps him out. If he was starved he might be gulping so much that he is ingesting air as much as food and water too. Poor guy had a rough start :( But I think he has found a great forever home. Good luck and keep us posted on how things are going with him :)
 

Marrowshard

Well-Known Member
I agree with Bentley and JennQ. Our EM has a minor puking problem too. It's been drastically reduced since we got him to eat out of raised bowls (he was also a rescue, though not abused, and he refused to eat from raised bowls for weeks). He also just seems to have a twitchy tummy, especially with Beggin' Strips. He loves them but for some reason they upset his tummy quite frequently even when broken up small and fed slowly. If he's got a clean bill of health I'd suggest raising his food and water dishes and possibly feeding him smaller meals more frequently. Congrats on your new BB and thanks for rescuing him!

~Marrow
 

Murray

Well-Known Member
Hello All
Thank you all so very much for your replies and input and suggestions. Thank you also for the words of praise for rescuing my boy. If you all could have seen him in his situation so very sad and wow what a huge rehabilitation process . But well worth it and the outcome is a totally different dog. It warms my heart to know I did a great deed.
Hmmmm where to start (tee hee) Yes both my Mastiff's have raised bowls and so does the little lab also. So I asked the vet if that was an issue she confirmed it is not. The food he was on was garbage food I have been feeding my boys Nutro Max Large Breed and they digest it well and the BM's are solid and without grossing you all out... they have good looking poop ;). She said the food is good but what we have discovered is that he likes to drink and drink and drink when the water is there so he pigs out on it thinking that he wont get anymore. I can see how and why he would think this. It is cause I have been since he started throwing up only allowing him small bowls throughout the day. So he gorges on it. His food wasn't digested at all when he would throw up. We had him tested over the last few days for diabetes and he tested negative so he doesn't have it. Phew. I tried the tennis ball and it works like a charm Thank you!! The vet also said the same thing feed him 3-4 times a day or if possible 4-6 times a day depending on my schedule and with each feeding make it small but throughout the day and early evening make sure that when it is all said and done he didn't get any less food then he normally would but that he gets it more often. So we have tried that and already it has helped in a huge huge way. I do like the floating food idea also so that's something I will throw into the mix.
Wow what great support and Thank you all again for the kind words . Now if someone can tell me how to load pictures for you all to see I will get it done ha ha I have tried but some reason it wont show lol... Oh I forgot to mention too that I have started giving him yogurt and rice ( not together) in his bowl to make sure it eats it all and he likes it and the both help in settling his belly I am told so it is working he is eating and not throwing up so far... paws crossed :)

Thanks again all and if someone lets me kno how to post pics I will do is asap :)
 

Murray

Well-Known Member
I think I did it right lol Here are some pictures of both my rescues. Murray is the Boerboel obviously lol and Marley is my little girl. The boys protect my girl and they freak out when they cant find her or she isn't around outside. They bark and bark and she comes running and they run to her make sure she is okay and then they all play. If I knew how to load videos if it is was possible I would post some. I will load more but of my EM and a few more of Marley :0
 

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Murray

Well-Known Member
Some more of Murray and Marley now on to my EM ...
 

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Murray

Well-Known Member
My boy Freightliner :)
 

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Murray

Well-Known Member
Hi all I just wanted to let you all know that the floating food is working great for Murray. I tried the tennis ball in his water and it worked the first time then I noticed at breakfast time this morning he grabbed the ball out of his bowl and wanted to play with it :) soooo that wont work for me tee hee. I was wondering and if I am totally off my rocker for thinking this please tell me lol. Does anyone think that maybe a reason he is throwing up is maybe he is drinking so fast and gorging on it thinking he will not get more that while drinking so quickly he is also taking in lots of air and it is bloating him and wham he throws up? I was thinking about it and was just wondering if it could be a factor.

---------- Post added 12-01-2011 at 12:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 11-30-2011 at 11:59 PM ----------

BlackShadow I just went back into this thread and noticed that you posted this might be a reason why so I guess my question is answered :)
 

Murray

Well-Known Member
BlackShadow I just went back into this thread and noticed that you posted this might be a reason why so I guess my question is answered :)

---------- Post added at 12:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 AM ----------

Well the purolator guy wont be coming to my house anymore. Haha. Murray decided to get frisky today even more so then usual and when he saw the truck pulling into the driveway he started standing on his two back paws ( which puts him at over 7ft tall). He does this outside when he is guarding I guess for extra intimidation lol and the guy would not move from his truck. I tried to tell him the old cliche is true never judge a book by its cover. Although he is huge he is a marshmallow. He said to me " I dont like marshmallows" lol.
 

Murray

Well-Known Member
Well the purolator guy wont be coming to my house anymore. Haha. Murray decided to get frisky today even more so then usual and when he saw the truck pulling into the driveway he started standing on his two back paws ( which puts him at over 7ft tall). He does this outside when he is guarding I guess for extra intimidation lol and the guy would not move from his truck. I tried to tell him the old cliche is true never judge a book by its cover. Although he is huge he is a marshmallow. He said to me " I dont like marshmallows" lol.

---------- Post added at 12:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 AM ----------

Why are all my posts duplicating!!
 

BlackShadowCaneCorso

Super Moderator
Staff member
BlackShadow I just went back into this thread and noticed that you posted this might be a reason why so I guess my question is answered :)

---------- Post added at 12:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:02 AM ----------

Well the purolator guy wont be coming to my house anymore. Haha. Murray decided to get frisky today even more so then usual and when he saw the truck pulling into the driveway he started standing on his two back paws ( which puts him at over 7ft tall). He does this outside when he is guarding I guess for extra intimidation lol and the guy would not move from his truck. I tried to tell him the old cliche is true never judge a book by its cover. Although he is huge he is a marshmallow. He said to me " I dont like marshmallows" lol.

No worries I had a female rottie that would do the same thing. Gulp down tons of water and then she would bring up some food and watery slime so we had to limit her's and soak her food so that she would calm down some. While she was never starved she certainly acted like it and she did eventually learn to slow it down when it came to water but we still had to watch the amount put in the bowl as she emptied whatever was in there.

The posts duplicate or add to the previous post if there aren't any inbetween your replies :) Not sure why but it seems to do it for everyone.
 

Cody

Well-Known Member
Fantastic looking dogs you have there! I am so happy you got Murray out of that situation, he is beautiful!!!
Our Boxer has stomach issues (I know, shocking for a Boxer to have issues :D ), he used to throw up on a regular basis. We found out it was food allergies. Once he was switched to a grain free food he was fine.
It was hard to determine what it was at first as his BM's were good, he would just throw up barely digested food, and the vets were unsure of the reason.
Good luck :)
 

Murray

Well-Known Member
Cody Thank you ever so much, I am very proud of my pack. Freightliner was my first baby and after realizing every day more and more why I love the breed so much I wanted and want more! I was Murray's guardian angel. When I went to the house where he was to find 3 small kids in a trailer with two full time working adults (found out info after the fact). He was caged all day while kids were at school and adults were at work. He was allowed out in a caged in area 6ft wide and 25 ft long. He could barely turn around in there. He was fed ( maybe cause when we got him he was under nourished) and put back in cage cause with everyone home at night 5 ppl and one big dog in a trailer not a good idea. When I left with him beaten and with 3 broken toes, swollen eye , covered in feces. Grrrrr getting mad as I type this so best say no more about that... I do know now thought why a 180lb Mastiff sleeps in a fetus position sometimes and in the smallest spots. He was used to it!! Marley was with a young man and a week after didn't like her so was looking to get rid of her and if he didnt he was gonna let her go and because she is so cute someone would have picked her up so I grabbed her immediately. She is a treat and very energetic and entertaining. I have more pics to load and will do so over the w/e so you can all check them out next week.

I have noticed the same of Murray his BM's are good looking. I am not a poop connoisseur mind you but they are not soft,chalky,the are normal as poop goes. he was also throwing ..ooops sorry still is... gotta go clean it..... K I am back it was soft not digested food in a egg white substance and he was drooling heavy after. I cry when I see this I am so sorry for by boy he does this. I am calling my vet right now! I have the portion pacer balls as they are a bit bigger then a tennis ball and we will c what happens with those but for now my vet needs to hear my voice... let u all kno how it goes... paws crossed