YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post - Do Most Yorkie's Have Sensitive Stomachs?

ChicagoSoul · 02-10-2009, 01:32 AM

My baby is also very sensitive with food. I literally have to keep my kitchen imaculate because if she eats anything off the floor, she gets her stool either softer or constipated.

She also throws up periodically especially if I try somethign new.

I narrowed the problem down to several issues which seem to cause her intolerance and stomach upsets.

1. Quantity of food I give her.

She is two and a half and eats twice a day (once in the morning and once at evening). During each feeding, I give her a mix of dry kibble and a canned food. If I give her more food, she seems to process it harder. She basically can't stop her appettite and would eat everything off the plate whether or not she is hungry. As a result, she gets to be overfed and has issues with digesting it.

I found an optimal amount by trial and error. If I give her this amount - she seems to be fine. If I give her literally a tiny amount more, it immediately shows in her stool the following day.

It is hard for me to say exactly how much you should give your dog because I don't know her weight. My girl is around 3 to 3.5 lbs. I give her a handfull of dry and two teaspoons of wet food.

2. Kind of food

I fed her many good brands outthere including Canidae, Artemis, Innova, California Natural and many others. I also gave her I.D. separately and 50/50 with W.D.

Here is what worked best. I.D. worked well in that she did not have any major outbreaks of diarrhea or vomiting. However, she seemed to not be gaining weight at all and she appeared to be always hungry.

So, I decided to switch. She did not like the taste of Innova and Canidae. She liked Artemis but I was not happy with her stool on it.

We switched to California Natural dry small kibble lamb and rice which was recommended to me as a brand with the least number of ingredients and therefore better for dogs that are sensitive.

My dog wanted wet food because she was so used to i.d. by that time. So, I started giving her Merrick canned food because I liked how it looked in the can (chunks of meat unlike i.d.). She has been doing well on it.

3. No variety (as much as you want to give her treats - don't)

I do not give her treats at all. If she deserve a treat, I simplly give her an extra chunk of canned food instead. I tried the best of the best treats - wellness's freeze dried 100% meat for $ 18 for a small bag - it just makes things worse. If it does not cause her vomiting, it will deffinitely make her stool either softer or will constipate her.

4. Dealing with occasional digestive issues

Gas: When she has gas (which I can tell she has by all of the sound coming out of her stomach, I give her infant gripe water). It helps. I also bought her HappiTami (intended for infants with gas). It is a herbal pouch that is placed in the microwave for 30 sec and after it warms up, placed around baby's tummi. It helps her, calms her out and makes her feel protected.

It is funny but I noticed that digestive problems are often attributed to my dog's psychological problems. Like when she is nervous, upset, scared and so forth, she will have bad stools. When I have arguments with my husband and she feels the tension, she reacts. My friends laugh when I say that, but it is absolutely true. So, try to see if any digestive outbursts can be linked to "depression" of any kind on the part of your dog.

Diarrhea: When she has diarrhea, I give her less food. If she has blood in her stool, it is a sign of constipation even if the stool is soft, so she has to get fiber. If diarrhea is prolonged (more than a day), I give her a tablet of activated charcoal. It absorbs all of the bad stuff in her stomach and is completely natural and much better than either pepcid or pepto. As a matter of fact, pepto is also very good but it a chemical. So, I keep it for absolutely extreme cases. Typically after a tablet of charcoal, her stool becomes better. If not, I give her more charcoal. It is totally OK. As a matter of fact, you can give her a tablet every few hours.

Severe diarrhea and vomiting: Withhold all food for 24 hours. She needs to purge and then her digestive track has to rest. It is essential. During this time, I give her flavorless pedialite or any other oral rehydration solution (essentially water, salts and sugar) to gain her electrolytes back. Seh typically does not like to drink them. So, I forse it on her with syringe every couple of hours. Ideally, if your dog drinks it, it is even better. You can either freeze one into an ice cube and give it to the dog to lick or mix it up 50/50 with water and put it into the dog's water bowl. Mine just does not like it period. So, I give her two thick syringes of this followed by pepto every few hours.

The following day, I take a can of i.d. and scoop out some of it into a cup, feel the cup with water and boil it thus creating a soup of sorts. I feed her small portions of this thing (room temp, more liquid almost no meat) throughout the whole day (every two hours). Next day, I give her normal i.d. Then, I swich her to a mix of i.d. and her typical food and she is good to go.

02-10-2009, 01:32 AM	#21
ChicagoSoul Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Chicago Posts: 130	Same problem My baby is also very sensitive with food. I literally have to keep my kitchen imaculate because if she eats anything off the floor, she gets her stool either softer or constipated. She also throws up periodically especially if I try somethign new. I narrowed the problem down to several issues which seem to cause her intolerance and stomach upsets. 1. Quantity of food I give her. She is two and a half and eats twice a day (once in the morning and once at evening). During each feeding, I give her a mix of dry kibble and a canned food. If I give her more food, she seems to process it harder. She basically can't stop her appettite and would eat everything off the plate whether or not she is hungry. As a result, she gets to be overfed and has issues with digesting it. I found an optimal amount by trial and error. If I give her this amount - she seems to be fine. If I give her literally a tiny amount more, it immediately shows in her stool the following day. It is hard for me to say exactly how much you should give your dog because I don't know her weight. My girl is around 3 to 3.5 lbs. I give her a handfull of dry and two teaspoons of wet food. 2. Kind of food I fed her many good brands outthere including Canidae, Artemis, Innova, California Natural and many others. I also gave her I.D. separately and 50/50 with W.D. Here is what worked best. I.D. worked well in that she did not have any major outbreaks of diarrhea or vomiting. However, she seemed to not be gaining weight at all and she appeared to be always hungry. So, I decided to switch. She did not like the taste of Innova and Canidae. She liked Artemis but I was not happy with her stool on it. We switched to California Natural dry small kibble lamb and rice which was recommended to me as a brand with the least number of ingredients and therefore better for dogs that are sensitive. My dog wanted wet food because she was so used to i.d. by that time. So, I started giving her Merrick canned food because I liked how it looked in the can (chunks of meat unlike i.d.). She has been doing well on it. 3. No variety (as much as you want to give her treats - don't) I do not give her treats at all. If she deserve a treat, I simplly give her an extra chunk of canned food instead. I tried the best of the best treats - wellness's freeze dried 100% meat for $ 18 for a small bag - it just makes things worse. If it does not cause her vomiting, it will deffinitely make her stool either softer or will constipate her. 4. Dealing with occasional digestive issues Gas: When she has gas (which I can tell she has by all of the sound coming out of her stomach, I give her infant gripe water). It helps. I also bought her HappiTami (intended for infants with gas). It is a herbal pouch that is placed in the microwave for 30 sec and after it warms up, placed around baby's tummi. It helps her, calms her out and makes her feel protected. It is funny but I noticed that digestive problems are often attributed to my dog's psychological problems. Like when she is nervous, upset, scared and so forth, she will have bad stools. When I have arguments with my husband and she feels the tension, she reacts. My friends laugh when I say that, but it is absolutely true. So, try to see if any digestive outbursts can be linked to "depression" of any kind on the part of your dog. Diarrhea: When she has diarrhea, I give her less food. If she has blood in her stool, it is a sign of constipation even if the stool is soft, so she has to get fiber. If diarrhea is prolonged (more than a day), I give her a tablet of activated charcoal. It absorbs all of the bad stuff in her stomach and is completely natural and much better than either pepcid or pepto. As a matter of fact, pepto is also very good but it a chemical. So, I keep it for absolutely extreme cases. Typically after a tablet of charcoal, her stool becomes better. If not, I give her more charcoal. It is totally OK. As a matter of fact, you can give her a tablet every few hours. Severe diarrhea and vomiting: Withhold all food for 24 hours. She needs to purge and then her digestive track has to rest. It is essential. During this time, I give her flavorless pedialite or any other oral rehydration solution (essentially water, salts and sugar) to gain her electrolytes back. Seh typically does not like to drink them. So, I forse it on her with syringe every couple of hours. Ideally, if your dog drinks it, it is even better. You can either freeze one into an ice cube and give it to the dog to lick or mix it up 50/50 with water and put it into the dog's water bowl. Mine just does not like it period. So, I give her two thick syringes of this followed by pepto every few hours. The following day, I take a can of i.d. and scoop out some of it into a cup, feel the cup with water and boil it thus creating a soup of sorts. I feed her small portions of this thing (room temp, more liquid almost no meat) throughout the whole day (every two hours). Next day, I give her normal i.d. Then, I swich her to a mix of i.d. and her typical food and she is good to go.