Abdominal pain/ pancreatitis
 

My little guy is 2 years old and weighs 6lbs and for the past 2 days he hasn't been himself. Right after he eats he seems to have bad abdominal pain that only lasts about 15 minutes. Is this pancreatitis? He arches his back and whimpers in pain. He eats chicken breast, white rice and wellness grain free for small breed twice a day. I'm taking him to the vet in the morning. He still eats fine and his poop is normal too. Also after it passes he is playful and he still follows me and his tail is up and normal too.

It could be any number of things. If you think your dog is in pain, you need to go to the vet asap. Please go and keep us updated.

I am taking him in this morning and I will update after. I hope it's nothing serious. So strange that the only time he seems to be in pain is for about 15 minutes after he eats. Then he's back to normal.

So good to learn you are taking him in..

My parents Yorkie exhibited the same exact signs on two different occasions. They waited a week to take him to the vets since, during the first few days, their dog seemed to recover quickly from pain after eating. As the week progressed, however, the dog began to vomit and pass bloody stool.

The first occasion resulted in a diagnosis of pancreatitis - a potentially fatal condition. The second occasion resulted in my parents taking their dog in on the second day of symptoms and a diagnosis of bleeding gastritis - another potentially fatal condition. Both times, the vet commented that my parents saved the dogs life by quick action.

Your dog may be having digestion problems, gas or something serious but a vet is always the first port of call whenever pain is involved or any sudden onset of strange behavior.

Please let us know how you get on and sending hugs to your little one! x

My now passed girl showed no signs of pain when she ate and she had pancreatitis. The best thing to do is what you are doing, VET VISIT.

Thanks everyone for the insight. I took him in and they took some blood to test for pancreatitis. I will get the results tomorrow. The vet said that she thinks it may be more of an acid reflux issue as he eats very very fast. She told me to get an over the counter antacid. Pepcid ac and to give him a quarter of a 10 mg pill. I gave it to him before dinner tonight and then made sure he ate slowly, only giving him a few bites at a time spread out on a bigger plate. He didn't have the pain! I'm hoping that the results come back negative for pancreatitis, but for now at least he's comfortable and hasn't shown any discomfort. So terrible to see our babies in pain.

Thanks for updates
 

:animal-pa. I hope all turns out well with the test results. I've seen doggie food dishes that slows their eating down. I don't know what they are called but I'm sure chewy.com or another site will have them listed.

:thumbup:

These little dogs eating too fast can cause tons of issues like gastritis, acid reflux and regurgitation. I think investing in a bowl which slows eating is a great idea which I'm going to use myself!

Test results came back normal! So no pancreatitis. Which is a relief but he is still showing a little discomfort when he gets excited to eat. Which is odd. It seems to be first thing in the morning when he is hungry. Has anyone had experience with acid reflux? Is it like in humans where it can cause stomach ulcers? That was what I asked the vet and she seemed to dismiss that. she said hopefully after a couple of days on the Pepcid that he will improve. It's one of those pills that's a daily dose. So frustrating.

Reflux
 

I hear you about the fast eating issue. My dog seems like he is always starving and vacuums up the food like it is his last meal. I have one of those 'slow eating bowls' but it does not help him.
Occasionally he will regurgitate due to the piggy eating, then ready to eat more!
As for reflux, he has that too and tended to throw up bile in the morning. But now I give him the Pepcid at night with his bedtime snack he is fine.
I guess the untreated reflux can cause esophagus erosion and perhaps gastric problems too?
I believe the Pepcid is safe and it certainly has helped my dog.
So happy your boy was found to be fine with no Pancreatitis, great news!

So glad to hear the Pepcid works well! He had his first dose last night and seemed a bit better in the morning. I fed him later at night and just scooped a little bit of the food at a time into his bowl. This way he wasn't swallowing all of it at once! He is also like a vacuum and the food is wolfed down so quickly! He did have a little bit of discomfort with his morning meal but not as severe. And then nothing in the afternoon with his snack and he was fine at dinner tonight. So hopefully there's no permanent damage done from the reflux. How much Pepcid do you give your baby?? I have to cut a 10mg tablet into quarters and he gets just a quarter a day.

Reflux
 

Hi.
What greedy little creatures we have! It is good that you are able to slow down the vacuuming rate, LOL! However, I read that dogs do not need to chew food as we do as the stomach does most of the digestion. It is normal for them to swallow food whole.
What I think happens with dry kibble in particular is that they eat the kibble and are pretty full. Then all the digestive juices appear and also they drink water and afterwards their tummies get over full, and they feel discomfort!? It can cause regurgitation if they get too full.
I have started feeding my boy less food per meal in the hopes that he does not get so full after meals. I now feed less per meal but feed more often. For his first meal, breakfast, I give him less than I used to and I think he does better with that. Also, the last meal is also small as I do not want him to go to bed on a full stomach.
If they do tend to get reflux and an acidy stomach, the long night without food can tend to cause issues in the morning. The Pepcid helps solve that problem.
My dog is 10 pounds and I give 1/2 a 10 mg tablet at night. If he is sick in the day I also give another dose in the morning. But I have only done that rarely. What your vet has suggested sounds right for your dog.
Really I have found that I needed to observe how my dog responds to food and try and figure out what is best for him. All dogs are different and one size does not fit all. It sounds like you are well on the way to solving your dog's eating habits and I am sure he will be fine. Please let us know how he is doing.

I've been feeding him 3 small meals a day of 99% lean ground turkey, white rice and steamed sweet potato. I give him the same (just a tiny amount) as a bedtime snack with the Pepcid. I'm finding that when I mix in some of his dog food (wellness core grain free sir small breeds), he has an episode of the belly pain. What do you feed your baby?? I feel like he needs some kind of dog food bc of the added vitamins and minerals etc.

Adding dog food go home cooked food does not properly balance the diet. If you want to home cook, you need a product like BalanceIt. You can get free recipes on their website.

i am not a fan of wellness foods and don't think all dogs need grain free foods. No grains in dog food often means the addition of other things like legumes which can cause gas pain in some dogs. I would try a dog food with chicken and rice. Sweet potatoes can also be tough to digest.

I can't help pick a dog food because I home cook and have for 15 years for my dogs.

Thanks!!! I will look into the balance it and home cooking.

Food
 

If you think it is the Wellness food that bothers him, then perhaps some other food would be worth a try. I feed my dog Hills Prescription ID Low Fat kibble as he has GI issues. They also have the same food in wet canned, and you might try adding a bit if that to the home cooked if you need extra nutrients and he does not like kibble?
But of course home cooked with a nutritionists advice would probably be best.
How is he if you do not give any of the Wellness for a few days?

I only just realized that it may be from the wellness food bc he didn't have an episode for a whole day and then at night before bed I gave him some of the kibble as a bedtime snack and then he had an episode in the morning. I also had given some mixed with the homemade food for dinner that same night. So today no kibble and he's been fine. I have been looking at the science diet which is great that you mentioned the prescription ID low fat bc that's the one I was reading about. He doesn't mind the kibble but the reason why I like the wellness for small breeds is that food is super small. So easy for him to eat.

Food
 

Don't we have to be expert researchers to try and figure out our complex Yorkies and their ways, LOL!
Could be that kibble at night is too hard for him to digest? Perhaps you have some further experiments to really pin it all down?
My dog had pancreatitis once and the vet said I should feed him the Prescription diet to try and prevent it again. So far so good. He loves the kibble, but I give him some of the canned if his tum gets upset. Although the ingredients aren't what I would normally feed, this stuff sure works and keeps them well.
Good luck and keep trying :)

I believe my baby has acid reflux also. I have to keep food in her belly constantly or she throws up foamy yellow liquid that looks like our bile. I give her what the dog food bag recommends for her breakfast and dinner and at lunch and bedtime I give her about 15 pieces of kibble. It seems to leave something in her belly and she rarely throws up when I follow this regimen. I think whoever said that they get overfull when they drink water after eating is on to something, as my baby is the only one that drinks water after she eats. I haven't had to start her on Pepcid yet but the vet did say if she started throwing up on a regular basis again, we might have to do so.

This just came out of nowhere when she was about 6 months old. Up until that time, she had never thrown up; not even when the other two dogs got sick.

So happy that it is nothing terrible. My dog eats the same way. I like the idea of one of those bowls that the dog has to work a bit to get dinner. I see them at the dog trade shows. great idea.

They are called SloBowls. I ordered one for each of my dogs from DrsFoster&Smith's website. They each have a different design so when one of the dogs starts eating a bit too quickly out of that bowl, I switch it with one with a different design.

Elliot is so funny to watch eating out of her bowl. She runs in circles around the bowl and pushes the food out over the top and then runs and picks it up off the food and eats it. She seriously has to work for her food. It takes her almost 20 minutes to eat 1/4 cup of kibble. She definitely is not eating fast any longer.

Slow eating?
 

Someone on YT had a good idea for slowing down eating. She got an ice cube holder with small ice cube holes and put a few kibble in each hole, and the dog has to get the kibble out of each hole....and that takes time. I'm glad the Slobowl works for some, I have had no luck with it for my dog.
He tends to push the kibble out onto the floor too and then eat from the floor:)
Ah well, LOL!

Reflux
 

I also have to feed often to keep the bile away! He gets 3 meals a day and a small amount at bedtime, but I often have to give him some extra kibble in between too! He is always hungry!
The reflux in my dog started after eye surgery when he waited until afternoon with no food before surgery. Then the esophagitis started and then when that cured he got reflux, but mainly in the early morning. During the day he gets enough food! The Pepcid does wonders though.
For his dental now the vet gives him some Pepcid, IV, in the morning and he has had no bile issues after the dental since that.

What kind of kibble do you feed?

Kibble
 

The extra kibble is the Hills ID, same as his regular meals.

Duh!! Sorry that was a silly question 😳

Kibble
 

No problem, it could have been a different kibble food. :)

He also seems to not be drinking as much water. Before the reflux started he was a good drinker and would have a "water beard" I call it. Where the hair around his mouth is dripping with water after a nice drink. Now he hardly touches it. He is urinating still and it seems to be a good light color.

Drinking
 

If he is well and peering ok perhaps he is getting enough water from his diet.
If you are really concerned you might get him looked over by the vet. He may just be drinking smaller amounts and you don't notice?