What is wrong with his tummy?
 

Ok, here goes. Max's tummy is upset today. Its making loud gurgling noises, he has no appetite and its obvious he's not feeling well. His normally happy face is down and he's barely wagging his tail. I know this happens sometimes but now that I think about it, its happened every other week or so for the past 6 weeks. Once I thought it was because he went too long without eating. I gave him an unsalted cracker and he was better in a few hours. The other time, he ate some white rice and was better. He ate last night, but not today yet. He's been trying to eat grass.

I have him on a limited ingredient kibble (Natural Balance Lamb and brown rice). I know that these bouts can happen occasionally but can anyone think of a reason why it is happening so often? If it doesn't resolve quickly this time, I'll be taking him to the vet. In the event that we end up at the vet, should there be any tests that I should ask for?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

You can always try switching foods, but ultimately it sound slike it's time to go to the vet even if he does get better quickly. It happens, but it is not normal every other week.

I forgot to include that I tried rice and the cracker trick again today. He's not interested.

I would take him to the vet. It sounds like it happens way to often. The last time Kaji presented the same symptoms, his tummy was so upset and in so much pain, Kaji actually lost the ability to control his bladder. :( He would pee in his sleep and not know it.
His upset tummy was caused by nerves. (he's a very shy, nervous boy) I had left him in good hands for 1 evening out with my family, but Kaji didn't agree.

So we just got back from the vet. She said so far I've done everything on my own right, such as changing his diet to a single protein source. She agrees that these episodes happening like clockwork isn't normal so she suggested some blood work. We did everything from a CBC to a GI panel which would include pancreatic and liver enzymes and also check his intestinal flora. He also got a shot for nausea; it seemed to help. He ate a few pieces of kibble when we got home. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will get an answer as to why this is happening to my boy. I can't stand seeing him moping around here all day :(

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you guys. The worst part is not knowing, once you know it's so much easier to come up with a plan.

could this be it?

Natural Balance Recalls Contaminated Dog Food
Jun 18, 2010 4:28 pm US/Pacific
Natural Balance Recalls Contaminated Dog Food
PACOIMA, Calif. (CBS) ―
Pacoima-based Natural Balance Pet Foods is recalling 5-pound and 28-pound bags of Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Chicken Dry Dog Food with the "Best By" date of June 17, 2011. (file)

A Southland pet food company is recalling some of its dog food because it may be contaminated with salmonella, the company announced Friday.

Pacoima-based Natural Balance Pet Foods is recalling 5-pound and 28-pound bags of Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Chicken Dry Dog Food with the "Best By" date of June 17, 2011.

The dog food is being recalled because a sample analyzed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration tested positive for salmonella, although no dogs have gotten sick from the product.

I already looked into that. Its been happening since before started Natural Balance food and we are currently using the lamb and brown rice formula. But thank you anyway.

Give's Max a kiss on the head get better we one , Andy's tummy has done that a time or two but not frequent and has bounced back . Hopefuly it's just a change of food needed . Keep us informed . I know it's hard to see them sick

sounds like ibd to me so let us know when blood work comes back but ibd dogs do better on diets like venison and sweet potato so try switchint to NB venison and sweet potato if blood work comes back perfect

capt noonie was feeding nb lamb and rice too and her dog had stomach upset

I will go get link

I think lamb is more fatty food protein and that diet is not a limited ingredient diet

here is thread check it out

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...k-vet-uni.html

what were you feeding before?

I fed Artemis last and Acana prior to that. His symptoms were worse with the Acana as it was a tad higher in the crude protein. Along with tummy upset, he had bilious vomit. I was in search of a flavorful kibble with less protein when I came across NB. I started with the chicken and sweet potato but Lily had runny stools with that one. We did try a venison and sweet pot. sample and they both didn't like it. Maybe I'll have to stick to the chicken and rice. They are so finicky :)

Thank you for linking Noonie's thread. I read through it; Max doesn't have loose stools so I'm hoping its not pancreatitis like Uni. He did finally stool tonight and it was firm. I sure hope its nothing serious. He's acting a little better now. He had a few more bites of kibble too.

i think it is ibd and dogs with ibd do not do well with chicken diets :(

At least I should have a definitive answer soon. I guess I'll start reading up on IBD just in case. Thanks for your info and I'll post when I get the results.

ok keep me posted as my dex has ibd

Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Dogs

Debbie,
What do you feed Dex since he has IBD? Just thinking ahead....

he is on purina ha as he cannot eat any diets with white potato or he ends up in the hospital :( I spent 10k over a year getting him balanced and this is the only food that worked for him before doing endoscopy to get meds. Do i think it is the best food - no way but it is the best for him :). I will never try to fix with him what is not broke at this point as i went through a horrible time getting him better. He tolerated ultra z/d too as it is a hydrolized diet but itched horribly on it. The HA is a hydrolized soy diet at 18% protein and 8% fat and for 4 years knock on wood we are good :) I measure out his food twice a day but for a while i fed him 3-4 meals a day

Ok...i should get some of the results back tomorrow. The GI panel will take a little longer. From there, we may opt to do an endoscopy depending on the results.

i would do food trials before sedating to do endoscopy as if you do limited ingredient diet like NB venison and sweet potato that may solve the problem. I prefer to do least invasive first before going to drugs and testing. The GI panel is a fecal i am assuming?

let me know when you get results and will try to help.

The GI panel includes the pancreatic and liver enzymes as well as checking the intestinal flora. I suppose it would depend on the results what the next step would be. Thanks for your help so far

no prob so sounds like a blood panel add on - ok keep me posted as usually they do a cpli for pancreas and liver enzymes are part of the full blood panel

were bats done

So I fed Max some rice mixed with kibble for dinner at 5 pm. Since 8pm he's thrown up once and had 4 bouts of diarrhea. I'll call the vet in the morning to see if he should come back in but any suggestions on what to do until then? He seems hungry now but has no interest in his kibble.

many times they will not eat if it makes them feel sick :( what kibble are you feeding?

The vet didn't suggest changing his food just yet. I suppose she's waiting on the blood work. After that post last night, he did eat a little kibble. I still have him on the Natural Balance lamb and brown rice. No more loose stools or vomiting last night after eating a small amount of kibble. Nothing yet today; he hasn't eaten or stooled. I'm waiting for the vet tech to call me back on whether the Dr. wants to see him again today or not.

I'm not sure if bats were done at the last visit. I will find out.

ok if blood work is totally normal though then could be the ibd as ibd many times does not show up on blood work

i think it's the lamb that is doing it; my dog can't tolerate lamb, beef or chicken. feed a bland diet for a while to rest his GI.
my dog has IBD and i am feeding her ground turkey and oatmeal; and this week i started introducing the wellness simple solution duck and rice canned food.
vomiting and not wanting to eat suggests an inflamation in the small intestine. the kibble will aggrevate this condition.
his GI system needs to rest and heal.
i have been going through this for over 2 years and tried all different foods; she was diagnosed this past march with ibd through endoscopy.
tried iams low residue, purian ha, purina en; she couldnt tolerate any.
so i kept going back to homecooked to rest her system; and now i am trying the wellness simple solution duck and rice which is a bland diet. and if that works i will feed the duck and rice kibbles with the wet.
oh and she's on prednisone to diffuse the inflammation.
also i am using nordic omega 3, gastriplex and gastri-sooth (to heal the mucosa of the GI)
best of luck; but please dont feed kibbles this week; also when they become intolerant to a certain protein (ie lamb); they will keep having the bouts of vomiting. so u might need to switch. vets are great; but don't know too much about nutritions. even my vet admits that; that's why he's ok with me trying the wellness instead of putting her on another RX diet.

Can you tell me more about your ground turkey and oatmeal diet? How much do you feed. Max weighs 12.3 lbs.

He had a stool this morning. It was still on the runny side but definitely more formed. He eats a few bites of kibble at a time.

my dog is 10lbs and i feed her about 1/4 cup each meal for morning, lunch and dinner
i got this recipe from Dr. Pitcairn's New Complete Guide to Natural...

i boil one pound 97% fat free ground turkey (make them into patties) for 35 min into 8 cups of water (skim fat). remove the turkey and keep the broth; add 3 cups of oatmeal (1 min oatmeal) into the broth. boil for 10 minutes (stir occasionaly). meanwhile cut up the turkey patties into little chunks and then add them to the oatmeal. stir together for another 5 minutes. let stand to cool and then you can put them into few small containers. put one in the fridge to be used and the rest in the freezer for later use. defrost them when needed.
try that for a week or 2 and see if it helps. and consider the wellness simple solution duck and rice or salmon and rice.

That sounds very easy actually. I can handle that. Do you think this is appropriate for my 10 month yorkie as well? She won't eat unless he's eating, much less if they aren't eating the same thing. The eat from each others' bowls.

this food is not balanced though to feed for long term; you would have to add supplements to feed long term. if nothing is wrong with the 10months old yorkie then don't switch her food. feed them seprately.
i use it for a short while to reset her system and rest her GI tract. that's why i am transition her to wellness simple solution duck and rice to see if that will help; if not i will try the salmon and rice. and if nothing works i will stick with the homemade food and add supplements to balance it.
i found this article about IBD
Benefits of a Holistic Diet for a Dog with Inflammatory Bowel Disease - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

Ok, that makes sense. I just called around to my local pet supply stores. No one carries the Wellness Simple Solutions. One of the stores is going to call their supplier to find out if she can get it.