Weird illness
 

My Yorkie has a weird problem with his stomach. It stated last Sept. He would vomit one day, be OK for 3 days and then vomit again. It happened like that for 2 weeks. So I took him to the vet and she suggested to change his food. So I switched him to Prescription Diet I/D. He was fine for 3 months and then the same thing happened in Dec. The vet gave him a shot and he was OK but then yet again the vomited started up in March. He had an ultrasound and all is fine with his organs. The vet suggested maybe it was the chicken treats I was giving him (Dogswell). So I stopped giving him that and all he eats is Prescription Diet I/D food, wet food, and treats. So all was well for another 3 months and then bam he vomited last week and this week again. I don't know what to do. I will call the vet of course but just wanted to know if anybody else's Yorkie has this weird unknown stomach problem. It is so frustrating not knowing what is wrong with him and I don't think the vet has any idea either.

intestinal issues run in this breed.

Sounds like your dog could have inflammatory bowel disease in the small intestines.

Was there anything off on the blood work like lipase and amylase were they high as dogs with ibd can test high on those two things.

If blood work is fine and doing this then that would be my guess is ibd as either those two things are high or everything is perfect.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Dogs

The hills i/d has pork in it. Sometimes ibd dogs have to be rotated on food once the upset happens again.

What food did you feed when this all started? I would stay away from any chicken diets. My dog has ibd and he is on purina ha so you can try that and another one my dog did good on was ultra z/d by hills as both are hydrolized diets but ultra z/d has chicken in it but it is hydrolized which is a broken down form of the protein.

If you want to try a non-vet food then venison is usually a good choice so you may want to try natural balance venison and sweet potato.

Another thing to ask the vet about is using tylan powder as that is a antibiotic but the most mild one and it has an anti-inflammatory agent to take inflammation down in the intestines

Before doing anything like steroids the vet or internal medicine specialist will do endoscopy to see if it is truly ibd as they scope them then biopsy intestines. I never had to do this as the food worked for my little guy so hopefully you can get this under control with that as well.

Probiotics also can be helpful with these cases but food is going to be key.

Also dogs with ibd in small intestines are more susceptible to pancreatitis so low fat diets are highly recommend for these little ones.

When my dog had pancreatitis hill's I/d made him relapse so i am not a big fan of that food :(

If the prescription diets do not work then homecooking will be the next step as well and i would do all this before using any drugs like steroids. Steroids should be your last resort.

Any diarrhea going on?

Ellie used to do that, but it went away after switching foods.
Now she has other IBD symptoms though...

I would probably just go ahead and do some bloodwork if it hasn't been done already. Other than that, it's just trial and error with stomach problems unless it gets worse and biopsy becomes an option.

Have any drugs been tried besides the one shot?

Are you sure it is vomiting and not regurgitation?

if it was regurgitation it would be happening more often I would think as that is esophagus related and that is when no effort at all and vomit just comes out so no stomach pumping like normal vomitting

What was the one shot was it cerenia? Check the vet records - my guess is cerenia or convenia.

Also I agree was there any medication given before this started as nsaids should not be given to dogs with ibd as it can further cause problems with intestines.

I agree if blood work has not been done then do it and if you do it then ask for full panel and also cpli add on as dogs with ibd can test high on cpli as well as ibd and pancreatitis go hand in hand especially with small intestines involved.

Small intestines issues have vomitting and large intestinal issues have diarrhea

I still think it's important to check with the owner that it is vomiting (not regurgitation) and not just assume. For all we know, it could be an acid issue. I just had this happen with Ellie a few months ago. I kept saying it was vomiting until I realized there was a pattern of no effort and it was thin...

yeah i learned all about regurgitation as well as demi had a couple episodes of volcano vomitting with no effort no stomach pumping and it was after drinking water. It was a ton of vomit too more than I have ever seen. She has not done it in a long time thank goodness and they think just a stomach upset and possibly bad chicken so i switched to cod instead of chicken and no more upsets. What i was surprised is megaesophagus I always thought was in younger dogs but they said no they can get it at any age.

ETA: here is info on regurgitation

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/regurgi...ogs/page1.aspx

Thanks for all the info. I need to look into the IBD. Yes, he had several blood tests taken and the vet said all was well. She also said he had a little sign of pancreatitis but never mentioned IBD. He was given shots of Cerenia several times. I don't really know the difference between vomiting and regurgitation but when he does it his stomach does start pumping and he is fine for 3 days and then on the fourth day he vomits again. He used to eat Wellness before I/D. I will ask my vet about the possibility of IBD and see what she says.

yeah if pancreatitis is being mentioned and using cerenia then sounds like ibd to me. The cerenia is just masking the problem. You need to get this little one on the right diet before this cycle stops

Thanks I will definitely call my vet and see what she says.