Stomach Issues~Stress
 

Princeton has been having bouts of stomach issues for over a year now. 2 vets and a specialist later, an abdominal ultrasound determined he had sludge in his gall bladder and he is now on gall bladder meds. They worked wonderfully at first, but over the past 2 months, he's started his ups and downs again. Belly aches, where he won't eat in the morning... bouts of diarrhea...it seems to be closely related to stress...specifically stress caused by car rides or vet trips. Sometimes, it just happens with no cause.

Anyways...I had to take the boys home with me to my parents this weekend. I didn't have a choice, other than board them...which would have been more stressful. Princeton's stomach was already upset from a trip to the vets for Ricky on Friday...so our trip on Sunday compounded the problem. He knew we were leaving as soon as bath time came so his stomach was upset before we even got in the car. Now, a week later and he's clearly got an upset stomach and he doesn't want to eat. I've tried to give him pumpkin in his food, but he's not eating it. I have managed to get him to eat chicken baby food, but that's about all he will eat right now...which I guess is better than nothing. I've given him pepto...I've given him Regalin and nothing seems to help....


Anyone else got any ideas I am not thinking of???


I am also thinking of asking the vet to put him on some medicine for anxiety....at a minimum for when we are traveling. I am thinking about purchasing a calming collar as well. I know he's got a few other things that trigger his upset stomach, but anxiety is definitely a major trigger.


Sadly, it seems like Princeton's fear and anxiety is starting to rub off on my 2 y.o Ricky. Ricky used to like the car and he wasn't afraid of people. He was nervous and shaking on the car ride home and was timid and afraid of people. I am not sure how to stop the bad behavior from transferring to him, but I would hate to see him start being afraid of everything like Princeton is:(

Lately I've been mixing up macaroni noodles (the little ones) and sprinkling with parmesan cheese and my dogs love it - seems to clear up upset tummy and gets them to eat. I just mentioned upset tummies to my vet the other day and he did not want me to give them pepto. He recommended a prescription id food to keep in the house when I didn't have time to cook up macaroni. My elderly yorkie will eat just about anything and he really likes the macaroni - my poodle mix has a sensitive stomach and she likes it too. I've tried mixing some veggies in there too but they are not too keen on that.

I don't know if this will help you but my Yorkie Pucci has had tummy prob for about 5 or 6 yrs now. He is going to be 13 in January and is doing great now and has been for a few years (diminished tummy prob).

When it all started he would gag up bile. It became more frequent. The Vet recommend Pepto and Pepsid AC. The Vet told me he had allergies. Well I did some research and to me it looked like he had acid reflux. So I started feeding him smaller meals 4x a day. That helped a lot. At first the Vet was telling me to give him the Pepsid 1/4 tablet 2x's a day for 4days a week. And that would last about 3 to 4weeks with each episode. When I cut his meals into smaller portions (easier to digest) that number of times he had to have the Pepsid reduced to maybe 2days for one week every 2 months. Then I started to mix very high priced canned dog food (no by prod and chick broth instead of water) in with his dry dog food and the episodes are now maybe once every 6 months that he would need a Pepcid.

Of course you can tell when your baby is getting a funny tummy when he starts to refuse food and he can't sleep on and off at night.

Pucci is doing real good now...he even runs into the kitchen for his food.

Hope I have given you some ideas...Vets are not always right & some times you can compare your pets illness to a humans by the habits he goes thru. The Vet disagreed with me and was in denial that I was right. I do not go to him any more for other reasons (I think he is a crook). Went to him for 9 years and now I wouldn't give him the right time of day (and that is putting it nicely).

But Good luck with your baby...hope you find a remedy for him and he feels better real soon.

Tina

Having suffered with gall bladder problems myself I can fully sympathize with your little guy's problems. I'm sure stress can complicate the problems but the fact that he has stuff in his gall bladder that he should not have is really what is making him sick.

Don't let him have any fatty foods. No cheese! Check the fat content of his food, if it is high then you should probably change it. I know that dogs are having to have their gall bladders removed more frequently these days and it may be an option for your little guy if he does not improve dramatically soon.

Every time the digestive process starts that gall bladder starts to contract and the foreign substances in there start to bother him. It really is an awful thing to deal with.

[QUOTE=gracielove;4328134]Having suffered with gall bladder problems myself I can fully sympathize with your little guy's problems. I'm sure stress can complicate the problems but the fact that he has stuff in his gall bladder that he should not have is really what is making him sick.

I had to have my gall bladder removed also....I was 30yrs old. I can remember it is no fun at all. I was down to 110lbs by the time I went in for the surgery. That was over a period of a couple of months. Could barely eat with out pain and it just got worse.

Hope your little guy gets well soon.

Tina

Have you thought about contacting the specialist again? Perhaps there is something else going on like IBD ?? I have had a few pups over the years with sludgy gall bladders and honestly it did not cause such symptoms. Not saying it cannot be related...just saying that perhaps it is something else.

As for removing the gall bladder, that is not commonly done to my knowledge. I do know that often the pups are very sick by the time they know the gall bladder is an issue and the success rate of surgery is around 50%.