When last we saw our plucky heroine...

[ksmith]

Almost immediately after I posted last night, Gaby was sick. An hour or so later, she was sick again. I debated taking her to the emergency clinic, but she wasn't weak or in any apparent pain so I decided to wait until morning.

Vet's office took us in right away. Possibilities? Pancreatitis (insert Mickey flashback here). Blockage. Food reaction/allergy. Gaby wasn't acting like a dog with pancreatitis, but they still needed to rule it out. I left her there and went to work and hoped for something easily treatable and/or not too serious.

Phone call a couple of hours later. Bloodwork came back normal, which ruled out pancreatitis. Eosinophils were higher than they had been when she had her physical back in August, although they were still within normal variation. However, that's the allergy indicator, so. X-rays showed thickening of the stomach wall, signs of irritation. Verdict? Vet is leaning toward protein reaction/allergy, which is consistent with what the other vet who saw her in August thought might have caused the yeast infection in her ear. Gaby will get a bland diet of rice and a mix of old and new kibble for the next few days. Frequent feedings. Over the next two weeks, I'll transition her to the new kibble, which contains fish-derived proteins. We'll give it six weeks. If that doesn't improve matters, she'll need an endoscopy to determine whether there's some congenital abnormality or something.

What triggered this? Possibly the beef jerky treats I fed her over the last few days after the lamb jerky ran out. The beef marrow bones I had been giving her over the last month and a half for her teeth. I'm leaning toward beef (and beef liver) as the cause because she always seemed to upchuck when I gave her a spoon or two of a beef/liver wet food. When I cut that out and stuck with chicken, etc, the frequency of the vomiting lessened, but I could still count on an episode every other week or so. Whether those episodes coincided with the times I fed her beef jerky treats, I can't say.

She's dozing now. I'll wait for a little bit, then give her half a pepcid. Wait a bit, then dinner. If she keeps it down, I can feed her a little more.

I hope this works.

Comments

[planetalyx.livejournal.com]

Would keeping her off beef be very hard? It sounds like it might be a better answer than some of the other possibilities.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

No, but since we don't know for sure that it is beef, we're switching her to something Completely Different. Just to be sure.

[qnofhrt.livejournal.com]

What kind of wet food? There have been some reports similar to what you're reporting from folks who are feeding their dogs Iams. (Via my husband the vet tech who reads pet blogs.) I know nothing other than anecdotal reports who said their dogs had vomiting, diarrhea and negative lab reports.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Not Iams. Wellness and Evangers.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

My word. What we go through with our dear ones, or, I should say, what our dear ones go through!

[planetalyx.livejournal.com]

Makes perfect sense!

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

My last dog Sam always had dodgy digestion. When he was young the vets always put it down to 'dietary indiscretion' (ie scavenging garbage), but as he got older it grew worse and eventually it became apparent that he had recurrent colitis. There were only a couple of types of food he could tolerate, but he did very well on those, with added probiotics. I hope the change of diet does the trick for your girl. And I feel for your carpets!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I know it's only the first day, but the switch to a fish-based food may turn out to be a challenge. Gaby ate the first small meal last night because she was starving, but she rejected the second one. I don't think she's a fan of white rice.

So I'll coat the rice with a little of her skin-and-coat oil and see if that makes it more palatable. Add a little more dry food. Poor little bean. If this has been a problem for her since she was a pup, I think I can see why 1) her previous owners tied her to the front door of a vet's office, and 2) why she was so thin. If they were feeding her stuff that made her so sick he couldn't eat, and if they couldn't afford to pay for treatment...

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Poor puppy! I hope it is just an allergeny, and the new diet helps.