any advice on chronic vomiting/diarrhoea doggie

[sbaker]

I adopted a new pit bull from the pound to keep my older one company...saved him from the needle by minutes. He's 2 and very stalky, but very thin. I thought this was just because he was a stray...and the first week or so of him getting sick i attributed to nerves as well...but here we are 2 months later and he will be fine for a few days, then he will throw up and or get the runs. I dont change his diet at all...i made the mistake of giving him table scraps once...that caused it, as did the nerves from a long car ride.
I give him a grain free food called "raw instinct" i feed my other dog a mix of that and raw foods, but i don't give spooky (the new guy) anything but the food because i don't want to throw him off by mixing in it up.
He hasn't put on much weight, i can still see his spine, and he drinks water like a madman...and he's not happy very often, more sad and lazy(but that
may just be him:) so it leads me to believe he is not absorbing what he needs to.
SOOOO....
The regular vet told me for all sorts of $ they can do a stool sample and determine if he has worms, and thats VERY uncommon in Colorado...then they can do all sorts of other tests to weed out what it may or may not be...
and based on my internet searches...thats feeding him a bunch of antibiotics that may or may not help. I guess I'm just discouraged that it all seems trial and error.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'd prefer to be well informed before i go into the vets blindly and pump him full of meds.

http://www.carolmead.com/treegettinrf.jpg

hes the tan guy:)

[RowanC]

Sounds to me like a typical worm case... he could even have heartworms.
You really need to have his stoole tested, in my opinion.
Part of adopting a pet is being able to afford its care..

sorry... I don't mean to be judgmental, but this dog needs a vet.:(

[sbaker]

It has nothing to do with money. i am fully aware of the responsibility of adopting a pet. My problem is the fact that the vet told me it is VERY rare for dogs in Colorado to have worms unless they came here from further away, this area is just not prone to them.
All the more natural pet care sites I have been to have told me that the vet will pump them full of antibiotics without really knowing what is wrong on a trial and error basis, and that can upset their system even more and never really fix what may be the problem....THATS what i'm worried about, not the cost.
Just like i would do with myself...I am leery of trusting a Dr. eager to prescribe medications, so before I get into it, I'd like any other experience people may have on the subject from the same view...one i feel a raw food board would share. I don't feel that is neglect of my pet by any means! I currently pay $40 a bag for their food that lasts me less than 2 weeks, their health is my top priority...well above finances.

[RowanC]

Sorry, I saw this and assumed it was mostly a money issue:

The regular vet told me for all sorts of $ they can do a stool sample and determine if he has worms

I think it's safe to say that the vet would NOT give your dog antibiotics if you told him you weren't going to pay for them and all you wanted was a stoole sample???

[Colorawdo girl]

Certainly will not hurt to give your dog herbal wormer. They have formulas with wormwood and black walnut.....all kinds of anti worm herbs.You might just find the weight come on and no crud meds....woohooo.

[sbaker]

where do you find stuff like that? i went to a fairly alternative doggie store and they told me they didnt have anything for worms that wasn't prescription. that sounds like what im looking for to try out before i go the yucky meds route!

[Shuu]

Call around to the different pet food stores in your area. Not sure what brand you have in the states, but there's one in Canada that does all sorts of herbal stuff, including one for worms. If you go that route, make sure to ask the staff about the dosage - the one here is only supposed to be taken for 10 days even if worms continue to be expelled after that amount of time due to the toxitity of the wormwood and black walnut.

I would definitely have a stool sample done, and ask about the giardia ANTIGEN test. A normal fecal sample will likely not pick up giardia and a special test must be done. If it all comes up clear, a bloodtest may be in order to check for heartworms.

Good luck and keep in mind that it may be the food as well. Though Prairie is a great food, it could be that this particular dog can't tolerate something like chicken. Maybe try Evo red meat to see if that works any better in the short term.

[RowanC]

You might also try a feed store - they often carry veternarian supplies.

[bananafana]

my dog just got over a 2 week sickness including vomiting and diarehha. She had to get iv's because she became dehydrated and they did lots of different tests. You said your dog drinks lots of water? That could be dehydration and if he keeps throwing it up he just requires more water. It's a vicious circle. The one thing the vet was really worried about with my dog was kidney/liver problems. Extreme thirst is the number one symptom of this. Left untreated the dog may die. I think they can just do a blood test to see if this is the problem.

I spent $400+ on tests and ex-rays and she basically got better on her own. I had suggested that mabye she had some kind of animal flu, but they said there was no such thing. Now i'm not so sure. She definetly needed the iv's but not much of the other things they did. But, if I were you I would have the kidney/liver thing checked.

Anothe possibility is that your dog was abused before you adopted him and he is really nervous and skittish.

Good Luck!!

[Linda1970]

my puppy recently got very sick and vomited. I thought he was going to die and took him to the doctor. He had blood tests done. It turned out that he had food poisoning from eating onion.

[Anastasia Alston]

I agree that a trip to the vet & a round of tests is a good idea. I used to live in Colorado & though I was told HEART worms were rare, other worms most certainly were no more rare than anywhere else. I once picked up a stray that was quite full of tapeworms & needed worming; she was not likely "from somewhere else" as we lived in the midst of ranches & farms about 1/2 an hour from the Wyoming border. Even so, not common doesn't mean not possible, so to be on the safe side, check it out!

That said, my girl Rosie (pit bull) can't tolerate ANY brand of dog food. Expensive, cheap or in between she'll get diarrhea, bloat or throw up or any & all combinations of the 3. She also doesn't tolerate grains well. She's been like this her whole life & I've had her since she was a baby puppy of 7 weeks. She eats an entirely raw diet of meaty bones & ground meats mixed with pulped veggies/fruits. I have 3 dogs & it's just plain easier for me to feed them all like this. Perhaps your new pibble sweetie has a food allergy?

As far as being mopey or seeming sad, this could also be diet related, or it could be your new guy is reluctant to bond with you yet. Who knows what his life was like before you fund him? I just got another pibble about 3 weeks ago. For the first week & a half, he wasn't so sure about his new digs since in a 6 week period he had been dumped from his last home, fostered by a family for a month, taken in by a friend of the family for another 2 weeks & then found himself in my home with 2 other dogs, one of which is highly dog reactive (that would be my other pittie, Rosie). He barely wagged his tail when you talked squishy puppy talk to him until about the middle of last week. In the last few days, he has opened up even more & gets all wiggle-butt when you talk to him or even just look at him! He wouldn't play with toys when I got him & now will happily roll about for a little while with the toys I keep on hand for his entertainment. He has settled & really seems like a much happier dog now. He's a mellow cuddle slug compared to my little hellion, Rosie who buzzes in her sleep, but as any pittie person knows, he's still not a dog for the sedentary! :D With time & healing, he may not be so sad after all!

- Stasi, Pea Pod (Morab), Rosie Cotton & Binnabik (the pibble crew)