Now of course I know that a dog can't have an eating disorder like people do. I'm just trying to lighten my mood.

I have been looking around at old threads that have to do with dogs vomiting and one of them looked kind of similar to my problem but no conclusion (OP never said what vet had said and what she did).

Ok, Shaed (gsd) has always kind of been a picky eater. She never cared for kibble. She loves raw, but then we started giving them ground raw(just for giggles) and we aren't doing the ground up stuff anymore, because it's kind of a pain in the ass to grind up 300lbs of raw meat in a day and take care of everything else in the house (our 8 month old daughter for one ). And besides, the dogs are big enough to chew up the bones.

And so the dilema. Shaed hasn't been eating her full meal-which is about 2 lbs of raw with supplements and about a 1/4 cup of veggie stuff(which she doesn't eat anyway. Her activity level hasn't changed, she still runs around the yard with the other 2 dogs. The only thing in the yard, besides poop (which Lily has been eating that's another issue) and snow, is an apple tree-which Lily and Otto have been chewing on. Yes, they chew on the branches of my apple tree.

Anyway. Shaed is only eating about 1 lb of food a day, no change in activity, not acting sick but is throwing up, what looks to be, bile only. I also noticed the other morning that she has the runs when I let her out. It wasn't like water, it was more like pudding.

This isn't the first time she's had issues with food, and not the first time she's thrown up bile. When she was a pup she liked to chew on things, she hasn't chewed on anything she shouldn't since then.

My hubby said to make a vet appointment for her. I plan on it. I just wanted to know if there's anyone who has any other ideas and know if there's anything I'm missing.

1. How old is she?

2. How is her weight? WHAT is her weight?

3. How many meals does she get?

4. Is the vomiting at an empty-stomach time?

5. Exactly what is in her diet?

Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/26/2009 12:39 PM)
Edit reason: add #5

Also, can you fence off that tree? I am not sure that oils in the bark are toxic to dogs, but I am suspicious because apple cores (the seeds in them) are.

Shaed is 3yrs old, she weighs in at 72lbs(just weighed her) and she's always been around 70lbs. Normally I feed the dogs once a day(late afternoon). She vomited just a couple hours ago-only had about 1 lb to eat last night.
Her diet includes: chicken leg quarters, veggie mush (has yogurt and eggs in it) and organ meat mush. And the supplements are: kelp powder, alfalfa powder, vit. C poweder, and a vit. E tablet. We are considering just giving her a multi-vit. tablet because sometimes she won't eat the food that has the supplements on it. The other two will, but I think that they'd eat anything(like the tree!)

And as for the tree, right now there's a lot of now on the ground, and between the freezing temps one day and melting the next, even if we put a fence around it now, it wouldn't be very effective for long, Lily likes to push her weight around and the other two are pretty good at jumping over short fencing. We are going to cut it down this spring. The dogs couldn't reach the branches before the snow.

Shaed is 3yrs old, she weighs in at 72lbs(just weighed her) and she's always been around 70lbs.
She may not need 2 pounds. 2% is under 1.5 pounds.


Normally I feed the dogs once a day(late afternoon). She vomited just a couple hours ago-only had about 1 lb to eat last night.
I would feed twice a day. That empty-stomach bile-vomiting will probably stop, and my own opinion is that 2x day is better for bloat-prone breeds.


Her diet includes: chicken leg quarters, veggie mush (has yogurt and eggs in it) and organ meat mush.
I'd omit the organ meat for a day and see what happens to the poop. Might as well pull off the chicken skin too, for this experiment.

And the supplements are: kelp powder, alfalfa powder, vit. C poweder, and a vit. E tablet. We are considering just giving her a multi-vit. tablet because sometimes she won't eat the food that has the supplements on it. The other two will, but I think that they'd eat anything(like the tree!)
I'm not a big fan of multis, especially if they include minerals. If you do go that route, I'd make it vitamins only, and only the RDA (not mega doses). But the fish oil and E are important.

Ok, thank you.

Yeah, I'll cut back how much she gets. And see how she does without organ meat. I had been feeding Lily 2x's a day when she was smaller-would be pretty easy for me to feed all of them 2x's a day-especially in the morning after I feed my daughter and get my coffee going

So, as far as a daily vitamin for Shaed, what would you recommend? We had given her and Otto the Mega pet daily that we ordered from Leerburg, but that was a couple years ago.

Keleah,

In my opinion, I would take your dog to the vet. Throwing up bile and diarrhea can be very serious signs of certain diseases. I would get a full cbc and fecal exam done for your girl. JMO

Kimberly

The bile sounds like empty stomach vomiting, to me. I have had dogs do this who were used to eating several times per day when switched to only once. It just doesn't work for all of them.

Pudding diarrhea is not as bad as water, IMO, so do what Connie said and nix the skin and organs and see what you get. Also, too MUCH food is the #1 diarrhea causer. CALEB, at 97lbs only gets a little over 2lbs...but he is a VERY hard keeper. 2lbs is too much food for her, it sounds like.

I just watched Shaed while she was outside and she had a normal solid poop. YAY!

Going to do try giving her her meal (only 1.5 lbs) without any supplements tonight (as that has been an issue of hers-doesn't like alfalfa I guess) and see how things go.

Kimberly, Shaed has done this a couple times before this and it always seems to come down to her food (picky eater even with raw diet).

I think her throwing up bile this morning was her way of saying "hey, I didn't get to go to the bathroom when I was outside, because those other buttholes wouldn't leave me alone out there."

I need to figure out what it isn't first, because like others on this board, my vet isn't a Raw food fan. She didn't harass me much after I told her I knew what I was doing when I first told her I fed raw(I did get the proper nutrition bit and that there's a risk of salmonella poisoning). I have a feeling if I go in not knowing if it's just her diet that needs tweaking, I'll have my vet up my a$$ about "proper nutrition" for my dog. Like the crap they provide is proper nutrition.

Ok, here's the update.

Just fed all my dogs. Otto and Lily, being the food hounds they are, ate all their food and....Shaed's food.

Shaed did not eat any of her chicken (sans supplements even).
So, instead, I gave her some leftover raw pork, from some pork chops we made the other day. They weren't cooked and there were a few bones too. She ate it all, licked the bowl clean.
Maybe I have to change up the menu for her every now and then, hmm .
Any suggestions or anyone have to do this with their dog?

So, she's eating, her stool is normal (so far, so good) and I have to wait to see if she pukes (which I should note: she only threw up today, and possibly 2 mornings ago-don't know if it was her for sure )
I'll keep you all posted.

Edited by Keleah Stull (02/26/2009 11:17 PM)
Edit reason: added more