This is a continuing thread--geriatric great dane with colitis and--in between episodes--vomitting. I am away from home for a week and 24 yr old daughter is managing dog. He is just over a bout of diarrhoea (tx--sloppy white rice with watered down canned turkey and gradual addition of prescription kibble). She now tells me that he is vomitting his feeds (also intermittent over the last year or so) and this morning has diarrhoea again. Something is going on with him but he is about 9 yrs. old, VERY hard to get into the car (weighs ~ 175 lbs.) and gets extremely stressed at the vet's (remembers his gastropexy I guess). I suggested a gravol suppository but the diarrhoea might mitigate against this working very well.
Any ideas? I leave doors open for him to get outside....which won't be possible with colder weather coming....

Has he had a geriatric blood panel done?

yes, he has had one recently. Nothing of significance showed up....

Forgive me if you've already covered this, but is he on, or has he been on any medication?

Is the d&v he's having now something that's happening while you're away, i.e. separation anxiety related?

I sympathise on all the issues surrounding car and vet stress, my male Boerboel absolutely loathed the vets and being pulled around made matters ten times worse.

Have you ever used a good quality probiotic after bouts of illness!

I'm shooting in the dark here, but have they discussed auto immune issues?

Okay, that's good nothing showed up. With colitis, any stress causing change gets it to flare up, kudos to you for putting the work into dealing with it.
Is he still getting smaller meals? Perhaps get rid of the food bowl, and use his food for training throughout the day?
Eating a whole bowl can trigger the vomiting.
Is the bowl raised? Where is he fed?
If it's stress induced colitis, flare ups are frequent, and hard to manage.
With Jazz, I was able to give him small amounts of pepto bismol, which was recommended by the vet, for the diarrhea, but only on the short flare ups. Kaopectate, not sure if I spelt that right, was also allowable. The dosage was 2 tsp per 10 lbs, but I just started with 2 tsp to be safe. If your dog is on meds, call and check with the vet before giving, to make sure it won't affect his meds.
Bran sprinkles, or any fibres can help firm up the stool.
As stressful as car rides are, long term diarrhea with vomiting can cause worse issues, he needs anti diarrhea meds, and too find out the root of his colitis .
Do you have any vets that would come to your home? To cut out the car ride?
Big hugs, I know how stressful it can be!

Edited by Becky Niedbalka (08/22/2018 01:44 PM)
Edit reason: Spelling

 Quote: tracey holden

Forgive me if you've already covered this, but is he on, or has he been on any medication?

Kim, I know there have been several previous threads about this dog and these issues, and I'm also having trouble remembering all the details. I'm also curious to know what, if any, meds he may have been on for this issue and what kind of results you got.

After about a year's worth of firm stools, he had a bout of diarrhoea around June (? or thereabouts) and I took him to the vet at that point. I was given a one time wormer and a course of metronidazole.
By the time the 10 day course was finished, so was the diarrhoea. I do the sloppy rice and gradually increase the kibble based on his output (or lack thereof). I think he had the geriatric panel around the same time. Nothing found there.
The vomitting has also been an intermittent thing wherein he will vomit his entire feed--undigested (all his symptoms seem to be completely out of the blue with no change to anything), sometimes 12 hrs. later. He occasionally vomits smaller feeds as well. He isn't on any medication but I have given him
Kaopectate but have switched to Imodium because it's easier as a tablet to get into him. I hope this episode isn't due to my absence. He knows my daughter because she lives at home so no change there. I haven't had a holiday in two years because I haven't wanted to leave him.
I've asked about vets making house calls but haven't found one that will. Have no idea what I will do if he ever collapses at home.
I do feed him from raised bowls and, at the moment, they are outside and he has access to his water dish and the yard almost all the time (I tend to shut the door at night to keep bugs out but I hear him come into the room when he wants out--not sure how my daughter is handling this--will ask).
When he's feeling well, he has plain canned pumpkin added to his feeds for fiber.
I could try Pepto-Bismol again. Hope I've answered everything. I believe gravol is okay to use?

It wouldn't be weird for him to get stressed even with a familiar face.
Pepto I found worked faster.
Does he like interactive toys? A food dispensing one would help slow the eating if he is a gulper. Or a muffin tin.
I found rice made things worse. Maybe because my dog wasn't a rice lover.
I will have to look back and see what the colitis was, but the trick is to add fibre. Even fibre one cereal, sprinkled on food, is okay.
My vey said some apple cider vinegar, added to the water, helps settle the stomach. I have used that, or a bit if baking soda, for vomiting.
Sounds like you have your hands full!
Going to reread your last thread now!

From what I read, there was no firm diagnosis for the colitis, but a long road with IBD?
With that, u stick to my suggestion of psyllium husk. Helps hold the water, so everything can move smoothly. You can mix it with pumpkin, starting with 1/2 tsp, and upping it after a week by 1/4 of a tsp, until you see results. With that added in split smaller meals, it may help him hold his food down.
Due to the lack of digestion. I would go as far as to crush his dry food. If he gulps food, that has to be hard when he can't absorb water, to properly digest.
Acidophilus was a great help in added gut flora.

Many people give their dog gravol here for pre flights, I have never tried it myself.