Please Help!

[Carole]

Hi everyone -
I am wondering if any of you have experience with specific health issues with your doodles and pet insurance. I know the issues I am having will not be covered by most policies because they are now considered pre-existing, but I think it is very important to have insurance in place for my doodle's well-being and my financial peace of mind. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for policies you have found helpful.

Also, my doodle is 14 months old (next week) and has had diarrhea and vomiting issues since I brought her home at 8 weeks. She has also had 2 skin infections. The vets have not found any reason, but think food allergies may be contributing factors. The most recent scare was over Thanksgiving weekend when she woke up throwing up blood. I rushed her to the emergency room and again -- no known cause, but diagnosed with colitis. She is on a white rice, Hills Id canned, and pumpkin diet -- 3 small meals a day. Does anyone have any experience, strength, and hope as I am really sad about my sweet doodle's struggles and want her to recover without relapses. Any help out there?

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Carole what are you feeding her normally as her regular food? What foods have you tried? You may want to post her health issues in the Health and Medical group for more advice.

[Natasha]

Did she eat anything unusual or is there a chance that she ate anything unusual the day or two before the Thanksgiving incident?

Over her lifetime, what food have you fed her?

Couple of things that I would recommend based upon my experience (it turned out Rouser was eating a wispy grass in our yard that wasn't allowing him to digest his food, but I still went through this process):

1) Keep a journal. Note what you are feeding (including all treats - even if it's something someone else gives her) and when she is having trouble. The goal is to help your vet see if there is a pattern.

2) Watch her in the yard. Is there a particular plant she is drawn too (sniffing, eating, etc.) Is it possible she is eating something she shouldn't like a plant, fertilizer or rabbit poop (sorry, gross, but it happens and it can cause problems)?

3) Look at all of the ingredients in all of the treats and food that you have given her. If possible, choose a food that doesn't have any of those ingredients. We use Taste of the Wild as they have some unique blends like salmon and sweat potato or lamb and sweet potato that don't have other ingredients in common with most food (like chicken, etc.)

4) Consider getting the opinion of another vet. Try to detail how frequently this has been occurring since you brought your puppy home and what happens specifically with each incident. What were the symptoms (are they always the same), what helped, what didn't, etc.

5) There are others on this board who are FAR more knowledgeable about food allergies than I am (and than most people are) and I'm sure they'll chime in to help you understand what is/isn't a common occurrence versus alternative things that might be going on with your doodle.

6) If you do try to make adjustments to her diet, environment, etc., make one change at a time and give that change time so that you can see if it helps/hurts.

7) Does she ever get bully sticks, dental chews, or rawhide bones? If so, take those away for 3 months and see if you notice a difference.

A quality food is an important first step. I'm not a huge fan of Hills (I know, the vets prescribe it when they think there is a food allergy), opting instead to go the route of giving her something she has never had before and seeing if that helps (after it's been properly introduced and she has adjusted, of course).

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Hills is not a good food. It is more expensive than most of the high-quality foods we recommend in the Food Group and it has fillers and lower quality ingredients. Have you joined the food group yet? Please come! I am not a vet obviously, but we can discuss the issues and try to find a good food that might help ease the diarrhea and vomitting.

Answer some of Natasha's questions regarding what you feed (treats, etc...) and we can see if anything besides the main food could be causing something.

Just so you know, I had my chihuahua on high-quality Solid Gold food - about 3 years ago he started vomitting and lost about 1.5 # (chihuahua - that's a lot) over the course of 3 months. We could not figure out what was wrong and it ended up being these chicken treats from China. I had stopped giving them to him, but the prescription food kept making him worse. I finally cut out all treats and put him back on Solid Gold and he was FINE. Not saying your doodle has anything like this, but the point is being very careful about what you feed.

there are far better experts than I am in the Food Group & Health & Medical Issues. You should join both and see what people say.

And definitely get another vet opinion. That is what did the trick for us.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Carole,
I'm sorry your dog is having so many problems.
It may sound arrogant to disagree with someone's vet, but I doubt very much that your dog has food allergies. Sensitivities, maybe. At 8 weeks, she would not have been on solid food long enough to have developed a food allergy, and while lots and lots of doodle puppies have digestive issues, if it's been going on for a year, it's time to find another vet who can get to the bottom of her issues, rather than contributing to the problem by selling you caviar-priced garbage in a can. Rx food has no medicinal or curative properties, and is composed of byproducts and preservatives. When you have a little time, visit us in The Food Group for more info on Rx food and gastrointestinal issues in our doodles.
Vomiting blood is a serious issue and is not typical of any kind of allergy. And skin infections are usually not all that difficult for an experienced and competent vet to figure out or treat.
Rather than just attempting to stop the diarrhea and vomiting, you need to find out what's causing it. I realize your question is about insurance, but even if you had insurance, that wouldn't really help your dog get healthier. I would seek out a private practice vet who has a lot of experience and who can refer you to a specialist if necessary.
Have you tried contacting your breeder?

[Carole]

Thanks for the ruply and suggestions.  The blood in the vomit was said (by the vetSSS) to be from the heaving -- that tiny blood vessles in the lining of the stomach can break and that is the blood.   I have emailed and called my breeder.  I'm waiting to hear back from them.... it's been over a week now.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

yes, join the food group!

There are much better foods you can give your pup to help with sensitivities - check out thedogfoodproject.com this is full of great info on how to read food labels and what can cause allergies and sensitivities

stay away from corn, wheat, soy, chicken and beef - these are the most common causes. Check out Natural balance Limited Ingredients Diets http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/allergy.html they have the full range of dry and canned food, chubs and treats. many dogs do well on this superb high quality food!

[Diane and Alma]

Alma has a very sensative stomach and was sick a lot as a puppy. I've read about feeding dogs pumpkin when they are sick but this made Alma have terrible diarrhea. When she's sick I feed her cooked, chicken breasts with white, sticky (Japanese) rice. After she is better I slowly add her regular food (Orijen) to the mix. I also feed her 1/4 cup of cottage cheese (she weighs 45 lbs) when needed to help firm up her stools. I went to a reputable pet store (not a chain) and they gave me several samples of different kinds of dog foods to try. I highly recommend that you go to this link to see how dog foods are rated and what's in them: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/

I would be very concerned about the blood. Please get a second opinion from another vet. Perhaps a holistic vet can help you with food concerns as well as cleaning products, plants, and other irritants that might be affecting her. Keep me posted on what you find.

[Carole]

Thank you for shaing about Alma's sensitive stomach and puppy issues with food.  I am looking into the Orijen and think I will try adding it to the mix as her stomach settles.  She is having formed, but very very soft stools as of today.  There has not been any vomiting since the trip to the ER on Friday morning (the day after Thanksgiving). 

 

I have had 3 opinions from different vets.  They all think the blood in the vomit was because of her "wrenching" up her guts so to speak... when she was vomiting.  I am also looking into treating her holistically.  And looking into the cleaning products, plants and other irritants that might be affecting her.  Thanks again for replying to my post and I look forward to keeping in touch... it may take me a while because I don't really understand how to use the website all that well.  I'm hanging in there. 

[Lesley, Wellington & Bingley]

Amen to that! Hills is a no no in our experience. 30 assistance dogs sponsored by Hills led to alot of health issues and so we had to ditch Hills as a sponsor.

Im a raw feeder now and have had nothing but fantastic results. Join the food group. There is always hope! Good luck x

[Carole]

I am so very very very grateful to all of you for responding and giving me wondeful suggestions.  I am sorting through the postings and tryinng to get my head around it so I can take the next steps in getting my Grace healthy.  I will answer the specifics some of you have suggested over the weekend.  Again -- thank you thank you and Grace thanks you -- woof

 

[Debbie and Thomas]

I have heard from several sources that there is only a one week course on nutrition in vet colleges.  I am not stating that this is true but you have to wonder.... I think most vets just rely on their experience with other patients when they diagnose these disorders.  That being the case  it is common for them to lump the symptoms into one diagnosis...like "it must be the food" and of course they prescribe the the "Hills" diet for whatever ailment your dog has.  Ours prescribed it for our doodle and he would not eat it so we used up the bag as treats when we walked him.  The only intelligent thing this vet told us at the time we were there(about the doodle biting his paws) was that dogs usually do not develop food allergies until after the age of two.