GI Troubles

[Andrew Altman]

Our almost 2-year-old Rosie has never missed the opportunity to eat in her life until a few weeks ago when she began to throw up about an hour after she would have her dinner. Based on the sound advice I have received from this group we have fed Wellness Core Original her whole life with absolutely no troubles. She began to shy away from her food and when she would eat she would ultimately throw it up again, and follow that with a loose stool. After a vet visit and determining that there was no blockage but more of just a GI infection we were sent home with some antibiotics and Royal Canin gastrointestinal canned food, which I know to be canned junk. Ten or more days passed and she was back to her Wellness and doing fine when she began to throw up again but more sporadically. The vet (who I realize does not have a nutritional background)  said to begin feeding the Royal Canin again. Are there any other alternatives to this or does anyone suggest probiotics or some other solution? What is so strange about this is it seemed like this started at the flip of a switch. We now have to be extremely careful on which treats to give her and absolutely no human food whatsoever. Rosie's sister eats from the same bag of Wellness and is not sensitive to any treats or food. Not really sure what steps to take next but I do appreciate the sound advice of everyone here. Thank you for your time. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are only 3 companies that make food with hydrolyzed protein, (only 3 that make Rx food at all) and Royal Canin seems to have the best quality control & ingredients of the 3. That's about it, and it isn't saying much. The other options are Purina HA or Hill's z/d. 

[Andrew Altman]

Is there something else you would recommend we try? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The fact that your vet wants to try a hydrolyzed protein means that he/she believes that Rosie's GI issues are due to food allergies. While this is extremely unlikely, it is possible. When food allergies are suspected, you need to put the dog on a food that doesn't contain any animal proteins that they have ever eaten in the past, or on a hydrolyzed protein food, where the protein molecules have been altered so that they are unrecognizable to the body's immune system. Hydrolyzed foods are all Rx, and there are only the three options I mentioned above. If you know for a fact that there are one or more proteins that Rosie has never eaten ( including treats), such as rabbit, kangaroo, or possibly even something less exotic like pork or mackerel, we can find an LID food that only contains that one "novel" protein.