11 week Puppy trowing up fluid

[Renu & Theo]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here. I have 11 week old golden doodle "Theo". He is having hard time past few week with his tummy (trowing up, water mainly) Looking for some help from experts .

He was on Costco brand puppy food when I picked him at 8 weeks from breeders and we moved him to Taste of the wild salmon after that. 2nd day at home he started throwing up water/clear liquid mostly  (not sure if its bile fluid)  and 1 or   2 times threw up food too .

Vet suggested moving to rice and chicken with bit of cottage cheese. He did well and eventually and he stopped trowing up.Then we started him back on puppy food slowly along with chicken and rice . Last 2 days he is back on only puppy food and he started vomiting again :(

Could this be due to food? Vet took x-ray and Parvo test both came out normal.She is suggesting he might have esophagitis or mega-esophagus. No new clue what to do next . Anyone had this issue ?

Thanks in advance for the help and suggestion 

Renu

[Julie and Charlie]

When does he vomit? Right after drinking? After drinking a little or a lot? Does he vomit any food? Is it regurgitation where it just comes up, or does he retch (retch is such a weird term- does his belly flex in and out a few times, sometimes puppies make a thumping sounds when it happens)?

It doesn't look like bile to me- Charlie's tends to be foamy (sometimes) and distinctly yellow.

[Julie and Charlie]

Sorry, I just noticed you answered the food question. But the others still stand.

[Renu & Theo]

I felt like he trowing few min after water, i will  have to time it next time to be accurate.I am not giving water with food now a days, some time before or after and also moved to cubes of ices so that he don't gulp.

Only few time food came out , i did notice his tummy flexed bit before food or liquid came up. i am don't know how to differentiate between regurgitation and vomiting :(  Vet told me to take a video but never got enough time to grab the phone for video before that he would have finished.

Today morning 10 min after water he did kind of burping and and what ever came up in his mouth he swallowed it back. I feel terrible to see him go through this.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here is a good article about megaesophagus, which explains the difference between vomiting and regurgitating, with a video. http://www.marvistavet.com/html/megaesophagus.html

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am sorry to hear this. This looks like watery fluid but it could be any number of reasons why he is doing this. We have had dogs with megaesophagus and discussions about this on DK. This does not relate to what you are feeding. You and your vet have to keep working on this.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Renu, did you switch his food right away as soon as he came home from the breeder? In other words, has he only eaten TOTW since he has been with you? So you don't know if this would be happening if you had stayed with the food the breeder was feeding? And the vomiting started the 2nd day you had him? 

How many times per day do you feed him, and how much food does he get at each meal? 

What does he weigh? 

Is he getting any kind of treats, bully sticks, rawhide, etc? 

How is his stool?

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Sorry your wee one is experiencing this, it is very hard when our furbabies do not feel well.  I am glad the vet has ruled some scary situations out for you and that your vet was your first check in.  I know many of the questions have been similar but I too a wondering of a few additional details.  Is he throwing up more frequently on an empty stomach or a full one?  Is he eating his food quickly?  Does he often eat following a lot of play time? 

 

Chicken and rice has more moisture in it than kibble.  If he did not vomit at all while you had him on that diet I wonder if he is eating his kibble quickly and gulping water either before or after which will cause the kibble to enlarge and possibly have his tummy too full?  IF this is the case you could try a couple of things, feed him more often and smaller portions, soak kibble in water so it absorbs and enlarges before it goes in his tummy, reduce water intake while eating if he is gulping (I have a dog that will practically gulp a 5 quart bowl if I let her, way too much at once, so I give her water as often as she wants but may only fill it 1/4 full), do not offer food or large quantities of water immediately before or after heavy exercise, offer same amount of food but put it on a cookie sheet or larger area than his food bowl (we use glass pie plates) so they cannot so easily 'inhale' it - slows them down cause they have to often pick up a couple pieces of kibble at a time as opposed to coming up with a mouthful, etc... 

 

Just to clarify none of these suggestions are meant to replace information from your vet, they are merely from our own experiences. 

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Sorry I should have read further just noted you answered about the water in your reply this morning

[Renu & Theo]

Theo was on kirkland grain free puppy food at breeders and she gave some of it for transition when i got him. I mixed kirkland food with TOTW food when i brought him and in 5 days fully switched to new food.I am giving his 3/4 cup three times a day ( 7 am , 12 pm and 7pm).I have been soaking the kibbles in water for 30 min before giving to him.

He is not use dot much of treat, i have "" which i give half piece or so every 2 or 3 days . He like to chew a lot , all the toys he chews including stuffed toy and try to eat the thread or stuffing so i always watch him closely when he plays with it. Yesterday i did try bit of peanut butter on braided bully stick i have for him since he lost interest in it and wandering around the house to find something else to chew (tried to chew stones on fireplace too)

Breeder has an outside kennel and huge grass area for playing. When i got him he always want to go to the grass in our back yard and he keeps eating it grass.I don't know if the breeder would have noticed him throwing up since they were not watching closely so much.He was not playing with any toys but liked playing with dried leaves and twigs. Initially i thought the trowing up is due to that and we limited his access to backyard moved his poop spot to dirt area and watched him like a hawk when he outside.

He was 9.9 lb when i got him and a week ago when i last saw wet he was weighing 12.8 lb . While on rice and chicken ,he had round of antibiotic since he poop started  to be more soft with mucus and he was having hard time going. Now he stool is ok and he goes 3- 4 time a day solid consistent and dark brown in color.

He used to throw up 2 times or so but i have seem him making almost throw up and swallow back few more time in a day.

I meeting up with Vet again on Monday for his 2nd round of shots and discuss the issue again. After all this issue ,my husband was asking if we should change the vet also since i didn't feel the vet had much of doodle experience.

Usually for human kid issues lot of friend and family have advice and home remedies but for a puppy i feel i am so lost as none of them have dogs or puppy.Everything is new adventure and figuring out stuff as we go.I am so glad to find this forum with so many helpful friend with doodle experience !!!  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, I can tell you that the vomiting is probably not due to the food; I believe that this would be happening with any kibble. 

I think your husband may be right that you need a new vet. Did the current vet recommend any type of antacid (like Pepcid or Zantac), or anything for nausea? I'm disturbed by the fact that the vet thinks an 11 week old puppy might have a serious disease like megaesophagus and did not recommend further testing to confirm or rule that out, or even give you any advice on how to proceed, although I suppose we can be grateful that she didn't try to sell you Rx food.

As F said, this really sounds like a medical issue rather than a food issue, and I think you have to determine the cause of the vomiting before making diet changes. Hopefully the vet will have some advice tomorrow, but if not, I would consult a different vet. 

[Renu & Theo]

thx Karen, Vet did told me to buy 10 mg tablets famotidine (name brand is Pepcid, generic famotidine ) and give him 1/4 tablet each morning. Since he was on antibiotic i was holding off and more over not sure where to buy it from too.

As far as vet is concerned i am trying to figure out where else can i go.So far current vet has been really good in responding email or appt when he is having issues.  Looking for suggestion in my area from any doodle owners

[Julie and Charlie]

Did the vet tell you to hold off on the Pepcid while on the antibiotic? (Not sure why he was on an antibiotic- does he have another condition that you didn't mention?)

We found Pepcid or the equivalent at the drugstore, Wal Mart, Target, really any grocery store with even a small selection of over the counter medications will have it.