need advice for tummy troubles

[The Poop Group]

Duke has now had a second pretty sick episode in maybe 6 weeks and starting to think it maybe a food issue - Last Thursday he only pooped once in the morning and didn't go for the rest of the day. Friday morning he had a huge, pudding poop, and then our dog walker came mid day Friday to find that he had thrown up in his crate.  She let him out and he proceeded to throw up several times in the living room.  He had been acting totally normal prior to this incident.  He doesn't eat things around the house, and is not a big eater of his food in general, but since he had been sick a month or so before this we took him in to the vet again Friday night.  They checked him out, he was in no pain, did an X-ray and determined that he had a large gas bubble in his intestine.  Vet was pretty certain there was no blockage and it was just gas.  Gave him a shot, sent him home with Metronidazole, and put him on chicken & rice diet.  He hasn't pooped since Friday morning.  Over the weekend he got 3-4 smaller meals of chicken and rice and the medicine twice a day with a little bit of peanut butter.  On they way home from the vet Friday, he let out a lot of gas in the car, and burped several times over the weekend, which he has been doing on a pretty regular basis lately.  He doesn't eat his food fast, when he eats, so I don't think that is the issue.

I am concerned that the medicine is just treating his diarrhea symptom but not the problem.  Stool test came back negative on Saturday for any parasites.  I am concerned that he hasn't pooped since he has been on the medicine, and won't until we stop giving to him, but not sure when to stop it.  Vet said if it comes back, they would do another x ray to see if the gas bubble moved, and think about doing an exploratory procedure.  Obviously want to avoid this.

He is on blue buffalo wilderness bison right now, and previously he was on BB Freedom chicken for puppies.  He typically gets a spoonful of LF plain yogurt on top.   Planning to meet with a nutritionist a pet nutrition center near me sometime this week.  

To provide more background  his first episode 6 weeks or so ago - I had come home after work to find him covered in poop in his crate and crying.  Went right outside and had more diarrhea   Gave him a bath and then he proceeded to throw up several times while I was holding him in my arms.  We are pretty sure he had eaten some of the poop which made him sicker.  This was later in the evening so we took him to the emergency clinic after speaking to our vet on the phone, and they checked him out, gave him a shot, gave him fluids, and sent him home with meds.  Determined it was probably a bug.  That time, he also didn't poop until we stopped the medicine.  After we stopped, he returned to normal stool within a few days, and has been totally fine until this occurrence. 

Any suggestions welcome!!  Should I re-post t his in the food group as well?  Thank you

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Do you know what kind of medication was in the shots they have given him? Can you find out? 

You are right in that the metronidazole is merely treating the symptoms and not addressing the underlying cause of the GI issues. It's also extremely important that a dog be given a good probiotic any time he is on metro, and for a period of time afterwards. A spoonful of yogurt isn't enough to replenish the good bacteria in the gut which is being destroyed by the metro along with the bad bacteria, and which is necessary for proper digestion and stool formation. 

You could try giving him generic Pepcid or Zantac for the gas issue. 

I don't think this is solely a food issue. Meeting with a nutritionist is a good idea, but you need to be sure that the person has educational credentials. The other issue is that if there is a medical issue, i.e. a GI disease such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, food won't help that unless you know exactly what kind of abnormal cells are present in the GI lining, and the only way to know that is to do biopsies via endoscopy or colonoscopy, or through exploratory surgery. 

It's not unusual for there to be little to no stool when a dog is on a chciken & rice diet. There's not much bulk or fiber there. You could try substituting baked mashed sweet potatoes for the rice, or just adding some pumpkin or sweet potato to the chicken & rice meals for fiber. 

The fact that he is burping and there has been vomiting in addition to the diarrhea does point to an intestinal disease like IBD as opposed to a parasite or food issue. 

Do you hear loud stomach rumbling after he drinks water? 

[Judy Ingram - Oliver & Cooper]

I agree, he must have an intestinal problem. What scares me is bloat. He doesn't foam when he throws up does he? Is your vet used to large breed dogs that do suffer from bloat? You can also use Kaopectate for loose stools.

Good luck!

Judy & Oliver

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Duke's symptoms don't sound compatible with bloat to me, and bloat is usually an acute rather than an ongoing issue; but some GI diseases can predispose a dog to bloat.