Food and vomiting

[Debbie and Belle]

Belle is just over 6 months and has been on the grain free acana regionals (she's had the lamb and duck, and the beef) and had been doing well with no diarrhea. Lately she has occasionally vomited whole pieces of food many many hours after eating. This happened on 2 isolated occasions. Saturday she vomited 3 times throughout the day and once in the middle of the night ( 2 times whole pieces and 2 times not). I took her to the vet today and they did an X-ray and saw a lot in her stomach when it should've been empty. The vet is not sure if she's having trouble digesting the food or if there is another issue. She is scheduled for a ultrasound and barium test tomorrow. Has anyone had any similar experience? I'm very worried about her.

[KLN]

Debbie, how is belle doing?

[Debbie and Belle]

She has been doing well since she's been home. I've been giving her 5 small meals throughout the day and evening, and I don't think she's vomited (I guess I can't know for certain when im not home since if I don't pick it back up she eats it). I'm hoping to have results from the GI panel early next week. Thank you so much for asking! It's really nice to have this support.

[KLN]

Thanks so much Debbie for the update! I think it sounds like it's going in a good direction. Keep us posted! She may just not be able to eat large meals and/or chicken. If it persists and everything comes back normal, let us know. But I think that because she's eating that's a good sign. Good luck!

[Debbie and Belle]

Thank you for you support!

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Hi Debbie..I am just reading your post now.. I am so sorry to hear what you and Belle are going through.  I hope the GI panel will point you in the right direction.  I will keep my fingers crossed for good results!  Wishing you both the best.

[Debbie and Belle]

The doctor called me today and the blood work was normal. Most of the last several days of 5 small meals a day Belle did well. Yesterday, she did too much running around with the kids after one of the meals and she threw up later. One of the meals she still seemed hungry and so I gave her more food and she threw up later too. I think I need to keep the meals small and keep her calm after eating (which can be hard with a puppy). The vet said I should bring her in to get weighed in 1 to 2 weeks (she hadn't been growing the last few weeks) to make sure she doesn't lose any weight.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad the bloodwork was normal. Did the vet say what the next steps should be to determine what's going on? 

[Debbie and Belle]

The vet said to keep a journal about what, when and how much she eats and whether there is any vomiting and if so what time. To try to keep her calm after meals. For now just the Acana and no treats. I will bring her in for weight checks to see how her weight does. Depending on how she is doing, they will see if anything further needs to be done. To me it seems early if she stops growing already- she is a mini and is 6 1/2 months old. She used to grow so fast. She is about 16 1/2 lbs, but both her parents were in their mid 20's.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

One thing that's important is the difference between vomiting and regurgitating. Vomiting is usually accompanied by retching noises and sometimes rhythmic movements, as if the dog is trying to bring something up, and what comes up doesn't look exactly like what went in. With regurgitating, there is very little sound or movement; when JD was going through it, I wouldn't even know anything had happened until I saw what was was on the rug, and the food is clearly undigested, looking very much like it did when he ate it. I would note that in the journal along with the other info. 

[Debbie and Belle]

Thank you so much for all your help and advice! I really appreciate it.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Belle is most likely close to full grown.  The smaller dogs reach maturity at a much younger age.  Ned, who is 27 pounds, was full grown at 8 months, but his growth slowed way down after 6 or 7.

[Debbie and Belle]

How much did Ned grow between 6 months and 8 months? The Christmas picture of your dogs is very cute!