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Camper threw up last Sunday and again Friday night. In between, he had a couple instances of what Dh terms "juicy burps." His stools are generally normal, but there were a couple bouts that started normal then Whoosh! ended a little puddingy.
He eats raw -- a huge variety of meats. Normally, I buy his food at Costco and from other non-grocery store food sources. I had found a great deal on beef ribs at the grocery store, and he had some of those last weekend and on Monday. I figured that the combination of grocery store food and the fatty ribs probably was to blame. He had SIBO last year (summer-fall 2007) so I trim the larger pieces of fat off his food (including the most recent ribs). During the SIBO episode, we ran a bunch of tests, including TLI/cobalamin folate test, which came back perfectly normal. And he once had immediate regurgitation to grocery store meat (different store.) I presumed it was surface disinfectants or something like that and tend to stay away from stores as a result.
I don't know if he's vomiting or regurgitating this week. I just find piles of undigested food.
But even after I pulled the beef ribs out of his diet, he didn't improve. Worse, his normally voracious appetite dropped.
Throughout the week, he had been exercising at his usual high-octane rate and still working, happy, and normal.
My first concern -- partial obstruction of the intestines. Took him to the vet yesterday. We ran x rays and took blood for a full panel. Other than a largish gas bubble in small intestines (which the vet thought could be from stress?),the films look clean. (Blood tests and Radiologist's report won't be back til Monday though.) She said that the SIBO could be back, and if the bacteria are overgrown enough, they could grow high enough into large intestines and cause nausea & vomiting.
She rx'd ampicillin 30/days, which worked on the other bout of SIBO. I'm picking up the abx in a few minutes (the pharmacy has been backed up.) Also adding in probiotics.
BUT this morning, Camper has been depressed, quite clingy, lethargic even. He usually loves cooked meat and gets all talkative if he even thinks it's an option for him. But wouldn't voluntarily touch his boiled chicken. I could get him to eat a few bites, but he clearly was doing it to please me, not because he had any appetite. With lots of urging he drank a bit of chicken broth, but not much. So he appears to have gotten worse in the last 24 hours.
He ate about 1lb cooked chicken last night (and kept it down. At least, I haven't found any piles of it anywhere), but was at the vet's most of the day (and I fasted him ahead of time in case he needed sedation) so he hasn't pooped. But I don't know that he has enough in his system to move things along yet. He's urinating ok.
But something seems to have happened between eating happily last night and not being willing to eat today. His mood dropped too. He's definitely feeling worse.
So what's your diagnosis? Your ideas? Can SIBO bacteria migrate that high? So the abx would work? Or should we be looking at other potential causes as well? I'm watching carefully for dehydration. I don't know what else to do. I don't see any good reason to bring him into the critical care facility on a Sunday, but my Crazy Man is so sad. And I don't know what to do. Help?
He eats raw -- a huge variety of meats. Normally, I buy his food at Costco and from other non-grocery store food sources. I had found a great deal on beef ribs at the grocery store, and he had some of those last weekend and on Monday. I figured that the combination of grocery store food and the fatty ribs probably was to blame. He had SIBO last year (summer-fall 2007) so I trim the larger pieces of fat off his food (including the most recent ribs). During the SIBO episode, we ran a bunch of tests, including TLI/cobalamin folate test, which came back perfectly normal. And he once had immediate regurgitation to grocery store meat (different store.) I presumed it was surface disinfectants or something like that and tend to stay away from stores as a result.
I don't know if he's vomiting or regurgitating this week. I just find piles of undigested food.
But even after I pulled the beef ribs out of his diet, he didn't improve. Worse, his normally voracious appetite dropped.
Throughout the week, he had been exercising at his usual high-octane rate and still working, happy, and normal.
My first concern -- partial obstruction of the intestines. Took him to the vet yesterday. We ran x rays and took blood for a full panel. Other than a largish gas bubble in small intestines (which the vet thought could be from stress?),the films look clean. (Blood tests and Radiologist's report won't be back til Monday though.) She said that the SIBO could be back, and if the bacteria are overgrown enough, they could grow high enough into large intestines and cause nausea & vomiting.
She rx'd ampicillin 30/days, which worked on the other bout of SIBO. I'm picking up the abx in a few minutes (the pharmacy has been backed up.) Also adding in probiotics.
BUT this morning, Camper has been depressed, quite clingy, lethargic even. He usually loves cooked meat and gets all talkative if he even thinks it's an option for him. But wouldn't voluntarily touch his boiled chicken. I could get him to eat a few bites, but he clearly was doing it to please me, not because he had any appetite. With lots of urging he drank a bit of chicken broth, but not much. So he appears to have gotten worse in the last 24 hours.
He ate about 1lb cooked chicken last night (and kept it down. At least, I haven't found any piles of it anywhere), but was at the vet's most of the day (and I fasted him ahead of time in case he needed sedation) so he hasn't pooped. But I don't know that he has enough in his system to move things along yet. He's urinating ok.
But something seems to have happened between eating happily last night and not being willing to eat today. His mood dropped too. He's definitely feeling worse.
So what's your diagnosis? Your ideas? Can SIBO bacteria migrate that high? So the abx would work? Or should we be looking at other potential causes as well? I'm watching carefully for dehydration. I don't know what else to do. I don't see any good reason to bring him into the critical care facility on a Sunday, but my Crazy Man is so sad. And I don't know what to do. Help?
