[Karin]

Heidi has thrown up several times in the last couple of days--usually in the mornings and at night. Her stomach really gurgles as well (right before throwing up). This morning, she threw up, but we didn't see anything (maybe she ate it?) Then, she ate a bunch of grass. Now, her stomach is gurgling up a storm and she keeps coming up to me and staring at me. She's laying down now and doesn't seem too disturbed, but her stomach is rumbling pretty loudly and continuously. Her bowel movements seem to be pretty normal.

Is there anything I can do for her? Anything I should watch out for?

 

[bearlasmom]

hi karin
have you taken heidi in to the vet yet? if not, i would suggest it. bearla and another dog on this forum named cooper, both have symptoms of bloat and are under the care of vets. a few other dogs have had these types of issues as well. it could be lack of grass this winter because winter held on soo long but who knows. is heidis belly extended at all or feel hard? do you have any gasx or beano in the house? if so, gie heidi some and take her to the vet. when she throughs up is it bile, foamy? does she eat from a elevated bowl? having lost a wolf cross to bloat/torsion a few years ago myself and seeing how fast they can go down hill, i would not take a chance. a few tests can tell you exactly what it is and how to treat it.
sending prayers and best wishes your way

 

[Karin]

I just called the vet and we're going down there right now. She started heaving and nothing came out, so that really worried me. Thanks for the reply.

 

[ToFree24]

bearlasmom,

Does your dog eat grass? My vet said he doesn't want my dog to eat grass, now I am confused, is eating grass a good thing?


Karin, I hope your dog is alright, please let us know how she is, fingers crossed.

 

[DrDoom]

Bear seems to be gassy lately, and he definitely throws up foamy sometimes (once or twice in the last month), but ALL of these things happen AFTER he eats grass. I too would like to knwo:
Is grass a good thing, or bad? Because from what I've observed it seems bad.
Our vet said as long as his stomach isn't hard and he's not gassy all the time (about once a week) that its not bloat, which seemed a little...off. Should I ask her to take a second look, or even get a second opinion?

 

[Karin]

Well, we just got back from the vet and they couldn't find anything wrong with her after doing the usual checks (temp, gums, feeling her abdomen, etc). The vet gave her two shots for the nausea and vomiting (Cerenia and Famotidine), and also some Famotidine tablets to take for a week. She said not to feed Heidi until tomorrow morning but let her have water when she wants it (which she hasn't yet).

The vet said that bloat is rare in young dogs like her and that on her skinny frame, it would be easy to see the swelling. She said to call to come in if she isn't better in a couple of days.

So, now Heidi is laying on her pad. She seems really tired and listless like she just wants to sleep. I'm really worried about her, but I'm hoping she'll be OK.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Did Heidi drink any saltwater at the beach? My dogs often drink a bit of Bay water when they swim, but not usually enough to cause a problem. I remember once that Cassidy gulped down a bunch before I could stop her, and then puked it all up again later.

 

[Karin]

No, she didn't drink any saltwater. In fact, she ran away like a little baby when the ocean foam from a wave started to touch her feet!

We do have painters at our house right now and they've been here for about a week working on the house. But she's been with me inside the house most of the time and when I let her out, I keep a pretty close eye on her so I really don't think she's gotten into anything.

 

[arycrest]

Originally Posted By: DrDoom...
Our vet said as long as his stomach isn't hard and he's not gassy all the time (about once a week) that its not bloat, which seemed a little...off. Should I ask her to take a second look, or even get a second opinion?

With all due respect to your vet, IMHO s/he is wrong. There are no rules about bloat. Kelly never had gas problems, yet one day he woke up with a rumbly tummy, vomited some water in the morning, and the rumbling kept getting louder and louder and louder during the day. Finally he vomited white foam which is my que to take a dog to the vet. He didn't exhibit any bloat symptoms yet he had bloat w/torsion. He survived the surgery and is laying next to me as I type this.

Echo had bloat with all the classic symptoms including the white foam vomiting - in fact he looked like he'd swallowed a beach ball. He survived the surgery.

JR had no symptoms except for vomiting white foam. On the way to the vets he started crying and I "think" that must have been when his stomach twisted. I was shocked when the vet brought the x-rays in and showed me his twisted stomach since he showed no true symptoms of bloat. He survived the surgery.

I've never thought that grazing did any harm to dogs. The Hooligans do it all the time. But if they have an upset tummy they will sometimes graze and then vomit.

 

[bearlasmom]

ive always been told by vets that grazing is okay because it means that something is bothering their bellies and the grass helps get it out.
i agree that i would get a second opinion though. a dog heaving and throwing up white foam is never a good sign i dont care how young they are. torsion and bloat can attack any dog, it does not recongize age. Gayle im glad all your babies are doing okay. its scarey as all get out when they get sick like this.

 

[Karin]

That is really scary to hear about Kelly, Echo, and JR. That's awful that you had to go through that with three different dogs. How old were they when they at the time?

Heidi is doing quite a bit better now. I let her outside and she was trotting around the perimeter doing her usual squirrel check. I only let her out for a little while though and now she's back inside resting. The gurgling has finally subsided and she doesn't seem like she's in any discomfort.

The vet said not to feed her until tomorrow morning. We didn't feed her this morning, so she's going to be really hungry by then!

By the way, Gayle, did your dogs have a normal appetite when they went through this? How about their bowel movements?

 

[arycrest]

Originally Posted By: KarinThat is really scary to hear about Kelly, Echo, and JR. That's awful that you had to go through that with three different dogs. How old were they when they at the time?
...
By the way, Gayle, did your dogs have a normal appetite when they went through this? How about their bowel movements?

First I'm glad that Heidi is feeling better. Please keep us updated on how she's doing!!!

If I recall correctly, Echo was about 9 years 6 months old. JR was around 9 years 10 months old. Kelly was 9 years 10 months old. That's strange, they were all around the same age. I never thought about that before.

After they had the bloat and surgery, they all resumed normal eating habits (JR was a picky eater for his first 12 years until I started feeding a raw diet then he became a BIG PIG who never got enough to eat).

Kelly was diagnosed with SIBO about 4 months after his bloat surgery (I can't recall when he started having the hemorrhagic diarrhea, but it took a while to diagnose the problem). A lady who does a lot with GSD health issues feels the SIBO probably caused him to bloat. The other two guys didn't have a problem with their bowel movements after the surgery!

 

[bearlasmom]

wow gayle and i thought i had health issues with poor bearla my goodness girl, you are a super momma. i dont know how you have survived it. lol

 

[arycrest]

Originally Posted By: bearlasmomwow gayle and i thought i had health issues with poor bearla my goodness girl, you are a super momma. i dont know how you have survived it. lol

I've always said the Hooligans have an angel on their shoulder. I just feel terrible having had so many Hooligans bloat, I'd love to know what I've been doing wrong.

 

[bearlasmom]

i dont think you are doing anything wrong gayle. im beginning to think that they will get it no matter what we do. all we can do is hope and pray that it doesnt happen. i dont think it matters what we are doing anymore or how we are doing it. maybe you had all these precious angels in your life. maybe you were chosen to give them the love and compassion that they needed. its not easy taking care of a dog with health issues of any type but your hooligans needed a special momma and it looks like they found it in you

 

[Karin]

Well, Heidi still isn't feeling very good. The vet told us we could feed her this morning and I gave her 1 cup of dry food, which she didn't finish. She's still very listless and lethargic, but seems better than yesterday morning. Her stomach is gurgling a little bit.

What concerns me is that she doesn't seem to want to drink any water. I keep offering it to her and she turns her head. She's only had a couple of laps yesterday and maybe one lap today so far.

 

[BowWowMeow]

Have you given her gas-x? Have you tried mixing water and chicken broth? Did the vet advise to continue with kibble? When my dogs have upset tummies I switch them over to homemade food (brown rice, sweet potatoes and chicken). Adding a little nonfat yoghurt can help coat her tummy.

 

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Time to go back to the vet or go to a new vet. If she's not drinking she will not want to eat. To me not eating (or drinking-even more so) is an emergency. When was her temperature last taken? Okay-see that! How about x-rays? Good luck-poor Heidi. It's so hard!

 

[Karin]

I'm going to go out and get some broth, brown rice, and chicken. I'm not sure about the sweet potatoes and yogurt, but it's worth a try! Thanks for the advice!

The vet said that she could eat dry kibble again this morning and I gave her a cup, but she only ate about half of it.

 

[Karin]

Thanks for the reply, Jean. I just got her to drink a little water by being sneaky about it. I finished my oatmeal and gave her the little bit of milk on the bottom, and then kept adding water to it and she lapped up quite a bit of it!

I should hear back from the vet today about her blood tests and hopefully, I'll learn more. In the meantime, I think I'll take Ruth's advice and try to entice her with better-tasting food.