Bulldog vomiting

My friend got a bulldog a couple months ago. She is 4 years old. When she got her from the breeder was was practically emaciated. She's gained maybe 10 pounds but she's still a bit too skinny.

My friend is having a hard time putting weight on her because she throws up -- ALL DAY. She's been to two different vets and neither one knows what's wrong.

She doesn't throw up bile -- she throws up her food and foam. The breeder told her she threw up every once in a while, now she's denying that she ever threw up at all. My friend has tried everything. At first she had her on EVO, but when the throwing up never ceased she tried just one protein source -- raw, using chicken. The raw didn't help so she put her back on kibble (first California Natural chicken, then lamb). She's used a TON of digestive enzymes with everything. She tried pepto bismal. She made the meals very small and spread them out throughout the day. She tried soaking the kibble in water. I recommended feeding her boiled chicken and white rice -- tried it to no avail.

She doesn't throw up right away -- she will usually throw up a half an hour after eating. Occasionally she won't until a few hours after eating, and the food is still completely undigested.

Nothing seems to be working. The vet is now recommending that she put her dog on a vegetarian kibble, as it will be "easier to digest" -- which goes against everything I've learned. I don't understand how soy and grains is going to be easy on her belly.

Does anyone know what condition this is, and what can be done to help?

I agree Wolfsoul- I do not see either how soy and grains would help. My suggestion would be either venison kibble formula or lamb. Another idea is fish source as fish digests faster and would end up in the lower instestine quicker. What I am seeing is that I am suspect of chicken fat. Hottie cant eat chicken fat either. The behavior sounds similar.
I am trying to think in a kibble variety a good lamb or venison with fish formula. There is a food name ' on the tip of my tongue' I can not remember. Has she tried Timberwolf? They have an excellent lamb formula and several other options.

She's already tried Califnornia Natural chicken and Lamb. I'll see if she will try another meat. I don't really think it has to do with her food -- I think it has to do with her digestive system. She throws up undigested food a half horu after she eats -- then she throws up more a few hours later, and again and again. My friend stopped feeding her small meals often to see what would happen and she went 6 hours without eating and still threw up undigested food (always in foam). She found another bulldog who does the exact same thing.

Okay, this is wierd, but it sounds very similar to what my food allergies sometimes do to me.

Can she try an "elimination" diet? Start, for example with just some hamburger and rice, a little bit, see how that goes ... if she throws up that, try lamb or venison (if it's available ...) In other words, try simple ingredients to see if you can find something that doesn't upset her stomach.

NO snacks or treats while this is going on, until you figure out safe ones.

Also, does she bolt her food? That can exacerbate a delicate tummy ...

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Originally Posted by wolfsoul

My friend got a bulldog a couple months ago. She is 4 years old. When she got her from the breeder was was practically emaciated. She's gained maybe 10 pounds but she's still a bit too skinny.

My friend is having a hard time putting weight on her because she throws up -- ALL DAY. She's been to two different vets and neither one knows what's wrong.

She doesn't throw up bile -- she throws up her food and foam. The breeder told her she threw up every once in a while, now she's denying that she ever threw up at all. My friend has tried everything. At first she had her on EVO, but when the throwing up never ceased she tried just one protein source -- raw, using chicken. The raw didn't help so she put her back on kibble (first California Natural chicken, then lamb). She's used a TON of digestive enzymes with everything. She tried pepto bismal. She made the meals very small and spread them out throughout the day. She tried soaking the kibble in water. I recommended feeding her boiled chicken and white rice -- tried it to no avail.

She doesn't throw up right away -- she will usually throw up a half an hour after eating. Occasionally she won't until a few hours after eating, and the food is still completely undigested.

Nothing seems to be working. The vet is now recommending that she put her dog on a vegetarian kibble, as it will be "easier to digest" -- which goes against everything I've learned. I don't understand how soy and grains is going to be easy on her belly.

Does anyone know what condition this is, and what can be done to help?

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It's probably the case anything you feed the dog in the current amounts given will result in the same. The first thing your friend should do is get a referral to a specialist, with the idea of scoping the dog for such things as congenital megaesophagus, pyloric stenosis, chronic gastritis , and other structural problems. Other possibilities include chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic insufficiency, other malabsorption problems due to enzymes insufficiencies, reflux disease, etc.

As a temporary work-around, have your friend pick one defined diet. Try the EVO or other low protein, low fat dry food. If the dog is being fed 2X daily try smaller portions with 4X daily. Or even very small amounts 6 times daily. Sometimes feeding much smaller amounts can help get it digested. Obviously work-arounds are not the same as finding the root cause of the problem. A second work-around which may or may not help is to get the local Vet ot prescribe metoclopromide. Probably a dose of 5 mg 2-3 times per day. It takes about 15 minutes to start working and speeds up the motility of the digestive tract. It's used as an anti-nausea drug, and for GERD. If the food is pushed thru fast enough, it can't come back up. The drug may or may not help, and probably would be a negative if there was a malabsorption problem per enzymes.

In summary your friend should get a referral. In the meantime try very small multiple meals of a low protein, low fat diet. Another thought for a temporary diet is the canned Hills A/D. Smells not the best (liver+rice), but they like it.

Thanks for the advice everyone. :)

I talked to her about it today and she said she tried the vegetarian stuff -- of course she mixed in in with her last food, but still had TERRIBLE results. She said there was massive projectile vomiting which she has never done before, and lots of diahrrea. I'm not surprised she didn't take to the vegetarian food, but still surprised that she has so many issues with the amount of digestive enzymes she's on -- she on enzymes for vegetable, meat, dairy, etc -- anything that she could possibly come across. No improvement.

She doesn't eat quicky because my friend puts a rock in the middle of her bowl so she is forced to eat slowly. The problem with going to a specialist is that my friend can't afford any more tests, nor can she afford to take the time off work to go see a specialist.

Forgot to mention that she also has raised bowls -- the one bit of advice the breeder gave her. :rolleyes: :mad:

I think I'd like to reccomend to her Natural Balance Duck and Potato. Duck, for some reason, appears to make dogs gain weight. Do you think duck would be easier for her to digest though? I know potatoes are highly digestible.

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Originally Posted by wolfsoul

Thanks for the advice everyone. :)

I talked to her about it today and she said she tried the vegetarian stuff -- of course she mixed in in with her last food, but still had TERRIBLE results. She said there was massive projectile vomiting which she has never done before, and lots of diahrrea. I'm not surprised she didn't take to the vegetarian food, but still surprised that she has so many issues with the amount of digestive enzymes she's on -- she on enzymes for vegetable, meat, dairy, etc -- anything that she could possibly come across. No improvement.

She doesn't eat quicky because my friend puts a rock in the middle of her bowl so she is forced to eat slowly. The problem with going to a specialist is that my friend can't afford any more tests, nor can she afford to take the time off work to go see a specialist.

Forgot to mention that she also has raised bowls -- the one bit of advice the breeder gave her. :rolleyes: :mad:

I think I'd like to reccomend to her Natural Balance Duck and Potato. Duck, for some reason, appears to make dogs gain weight. Do you think duck would be easier for her to digest though? I know potatoes are highly digestible.

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She can try the duck and potato, but the chances are very high that it will end up the same. The only work around is to go for 6 meals per day (e.g. if she feeds 1 cup per day then each feeding is 1/6 of a cup). See if the smaller amounts will stay down. Maybe get a neighbor to come by during the day to help feed? Also bang on the Vet for the metoclopromide. It's a relatively cheap drug. The approach to the Vet would be: Can it hurt to try it, considering the alternative is starvation? Given they don't know what's going on, one would think a Vet wouldn't object trying. The metoclopromide could increase the diarrhea, but might get the vomiting under control. Have another fecal check for Giardia. She should ask the Vet if Metronidazole might be appropriate. It knocks out Giardia and other protozoa, and is an anti-inflamatory drug for the intestinal lining. The anti-inflamatory properties would help if the dog really has something like IBD. Treat the symptoms and see if that helps.

As a side note, if anyone ever has a dog(s) (like I do) that occaisonally partake of left over wild life carion and proceed to get diarrhea the next day... then 36 hrs of Metronidazole plus Immonium A/D initially (not for Collies!!!) will do the trick of getting them back to normal.

I was thinking maybe megaesophagus as well. I knew a GSD with megaE (as I like to call it :p) and he showed many of the symptoms you mentioned. Food would basically come back up as soon as it went down. It honestly does not sound food related at all and I highly recommend just taking a few more specific tests to rule out any medical conditions. A few dollars now might save her a lot of misery and starvation in the future. Plus, many vets are in it for the welfare of the dog so they shouldn't object to payment plans.

It does sound a bit like megaesophagus, Sophie. Echo had developed it shortly before she had to be PTS and had all the symptoms as described here. However, she also couldn't drink and drooled a lot as nothing could go down...not sure if that is normal or not, but that's the only thing telling me that this Bulldog doesn't have it as there is no mention of the latter symptoms.

She could always try and change the food again, but I also don't think it is food related. I honestly don't know what it could be, but I hope everything gets figured out soon!