Sensitive Stomach?

[LucNesbitt]

After a late night visit to the ER last night and several hundred dollars later, it seems Moab has a sensitive stomach / GI tract. Earlier this month, we had to take him to the vet because he started vomitting up his food for no reason. He did this twice in the span of a week (we feed Innova btw). Last night, he started vomitting up blood after not eating all day. Its not abnormal for him to not eat his breakfast till the afternoon but when he refused some of his favorite human food, I knew something wasn't quite right. A few hours later, the bloody vomit started. That's when we headed to the ER.

So, here's my question. All his bloodwork is current and normal. Xrays didn't show anything. The only diagnosis was sensitive stomach, which our vet tech and fellow boxer owner said is common in the breed. Has anyone else experienced this with their dogs?

The vet is recommending putting him on Science Diet ID, a prescription dog food specifically for dogs with digestive troubles. I'd like any advice on what other foods we might try or if there's anything else we can do to help ease his tummy troubles, both short term and long term.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Have you considered homecooking? That may be a good option. I've had great luck with the Natural Balance limited ingredient diets for my sensitive tummy (colitis)/allergy dog and I also add in a probiotic and apple cider vinegar, both of which have helped.

For now I'd do a bland diet of chicken and rice for 1-2 weeks to give your pup's digestive tract time to settle down, then choose a food and switch over gradually to see what happens. Unfortunately what works for one may not work for another. I'd choose a limited ingredient diet though which may help, Natural Balance, California Natural, Wellness also has a LID availabe.

Good luck!

 

[CSMARTIN]

My boxer has food allergies and I found that a wheat/grain free food worked well for him. I have him on the Canidae ALS Wheat free. Wellness also has a food called Wellness Core which I have read good reviews about. Good luck.

 

[BoxerMom999]

Please be careful with Canidae. There are a number of posts regarding problems encountered when they modified the formula. We had fed it to Maggie for more than a year and she was fine. When the formula was changed she had problems and accidents inside the house - which had never happened even when she was a 7 week old puppy.

 

[LucNesbitt]

Well, Moab's back from the vet after getting his last round of IV fluid and keeping food down successfully. The vet was pretty insistent that we start him on Science Diet I/D immediately but we politely told them we had some food at the house we wanted to try instead first. We bought a bag of California Natural today since we've used it in the past when he had issues until his tummy was better. I figure we'll see how he does on it but the vet feels this is something we're just going to have to deal with periodically from now on. He's running around the backyard and house now like everything's fine so I'm happy to see him back to his normal self. We'll just start out with small portions of the food and see how he does the next few weeks.

What's nice, in an odd sort of way, is that I'm less than 2 weeks from my due date so I'll be home with him for the next 3 months to make sure we've got this under control.

 

[Gruntsmom]

Sending healing vibes to Moab. I hope he's better soon.

 

[flutterbunny]

Well, Moab's back from the vet after getting his last round of IV fluid and keeping food down successfully. The vet was pretty insistent that we start him on Science Diet I/D immediately but we politely told them we had some food at the house we wanted to try instead first. We bought a bag of California Natural today since we've used it in the past when he had issues until his tummy was better. I figure we'll see how he does on it but the vet feels this is something we're just going to have to deal with periodically from now on. He's running around the backyard and house now like everything's fine so I'm happy to see him back to his normal self. We'll just start out with small portions of the food and see how he does the next few weeks.

What's nice, in an odd sort of way, is that I'm less than 2 weeks from my due date so I'll be home with him for the next 3 months to make sure we've got this under control.

I'm having the same issue with my Marvin. Hes 1years old. I live at home with my Fokes so its hard to switch him from Science diet which i HATE. I want to put him on California Natural. The vet says Science diet so thats what my father pushes on him and wont try anything else. I have been searchin the web for pros and cons of both products. Please keep me updated on the California Naturals so i can show him. Thanks

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I'm having the same issue with my Marvin. Hes 1years old. I live at home with my Fokes so its hard to switch him from Science diet which i HATE. I want to put him on California Natural. The vet says Science diet so thats what my father pushes on him and wont try anything else. I have been searchin the web for pros and cons of both products. Please keep me updated on the California Naturals so i can show him. Thanks

On a pro for not listening to your vet on food. My boy was 8 months old went in with HORRIBLE uncontrollable blood diarrhea, he was diagnosed with colitis and the vet wanted to put him on Royal Canin RX some special gastro food. I looked at the ingredients and decided absolutely not. So I started trial and error. I put him on a bland diet for a week until his stomach settled down, then bought a bag of whatever, when his stool became loose again we ditched that went back to the chicken and rice and started all over. Eventually I found a couple of foods that have worked for him and we've been just fine eve since...and it's leaps and bounds healthier. Unfortunately there are no pros of Science Diet that I am aware of...an overpriced bag of corn IMO.

 

[flutterbunny]

Thank you. I think i'm going to go out and just pick up a small bag. The problem is that he is home with Marvin all day long and feeds him while we are at work. I buy it and he feeds him. I'm not sure if he will feed it to him. I spoke with his vet once and askd her what other kind she told me Pro Plan is good too. I got a small bag of that and marvin had it one day, and of course got the poopies bc its something new. He needs to adjust, but he had a fit and threw the bag out. Its alittle too pricey to be throwing out dog food. I dunno.

 

[LucNesbitt]

So far, Moab's been doing well with the California Natural. I've been feeding him small amounts every few hours to make sure he keeps it down and so far, so good. He seems to love it as well as far as the taste. I'm sure it'll take a few weeks or months of being on this food to determine if its working or not. Given we've had three rounds of vomitting in the last 4-5 weeks, as long as we go several weeks with no vomitting, I'll consider it a success.

Thankfully, he's feeling better overall though. His energy levels are coming back up, even though he's not able to play as long as is normal before tiring. But, given he hasn't had a lot of sleep in the last 2 days, I'm not surprised by that. I imagine after another good night's sleep, he'll be his normal self and back to having all that wonderful boxer energy!