sick chocolate lab

[KIMMCCLURE]

I hope there is someone out there who can help me. I have a 2 yr old choc.lab who has been sick on and off since January. It started out with him waking up btwn 2 and 5 am vomiting bile.Afterwards his stomach would just gurggle and churn and he wouldnt eat for hours.When he did eat he was verrrrry gassy!! This went on for a few weeks every couple of days or so- the Veterinarian prescribed him something to settle his stomach, that really didnt work. We ended up getting xrays, blood work for IBD and check diff levels in his blood all of which was negative/normal,with the exception of gas in his intestinal tract and an antibiotic was given. Here we are still with the same problems- even tried Zantac- he didnt throw up the bile for almost a week.. But he has such SMELLY gas and is eating grass alot and throwng up. He will eat any foreign object he can find which does attribute to some of the vomiting... We switched food from Purina Pro Plan to Eukanuba (dry...) He is steady gaining weight he is 93 lbs... His coat is beautiful and he is hapy for the most part... until he gets sick and then he is up pacing and wining unil he goes outside to relieve himself. He has had two tarry stools in the last month but for he most part he has solid stool. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do next???

[Tucker'sMom]

I think maybe another trip to the Veterinarian or a different Veterinarian. Tarry stools is not a good sign...

[latergatorj]

Repost your question on to this site- there's a Veterinarian and Veterinarian assistant on it.
Health Forum For Dogs And Cats - Message Board - ezboard.com

Sorry i can't help more than that- I hope you find some answers.

[mojosmama]

I don't know if this helps but it is a thought....
My chocolate lab did the same thing and it was driving me crazy. She was eating one meal a day at the time. I thought that all the tummy noise must be excessive digestive juices....thinking she might be hungry. I split her food back into 2 meals to see if it would help and it did. After doing some reading, I found out that some labs tend to bolt their food and can cause gas to form by doing this....sort of like colic in horses. I know all about colic and know it AIN'T GOOD.
Go through the yard and remove ANY foreign objects that can be ingested.
If the tummy is full and not upset the grass eating in general should stop.

At any rate, I also told the family to stop feeding her ANY thing that was not either her dog food or approved by me 8-)

If you try this, you MUST check her/his stool frequently to look for changes. Horse people are used to doing this but not all dog people do.

I did this 2 1/2 years ago and we haven't had any trouble since.

This is only my experience so I always recommend speaking to a Veterinarian.

[latergatorj]

please let us know- what you learn and what ends up happening so that if someone else has the same experience, they can learn from yours. :-) Thanks!

[KIMMCCLURE]

What a rough couple of weeks it has been!!! Riley ended up with an emergency Veterinarian visit after he had ALL BLOODY stool... They took stool samples and sent away for LOTS of tests... He was put on Metronidazole 500mg 2 tablets twice a day- Zantac every day 1 pill twice a day- hypo allergenic dog food and he has been PERFECT!!!! Sleeping through the night- NO VOMIT... He is like a different dog- no gas,no pacing,no vomiting,etc...still grass grazing BUT its not making him sick! So far all tests have come back negative- some still pending.. He is till on the antibiotic,zantac and special food...will keep you posted- THank you!

[Tucker'sMom]

W eappreciate the update, and I am sure I speak for everyone when I say I am glad he is doing better! Good luck!