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Question

My 8 year old 7 pound Chihuahua vomits a yellow foam nearly every day and sometimes twice a day. This has been happening for a year and three vets cannot help so far. Any suggestions?

Submitted: 666 days and 17 hours ago.
Category: Pet
Value: $9
Status: CLOSED
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Optional Information

Optional Information:
Age: 8; Male; Breed: chihuahua

Already Tried:
feeding more often, changed to raw food diet, complete ultrasound

Posted by Theresa 666 days and 17 hours ago.

Info Request

What time of day is it that he usually vomits?

How often is he being fed?

What type of food does he eat now?

Has your vet ever tried medications?

Theresa

Theresa39592.3947448264

666 days and 17 hours ago.

Reply

She vomits early a.m. (3:00-5:00) and late afternoon (3:00-4:00), but this is variable. Today she has already vomited at 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. and it's only 10:15 a.m.

We have tried feeding her 3 times a day and 4 times a day, but it doesn't make a difference. We recently switched her to a raw food diet which also doesn't make a difference. (We usually sear the meat on the outside.) She also eats Nature's Abundance dry dog food mixed in. Our latest vet, a holistic practitioner, has her on cardiac and enteric supplements as well.

She does have a heart murmur but we have thus far tried to avoid medication as our on-line research showed that it was far from a sure thing.

She recently had an echocardiogram which showed evidence of mitral valve endocardiosis and an abdominal ultrasound that showed an enlarged adrenal gland, but stated that it is "likely unrelated to the vomiting." Blood tests were normal except for a slightly elevated liver value.

This frequent vomiting can't be good and we are at our wit's end to figure it out. Thanks for your help.

Accepted Answer

I understand what your vet is trying to treat and by spreading out the meals this should help but if the first and second meals aren't early enough or late enough then it is all for not. Some dogs develop a sick tummy the longer they go without food. Her time span is limited here more than others so what she may benefit from at least for a short trial is an antacid. If you are up for it I would like for you to try 1/4 pepcid twice daily. Once in the AM and once in the PM for three days then you can decrease this to 1/4 pepcid once daily in the early evening. When we increase the number of meals we are trying to avoid the build up of acids in the stomach when the stomach is empty which leads to nausea and then vomiting of bile. With the pepcid we are just going to neutralize the acids and avoid all the work of figuring out timing.

Are you willing to give this a try?

Also, you mention an enlarged adrenal I would suggest having an ACTH stim test performed to rule out Cushing's disease as this can affect the liver and even cause stomach upset because there is an overproduction of Cortisol. If you haven't had this test performed I would consider it. It may be a longshot so early in the game but based on some of her symptoms I would have it done.

Please let me know what you think.

Theresa

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Expert: Theresa
Pos. Feedback: 100.0 %
Accepts: 1069
Answered: 5/24/2008

The Voice for Your Pet

Veterinary Technician for 15 years

666 days and 16 hours ago.

Reply

Reply to Theresa's Post: What you suggest makes a great deal of sense and I am surely willing to try it, beginning today. Thanks so much for your help. Susan Bullard

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