Shae is our 10-month-old German Shepherd puppy. After we got her, we quickly realized that she was unable to keep puppy food (kibble) down for more than 3-5 minutes after eating.
At her first vet appointment, we brought it up to our veterinarian that she was having a really hard time eating. The vet recommended that we try a wet food and that if she was able to keep that down, then we could start mixing in the dry puppy food we had purchased (Blue Buffalo chicken and rice puppy blend). On the way home, we stopped at PetSmart and got the same food in the wet. For one day, she didn't throw up. The next day at breakfast she threw up her entire wet meal and it looked like a gross pudding paste, almost the same color as her food before it went down. We tried giving her the meal in smaller increments (spoon feeding) hoping that this would giver her stomach time to ingest what's happening. Still threw up. Back to the vet.
This time, the vet told us to switch from the chicken & rice and try the meaty bits kibble thinking she may just have an intolerance to that flavor. This actually worked for a considerable amount of time in relieving her symptoms but eventually, she started vomiting it up again. The vet told us to just keep doing what we were doing and eventually she would grow out of it. So we kept making her vomit by only feeding her for months and months until we decided to consult a different vet and see what they think (the previous vet is very well respected but still it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion).
This leads us into her most recent vet visit. Shae was vomiting a white liquid and had no appetite at all. Vet 2.0 educated us on a couple of possibilities that an X-ray could confirm. Megaesophagus is really the only one that I can remember at the moment, but the important thing is that she did an X-ray on Shae and determined that she was fine. The next step was to run a GI panel to see if she has any GI issues that an X-ray couldn't determine. In the meantime, while waiting for the results of the GI panel, she wanted Shae to be put on a "bland diet." She gave us an ID digestive care (wet+dry) that (yet again) seemed to work for a few meals but quickly turned back. A couple of days later the vet called and said the Shae has a vitamin B-12 deficiency and that we would need to supplement it, most likely for the rest of her life.
For the last two weeks we have been giving her injections and feeding Shae her special food but nothing has changed. The vet did mention that it could take a couple of weeks to a couple of months for things to change, but I am just trying to prepare for more of the same outcome.
Everything we've tried so far (that I can remember and not in any particular order):
Any thoughts would greatly be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
At her first vet appointment, we brought it up to our veterinarian that she was having a really hard time eating. The vet recommended that we try a wet food and that if she was able to keep that down, then we could start mixing in the dry puppy food we had purchased (Blue Buffalo chicken and rice puppy blend). On the way home, we stopped at PetSmart and got the same food in the wet. For one day, she didn't throw up. The next day at breakfast she threw up her entire wet meal and it looked like a gross pudding paste, almost the same color as her food before it went down. We tried giving her the meal in smaller increments (spoon feeding) hoping that this would giver her stomach time to ingest what's happening. Still threw up. Back to the vet.
This time, the vet told us to switch from the chicken & rice and try the meaty bits kibble thinking she may just have an intolerance to that flavor. This actually worked for a considerable amount of time in relieving her symptoms but eventually, she started vomiting it up again. The vet told us to just keep doing what we were doing and eventually she would grow out of it. So we kept making her vomit by only feeding her for months and months until we decided to consult a different vet and see what they think (the previous vet is very well respected but still it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion).
This leads us into her most recent vet visit. Shae was vomiting a white liquid and had no appetite at all. Vet 2.0 educated us on a couple of possibilities that an X-ray could confirm. Megaesophagus is really the only one that I can remember at the moment, but the important thing is that she did an X-ray on Shae and determined that she was fine. The next step was to run a GI panel to see if she has any GI issues that an X-ray couldn't determine. In the meantime, while waiting for the results of the GI panel, she wanted Shae to be put on a "bland diet." She gave us an ID digestive care (wet+dry) that (yet again) seemed to work for a few meals but quickly turned back. A couple of days later the vet called and said the Shae has a vitamin B-12 deficiency and that we would need to supplement it, most likely for the rest of her life.
For the last two weeks we have been giving her injections and feeding Shae her special food but nothing has changed. The vet did mention that it could take a couple of weeks to a couple of months for things to change, but I am just trying to prepare for more of the same outcome.
Everything we've tried so far (that I can remember and not in any particular order):
- Wet
- Wet + Dry
- Dry
- Dry + water
- Spoonfeeding wet
- Sprinkle some kibble on the floor so she can only eat a few pieces at a time
- ONE piece of kibble at a time (why I never purchased a Kong Wobbler as I don't believe it will make a difference)
- Digestive care diet with wet + dry
Any thoughts would greatly be appreciated. Thanks for reading.