What to do with vomiting dog? Vets can’t find cause

[daughtersisterpartnermom]

My bf got a frenchie two weeks ago. Over the past five or so days the dog has been vomiting. After multiple vet visits there is no sign of the cause. They have tested his blood, stool and done X-rays. He’s on a chicken and rice diet for now but is still throwing up despite being fed in small incremental amounts. We have also made sure he doesn’t drink his water too fast. There is no blood in his vomit but the frequency is alarming.

The dog seems fine, happy and playful in between bouts of getting sick. He has occasionally seemed slightly lethargic but perks right up after throwing up.

Has anyone had a similar experience?? We are at a loss as to what to do and any help would mean the world.

Edit: Not sure how much this matters. He will get sick hours after eating even with nothing in his stomach.

Edit: Thank you for feedback regarding food and food transition. Please know that a slow transition wasn’t possible originally. Don’t want anyone to think bf was careless about anything to do with the little guy.

He was also fine with the new food (before chicken and rice) for over a week before he started getting sick.

There’s no sign of inflammation. Vets just keep giving him fluids and anti nausea meds.

Edit: Thank you everyone for the feedback! In the hopes that this isn’t a more serious problem it seems most likely to be a combo of food change, chicken and now his stomach is stuck in the cycle from irritation.

Will try og food, no chicken and talk to the doc about antacids. Then ultrasound and more specific blood tests if problem persists.

Seriously thank you so much!

 

[hemispheres]

@daughtersisterpartnermom Where did your bf get the dog from? Is he being fed the same food as he was prior to your bf getting him? How old is this dog?

 

[daughtersisterpartnermom]

@hemispheres He was a breeders family dog. So technically a rescue from a breeder? Idk

He’s not being fed the same food as the quality was poor. But the vet put him on chicken and rice for now. He’s around 5 months old.

 

[carterishere]

@daughtersisterpartnermom Generally you should switch food out pretty slowly to prevent stomach upset. It could be that you switched food too quickly and that your dog has a rice or chicken sensitivity.

 

[daughtersisterpartnermom]

@carterishere That’s what I was thinking but the vet didn’t say anything about it? Maybe if my bf starts over with the old food it would help?

 

[akhiunah]

@carterishere My mom's frenchies (they're sisters) are both allergic to poultry it was a really wild ride that ended up requiring surgery for one of them (intestine repair). When we finally realised it was the chicken and feathery similar... Mortified doesn't begin to cover it

 

[hemispheres]

@daughtersisterpartnermom When you changed his food, did you do a 7 to 10 day transition?

 

[daughtersisterpartnermom]

@hemispheres Unfortunately no. My bf wasn’t told what the old food was at first. Now we know it was something from iams

 

[hemispheres]

@daughtersisterpartnermom It was likely Iam's Puppy food. I'd go buy a small bag of it and start feeding that again, even if you think it's low quality. See if that helps the vomiting. If it does, then you can start a slow transition to new food.

Puppies digestive systems are very sensitive and it's not good to do a quick transition of food like that.

 

[teeshaaw]

@hemispheres Weird fact-

my dog was doing great on Iams when I SLOWLY switched her to some high end expensive farmers something or other. Never ending loose stools and vomit. Back to store bought Iams. Immediately doing great. Endless ads made me worried I wasn’t loving my dog enough so I attempted another by the book slow switch to the next expensive high quality dog food. Same thing. Back to Iams. I am not kidding when I tell you she is instantly fine again. I am done experimenting.

 

[hemispheres]

@teeshaaw 30 years ago, I was told what I was feeding my pets "wasn't good enough". While I successfully transitioned my dogs, my one cat wasn't having it. She wanted her Meow Mix. She lived to 19 years old and all she ever ate was Meow Mix.

 

[teeshaaw]

@hemispheres Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow meow

 

[ecclesiasticus]

@teeshaaw Makes sense, actually. Iams meets WSAVA guidelines, Farmers does not.

 

[uldello]

@teeshaaw Same with my dog. We used Fromm for our last dog, so we thought it would be good for our current dog. Nope. She had diarrhea on it and her coat was looking bad. Switched her to Purina and she is doing wonderfully on it.

 

[daughtersisterpartnermom]

@teeshaaw That’s really good to know. Thank you!

 

[teeshaaw]

@daughtersisterpartnermom I don’t know if it’s right but I can’t with the low quality of life when my babies are struggling. Normal bodily functions make my dog so much happier.

 

[born94]

@daughtersisterpartnermom You could do lean ground beef or lamb and rice too. Was she check for a blockage? An X-ray might tell you if she ate something she shouldn’t have.

 

[boystan]

@teeshaaw I did the exact same thing with the same results. Not ever going to buy anything but IAMS Small Breed dog food.

 

[marciblue1]

@daughtersisterpartnermom Iams is actually a good food, it's one of only 5 foods that are WSAVA compliant (the others being Purina, royal canin, hills science diet and eukanuba).

Have you tried food with a different protein than chicken; such as fish, lamb, kangaroo etc?

Chicken is a very common allergy in dogs, and Frenchies frequently have food allergies.

 

[liskev]

@daughtersisterpartnermom He’s not a rescue from a breeder. That’s not how that works. Unless, your bf didn’t pay for him.

The problem is that he likely has terrible genetics due to being a frenchie. Idk how people are still supporting frenchie breeders.