# Help, Food advice needed!



## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

Chloe has just thrown up for the sixth time since last Friday and I am not sure what to do next. I am sure this is related to a BIG mistake my husband and I made...switching her food suddenly. On Wednesday, we totally ran out of food for her and instead of driving to where we usually get it, my husband walked with her to a pet store near here and got a different kind of food. We were thinking of switching foods even before we ran out because she was less interested in it. (Just while I was writing that, she threw up again and EWW, ate most of it before I noticed ) Anyway, this food was not totally unknown to her because we have been using it as treats for a few months.

SO, my question is... What do we do now?? Switch back to the old food? Will THAT also upset her stomach since it will be sudden too? Do we buy the old food and try switching to the new one more gradually? (like we should have done originally). 

Could she possibly just be allergic/intolerant to this food even though it is more expensive and "rated higher" than the old one? (She was on Blue Buffalo puppy and we switched to Orijen puppy) Or will she adjust in time to the Orijen?She has always had a sensitive stomach. This is her third food, she was on IAMS smart puppy originally.

Thanks for any help!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

6 times! that is alot of throwing up, the cost of a food doesn't determine wether or not she could be allergic to it....it can just happen regardless....and switching a food fast usually only results in them not eating it....not them throwing up, I have heard Blue is a great food...I would switch back if she was fine with it before. and I would personally stop giving her the one she is on now all togehter. poor litte thing...so it is like she is throwing up once a day....also the amount of time she has been on the new food she would/should have normalized to it already.....she may be intolerant to it. but whenever I have a puking dog and it occurs more than once....I just give the vet a call to see what they think.


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## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

when you put it down to her did she wolf it down quickly instead of picking at it like with the old food? 


my Inca if she eats to quick or eats more than her tummy can handle she will bring the lot back up. 


how long after eating was she sick?


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

The throwing up seems to be almost immediate most times. She usually throws up twice in a short period of time BUT she doesn't throw up everytime she eats. She didn't throw up at all yesterday, so I was hopeful. I was wondering if her tummy was upset for other reasons too. She is definately teething (lost a tooth on Sunday and Monday) or maybe she ate something outside.

Kendal, she ate the food enthusiastically the first few times but not so much now. She ate this morning and was fine and I really didn't give her much food for lunch and she did eat it right away...and threw up twice within minutes.

In the past, she has thrown up if she ate too fast, especially if she drank at the same time, so that could be part of it, but this new food must just not agree with her 
I wish I could figure out what the actual problem is with the food, so I can avoid it in the future.

Yeah, Lady Amanda, I am definately leaning toward just switching her back to Blue, no matter how boring it is to her.

Thanks for answering


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## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

dogs arent normaly sick if their food doesnt agree with them its normaly runny poos. 

do you have any fist size rocks or pebles in the garden that you can put in her bowl to slow down her eating.


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

whenever lady has puked....first time...she had gotten a vacination and the vet thinks she might be allergic to it.
the second time...she fell off the couch and rolled...and then threw up...an odd thing

I did have a dog who developed many allergies...bees, grass, and his pet food....he would have both runny poos and vomit...untill we put him on a real meat diet. 

if it persists...I would reccomend taking your pup to the vet....great idea Kendal about the rock in the food!! that way she has to work her way around it to eat


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

I will definately take Chloe to the vet if she continues to throw up. I switched her back to Blue food today so if that is the end of the throwing up, I guess it was the Orijen causing the problems. I just wish I knew why. 

Kendal, she might possibly have had "runny poos" too but I am not sure because this all came at the same time as a warm spell here so it was all "mushier" than before. We are back to cold weather but I will keep an eye on it.

Not sure if I can find a big enough rock at this time of year but I noticed today at the pet store that you can get a ball to put in the bowl to try and slow them down or there are special bowls that supposedly do the same thing. 

I can't believe this is so complicated


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## Happyad (Oct 5, 2010)

Up until last month ( now seven months old ) we would get vomit on the evening meal. 
As odd as it may sound the more tired she was the more likely she was to throw up. 
So I dropped evening meal size a bit and stopped all play post dinner for 30 mins, she wants to play fetch after dinner.
Just need to stop it being a habit, encourage calm, smaller meal and it's stopped for us. 
Hope this helps
Adam


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

Kel, how's the puppy today?


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

lady amanda said:


> Kel, how's the puppy today?


I thought she was doing ok today because she has kept down her breakfast and lunch so far but my husband just phoned me. He forgot to tell me that this morning Chloe threw up twice after he gave her water. It was just water she threw up because that is all she had in her stomach. 

So we are still confused and keeping an eye on it 

Thanks for asking!


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

OH poor little one!!!


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## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

does she gulp down her watter like lots in one go very fast.? 

maybe try and slow her doew a little by only pussing a wee bit of watter in her bowl like a half a cup, if she want more put a little more in, same with her food, give her wee bits at a time like a small handfull of her food, leave it a couple of minutes then another repeat till she has had all off what she would normaly eat. 

or try giving her some ice cubes to crunch on. 


if she is still throughing up i would sugest the vet as she wont have anything in her system, and if she isnt even keeping water down thats not good. 

but try some other stuff first, you you can tell the vet you have tried different things and it may give them a better idea whats going on. 

let us knbow what happens.


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

Kendal, I think she IS a gulper. And usually I don't give her too much water or food at a time. My husband admitted to me that he probably gave her too much water this morning though. I just went and measured with a measuring cup how much I give her for water and it is about 1/4 of a cup, basically just filling the bottom of the bowl. I agree with you, I would prefer to keep refilling so she eats/drinks slower. I usually DO do that and I usually don't give water and food at the same time because this has led to issues in the past. Maybe we started getting lazy because she wasn't having any trouble for a while.

I also just went and compared her original food to the new one I tried. The original kibbles are about half the size even though they are both puppy food. Maybe that was the issue with the food, I don't know.

I am going to look around for new bowls for her that might help slow her down too.

She never threw up more than one meal a day, by the way. So I am not worried about dehydration or starvation, for sure. She is her "normal" self too, except for some major teething she is going through.

Anyway, thanks for the help and I will update


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## kendal (Jul 16, 2009)

thats ok them sorry i was starting to think she was keeping nothing down lol, sounds like you are on the ball. i know someone who has to watch her dog when she drinks because shee will drink for ever then through up, silly girl lol she is about 17 years old now so its a hard habit to brake and she was a rescue so who nows how long she has done it. 

delta was sick thismorning but it was because she got into the cat food, she has eaten it before and been fine but it was almost a full can this time.


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## Enneirda. (Mar 5, 2010)

To slow down her eating, add hot water to her food and give it thirty minutes or so to blimp up and get mushy to the point you can squish it with a spoon. Then the size of the food won't matter! And it's a lot cheaper then a new bowl.  My 'Lo is a gulper too, but I have never had her barf it up. 

Also, on the food issue, what is the main protein source? Dogs can be allergic to duck, beef, chicken, lamp ect just like humans. Though I do think if she was allergic you'd get red or inflamed skin, runny stools and things like that. Not pucking. It's odd lol.

Give her liquid peto for her stomach and sweet potato's boiled to harden her stools if there runny at all. 

Good luck.


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

She is an odd dog though, haha. If it isn't one thing with her, it's another!

And of course, I really don't know what "normal" is for a dog since I spent most of my life avoiding them  I am not sure how to tell if her skin is red/inflamed? And the only stool I picked up today was on her walk and I wouldn't say it was runny. It was solid enough to pick up though I was amazed at how fast it came out. I almost didn't realize it happened. Yuck, not the most pleasant conversation, haha.

I had to go pick up my daughter earlier today and while I was gone my son filled Chloe's water full, she drank some of it, and threw up twice AGAIN. He was not impressed with having to clean it up, so I am sure he learned his lesson there, haha.

Anyway, I am going to call the vet if she throws up even one more time because this is ridiculous. I will go back to adding water to her food, though I have never done it like you suggest, Enneirda. I just usually wet it a bit so it smells better to her. I should try your way at least once a day.

The food I switched back to has chicken as the only meat in the first 5 ingredients (Blue Buffalo brand) and the Orijen that she was on for those few days has chicken, fish and turkey all in the first 5 ingredients.


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## Georgiapeach (Feb 12, 2011)

Chicken and turkey are a problem for a lot of dogs. I'd try a limited ingredient food with fish for the protein source. Taste of the Wild makes one, and so does BB, if you want to stick with that brand. Core makes one, too, as does California Natural. 

Drinking/eating too fast may be a problem for your dog. I'd limit the amount of food/water available at one time, as has been suggested already.

Maybe a visit to your vet is in order at this point?


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## lady amanda (Nov 26, 2010)

I like Kendal was thinking she wasn't getting any food or water at all....glad she keeps something down...silly girl


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## Kel (Feb 1, 2011)

Just a quick update. Chloe seems fine now. She did throw up water one more time, Thursday morning, and I really considered calling the vet but I decided to wait the day out and nothing else happened.

I guess something about the Orijen just didn't sit right with her when we switched food so quickly. We are still giving it to her in her treat/reward container and no problem with that. Weird.

Anyway, thanks everyone for helping


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## Dylansmum (Oct 29, 2010)

Glad she's improving x


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