Help Needed! Unexplained vomiting, nausea and loss of appetite

Tinalou

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Hi All:

I'm new to the forums, just posted and intro but I'm looking for some suggestions.

Bodhi last Monday started throwing up, the first time was this brownish liquid with undigested pieces of his food. I was hoping it was a one time deal but over the next few days he did the yellow foaming which I am assuming was bile. I was worried but I'm thinking Bodhi has always been a little odd, but Wednesday night and Thursday am he didn't want to eat. Also diahrrea had started. So off to vet we went.

He spent Thursday and Friday there, they ran labs (perfect) checked his stool (nothing obvious) but my vet kept talking to me about if he had eaten something toxic like a plant. He has absolutely no access to plants so I said no. He has previously had an obstruction so I was thinking maybe that was going on. He had an ultrasound Friday, they said everything looked perfect. So next they did some x rays of his esophagus and lungs. A radiologist also looked at these. He was a little inflamed but nothing like pneumonia was identified. (He did have pneumonia in March but they thought if anything maybe early onset again). My vet said if he started coughing over the weekend to contact her and we would get antibiotics started again. No coughing or anything this weekend.

So clearly i'm a little stumped. He did have the start of some ear infections, which he has never had, and they cleaned those out. His other medical condition is spinal issues, his vertabrae are 'crunched together' I think butterflied is a term I've heard but I'm not all that familiar with it. This was diagnosed in March, they tried tramadol but it didn't help so my vet recommended Rimadyl. He's been on that for a little over two months. He also has gabapentin prn.

I've read that Rimadyl side affects can be vomiting, diahrrea and nausea. In addition he has been a little 'mopey' and lethargic. Not himself at all. So I'm thinking maybe this is affecting him?
It's the only thing i can put together and is the only change he has had recently. So I'm planning on calling the vet tomorrow to discuss this, because her thought was maybe he has Addisons but to be honest that has been discussed since he was 15 weeks old but he has none of the obvious symptoms of it. She also brought up IBS but this is not regular for him at all.

So this is my long rambling help request. He's only nearly 18 months old and i'm worried with the side effects of Rimadyl as well as the many reports of death to dogs on this medicine.
 

Texas Carol

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Could he have ingested a toy or a sock, etc?
Many times will not show up in x-rays but
should on ultrasound. Will keep Bodhi in
prayers for correct & speedy dx

Such a handsome boy!
 
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Tinalou

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Could he have ingested a toy or a sock, etc?
Many times will not show up in x-rays but
should on ultrasound. Will keep Bodhi in
prayers for correct & speedy dx

Such a handsome boy!


The ultrasound was negative. No items there that aren't supposed to be present. They said everything looked perfect. I was sure he was obstructed again but that was ruled out.
 

Cbrugs

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What are you currently feeding him?


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Lalaloopsie

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Rimadyl is an NSAID, It’s INN is carprofen, which means it is extremely irritating for his stomach and intestines. Basically, NSAIDs can even cause ulcers in gastrointestinal tract, and as Bodhi is already taking it for 2 months, I wouldn’t look for other reasons. Brown vomit you describe is most probably partly digested blood which is soaking from inflamed walls of his stomach. Acid turns blood into brown.
Discontinue Rimadyl immediately, and give him for a couple of weeks instead human omeprazole (OTC, can buy in Walmart). This is medicine to block acid production in stomach and lets stomach to heal.
Also, may be think about changing a vet. Doesn’t look too sharp. She should think about this and 1st discontinue this med 2nd after blood work perform gastroesophagoduodenoscopy ( look with thin probe with camera into his stomach and duodenum.
There are newer NSAIDS, which are not so aggressive to stomach (nimesulid, celecoxib, meloxicam). If it is absolutely necessary to administer this type of meds, go for newer ones. Always give NSAIDS with or after food, never on empty stomach.
Hope your baby will heal soon!
 

Dollys Owner

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Rimadyl is an NSAID, It’s INN is carprofen, which means it is extremely irritating for his stomach and intestines. Basically, NSAIDs can even cause ulcers in gastrointestinal tract, and as Bodhi is already taking it for 2 months, I wouldn’t look for other reasons. Brown vomit you describe is most probably partly digested blood which is soaking from inflamed walls of his stomach. Acid turns blood into brown.
Discontinue Rimadyl immediately, and give him for a couple of weeks instead human omeprazole (OTC, can buy in Walmart). This is medicine to block acid production in stomach and lets stomach to heal.
Also, may be think about changing a vet. Doesn’t look too sharp. She should think about this and 1st discontinue this med 2nd after blood work perform gastroesophagoduodenoscopy ( look with thin probe with camera into his stomach and duodenum.
There are newer NSAIDS, which are not so aggressive to stomach (nimesulid, celecoxib, meloxicam). If it is absolutely necessary to administer this type of meds, go for newer ones. Always give NSAIDS with or after food, never on empty stomach.
Hope your baby will heal soon!

Agree with all above, but I think that galliprant is the newest class of anti inflammatory so would be better than the three you mentioned. Also, if the dog has an ulcer, and needs omeprazole, then 20mg a day for 4-8 weeks would do the job. I would avoid raw dog food while on omeprazole just to be safe, since pH of stomach will be higher and less likely to kill any pathogenic bacterial.
 

ddnene

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I hope that your boy heals us soon... keep us posted!!!
 
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Tinalou

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Thanks for all the replies. When Bodhi was started on Rimadyl, he was in so much pain that all he did is pace, moan and groan. Perhaps this wasn't the best medicine (and I was not aware of all the side effects which I should have checked into at that time) but at that time my focus was getting him out of pain. He had tried Tramadol and that was ineffective.
I stopped the Rimadyl last night before posting. I had read the side affects and felt it was the reason for what happened this week but wanted a second opinion. Or third, fourth and fifth too.
He already takes Omeprazole daily as well as Nuvet vitamins. He has been on Acana all his life since I got him but recently I changed him to Honest Kitchen and he is doing really well on that. He is also taking Sulcrafate since he came home from the vet on Friday.
His blood work on Thursday was negative, as were everything else. I am pretty upset that they did not consider the Rimadyl as a reason for this and stop it since he's been on it such a short time but that's a conversation I will be having with them.

Again thank you for all the replies.

Tina
 

Dollys Owner

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Did you see the price for galliprant here in US? It’s just insane. 200 usd.

Didn't know that :)
Maybe some herbal remedies might be good for the pain, such as turmeric,ginger,movoflex.
Also CBD ( cannabadiol ) seems to be becoming popular. Wonder if that would help for the pain?

Good idea to use Honest Kitchen, it's dehydrated raw, so any pathogenic bacteria will be eliminated. I wouldn't be as confident with frozen raw or freeze dried raw dog food.
 

Dollys Owner

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Also, laser therapy is great for pain too [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION]
 
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Tinalou

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Also, laser therapy is great for pain too [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION]


I ordered liquid glucosamine and I’m sure I have tumeric and ginger laying around.

I will definitely try those and also check into laser therapy.
 

Cbrugs

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You can also try acupuncture. Jax, my Frenchie, gets monthly (sometimes more) acupuncture to help with his spine issues as well as laser therapy.
 

2BullyMama

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I ordered liquid glucosamine and I’m sure I have tumeric and ginger laying around.

I will definitely try those and also check into laser therapy.

Definitely laser... my girl Banks had the fused vertebrae also known as butterfly vertebrae and the gabapentin with the laser treatment did wonders for her. She had lots of pain and would sleep a lot before we started laser sessions then once we started the laser sessions she got her puppy back at the age of sx




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