Help Needed! Remi Drama

[ModernFemme]

First of all, a huge thanks to @bulldogs4me who helped me around 2am on 11/11 when we woke up to Remi throwing up in his crate. We took him outside for his potty time, and he took a monster #2. (Unusual for both time and quantity) The whole time his stomach was making massive gurgling noises. We called the emergency vet... (thanks bull!!) And by that time Remi was asleep in his crate, his stomach settled, and the vet recommended if he was comfortable, to leave him be for now. Totally in love with all the questions they asked me and their honest recommendation.

Issue #1:

Remi has only pooped once since, and it was a small amount.

He doesn't seem uncomfortable yet. He's not straining or anything, he simply doesn't have to go. Today I plan on getting some pumpkin for his stool, and will try to feed him ice cubes. (Thanks @cowsmom & @Baconator)

Some factors:

• We are in the middle of switching his food. We've been taking our sweet times doing so because we had a ton of Diamond left over. We're going on 2 weeks, and we're currently at a 50/50 split moving towards Nature's Variety Instinct, Duck and Turkey. It's possible I moved from .15 cup to .5 and it was too quick. I'm really eye measuring here since I'm just using a measuring cup and he needs .8 cups every feedling.
• He has been playing really hard at the parks with dogs and running around and generally having a good time. I had to make him stop a few times to make sure he was good/not over heated.
• He drank a ton of water at the park on 11/11 and puked up white foam because of it.
• He puked a couple of times after that, I thought he was just worked up.
• He hasn't puked since last night. We did take him on one 15 minute walk yesterday around the block; he didn't poop.

Issue #2:

----> Then to top it all off, last night, I let him on the couch for for the first time in like ever. He usually can't handle it, but since we've been curbing his late night crazy eyes, he is more docile and actually lays down and chews on toys. Well, I noticed fresh blood was being smeared on the blanket. I'm literally having a panic attack. Me and my husband try to examine Remi all over. We check his feet, his mouth, every inch of his body, and he is still smearing blood on the blanket. What the hell?!?!?!

Then it happened. my husband removed Remi's collar, and it revealed massive irritation beneath his neck. The skin was so irritated it was bleeding. I was horrified!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bath this dog once a week, even get his neck area, how could I not see this?! His collar actually hangs a little loose on him!! It was totally hidden in this fold I didn't even know existed!

Luckily the irritation/wound did not smell, so I didn't think it wasn't infected. I cleaned it really well with Duoxo and then applied Desitin to give him some relief. After a few hours, the area looked totally white again, but we did apply a crap-ton of Desitin, so we'll see how the wound looks today.

My fear? This is all related to the food or another condition. As you can imagine, I'm sitting here a nervous wreck, but trying to give his body amble time to take care of itself before I pull a super mother intervention.

Anyone been through this? I'll take all the help I can get!

-----------------------------------

UPDATE: It's a thanksgiving miracle! haha. Remi took a normal sized pooh this morning (just now) He took a little longer than usual, so I'm definitely going to get that pumpkin, but everything seems to be back in order. Will monitor closely. [MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION]

 

[cowsmom]

ok im conflicted about you still feeding this food. nvi has been known to cause either diarrhea or like you said not going at all. also could be cause nvi is very high protein and low carb and your dog will not go as much on this food. sarah went like once a day and it was small poop hardly anything. the throwing up and the irritation concern me. if a food does not agree with a dog they will throw up and is the irritation a hot spot? i would not up the nvi any more than it is leave it at 50/50 and if this continues i would back off the nvi and put more diamond in and see if he gets better or if he is still throwing up i would either take the nvi out altogether and just feed the diamond or use the bland diet and see if he gets better then back on the diamond till you can straighten him out and then try again with another food.

 

[ModernFemme]

ok im conflicted about you still feeding this food. nvi has been known to cause either diarrhea or like you said not going at all. also could be cause nvi is very high protein and low carb and your dog will not go as much on this food. sarah went like once a day and it was small poop hardly anything. the throwing up and the irritation concern me. if a food does not agree with a dog they will throw up and is the irritation a hot spot? i would not up the nvi any more than it is leave it at 50/50 and if this continues i would back off the nvi and put more diamond in and see if he gets better or if he is still throwing up i would either take the nvi out altogether and just feed the diamond or use the bland diet and see if he gets better then back on the diamond till you can straighten him out and then try again with another food.

No idea if the 2 are even related. It may have been a wrinkle I've been neglecting during his daily grooming, irritation from the collar, etc. We walk him in a harness, but he does wear the collar 24/7 sans baths and drying time. I will keep Remi on the 50/50 for at least another week before proceeding, and that's assuming he normalizes or doesn't get worse. If he gets worse on 70/30, then we know we have to switch to another food. I'm heart broken because I really wanted it to work out.

Do you think it's a possible allergy to poultry? The NVI is rotatable, so I could try lamb or something as well.

 

[cowsmom]

No idea if the 2 are even related. It may have been a wrinkle I've been neglecting during his daily grooming, irritation from the collar, etc. We walk him in a harness, but he does wear the collar 24/7 sans baths and drying time. I will keep Remi on the 50/50 for at least another week before proceeding, and that's assuming he normalizes or doesn't get worse. If he gets worse on 70/30, then we know we have to switch to another food. I'm heart broken because I really wanted it to work out.

Do you think it's a possible allergy to poultry? The NVI is rotatable, so I could try lamb or something as well.

well could be but i would think the chicken would make them have diarrhea but alot of bullies dont do well on chicken. also i want to say that the nvi rabbit is gotten from china just in case you were thinking of that one or care about that sort of thing. you could also try one of the limited ingredient ones and see if he does well on that then go to one of the other ones. its lower protein and stuff and not as many ingredients and may help him adjust to going from diamond to this food which is almost like raw. id concentrate on one thing at a time. see if this one works out then if not we will come up with something else.

 

[ModernFemme]

well could be but i would think the chicken would make them have diarrhea but alot of bullies dont do well on chicken. also i want to say that the nvi rabbit is gotten from china just in case you were thinking of that one or care about that sort of thing. you could also try one of the limited ingredient ones and see if he does well on that then go to one of the other ones. its lower protein and stuff and not as many ingredients and may help him adjust to going from diamond to this food which is almost like raw. id concentrate on one thing at a time. see if this one works out then if not we will come up with something else.

China? Are they for real? Yeah, as an ex vegetarian, there is no way I'm doing that. LOL!!!! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Dee J]

Awe poor Remi I had a collar issue last week. It wasn't bleeding, but I took Brutus' collar off and noticed a really red/pink area. I washed it off with his wipes and it was irritated and pink. We have been leaving his collar off and treating it with neosporin, and it seems to be working. I'm not much help on the food part (I'm new to all of the better foods available), but I hope your baby starts feeling better pronto!

 

[Baconator]

Yea I would keep an eye on him and make sure you are getting regular out of him. It doesn't sound like he has a blockage like Bacon had, but the issues with Bacon started off the same way, we woke up to puking and gagging. As far as the collar goes, I would just keep it off. Bacon never wears one in the house for fear that he will get hung up on something and choke. Good Luck!!!!

 

[ModernFemme]

Yea I would keep an eye on him and make sure you are getting regular out of him. It doesn't sound like he has a blockage like Bacon had, but the issues with Bacon started off the same way, we woke up to puking and gagging. As far as the collar goes, I would just keep it off. Bacon never wears one in the house for fear that he will get hung up on something and choke. Good Luck!!!!

We don't have a fenced in yard, so we take him out with the leash. The harness at least is leaving his throat area clear, so hopefully that wound can heal up quickly. Definitely starting to take all that stuff off at night.

 

[ModernFemme]

UPDATE: 2 Healthy poops today. His eyes are still pretty watery. Tomorrow moving him to 75 new / 25 old. If we do this transition, and after a month he still has watery eyes, will move him to either lamb or beef, away from poultry.

 

[2BullyMama]

UPDATE: 2 Healthy poops today. His eyes are still pretty watery. Tomorrow moving him to 75 new / 25 old. If we do this transition, and after a month he still has watery eyes, will move him to either lamb or beef, away from poultry.

GREAT... he is progressing well.

 

[ModernFemme]

GREAT... he is progressing well.

Make that 3 poops! His usual amount.

 

[Heff102]

Our 1st visit to the vet with Lulu she had her collar on. He told us to not leave it on all the time just when we take her for a walk etc. He explained that on bulldogs the fur is generallt every thin on the necks until they get older. he said leaving the collar on will irritate the skin etc.

 

[bulldogs4me]

I'm so glad I could be there to talk with you and help as much as I could ... I'm glad that Remi is going normally now that's a big relief! Hopefully the food will work itself out as well but I know you are getting excellent help from cowsmom on that! Hang in there things are going to get better I just know they will!

 

[ModernFemme]

Our 1st visit to the vet with Lulu she had her collar on. He told us to not leave it on all the time just when we take her for a walk etc. He explained that on bulldogs the fur is generallt every thin on the necks until they get older. he said leaving the collar on will irritate the skin etc.

AUGH! It makes total sense. As a puppy it can just be really hard taking him out 10+ times a day, and having to put his collar on in the middle of a pee accident and rush him out the door is just impossible. He's getting to the age though that I think we might be able to swing it.

 

[ModernFemme]

Tomorrow is Remi's last day on 25 old food, 75 new food. I feel like I'm rushing this stage a bit, but I'm almost totally out of the old food. I think I took too long on the 75 old / 25 new phase. However, his poop schedule is totally back to normal, so I will proceed with going to 100% food in the next day or two. WISH ME LUCK. He's been in transition for at least 2 weeks, it's now or never.