Second bout of diarrhea in two months

[Bambi]

Sorry this is going to be a long one - I want to give you all the whole back story.

Since day one with Odin his belly has never been right. He had diarrhea as a puppy, had a bout at the Emergency Vet from vomiting and diarrhea at 12 weeks old - diagnosed as gastritis. As a result of that we had him on a bland diet of chicken and rice, when his soft poop wouldn't firm up we cut out the chicken and did beef and rice which made a big difference. So he came to us on Costco puppy food, switched him to Fromms Puppy, and ultimately switched him to Fromms Beef Fritatta (all doing a slow food transition). He had another bout of diarrhea/soft poop so we decided to try him on Fromms Lamb and Lentil and he has done really well on this for quite a while now (he will be 1 on June 25).

About 1 month and a half ago in the middle of the night we woke up to him heaving, he vomited on our bed (undigested kibble), we could tell he immediately needed to poop so let him get down and poop on the floor (there was no way he was making it downstairs and outside) really large, really stinky, gassy diarrhea. The next night he woke up again and had to urgently poop. We put him on a bland diet right away, took him to the vet who prescribed some probiotic tablets and told us to bring in a stool sample if it didn't resolve itself in a week. His poop firmed back up and all was good (note during this time he still ate and drank normally, was never lethargic and was his normal self besides when he woke up those two nights). I forgot to add I had fed him some pineapple while we were in bed (I'm 8 months pregnant and had a craving - he also had pineapple when he was 12 weeks and we had to go to the Emergency Vet - and we thought this was a link)

Now last weekend he had really smelly gas that smelled just like the diarrhea he had before, so we knew he was going to have it. Started him on a bland diet a couple days later, added some pure pumpkin and his poop started to look better, even though it is still somewhat mucousy (we let him have banana as a treat, but not a lot mostly to get him into his pen before leaving for work - he has had banana since he was a puppy so we were confident he didn't have any issues with this). Sunday night he woke up at 2am heaving, we put him on the floor and he vomited frothy, mucousy, bile about 3 times in a row, my boyfriend got him some lemon juice because it seemed like he couldn't clear it from his mouth/throat. He takes a little drink of water but seems fine and comes back to bed and sleeps until morning no problem. Note this night we had our fan on but didn't have the bedroom windows open as we had been, so when he woke us up it was hot in the room.

Note - he was covered in hives this day - but we figured it was from outside - either grass or maybe a bug bite, gave him some benadryl and he was better. It is super pollen-y here lately and this is his first spring so we thought that's what it was.

Last night, same thing - around 2am he wakes us up because he is restless and then starts heaving, only vomits once but my boyfriend gives him lemon juice right away and that seems to stop it. We open the windows and he sleeps fine through the rest of the night.

Today we take a stool sample into the vet, who says there are no parasite eggs (we were convinced he had Giardia), and suggest we put him on Royal Canin bland diet, since it is "more balanced" - I know this is pushed a lot by vets and not the best kind of food but we opt to try it out at least for a little bit to get his poop back to normal. Vet also asks if he eats a lot of grass because she saw a lot of fibre in his poop, Odin will constantly eat grass/plants you have to drag him away if he gets his mind set on eating it and will then try and chomp blades as he runs.

My questions:

1. Does this sound like food allergy? Our vet seems to think so.
2. He is a toy destroyer, but we are diligent about taking them away as soon as he does, he is in his pen during the day while we are at work so we would notice immediately if he ate something - however he will constantly lick up fuzz/dust/hair/anything he can get his mouth on. So an obstruction is low on my list of causes.
3. Do you think the most recent vomiting could have been from the room being too hot? The first time a month or so ago we could obviously tell his stomach was upset, he vomited and immediately had diarrhea. This time we were a week into a bland diet already and his poop is firming up, so it seems like it may not be related.

I just feel so bad for him if he isn't feeling well, especially since he can't tell me what is wrong.

Sorry for the length but I wanted to be as complete as possible.

Thanks

 

[Bambi]

And Odin just threw up his first meal of Royal Canin - my boyfriend is calling the vet now

 

[TyTysmom]

And Odin just threw up his first meal of Royal Canin - my boyfriend is calling the vet now

Have you had his pallete checked? Also do you feed him bowl on floor? If so, I would try feeding him with the bowl elevated. Put it on top of something, or buy an elevated bowl. Also try a slow feeder bowl if he's known for inhaling his food.
Royal Canin isn't the best food I'd try the above & see if he keeps it down. Is your vet familiar w bullies?


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[Bambi]

We do use an elevated food and water bowl, we have a slow feed bowl
but haven't been using it lately. This vet is not our usual vet since we have moved, but is the same vet our breeder uses for everyday issues - we wouldn't use them for surgery etc. but still familiar with the breed.

I I haven't specifically asked about his pallete - our normal vet is very used to
bulldogs, did his cherry eye and neuter surgery and I guyess just assumed would tell us if he suspected anything amiss. That still doesn't explain the vomiting and diarrhea though would it?

 

[TyTysmom]

The vomiting yes - could be pallete related. I would get him back to eating elevated for sure. I would elevate - feed ONLY his food - no extras, no fruit, no veggies nothing, just kibble, add a little water to moisten it up too & see how he does. The diarrhea could be a result of too many things in one day or the amount you are feeding. How much do you feed? And how much does he weigh?

I'd get with your regular vet & ask for them to check his pallete if the above doesn't help. And lastly if still no improvement - X-rays to check for any foreign objects in stomach.


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[2BullyMama]

[MENTION=11942]Bambi[/MENTION] -- this sounds so much like my first Bulldog -- Nitschke. All the same stuff, and we finally did allergy testing when he was two years old and turned out he was allergic to rice. Not saying that is the case with your boy, but it is sounding like a food allergy of some type.
[MENTION=9370]brutus77[/MENTION] and [MENTION=8859]Marine91[/MENTION] had very similar issues and they switched to The Honest Kitchen food and it worked out very well for them both.

 

[Bambi]

Thanks @2BullyMama we were thinking about doing a food switch - we might try raw.

thankfully he did not vomit again last night, but did have diarrhea this morning which is expected since the vet had us switch him cold turkey to the Royal Canin. I'm going to look into Honest Kitchen too and see if I can get it around here.

Edited to add - just a quick search of their website and Honest Kitchen is available at a store about 20 minutes away, we will be seriously be considering this food now.

 

[pattonsmom]

Sorry you're having troubles. I've had MANY issues with my bully since we got him a year and a half ago. Random question but do you live in a house or a community? We currently live in a townhouse community and the management company loves to treat our lawns and not tell the residents nor put up signs. Every time they treat the lawn Patton vomits and has diarrhea for a few days, it's awful. (Thankfully we are moving on this Saturday to a house so that will never happen again).

I've also been through a food trial with mine and turns out he wasn't allergic to foods, (he's allergic to just about everything else tho!). We've been feeding him raw for many months now and he's been so good! I highly recommend the raw route. Just my opinion!

 

[Bambi]

Thanks, we live in a subdivision so everyone is responsible for their own grass, we did reseed our lawn and fertilize this year but kept him off it for a couple weeks since he is like a cow when it comes to eating grass, but the thought has definitely crossed our minds.

i think we are going to try Honest Kitchen (we have to order it in through our local store) but we keep coming back to raw as well, this just seems like it would be a little more convenient since we live 2 hours from my family and 7 hours from my BFs family and a dehydrated/dry food would travel better.

 

[Bambi]

I wanted to update you all too we stopped the Royal Canin after one day, and have him back on his Fromms - his poop is now close to normal and we will give him a little while and then start a slow food transition.

 

[2BullyMama]

Thanks, we live in a subdivision so everyone is responsible for their own grass, we did reseed our lawn and fertilize this year but kept him off it for a couple weeks since he is like a cow when it comes to eating grass, but the thought has definitely crossed our minds.

i think we are going to try Honest Kitchen (we have to order it in through our local store) but we keep coming back to raw as well, this just seems like it would be a little more convenient since we live 2 hours from my family and 7 hours from my BFs family and a dehydrated/dry food would travel better.

BEST of luck -- please keep us posted on how the little fella is doing

I wanted to update you all too we stopped the Royal Canin after one day, and have him back on his Fromms - his poop is now close to normal and we will give him a little while and then start a slow food transition.