- Joined
- Feb 15, 2021
- Messages
- 45
Pet's name: ChewChew
Age: About 10 years old
Sex: Male
Neutering status: Neutered
Breed: probably Tibetan Terrier
Approximate weight: 27 lbs
BEAM: calm but playful, moderate to high energy, great appetite, happy
Diet: He's been on a raw diet (mostly prey model) not long after we adopted him almost 9 years ago. Before his GI symptoms started, he got a chicken feet (or duck head if available) for lunch and main meal for dinner; 2 capsules of fish oil daily (1 at lunch, 1 at dinner); egg some days; vegetable and fruit sometimes (mostly whole, not blended though).
Vaccination history: Not sure about his vaccination history before he was found on the street. I'm pretty sure the rescue group that we adopted him from vaccinated him before adoption. He has not been vaccinated since. We don't use flea or tick treatments.
Primary problem:
Around beginning of January, he had 1st episode diarrhea and vomiting. He started with diarrhea. We gave him some bone soup then he thew up the soup. The next morning he threw up some foam with a few specks of blood. His BEAM during this time was still good.
Night of Jan. 16 during his walk, he ate a lot of grass then he threw up all of his dinner (lamb). The next few days he had diarrhea and was lethargic and didn't want to move much. He saw our local vet on Jan 19. Because of covid protocols and the vet being overwhelmed, he had to be dropped off in the morning and wait till whenever the vet was available. He ended up being there for 9 hours. After he got back, his BEAM was terrible. Sometimes he would eat; sometimes he would refuse food. We took him out for short walks a few time. He walked with a hunched back a little and seemed to walk a little disoriented. He stopped refusing food (got his appetite back) and acting more like himself (more energy) on Jan 22.
At this time we weren't sure what food to give him. We read that to give bland food like chicken. However, we always thought he might be allergic to chicken. He started with chicken when going raw but got very itchy (it also could have been the sodium content). We thought maybe pork would be the next best bland food to give. We started giving him an egg in the morning, chicken feet at lunch, pork for dinner. We stopped giving him the fish oil capsules because we wanted to wait till his poop gets better.
Night of Feb 12, he ate a lot of grass again. Around midnight, he threw up the undigested part of his dinner. The night of Feb 13, he threw up his the undigested part of dinner again. On Feb 14, he kept having to go poop. In the afternoon, he threw up some large bubbles and there was one little speck of blood . During this time, his energy was a little lower but didn't seem as lethargic or in discomfort as last time.
Diagnostic work: When the vet saw ChewChwe on Jan 19, he seemed to think Chew Chew was healthy. He gave ChewChew an injection of cerenia and prescribed metronidazole. He suggested stool test to check for parasite and senior profile blood and urine test. I included the reports in the post.
Other health concerns/past health issues:
1. A couple month after we adopted him, he jumped while playing and was limping for a couple of days. The vet took an X-ray and said he has hip dysplasia.
2. He used to make this sound like he was choking (reverse coughing?). It got worse to the point that it was happening multiple times daily. We think it was small pieces of food (kibble) getting lodged in the throat. It mostly went away after we started feeding him raw (prey model mostly). It only happens once in a while now.
3. He used to have really bad ear infection (smelly black gunk) constantly. It went away when he was around 3 years old.
4. We felt a small lump on his chest around 2 or 3 years ago. The vet thought it was probably benign and it's too small to poke and do biopsy.
5. Around 2 years ago we felt a little bump on the right side of his head. We requested a biopsy. The vet poked it and liquid came out, so it was a cyst.
6. Around 2 years ago, he broke one of his canine teeth. We don't how how he broke it.
7. He has seasonal/environmental allergy (gets itchy).
After his most recent vomiting/diarrhea problem, we feel lost about what and how to feed him to restore and support his health. We were about to find chicken breast with low sodium content (50 mg/ 4oz). We fasted him for a day then started feeding him tiny portions of chicken breasts for like 10 times a day. Over the last few days we gradually increased from 0.3 oz portions to 0.9 oz portions. For the last few days, his energy was at times lower (not sure if it's because of hunger or if he has any discomfort), but the overall BEAM is good.
Ever since joining HA! and reading the fundamentals, we have been trying to focus on increasing his happiness meter by walking him a little longer, giving him massages, and playing with him more.
We don't really know where to go from here. How big of a portion we can give him, when we can add in bone, another protein, organ, and fish oil, anything else we can add in his diet or we can do to help him.
I should mention that this morning I accidentally left my breakfast on a low table and walked away for a few minutes. ChewChew was so hungry he helped himself with 2 pieces of French baguette, a fried egg, and maybe 1/4 of an avocado. However, he seemed fine the whole day (no vomiting or diarrhea).
Thank you so much for reading this lengthy post and for any advice.
Age: About 10 years old
Sex: Male
Neutering status: Neutered
Breed: probably Tibetan Terrier
Approximate weight: 27 lbs
BEAM: calm but playful, moderate to high energy, great appetite, happy
Diet: He's been on a raw diet (mostly prey model) not long after we adopted him almost 9 years ago. Before his GI symptoms started, he got a chicken feet (or duck head if available) for lunch and main meal for dinner; 2 capsules of fish oil daily (1 at lunch, 1 at dinner); egg some days; vegetable and fruit sometimes (mostly whole, not blended though).
Vaccination history: Not sure about his vaccination history before he was found on the street. I'm pretty sure the rescue group that we adopted him from vaccinated him before adoption. He has not been vaccinated since. We don't use flea or tick treatments.
Primary problem:
Around beginning of January, he had 1st episode diarrhea and vomiting. He started with diarrhea. We gave him some bone soup then he thew up the soup. The next morning he threw up some foam with a few specks of blood. His BEAM during this time was still good.
Night of Jan. 16 during his walk, he ate a lot of grass then he threw up all of his dinner (lamb). The next few days he had diarrhea and was lethargic and didn't want to move much. He saw our local vet on Jan 19. Because of covid protocols and the vet being overwhelmed, he had to be dropped off in the morning and wait till whenever the vet was available. He ended up being there for 9 hours. After he got back, his BEAM was terrible. Sometimes he would eat; sometimes he would refuse food. We took him out for short walks a few time. He walked with a hunched back a little and seemed to walk a little disoriented. He stopped refusing food (got his appetite back) and acting more like himself (more energy) on Jan 22.
At this time we weren't sure what food to give him. We read that to give bland food like chicken. However, we always thought he might be allergic to chicken. He started with chicken when going raw but got very itchy (it also could have been the sodium content). We thought maybe pork would be the next best bland food to give. We started giving him an egg in the morning, chicken feet at lunch, pork for dinner. We stopped giving him the fish oil capsules because we wanted to wait till his poop gets better.
Night of Feb 12, he ate a lot of grass again. Around midnight, he threw up the undigested part of his dinner. The night of Feb 13, he threw up his the undigested part of dinner again. On Feb 14, he kept having to go poop. In the afternoon, he threw up some large bubbles and there was one little speck of blood . During this time, his energy was a little lower but didn't seem as lethargic or in discomfort as last time.
Diagnostic work: When the vet saw ChewChwe on Jan 19, he seemed to think Chew Chew was healthy. He gave ChewChew an injection of cerenia and prescribed metronidazole. He suggested stool test to check for parasite and senior profile blood and urine test. I included the reports in the post.
Other health concerns/past health issues:
1. A couple month after we adopted him, he jumped while playing and was limping for a couple of days. The vet took an X-ray and said he has hip dysplasia.
2. He used to make this sound like he was choking (reverse coughing?). It got worse to the point that it was happening multiple times daily. We think it was small pieces of food (kibble) getting lodged in the throat. It mostly went away after we started feeding him raw (prey model mostly). It only happens once in a while now.
3. He used to have really bad ear infection (smelly black gunk) constantly. It went away when he was around 3 years old.
4. We felt a small lump on his chest around 2 or 3 years ago. The vet thought it was probably benign and it's too small to poke and do biopsy.
5. Around 2 years ago we felt a little bump on the right side of his head. We requested a biopsy. The vet poked it and liquid came out, so it was a cyst.
6. Around 2 years ago, he broke one of his canine teeth. We don't how how he broke it.
7. He has seasonal/environmental allergy (gets itchy).
After his most recent vomiting/diarrhea problem, we feel lost about what and how to feed him to restore and support his health. We were about to find chicken breast with low sodium content (50 mg/ 4oz). We fasted him for a day then started feeding him tiny portions of chicken breasts for like 10 times a day. Over the last few days we gradually increased from 0.3 oz portions to 0.9 oz portions. For the last few days, his energy was at times lower (not sure if it's because of hunger or if he has any discomfort), but the overall BEAM is good.
Ever since joining HA! and reading the fundamentals, we have been trying to focus on increasing his happiness meter by walking him a little longer, giving him massages, and playing with him more.
We don't really know where to go from here. How big of a portion we can give him, when we can add in bone, another protein, organ, and fish oil, anything else we can add in his diet or we can do to help him.
I should mention that this morning I accidentally left my breakfast on a low table and walked away for a few minutes. ChewChew was so hungry he helped himself with 2 pieces of French baguette, a fried egg, and maybe 1/4 of an avocado. However, he seemed fine the whole day (no vomiting or diarrhea).
Thank you so much for reading this lengthy post and for any advice.
