A few months ago, I gave Gypsy two extra treats and her GI flipped on her. She had diarrhea for a few days, and I got her on meds through the vet. Up until that time, she had been on Victor dog food and The Honest Kitchen dehydrated beef formula and other THK foods. She ate a lot and looked good. She still looks good, but the meds were tough to get down her- she is not the kind of dog that you pry their mouth open and pop the pill down her throat. She has also always had the tendency to vomit bile first thing in the morning. I had her on a tight routine to avoid it and thought it was due to her tummy getting too empty. All of this is on top of behavioral issues.

I have tried everything I can think of: chicken and rice, pumpkin, fasting her, and giving her a Digestive Supplement, and probiotics. Nothing has worked and everything has tilted her GI the wrong way. I don't think it is the new anti anxiety med. For that she gets a very lightly buttered half slice of bread with her pill, and never has any upset with it. I can't give her anything else. Not even a bite of anything but dry dog food. Nothing. And she isn't very fond of the dry food alone so sometimes doesn't eat till late afternoon, then wants more a few short hours later.

Fast forward to today. She has been off of THK since that first upset, getting strictly dry food. She still has diarrhea occasionally, and still vomits bile now and then. It's like I can't get her straightened out. This morning I woke to her vomiting, and she immediately has to go out for diarrhea.

I will be making a vet appointment today and want to have her checked for Everything. I am thinking maybe she has some sort of disease at this point. I don't know what but there has to be an explanation for this. Maybe it will be as simple as another round of the medication for the upset, maybe it is something more serious.

I am beside myself for messing up her system so terribly and not being able to get her back on track.

Forgot to say that instead of going full panic that she won't eat, I decided to let her fast on her own. Food is down for her if she wants it, but letting her do her own thing. Which for now is to ignore it.

I wish I had an answer for you, Bev. In Arkansas, I had been giving raw, local honey to help combat what we thought were allergies and that led to bowel issues. Dropping the honey took care of that. Then as BTE 1 aged, there were some digestive issues. I can't recall what meds we used to treat that but it did require intervention.

I have found, though, that taking up uneaten meals until the next feeding time worked better through all my dogs that were fussy eaters.

I do hope you get an answer to this issue with GB.

Thanks Middle!

She finally ate at 3pm, then decided she needed more at 5. I figured she would eat when hungry enough or would self fast. If she hadn't eaten today I would have made chicken and rice tomorrow. She will likely be ok for a few days again, as the pattern has shown recently, then for whatever reason may go off her food again.

I wish Lisa was still here. She was so good with stuff like this, reading bloodwork, etc.

But at least GB ate today. 2 cups. She also vomited bile 2x's today. That's a first. Usually it;s one time in the morning. So i have hopes the vet can give me some answers. I am thinking a stool sample and a blood workup may be in order. We need a base on her bloodwork anyway. She's just always been so healthy we never had a need to do it before.

Bev, As Barker the Elder 2 suddenly developed diarrhea for two days, got that controlled to have her vomit today -- I remembered some of what we did to encourage BTE 1 to eat when she had gastro stuff going on --- sliced turkey breast from the deli. The vet said there was something about deli turkey breast that seemed to work better than anything else.

Maybe that would encourage Ms. GB?

Middle,

I have been cooking up chicken breasts in the Instant pot, and shredding it. I add a handful of the shredded chx to her dry food to inspire her to eat. I give her a teaspoon of pumpkin when needed. That worked well yesterday.

I also took another stool sample to the vet and got a new script of Metro for her yesterday. Giving that to her is a challenge, but I take her in the bathroom, close the door and she does not get out until a pill is down the hatch. Any other room in the house gives her too much space to escape and I will lose. I am determined she will take every one of these pills, because she got away with not taking probably half of the last script.

My vet irritated me yesterday. He said this is likely to continue happening because she is such a high strung dog. Yes, she is high strung. But I do not believe this is a result of that. I know this all started when I gave her too many treats one day (and those treats were relatively new to her) and the issue was not resolved after the first round of meds because she didn't take them all.

So for now, shredded chicken added to dry (no rice) to inspire her to eat. Remember too that GB always got The Honest Chicken Dehydrated food and stews for her first 3 years of life, and she was eating 5+ cups of food per day. So she isn't really used to eating just dry food. I stopped feeding her any THK when this GI upset happened 3 months ago or so. I even thought about changing her dry food to something more palatable, but figured now is not the time with the ongoing GI upset. I may eventually attempt to add back some THK dehydrated food. Affordability vs availability. I can easily afford the chicken, and the dehydrated is often out of stock these days it seems.

But the first order of business is to get her tummy healed and healthy. Then we will see.

I disagree with the Vet about this continuing because she's 'high strung'. Hopefully, these changes in her food will help. I don't worry too much if they miss a meal as long as it doesn't go on too long or there's not other issues involved.

Did you get a chance to have her bloodwork done?

Hi Rosa,

Thank you for your comment about her being upset because she is high strung. I called BS as soon as he said it. I have used this vet for about ten years. Hope he doesn't start getting ignorant on me!

No bloodwork. I will have to make an appt. They were booked solid this week. That's why we just did the stool sample.

I sure do hope this is the last of these messy problems for awhile! She has settled down now that I am getting the Metro into her. I have to take her in the bathroom, close the door, pin her against the cabinet, pry her mouth open....but I am winning!

I did manage to order THK limited ingredient dehydrated chicken formula yesterday. I only ordered 4 lbs because I want to see if she can tolerate it first in small (itty bitty amounts to start) and go from there.

Good luck with the added chicken. I have my pups on Victor's too. It's good dog food.

Glad you're getting the pills down her even though you have to get her trapped in the bathroom to do it These pups are so different when it comes to taking meds. I got Sasha all excited about taking her meds and to this day she jumps around like crazy whenever she gets to take a pill Kody, on the other hand, runs the other way and is traumatized by the whole event.

Keep up the great work and I hope things settle for awhile. It sounds like you've got some good changes going so keep them up and enjoy your pup.

Thank you Rosa!

Hey, I finally managed to get pills down her without trapping her in the bathroom.

The chicken inspires her to eat and she doesn't just eat the chicken, but also the dry food.

Today, I think we are finally going to tackle a trip to the park, after our walk. We both need that.

How is she doing now Bev?

I hope THK and shredded chicken keep her doing well. It's difficult to find food for dogs with sensitive tummies.

But high strung? Eesh

Update on Gypsy:

I got another script of Metro AND got it all down her rather easily. No buckin' bronc. Her stools are solid, but she is refusing her food without cooked chicken on it. I suppose I could give it raw, but this is what we have been doing and what has worked to date. Either way, it is spendy. I decided to try THK again, but the chicken limited ingredient formula. She just now finished her food with a tablespoon of a very thin mixture of THK on it. She also got her shredded chicken with it.

We haven't made it to the park yet, mainly due to weather, and now it is spring break for the kiddos so not a good time to take her. She is doing great on the anti anxiety medication though, and it is helping me to not be as jumpy too. I intend to keep trying new things and see how it goes. Today I tried on of those elevated beds for dogs and had to bribe her to step up on it, but she did it. She needs a bigger one though.

So time will tell if she can tolerate the Honest Kitchen limited ingredient dehydrated food and we will continue working on behavior modification as possible.

Hey Bev,
on the chicken - how about buy a bunch on sale, cook it and freeze to thaw a bit at a time? I'd hesitate to mess much if the routine and menu are working for her GI. as in I guess given her fussy gut, I'd not do the raw stuff.

Hey Middle...

I did that to some degree. I often forgot to defrost her chicken too. Like you said, raw is too risky, with her tender tummy.

BUT...The Honest Kitchen is working out. I started out with a rather runny mixture and slowly thickened it up over several days. She doesn't need much really. Just enough to mix with dry for the inspiration to eat. This morning it was a bit too thick so I added water to the whole bowl to thin it out and make the dry softer and she liked that. She always likes it when I open a fresh bag of dry too, and I have to do that today, so I am going to wait for her lunch time. She will eat it down good.

We were playing with her frisbee the other day while I worked on some fencing, and as I reached down to grab it, she grabbed it too, and my hand and her head collided. Putely an accident. Now she turns away, scrambles away if I offer her the back of my hand. If she only knew how bad it hurt when my wrist popped when that happened! She is soooo sensitive to everything.

The crating in the car is a no go. She refuses to get in the car if the crate is in there. So I sold it last night. It was Zisso's original crate, and I have kept it for sentimental value, but in reality there is no reason to keep it.

This girl is wearing me out. Between her reactiveness, sensitivity, GI issues....it feels like it's never going to get better for either of us.

Bev! Please take a moment to look back at this relationship of you & the great GB... You have done so much, you have come so far. I think it is too easy to forget that when there is still stuff you want different. Go look at the wonderful photos you have of that silly dog. Remember some of the delights. (yeah, I know the frustrations but there ARE good things you have posted about this dog and you).

Take heart,

Middle, you brought me to tears! You are so right! I have had TONS of good times with her. Good walks, good intro's to other people, learning moments for the both of us, lots of time playing, digging in the snow for balls, watching her pure joy when she gets the zoomies. Our bedtime routine. Her pic looking at Z in adoration as he rested in his crate. She was so little back then, and we have grown leaps and bounds together. She helped me get through losing dad, when she arrived 10 days after he passed.

Sure I would love for her to enjoy a car ride to go do something fun. And since her anxiety takes the fun out of going, we do Us. A longer walk, Extra games of fetch. A short ride here and there to 'go see Uncle Rod', who delights in getting to see her. She does get excited when we go in the car. She is a nervous Nellie is all. My first shepherd mix always got car sick. At least GB doesn't do that!

I think that I get discouraged because all I want to do, with all my might, is to enrich her life, and she prefers life the way it is. She feels safe at home. She prefers her routine.

I did rearrange the living room today and moved the couch away from the window. That is a HUGE adjustment for her. She is so used to watching out the window, and now she can't. She also has nothing to get overly anxious about. IE: Fed Ex, UPS, mail and other big trucks, no kids to get frantic about as they run by. As much as I dislike this new arrangement, I think I am going to keep it through the summer. The constant barking at everything outside gets old, and it just might help her calm down more. I hope it proves a positive change. I mean, what good does anti anxiety meds do if she still sees all of those triggers to be frantic and anxious about?

Thank you for reminding me to look at the up side to this whack-a-do though! I needed that more than you will ever know!