Back story: We rescued 3-year-old Lilo off the street about 1 1/2 years ago. She was emaciated, limping, severe muscle dystrophy in her rear legs, and had fleas, worms, ear mites, and several broken teeth. Our first step was to take her to the vet for tests and treatment, then once she was stronger, we had dental work done. For the first 6 months of her life with us, she suffered with daily soft stools and sometimes diarrhea. She would also vomit a few times a week. Her extensive blood work and urine analysis showed nothing wrong, so I decided to change her food. I tried multiple kinds of food until I found a food that completely remedied her problem with soft stools and she has had normal stools ever since (hurray!). She has not, however, been able to gain much weight and is still underweight.
More recently:
In the past month, her vomiting problem (which had subsided for a few months) has returned. It started out gradual, like once a week, then a few times a week, then one night she threw up four times and then three times the next day. I took her to the vet and they did more blood work and another urine test and, again, found nothing wrong. (Another $300 and no answers.) They said it could be IBD, or pancreatitis (because the blood screening for that is only 70% accurate), early kidney failure, or even lymphoma. We decided to not do any further testing and see what happened.
Her vomiting subsided and she acts normal, except she vomits every few days in the morning after first waking up and eating some breakfast. It's always only in the AM. She'll eat a small amount of food, then act uncomfortable, then drink water, then throw it all up. Then she's fine and will eat normally the rest of the day.
For the sake of deduction, here are a few facts:
- She is not eating too fast.
- She is not eating a large amount.
- She will vomit wet or dry food, it makes no difference.
- The vomited dry food is usually still in large pieces.
- She has access to food all night, but often sleeps through the night without eating.
- She does not vomit every morning.
- She vomits within 10-15 minutes of eating.
The vet's only suggestion was either more tests (ultrasounds and biopsies), which we declined due to cost, or giving her a prescription food. I hate to mess with her food because it took forever to find a food that wouldn't cause her stool problems! After months of having to wipe her bottom after she pooped multiple times a day, I'm scared any change in her diet will mess up her now normal BMs. I'm willing to try the prescription food though, if that's the only option. She is a very picky eater and probably won't want to to eat it. She is also impossible to pill (the vet techs even had a really hard time) and won't eat treats or pill pockets or anything sprinkled in her food.
Her current food is:
- Merrick Grain-Free canned turkey pate
- Northwest Naturals freeze-dried raw turkey (she eats this dry)
Any suggestions, ideas, comments? I'm getting so tired of cleaning up vomit and spending all this money at the vet without any improvement or diagnosis. When we found her, we wanted to give Lilo a chance at a better life instead of just taking her to a shelter, but there are limits to what we can do for her. :'(
(Lilo, 3/23/2017)
More recently:
In the past month, her vomiting problem (which had subsided for a few months) has returned. It started out gradual, like once a week, then a few times a week, then one night she threw up four times and then three times the next day. I took her to the vet and they did more blood work and another urine test and, again, found nothing wrong. (Another $300 and no answers.) They said it could be IBD, or pancreatitis (because the blood screening for that is only 70% accurate), early kidney failure, or even lymphoma. We decided to not do any further testing and see what happened.
Her vomiting subsided and she acts normal, except she vomits every few days in the morning after first waking up and eating some breakfast. It's always only in the AM. She'll eat a small amount of food, then act uncomfortable, then drink water, then throw it all up. Then she's fine and will eat normally the rest of the day.
For the sake of deduction, here are a few facts:
- She is not eating too fast.
- She is not eating a large amount.
- She will vomit wet or dry food, it makes no difference.
- The vomited dry food is usually still in large pieces.
- She has access to food all night, but often sleeps through the night without eating.
- She does not vomit every morning.
- She vomits within 10-15 minutes of eating.
The vet's only suggestion was either more tests (ultrasounds and biopsies), which we declined due to cost, or giving her a prescription food. I hate to mess with her food because it took forever to find a food that wouldn't cause her stool problems! After months of having to wipe her bottom after she pooped multiple times a day, I'm scared any change in her diet will mess up her now normal BMs. I'm willing to try the prescription food though, if that's the only option. She is a very picky eater and probably won't want to to eat it. She is also impossible to pill (the vet techs even had a really hard time) and won't eat treats or pill pockets or anything sprinkled in her food.
Her current food is:
- Merrick Grain-Free canned turkey pate
- Northwest Naturals freeze-dried raw turkey (she eats this dry)
Any suggestions, ideas, comments? I'm getting so tired of cleaning up vomit and spending all this money at the vet without any improvement or diagnosis. When we found her, we wanted to give Lilo a chance at a better life instead of just taking her to a shelter, but there are limits to what we can do for her. :'(
(Lilo, 3/23/2017)