My Baby's stomach

[Monica75]

I have a 2 and a half year old male shitz tzu. He was diagnosed with a liver shunt at the age of 4 months. We had surgery and he came out a champ! For the past 6 months or so, he has been throwing up. He is on KD and eats very little. He will go weeks without these episodes but usually followed by runny stools. His liver functions are coming back within range, I have tried the suggested change of diets without success. I am hand feeding him just to get something down. His poor little stoamch gets so empty that he throws up a bright yellow bile (but he maintains weight between 13.5-14.5 lbs?). Anyone....please help

Thank you,
Monica75

[chihuahuagrandma]

I am not familiar w/your situation, can not give good sugestions...
Have you tried to boil rice, drain, and either syringe or if he/she will drink the water, rice water is very good for healing the little stomach and intestines, and sometimes small amounts of mild flavor (no red) gatorade for dehydration...try this maybe...I have saved my dogs on this recipe that an old Afgan hound breeder who believes holistic w/meds to help w/issues...so far I have pulled 2 dogs out of death w/this....remarkably well...
yep, the bile is dumping into an empty stomach, bile is what helps churn the food and prep for intestines discharging of bowels...
Try not to feed in large feedings, like one bite of food, then later a bite, and so on, just one bite at a time....Much luck to you, so sorry for your distress, your little shitzu must be wore out w/all the trauma which will add more stress to dog and make situation worse..and the cure all is lots of love and caressing will help a dog, its the cure all medicine....just like people...
Please keep us posted, give a big hug to the little one...

[lonewolf07]

Do these vomiting episodes follow a pattern?  Do they occur at any particular time of day or night, after eating (without your knowledge) certain food, etc.  How often in the past six mths would you say he had these episodes and how long did they last?  Does he drink more, less or the same amount of water when he has these episodes?

If he hasn't lost any weight, that would seem to be a good thing.  But if he was my shih tzu, I'd take him to the vet.  We do have a shih tzu and they are tough little guys but if he was having these "episodes" I'd take him to the vet.  The vomiting doesn't sound like a behavior problem.

Have you tried A/D?  I'm not sure if they have it in the USA but it's a good food for dogs  (or even cats) who are having difficulties eating.

Let us know what happens with your little guy .... oooops I mean your "baby"

lonewolf

[browneyedmama]

i have a 5 years old female shih ztu, who has a VERY sensitive tummy. we were told to feed her special dogfood that i can only buy at the vets office. it is $60.00 per bag!! OUCH!! but well worth it!! every once in a while my dog (Zoe) will throw up yellow bile, and have really runny mucousy bowel movements. its really gross. i feel bad for her. i noticed that her appetite goes down and she is really mopey and lacks energy. the vet told me that it is common in shih ztu's and to make sure she sticks to her diet. since being on the new dog food, ive noticed that the bile and mucousy episodes have dramatically reduced.... but every once in a while it it happens.

[lonewolf07]

Our shih tzu vomits up the same thing but we have never put him on a special diet.  He eats almost anything BUT he doesn't eat grass outside like our other dogs do.  The other dogs eat grass and then vomit; it seems to cleanse their insides but the shih tzu doesn't do this.  Just a guess - maybe you both have shih tzus with sensitive tummies.  Ask your vet about eating grass (not smoking it).

Like I said, this is just a guess.  Do what your vet recommends and if their diets seem to be helping then just stick to it.  I've never had a female shih tzu but maybe others in the Dog Community can give you more extensive advice.

Hugs and tail wags ....

lonewolf and Rawhide the shih tzu