Hi there! Looking for some help / a second opinion on what to do with my pup:
Basics:
- Her name is Evee. She's a Chihuahua / Jack Russell Mix who is fixed and about 8lbs.
BEAM:
- She is highly anxious, loves to eat, and mid energy level. Her mood is so/so.
Exposure:
- She has had her basic vaccines (rabies, etc) and were all done to her before I adopted her. I've given her two flea and tick meds (at suggestion of my doctor) since I've had her for 5 months. She was 9 mons when I got her so not sure what things were like as a puppy. Once we gave her an emergency flea med since she had some on her.
Initial Problem:
- When we got her she didnt like to drink water which we thought was odd (we've been putting it in her food, and she also retched after she ate - every meal basically.
- She did some light scratching and licking but it was very minor and did have some inconsistently bad breath.
- She also does have some tear drops that pool near her eyes.
- Recently I gave her some flea meds (second time) and my partner went away on a long business trip - both stressors and I noticed she was itching more. I then took her on a long drive and a short hike during this period - which I think was too much stress for her - and the next day she had yellow mucous in her poop - a lot of it. She did have a cooked turkey snack when we were on the hike that I usually don't give her but it was human grade organic turkey meet that was cut from the bone - so I thought would be fine. May have had some preservatives in it.
Past Recommendations & My Actions:
The next day I went to my 'holistic' vet and they recommended: (1) I just switch her to a chicken and rice diet (2) had me do a poop test for parasites and (3) then gave me a probiotic. The probiotic made it worse, she was clean for parasites and I didn't do that diet, instead I did home cooked turkey, sweet potato, squash and zuchinni with some wild blueberries added. I recently added slippery elm as well.
2 weeks after switching to that diet I noticed she was retching less and itching less (all good signs) but that she was still having issues with her poop. Some times it was crumbly, sometimes it was dark brown - nearly black a few time, sometimes it had some light mucus. She also had some really bad breath these weeks. I used the probiotic for 2 weeks and she's been off it for 1 week now and her poop has leveled out a bit and isn't that dark brown/black color. Again, I think the probiotic made it worse.
After I stopped the probiotic, I added in the slippery elm I think it made things a bit better - things are still a little crumbly but looked better and a normal color... so after all of this I thought I was on the up and up!
Then... Things got Worse Again:
I gave her some bone marrow as a treat since she was looking better this weekend. The next day she had a very strong/big but well formed poop that had a lot of mucous (not yellow mucous though). I was nervous about this but keep with the same diet I had been feeding her but even more slimmed down. Now I was just feeding her - turkey / squash / Slippery elm. Then, yesterday and the day before she was licking her lips a lot and had consistently really bad breath and was like retching and clearly was in discomfort. I left her alone for like 3 hours and about 2 hours after I got back (10:30pm) she threw up. This is the first time I've ever seen her throw up. It was basically all undigested dinner (turkey & squash). She was licking her lips a ton and yawning as well for a long time before bed.
NEW Vet Recommendations
SO, after her throw up I called a NEW vet, who was much much more holistic *actually* and focused on the root cause..which I really liked! He seemed much more committed and involved in his patients too. So overall, better.. but he recommended I switch her to a perscription diet (the I/D Hill brand- chicken stew, wet food) and give her some freeze dried, raw treats as well. He also gave me a natural anti anxiety treat that could help her with her quite intense nerves.
I felt VERY uncomfortable giving her the prescription diet. I am really good with the raw food treats (freeze dried, all natural, etc). I called the Vet to express my concerns and he said we just need to get a baseline because right now what I am doing with her food that is home cooked isn't appearing to be working. On one hand, I understand his point, but on the other, I do feel like it was working a little bit...& we just had a big setback. I just want her to feel better and I do NOT want to feed her this canned stuff long term (or honestly at all).
There is no official diagnosis but the vet agreed it's likely GI issues - maybe reflux or gastritis, but he's not sure what is causing it yet. Perhaps bacteria? We're not sure. But I'm just not fully onboard with feeding her this! I would MUCH rather cook her meals every dang day then feed her something (eventually) poisonous for her.
ASKS / Question
What would this community suggest I do with her food now? Should I keep with the Hill i/d diet for the next 10 days (roughly when he said to come back for a second check up), should I keep with my cooked food, should I move to something else? Would love any thoughts, recommendations, or any ideas of what you think could support my pup.
@Dr. Jeff @Dr. Christina @Dr. Jean Hofve
Basics:
- Her name is Evee. She's a Chihuahua / Jack Russell Mix who is fixed and about 8lbs.
BEAM:
- She is highly anxious, loves to eat, and mid energy level. Her mood is so/so.
Exposure:
- She has had her basic vaccines (rabies, etc) and were all done to her before I adopted her. I've given her two flea and tick meds (at suggestion of my doctor) since I've had her for 5 months. She was 9 mons when I got her so not sure what things were like as a puppy. Once we gave her an emergency flea med since she had some on her.
Initial Problem:
- When we got her she didnt like to drink water which we thought was odd (we've been putting it in her food, and she also retched after she ate - every meal basically.
- She did some light scratching and licking but it was very minor and did have some inconsistently bad breath.
- She also does have some tear drops that pool near her eyes.
- Recently I gave her some flea meds (second time) and my partner went away on a long business trip - both stressors and I noticed she was itching more. I then took her on a long drive and a short hike during this period - which I think was too much stress for her - and the next day she had yellow mucous in her poop - a lot of it. She did have a cooked turkey snack when we were on the hike that I usually don't give her but it was human grade organic turkey meet that was cut from the bone - so I thought would be fine. May have had some preservatives in it.
Past Recommendations & My Actions:
The next day I went to my 'holistic' vet and they recommended: (1) I just switch her to a chicken and rice diet (2) had me do a poop test for parasites and (3) then gave me a probiotic. The probiotic made it worse, she was clean for parasites and I didn't do that diet, instead I did home cooked turkey, sweet potato, squash and zuchinni with some wild blueberries added. I recently added slippery elm as well.
2 weeks after switching to that diet I noticed she was retching less and itching less (all good signs) but that she was still having issues with her poop. Some times it was crumbly, sometimes it was dark brown - nearly black a few time, sometimes it had some light mucus. She also had some really bad breath these weeks. I used the probiotic for 2 weeks and she's been off it for 1 week now and her poop has leveled out a bit and isn't that dark brown/black color. Again, I think the probiotic made it worse.
After I stopped the probiotic, I added in the slippery elm I think it made things a bit better - things are still a little crumbly but looked better and a normal color... so after all of this I thought I was on the up and up!
Then... Things got Worse Again:
I gave her some bone marrow as a treat since she was looking better this weekend. The next day she had a very strong/big but well formed poop that had a lot of mucous (not yellow mucous though). I was nervous about this but keep with the same diet I had been feeding her but even more slimmed down. Now I was just feeding her - turkey / squash / Slippery elm. Then, yesterday and the day before she was licking her lips a lot and had consistently really bad breath and was like retching and clearly was in discomfort. I left her alone for like 3 hours and about 2 hours after I got back (10:30pm) she threw up. This is the first time I've ever seen her throw up. It was basically all undigested dinner (turkey & squash). She was licking her lips a ton and yawning as well for a long time before bed.
NEW Vet Recommendations
SO, after her throw up I called a NEW vet, who was much much more holistic *actually* and focused on the root cause..which I really liked! He seemed much more committed and involved in his patients too. So overall, better.. but he recommended I switch her to a perscription diet (the I/D Hill brand- chicken stew, wet food) and give her some freeze dried, raw treats as well. He also gave me a natural anti anxiety treat that could help her with her quite intense nerves.
I felt VERY uncomfortable giving her the prescription diet. I am really good with the raw food treats (freeze dried, all natural, etc). I called the Vet to express my concerns and he said we just need to get a baseline because right now what I am doing with her food that is home cooked isn't appearing to be working. On one hand, I understand his point, but on the other, I do feel like it was working a little bit...& we just had a big setback. I just want her to feel better and I do NOT want to feed her this canned stuff long term (or honestly at all).
There is no official diagnosis but the vet agreed it's likely GI issues - maybe reflux or gastritis, but he's not sure what is causing it yet. Perhaps bacteria? We're not sure. But I'm just not fully onboard with feeding her this! I would MUCH rather cook her meals every dang day then feed her something (eventually) poisonous for her.
ASKS / Question
What would this community suggest I do with her food now? Should I keep with the Hill i/d diet for the next 10 days (roughly when he said to come back for a second check up), should I keep with my cooked food, should I move to something else? Would love any thoughts, recommendations, or any ideas of what you think could support my pup.
@Dr. Jeff @Dr. Christina @Dr. Jean Hofve
Last edited:
