So two days ago my dog threw up her food in the morning. Same food she has eaten her whole life (2 years). She then threw up about 10 more times during the day of bile/food. Around 11 that night she started throwing up pinkish foam, she did this about 3 times. The next morning I brought her straight to the vet and they said that she seemed to be in healthy condition, didnt appear to have any blockages but was dehydrated. They gave her some fluids and gave me a couple meds and some prescription canned food. They told me to wait till last night to try and feed her and when i did she ate just a little bit of the canned food. This morning she refused to eat the canned food so I tried giving her a little bit of her old food which she also refused to eat. Tonight it was the same deal, I even tried offering her 4 different types of treats, all of which she rejected. I also tried mixing chicken broth in with the canned food, which the vet recommended.

How long should I let this continue before I bring her back to the vet? Shes going on essentially her third day without eating. Any ideas as far as what I can do to get her to eat? She has never eaten people food so I would rather not try anything involving that for fear of getting her sick, but I'm open to anything.

1/29/2010 6:51:47 PM

i don't know i'd call the vet again asap

you can try ground beef and rice, too. and maybe heating up the canned food a little bit. but other than that i'd call the vet and at least ASK them what they think and then maybe take her in again.

1/29/2010 6:53:17 PM

call the vet. she's definitely sick/has a considerable problem. dogs get picky about their food sometimes, but they will eat within a day or so regardless.

1/29/2010 6:56:45 PM

1/29/2010 6:56:52 PM

My dog had a similar problem a few months ago:

http://thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=572709

Is she able to drink water at home? That was my biggest worry when he got sick, I had to take him to the vet a couple of times for them to give him some fluids. He went about 3 days without eating anything, IIRC.

Someone in the thread suggested I give him diluted pedialyte and ice cubes to make sure he was hydrated. You might want to try that, if she's not having water.

It ultimately turned out to be some sort of stomach bug that worked its way through his system and once he started eating, he had diarrhoea for a couple of days before he was back to normal.

1/29/2010 7:14:33 PM

Sounds like your dog is sick.

But realize its possible for a dog to go days without eating without being sick. Our dog used to need a lot of prodding to finish eating. Once he went for five days without eating. We started making his food and he's never skipped a meal since. He just never liked stuff out of a bag/can.

1/29/2010 7:32:49 PM

try giving her sardines. if she won't eat them, get your shovel ready. you better get her to the vet soon.

1/29/2010 9:33:11 PM

If it's an older dog IMHO I would be concerned. My childhood dog refused to eat for almost a week and one day started to almost shiver whenever he exhaled so we knew something was up; when we took him in to the vet they thought it was a blockage so they put him in surgery and it turned about to be stomach cancer. My friend had nearly the same symptoms with his old dog a few years later and it turned out to be stomach cancer as well. Until talking to the vet at that time I didn't realize that type of cancer in dogs is fairly common. Get yours checked out asap.

1/29/2010 10:34:13 PM

Yeah the vet initially said she was in great condition and didn't seem to have any problems, she figured she must have just eaten something that upset her stomach and caused the throwing up. Shes acting pretty much herself, being energetic, playing, etc, but she is still unwilling to eat. Shes drinking water at least, I'm going to try and get her to the vet tomorrow.

1/30/2010 1:45:29 AM

sounds like a problem that solves itself

1/30/2010 2:00:17 AM

That's a great sign that she's energetic! And also that she's still drinking water. Do you give her table scraps or does she get into the trash?

1/30/2010 8:51:08 AM

did you try the chicken and rice thing? Thats all we could get ours to eat when she wouldnt eat before. We also changed her food to a better brand and now have no issues. The vet told us she just wouldnt choose not to eat, but she did.

1/30/2010 10:33:08 AM

my dog had food poisoning and wasnt able to keep anything down for a good 5 days....water included. I think he lost about 15 lbs (he is only 70 lbs). Took him to the vet and they gave him fluids. I took him home and kept giving him small spoons of Pediolyte for a few days and eventually he came out of it.

[Edited on January 30, 2010 at 10:37 AM. Reason : a]

1/30/2010 10:36:33 AM

Offer grilled chicken and plain white rice. adding chicken broth, gravy, canned, semi-moist food can make it more palatable.

1/30/2010 3:04:20 PM

A lot of vets sell bland dog food that is easy to keep down (provided you can get her eating again). Hill's makes I/D, I believe Purina or Iams make EN, and there are others I'm sure that usually stay down even on an upset stomach.

1/30/2010 3:14:03 PM

So she still was refusing to eat as of this morning, wasn't drinking much at all, I was getting really worried. She was picking at her food and refusing to chew it, and my other dog would stand by and try to poach extra pieces. I decided to put her food upstairs and give her some privacy and she ate about a third of her normal amount. She also was refusing to drink out of her bowl but drank out of a cup of water I had. By lunch time she ate the rest of her normal amount. This afternoon she was running and playing in the snow and by night time she ate her food normally and drank plenty of water. Seems everything is good. Thanks everyone who offered advice!

1/30/2010 11:05:48 PM

yay!

1/31/2010 1:12:48 PM