sixx Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 My dog is a bit too thin, and he's picky about eating kibble. I try to give him more food, but he leaves quite a bit in the bowl, and doesn't eat the extra food. So I decided to switch his food to something he would die for, The Honest Kitchen. He loves it! He'll eat as much as I give him. I've been giving him four cups a day; two in the morning, two at night. He's been on the food for about 4 days. He's thrown up four times in the last 3 days. It's strange though, I'll feed him his breakfast, and he's fine all day, then will throw up once in the evening, many many hours after he's eaten. I'm guessing he has a sensitive stomach and will take time to adjust, but throwing up 8-12 hours after eating is baffling me. Other than that he seems normal, happy, playful, ready to work, alert, and just his usual self. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 What does his puke look like? Is he still pooping normal? The increase in volume could be too much for him maybe. will he eat it 50/50 with kibble? Also, don't want to make you worry needlessly but my mind goes right to medical issue since throwing up was the first sign of GI lymphoma in my dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 What Mara said. Throwing up on an empty stomach is quite a different situation from throwing up on a full stomach. Also consider - Does he chew a lot on fibrous toys, like stuffies and tug ropes, or chew up other sorts of toys? My Celt was a "swallower" of bits of indigestible materials which eventually built up in his stomach as a sausage-shaped wad. We didn't have a clue it was there except that he occasionally would barf on an empty stomach, just a little puddle of stomach juices. Finally, he barfed up the wad. When I saw it, that was the end of his days of toys that he could chew on that would produce fibers and small bits that he could swallow. Do you give him larger raw bones? My dogs will sometimes swallow a piece of raw bone that is too large to be digested in a day or two, and they will barf it up when their stomach is otherwise empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixx Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I can't quote on my phone for some reason. Mara: his puke looks like the food he's eating. He's going to the bathroom normal, and it looks fine. I will keep a watch on it. I don't know if he'll eat 50/50. It's possible, but he's not a fan of kibble. He needs to gain weight, so I'm trying to feed him more, so I figured 2 cups spread out didn't necessarily seem like a large volume. That's scary and sad about your dogs lymphoma. I had a ruddy Abyssinian, that meant the world to me, that passed away from lymphoma. Sue: he used to chew up and swallow all kinds of toys, fibrous, rubber, even rocks, etc. He's not like that anymore. He does chew sticks still and swallow bits. He gets raw chicken quarters, but hasn't had one in a few weeks. He's got a high metabolism, and is always running. He does a lot of full on sprinting during our hikes. He used to be fine with just 2 cups a day. He even had a little pudge at one point. Then something changed. He started eating less of his food, and started losing weight. I realized it was one of my females, Cedar, trying to gain alpha position over him. She's been low man until Riser came, and she's found a new confidence, and a best friend. She loves him and they're inseparable, but she's also bossy. She wanted to be alpha when she came into our pack, but Seek is definitely top dog and wouldn't allow it. So long story short, she was intimidating him away from eating. She would go into the room he eats in and send out vibes. Other times she would go to his bowl to eat, and growl at him for going in there. I put an end to it, when I realized what was happening. But then he sort of would be worried about his food after that. All has been sorted, and he's in a safe place, and has food he loves, so it's back to normal. Except the throwing up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Do I understand that he's vomiting about 12 hours after eating, and what he vomits up looks just like the food he ate 12 hours previously? So it's sitting in his stomach all day long and not being digested? What is the volume of what he is throwing up compared to the volume of what he's eating? If he eats two cups in the morning, is he barfing up two cups in the evening, before he eats again? Did you just switch him over suddenly or gradually? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 What variety of THK are you feeding? Is 2 cups the volume before or after it's rehydrated? What was the volume of kibble he was eating before you switched to THK? If he went from 1-2 cups/day to 4 cups/day I can see how it might throw his system for a loop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixx Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 The vomit does look like his food, but not as much as he's eaten. He throws up a small handful. It's probably about an 1/8 of the food he's eaten. I just switched him. I usually do a gradual switch, but he wasn't that into the kibble he had. He's getting grain free turkey THK. 2 cups before hydration. I can cut back, or add back in some kibble and hope he eats it... I figured he should be fine by a week, and if not, that would be concerning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 If it's 2 cups before hydration I'd venture to guess that his stomach just can't handle the volume (that would be about 4+ cups volume 2x a day, right?). Personally, I'd probably try cutting the THK back by half and try feeding 2 parts THK to one part kibble. He might eat the kibble just fine when it's immersed in THK "gravy" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon's girl Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I would try to figure out how many calories you were feeding of the old food and start feeding about that much THK and see if that helped. Then slowly increase the amount fed so you are only exceeding the needed number of calories by a few. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligande Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Have you tried mixing the honest kitchen with a kibble. I have an extremely fussy eater who at 4 is still too skinny but he will only eat so much a day even if he loves the food. I have used HK as a mixer, but I am constantly rotating kibble, I have found that he really will only eat one bag of a food if I buy a second half way through he stops eating, so I rotate and he gets goodies with most meals basically in the hope he will eat... I can't help with the the throwing up, but I have spent the last 3 years trying to figure out how to get a fussy dog to eat without switching to raw, so happy to give you ideas on that front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixx Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 So I switches it up this morning. Gave him 1 cup THK, and 2/3 cup kibble. He ate it all, and finished his siblings food. Guess he'll eat the kibble as long as it's in the THK. So that's great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixx Posted April 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 No throwing up since the switch. Thanks for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 21, 2014 Report Share Posted April 21, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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