How do I fix my dog's digestive issues?

Question

I have a 9 month old Boxer/Boston Terrier mix. He has been eating Pedigree puppy food dry his entire life. Two weeks ago he started throwing up his food. He would eat in the morning and throw up 10-12 hrs later. The food did nto look like he had chewed it and it was not digested at all. Still whole peices of soggy dog food.
Vet said may be regurgitating since not chewed. Switched to wet food and he did fine for about 3-4 dayd now not throwing up, but has horrendous diarhea.
I don't know what to do. I'm scared to switch him back to dry because he doesn't chew it and throws it up, but I can't give him wet and have him get dehydrated.
Any ideas?

Answer 1

Pedigree food is very poor quality. Spend some money on nutrition now and you will save yourself huge vet bills.
Choose a food with no more then 2 grains listed in the first 5 ingredients. It will cost you more, but at least it won't cost you at the vet or cost you the dogs life.
The fact that he is not chewing it is NOT why this is happening. Dogs are not chewers by nature. That food takes so much water to digest it that he is eating maybe to much and it swells to a capacity he can;'t handle and up it comes.
Put garbage in the dog and get garbage back out!
If you really want to do whats best for him, feed a raw diet. Lots of info available on how to do this.
Take a glass of warm water and drop in a handful of pedigree food and go back to look at it tomorrow and what you see is NOT what a healthy meal is supposed to look like. A bunch of swollen up corn and other grains and garbage. YUCK!

Answer 2

First, Pedigree is horrible food and will only make problems worse. You need to look for a holistic brand like Innova Evo, Canidae, Merrick, Wellness, Solid Gold, Chicken Soup, Professional, etc. NO Pedigree, Purina, Alpo, Beneful, Pro Plan, Royal Canin, etc.

Second, try soaking the dry food in plain water for a few minutes to soften it. This should allow him to eat his regular food while preventing him from getting a stomach ache.

However, to regurgitate solid foods after 10 hours is rather extreme, it sounds like there's a bigger problem going on. I would take him to a different vet and explain the situation.

In the meantime, boil chicken and white rice and chop it into tiny pieces- that'll prevent him from vomiting while also clearing up the diarrhea.

Answer 3

I have gone through the same thing with my dog throwing up his food and you could tell it was not digested properly. When you switch a dog to a different brand of food you are supposed to slowly introduce the new food up to one week. You start off by giving them a little at a time and increasing the amount each day. If you don't then your dog will end up having diarhea. This is what happened to me with my both of my dogs. You might want to read the info on this site: http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/healthypets.htm
I don't feed my dogs store brand food anymore, I switched to natural organic dog food. It is so much healthier for them.
My bichon frise is diabetic so I make him a recipe of organic brown rice with organic chicken, along with other things. This food has really helped his digestion as well as control his diabetes.

Answer 4

Some ideas:
1. Beneful is not terrible. As it has more natural ingredients than Pedigree and most other dry foods, it's an inexpensive solution to the more expensive brands at the Pet Stores. If you can afford it, Iams or Nutro Max will be a little easier on his digestion than cheap dry foods.
2. Instead of offering it to him dry, stir in a little water or milk and let it soak in a bit. He may simply not be able to process his dry food. My Sheltie had the same problem for a while. Canned food was too rich, dry food was hard for him to break down. Wetting down the dry food a liitle will help break those chunks apart and help him digest it better.
If you can really afford the time, try making up some homemade dog food.

http://www.i-love-dogs.com/dog-food-recipes.html
should have some easy recipes for home made dog food using ingredients in your own kitchen.

Good luck and hope it works!

Answer 5

The diarrhea may be because you switched foods too fast.
Try adding water to his dry food (just enough to soften it). If he continues to get sick after feeding him, I would see the vet, he may have a blockage of some sort.

Answer 6

Sounds like food allergies to me. My 6 month old puppy was scratching and had diarrhea too (she pooped in her crate all the time).

The vet recommended we switch her food to Hills Prescription Z/D (dry food only, no other food but this, even treats), 3 days later she no longer had diarrhea and hasn't pooped in the crate since. She is no longer itching either.

Answer 7

I mix my wet food and dry food and i let it sit so that the hard dry peices get a little wet try it hope this helps

Answer 8

well try taking him to a different vet and see what they say

Answer 9

Canidae is the perfect food!

Answer 10

go to a vet!