Well I can sure use some advice from the experienced dog owners on the forum for this,

My blue heeler pup,(the same that earlier this year dined on cat litter and stopped up his gut, on the puppy laxitive thread) has in the last month, contracted and recovered(?) from parvo F strain,(he and all our dogs are fully vacinated) which took 2 weeks of vomiting etc, followed by stomach bleeding,(not severe), 1 week on antibiotics, and now 4 days after the meds stop, he vomits again, eary this morning the odor of a sour stomach, like a child that has eaten too much junk food, and later the vet confirmed more blood traces, I have checked the obvious, the back yard, chewed objects, cemicals in and around the house, his worm check was neg...what am I missing?? Today he is resting quitely, has no desire to eat, the other dogs have not been ill.

I will fast him 24 hours, with water(pedialyte with honey) and go back to home made food after that, do any of you now of a site that shows the recipes for dog food?, I've been guessing on amounts of meat to rice etc, but if I'm going to have to cook for him long term I need to know how to cook a balanced diet over the long haul.

Thanks in advance, Thumper

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

This might just be nothing...but I know that you aren't supposed to give a baby honey until they are a year old. Could honey also hurt a puppy. Something about the possible bacteria in it? Just a thought, might be dumb.

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), October 30, 2001.

Hi Nan, I know what you mean about the honey it can have a kind of botulism, and I don't think it was dumb, it makes sense to me that a young animal could be affected by that too, this one was sick before the honey though. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I think once the human baby is weaned (after one year) honey is ok, so once the gut flora have developed for adult food, honey would be safe for any mammal.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001.

Just looked it up in the handy dandy Merck Vet Manual and found out what is going on. Sometimes after you have taken the dogs off of the medication vomiting persists and the dog needs to be fasted for an additional 12 to 24 hours before feeding again. If food can be tolerated, the bland diet is continued for the 7 - 14 days, after which the dog's regular diet can be gradually reintroduced. It also says...the bland diet might include cottage cheese, cheese and rice, or some warm salted meat broth too. Anyway.....Your vet sounds like a good one and that after a week or so of being on the bland diet I betcha that he is up and at em again soon. I don't know if scrambled eggs are part of a bland diet, but my dog loves them. IF you have lots of chickens then these would be cheaper than the cottage cheese. Yikes! That would get high after a bit. The manual suggested one of the Hills brand dog foods. All of that does not sound cheap. Rice and cheese or eggs would be a little less expensive. Hopefully it won't be for long anyway..... God Bless!

-- Nan (davidl41@ipa.net), October 30, 2001.

Yep, It gets costly. I checked the prices on the food available at Pets Mart, and I can cook for him cheaper. I'm going to go get some wheat grass powder for him today (and me too,I think I could use a stress shake) I'm thinking to treat him as for ulcers,so the stonmach lining can heal,

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001.

Boiled chicken and rice, and cottage cheese is the best thing I know of for tummys. If you give him a tablespoon of Cottage Cheese a day, a tub will last a while. As long as he gets some in there. Hope your puppy does better. What about pepto-bismal? I know you can give a few cc's every 2 hours for tummy trouble.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), October 30, 2001.

When I got back from the health food store, I gave him some wheat grass powder in water, he licked up very bit! The other pup (his brother whom has not been ill) tasted it, made a "nasty" face and walked away! A few minutes later he wanted some yogurt and ate a heaping tablespoon. The on and off recovery from the illness has been nerve wracking, thinking him well just to have him vomit again, really is the hardest part for me, it would have been easier for me if someone could have told me at the start that I shouldn't even think he is well for 6 or 8 or ??? weeks. But each time the spells of upset are farther between, this time was 11 days, of every thing normal. And he seems to be down for less time, during a bad spell, I guess I should order some more parvaid drops to keep around the house just in case.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), October 30, 2001.

you can contact me personaly and i will give you many homeade dog fod recipies. i keep my german shepard dogs on this diet. they are the most beautiful because of it. one of my dogs i got out of a shelter and she was in bad shape. especially after going through heart worm treatment. now she is georgous. i also sell k-9 treats off my web site. already made of course!! i will give you some of these recipies if you wish.i would agree with no honey unless its cooked. cody

-- cody (urbsted@alltel.net), October 31, 2001.

Hi Cody, I tried to mail you direct but it came back, I would like very much to have the recipes, Thanks.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), October 31, 2001.

Well something new to deal with, I took a stool sample to the vet today,(a green goo) and checkbook in hand told them I wanted it tested for every thing, it came back pos. for hookworm, neg on every thing else, Ok, so I do some checking and talking, and the best guess on the events of the past month are that the pup picked up hookworm while on the road with my husband, and the resulting stress made him susceptible to the virus, which masked the worms, previous worm checks were clear, so no one thought to keep looking for worms, and a kicker to the whole thing.....he has shown no simptoms for worm infestation (except the green goo)in fact he is gaining weight on the home cooked food. I have ordered some SafeGuard (through the beagle site) and will soon have this taken care of, I sure hope this is the end of it.

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), October 31, 2001.

I just wanted to mention that the Amish never buy dog food or cat food. They feed their dogs exactly what they eat, three times a day. They treat the dog like another human person to add to the quantity of food. They are healthy and never are sick. Just a thought.... sometimes we "English" (the Amish call us that ) complicate things by worrying and trying to create perfect "recipes". Just an idea.... Good luck and wheat grass juice was a wonderful idea... I can see that you enjoy your health food store and your healthy lifestyle... congrads!!!

-- Jackie in Northern New York (homefarm@webtv.net), October 31, 2001.

I found myself thinking along simular lines in that my grandparents fed their dogs from the table because there was no money for store bought dog food (they had 6 children) and their dogs lived long altho hard working lives, the collie they had when I was young, was fed dog food from the store, as now there was more money with their children grown and much less from the table to fed, the collie died of cancer long before he would be concidered aged

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), November 01, 2001.