a day of barium xrays

So the vet did a series of barium xrays all day yesterday. Preston's stomach emptied properly and quickly, so it's not what they were thinking. It's also not hiatal hernia ... Apparently the specialist looked for that before.

So this is good news and bad news. The good news is, we're holding off on surgery for now, and waiting to see if this is transient, and if we can keep him from vomiting for 4-6 weeks. I've lowered his level of exercise and excitement which seemed to bring stuff up.

The bad news is we still don't know what's wrong, and thus cannot fix it. The vets (two specialists and my own) have all agreed that we've kind of exhausted our supply of medications and testing - nothing new to try.

So all I can do is hope it mends itself, for now!

As a side note, the vet tech said she can see why I would be okay with spending so much money on Preston ... She said he's a total doll and sweetie! I think Preston has an admirer! ;)

i have an addiction...

I think I'm addicted to collars. No, I know I'm addicted to collars. I buy most of my collars from Randi of Zoe's Collection - and boy, do I ever buy a lot!

Preston just got a new shipment of collars and matching leashes in :) weeeee!!

ice, ice baby!

Food on ice, that is. Frozen food... RAW food. I did some researching yesterday and spoke with other dog owners and decided RAW was the way to go! Some people even said their dog's problems completely cleared up after switching them to raw food.

I went to Global Petfoods yesterday and bought Nature's Variety in Venison, which is supposed to be the most easily digested. I got a big bag of the patties, and a smaller bag of the medallions. Preston will be eating about half a patty and one medallion per day. I also bought some Activia yogurt which has probiotics. I'll feed him a spoonful of that a day. The big bag cost $28.99 and the small bag $15.99. With about 15 patties and 30-odd medallions, that will last a month. More costly than the Eagle Pack kibble I had been buying, but less costly than the Eagle Pack canned food, I think this is a happy medium and I'm also quite pleased that he's on an all-natural diet. I feel very strongly that dogs need meat, veggies, NO GRAINS, and need to eat like their wolf brethren.

I will buy another bag of a different meat in a week or two, and mix them up for some variety.

THIS MAY BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE PROBLEMS! If his problems clear up without surgery or lengthy medicating ... it will be due to the food and I will promote it EVERYWHERE!

change of pace

Well - Preston has been regurgitating again. He lasted all of about two weeks before he started throwing up his medications. We cut out the Gaviscon in case it was hindering the other meds and got a new medication, Metoclopramide, to help move the food along and reduce nausea. We also changed the schedule so that the day kind of went like this:

6:00: Sucralfate
8:00: Cisapride / Metoclopramide
8:30: breakfast
4:15: Sucralfate
5:15: Cisapride / Metoclopramide
5:45: dinner
9:45: Sucralfate
10:45: Cisapride / Metoclopramide / Omeprazole

Fastforward a week. Preston starts regurgitating with exercise or excitement. We picked up the renewal prescription on Saturday and he threw up three times after during our romp in the woods. Yesterday, Sunday, he didn't throw up the entire Boston Terrier meet but did right after arriving home and jumping out of the van, and then again in the house.

I phoned the vet this morning and we are changing the schedule again. He thought perhaps the Sucralfate is working so well that it's hindering all the other meds. So we're going to switch the timing around, in order to be giving that AFTER.

6:15: Cisapride / Metoclopramide
6:45: breakfast
8:45: Sucralfate
4:15: Cisapride / Metoclopramide
4:45: dinner
6:45: Sucralfate
9:45: Cisapride / Metoclopramide / Omeprazole
10:45: Sucralfate

We will have to see if this works. I am going to buy some highly digestible food for him tonight. The vet wanted IAMS special formula for puppies ... But I hate IAMS and refuse to feed that to my dog. Only the best. I'm conferring with other Boston owners and will update!