Dog Health Problems: Loss of Appetite and Vomiting

IdeaMan21 | April 23rd, 2009

Our 12 year old Collie-Akita mix has been experiencing loss of appetite and regular vomiting for the past 2 weeks. We have taken him to the vet for another issue (infected eye) recently and at all visits (4) we mentioned the vomiting. We’ve been told to keep an eye on it and come in again if it continues.

Up to this point, Willy has had no health problems and has always had a hearty appetite. The eye problem and the appetite problem seemed to occur at the same time.

I should note that he has not stopped eating, he just needs to be coaxed to eat and doesn’t eat his normal portions. Also, he is up to date on all his shots. We haven’t been feeding raw, but he does get a good quality canned and dry food – most recently EVO.

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I’d suspect that a super high fat and protein dry food like EVO is way too much for your 12 year old dog. And unfortunately, being ‘up to date on all his shots’ is not a good thing, and is likely contributing to his state of feeling unwell. At his age he should never have another shot.

Rabies is the only vaccine required by law, and if you give it, should only be given once every 3 years. He no doubt has immunity to the rest of the things vaccines are given for, and you can’t boost immunity with more vaccinations. Please don’t vaccinate him any more, and if you won’t consider a raw diet, find a human grade meat based food that does not have 42% protein and 22% fat.

It is most unfortunate, that your 12 year old Collie-mix is up-to-date
with all of his shots. What shots, other than rabies, has the dog
received? And how often?

Do you also give heart worm medicine? Its hard to believe that the dog has been so healthy before all this vomiting, I mean with ears, skin and maybe diarrhea at some points or another?

A lot of times you’ll hear vets give you all kinds of sayings like, oh that’s normal, or that’s nothing serious, when in fact, they could are usually are signs of something else that needs to be looked at and taken care of.

The most important thing is to find a vet that will not ignore the
vomiting. If my dog were vomiting, I would want to know why. Is it a stomach issue? Is something blocked somewhere down the line? What does the vomit look like? Does it have foam? Is it bile? Vomiting,
especially if it does happen too often is definitely NOT a good thing.

The issue with the eye… maybe going to an eye specialist would be your best bet sometimes. I don’t know how infected it is, or what it
looks like, but be very weary of an antibiotic cream for the eyes. They can do more harm than good. Find yourself a more holistic vet for starters. And DO NOT give your senior dog any more shots of ANY kind.

They are not necessary, and if mandated by law that they have to have a rabies, see if an exemption would satisfy the county’s conditions, since health can be the reason for exemption in this case.

I’m really sorry your dog has to go through all this. Before you can treat the dog, you have to be 100% sure of the diagnosis. Fasting is
sometimes a medicine in itself, and if its losing water through
excessive vomiting, then you need to hydrate.

Hope the pup is feeling better now. Get well soon!

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