Need opinions

SoCrafty

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#1
Addie is six months old. Her spay is scheduled for the end of July. I don't know if her behaviors are early signs of heat or she has a UTI/Constipation. There is a vet here in town open tomorrow but don't want to take her in if it's just the beginning of heat. Breeder says usually not until 8 months or later in her lines.

We were feeding her Merrick Classic but she got tired of eating Chicken flavored food. She threw up Wellness Core (ate it at my in-laws), she ate TOTW just fine (again at my in-laws) until we bought her some and then continued to throw that up. Switched to Solid Gold, and ate that fine until the last night. It's always whole chunks of undigested kibble on every other brand other than Merrick. She eats chicken breast, hot dogs (for training), fruits, veggies, and Merrick canned with zero issues. It's just other kibble.

Here is what I'm seeing:
- Increase in marking/territorial (peeing several times, mostly over other dogs pee or poo)
- Not enlarged or bleeding
- No abdominal distention
- Gums are pink, blanche when pressed and the turn pink after pressure removed
- Drinking water fine
- Ate Merrick when I hand fed her this morning (about 30 min after she vomitted)
- She seems to be urinating OK...but when not marking she usually walk pee's and then done in about 30 seconds. Both times this morning it was a good pee, and then it seemed like she lingered, maybe feeling like it didn't all come out? Not whimpering or crying though when peeing
- I have not seen her complete a bm today, but I can't tell if she tried or if it was just her peeing. She usually goes at least three times a day.
- not whimpering or acting like in pain
- breathing seems normal rate
- she is playing fine
- Maybe a little bit listless inside? But she ususally lays down and sleeps all day anyway and its been really hot.
- She did wake us up to potty this morning which is slightly unusual, but she has done that before in the past. 99% of the time she sleeps through the night.

Is this worth a vet visit or am I being a worry wart?
 

SoCrafty

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#2
Update: I called her vet and was told to feed her boiled chicken and rice with canned pumpkin for next few days. We have to take her in on Monday if not feeling better or it gets worse.

Vibes?
 

Beanie

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#3
Is it always a chicken formula she throws up? I'm wondering if she has a food sensitivity.
Nothing else alarms me. If it's hot she could be less active due to that, urinating more and more often if she is drinking more because it's hot. And if she's throwing up often, she may not have anything to poop out...

None of it sounds like the beginning of going in season to me, nothing really sounds like anything is wrong with her except the vomiting which sounds like it has been going on for a while...
 

milos_mommy

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I'm a little confused about why you are thinking UTI or first heat??

It sounds like she's got a food sensitivity or stomach bug or just irritated bowl. I'd just be trying a bland diet for a few days and then try again, if it happens again start an elimination diet.
 

SoCrafty

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#5
Well, its not every day that she's throwing up. She did WONDERFUL on Merrick, both the GF and the Classic (both Chicken). She ate grass on the GF, which is why we switched to the Classic. Good BM, breath wasn't stinky, no goopy eyes, had a shiney coat etc.

BG - she has been on Merrick since she came home. Every time we go to my in-laws she goes directly to the food dish (their dog is a very fussy eater and they leave the food out all day because they can't get her to eat). Not my house, can't make them pick it up, but we do try to keep her away from it the best that we can. When she did get some, it was only a few mouthfuls before we caught her.

Earlier in May, we decided that we were going to switch to a different food, because she was not eating her Chicken flavored Merrick food anymore, and I noticed she had lost some weight. She is a small dog on a tiny frame, and it was just more noticeable (to me).

She had diarrhea after few bites of Wellness at their house, so we were extra cautious about that food. We bought her the TOTW food she also ate at the in-laws (she had no tummy issues there ). It was the fish one. But, we learned there was a difference between a few mouthfuls, and eating it all the time. We tried to transition her, but she would pick out the merrick, and leave it on the side of her bowl in a pile and only eat the TOTW. She threw up 3 times, and it was full, whole kibble. Then she had diarrhea so we immediately ceased feeding that. Tried to give her the merrick, wouldn't touch it. She needed to eat so we tried to find something else.

So we fed her Solid Gold, also a fish flavor. We had zero problems with it until her scent class when she threw up her training treats AND whole kibble of Solid Gold. We thought she had eaten too much and was excited, and continued until yesterday.

She was straining to poo, and I thought she was developing a UTI because it looked like she was not behaving normally when she peed. It looked like she was going, going, going, but it was a normal pee and then she was just standing there, looking like she still had to go. After 24 hrs, she finally had a large bm, and today it has been diarrhea. After having such a large bm, it seems today that her peeing is normal and maybe the sensation of constipation was causing her weird pee from yesterday?

I had read that females will go off their food, pee more than usual and have some personality changes when they go on heat. And since she wasn't eating her food, had different peeing habits and she was a little bit more sedate than usual, I didn't know what to consider it.

We have to feed her the chicken and rice thing until Monday. And you guys may be right. It might be a food sensitivity issue since it both TOTW and Solid Gold were fish. Come to think of it, I think thr Wellness might have been too. :eek:

But the rolled training treats for class was Duck and Turkey and she has had Turducken from Merrick (canned) without problem. But since there was kibble, maybe it was the kibble and the treats just hadn't digested yet?

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to make sure I amswered everything and give a better background. I am probably overreacting but I love this dog so much and we really enjoy her company and want to make sure that we are doing everything to make her happy and healthy.
 
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