My 10 year old Rat Terrier has had a sensitive stomach all her life. Occasionally, I will hear her tummy gurgling loudly, like a churning stomach acid sound, and she will not want to eat. That’s when I know she feels bad because she always wants to eat! Sometimes when her stomach is upset I will see her go outside and vomit, typically a frothy, mucousy substance. But she doesn’t always throw up.
A couple years ago when her stomach was making a lot of noise and she looked miserable, I took her to the vet. The vet gave her a probiotic and recommended switching her food to Science Diet or Royal Canin. She had been eating Nutro Chicken & Brown Rice most of her life, although I had switched her to the Senior formula around that time and thought maybe the glucosamine was upsetting her stomach. After the probiotic and trying the new food (I tried both brands), she was still having her occasional stomach issues.
I eventually switched her to Blue Buffalo and she seemed to do well for awhile, but every so often her tummy would get upset again. I decided to try a slow feed puzzle bowl to slow down her eating since she always eats way too fast and I know that can cause bloat. It definitely slowed her down, from less than a minute to almost 5 minutes! That was good to see. Again, her stomach was good for awhile but then the gurgling started back up. I decided to try grain free food. I discovered the Blue Buffalo formula had garlic (which is known to be toxic) so I tried Avoderm (which made her really itchy) and then found Zignature. No grain, no potato, no fish oil, no garlic. So if it was a food sensitivity, this should take care of it, right? Well, the gurgly stomach started up again! So what in the world could be causing it?
A couple years ago when her stomach was making a lot of noise and she looked miserable, I took her to the vet. The vet gave her a probiotic and recommended switching her food to Science Diet or Royal Canin. She had been eating Nutro Chicken & Brown Rice most of her life, although I had switched her to the Senior formula around that time and thought maybe the glucosamine was upsetting her stomach. After the probiotic and trying the new food (I tried both brands), she was still having her occasional stomach issues.
I eventually switched her to Blue Buffalo and she seemed to do well for awhile, but every so often her tummy would get upset again. I decided to try a slow feed puzzle bowl to slow down her eating since she always eats way too fast and I know that can cause bloat. It definitely slowed her down, from less than a minute to almost 5 minutes! That was good to see. Again, her stomach was good for awhile but then the gurgling started back up. I decided to try grain free food. I discovered the Blue Buffalo formula had garlic (which is known to be toxic) so I tried Avoderm (which made her really itchy) and then found Zignature. No grain, no potato, no fish oil, no garlic. So if it was a food sensitivity, this should take care of it, right? Well, the gurgly stomach started up again! So what in the world could be causing it?