What would you do if this was your dog?

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jmcgintee

OSU c/o 2014!!!!
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So...Here's the story!

I have a 10 1/2 month old English mastiff pup. Just about 100lbs. Since about 3 months of age she has been a chronic vomiter 🙁 About every 6-9days she would have a morning of vomiting, no appetite and feel crappy for a day. We've done multiple fecals, blood work, urinalysis, special intestinal food, limited ingredient food etc...I brought her to an internal medicine specialist where they tested for other things and so far everything has come back normal. Shes on 15mg of metaclopramide 3x daily, 10mg pepcid 2x, and 1/4 tsp Tylan poweder 2x (Had recently took her off of tylan but there was more vomiting when this occured). The vomiting is no longer a full day affair but she does vomit once or twice 2-4 days/week. Basically my only option to try to figure this out is an Endoscopy, upper and lower GI ($1700). Now if i knew that scoping her would definitely give me an answer then I would probably go for it but it may not give me an answer and then I will have wasted $1700 and I've already spend about that will all the vet bills up to this point.

Also, the strainge thing about the vomiting is that she vomits food 8-12hrs after eating so it's some sort of a hypomotility issue

What would you do?????😕
 
I'm sorry you are dealing with this.

I think there are a few questions to consider with any sort of diagnostic test, especially one that is expensive and/or invasive, that might swing you in one direction or the other:
- What NEW information do we expect to gain?
- What will we DO with this information? What are the treatment options for the things you might find? Are you willing/able to treat these things?
- Are there other ways to gain this information? (in your case, it sounds like the answer is no)
- In other words, how will this information change your plan and the ultimate outcome?

On a more personal level, ask yourself if you have the money for the endoscopy, and if you have the money and the mindset (are you willing to do it? what will the effect on the dog be?) to deal with any treatments that might be recommended pursuant to the endoscopy. If the answer is surgery and you can't afford surgery, there's no point in doing the diagnostic test.

I don't think anyone can answer for you how YOU feel about the situation and what you are willing to do, but asking yourself and the vet these questions might bring some clarity.

To give you an example of a how one might use these questions to come to a conclusion in a VERY DIFFERENT setting, I have a cat for whom I took over responsibility for care from my parents when I was old enough and had the money. She is currently 17 and has had GI issues for years whose causes are not apparent from bloodwork and rads. I have opted not to do endoscopy or anything invasive (ex-lap was even floated) because she is elderly and she does not cope well with stress (licks her hair out). The two main things it could be at this point are IBD and neoplasia. I'm not going to do chemo with her, but I am willing to try steroids without a diagnosis if she gets to that point; she is currently doing well with a diet change and SQ fluids for her kidneys, with a series of Cerenia to stop her vomiting when she gets bad. However, I could see someone coming to a different conclusion with a young animal.
 
Well, if her quality of life on the good days is high, and the good days outnumber the bad I would do the endoscopy. Just for a frame of reference though, I had a 13 year old dog with osteosarcoma (with possible mets) that I did limb amputation and chemo on, and at the time I was not making much $$. But to me it was worth it because she had great quality of life at that point and she was not ready to give up, so I didn't either.

Just wanted to add, I saw that you're c/o 2014, this may be something that your school will give a discount on. This may help you make a decision. Also it may be that your school has a payment plan for veterinary expenses. Just another thought.
 
Sorry, we're not allowed to give veterinary advice. This thread will likely be closed soon--but I would follow the recommendations of your vet or another vet that you trust.
 
Of course I am not a veterinarian, so take this with many many grains of salt, but this sounds a bit like a fluke case we had at the clinic where I work. We had a cat that had been vomiting pretty regularly for about 3 months. She was however, eating regularly, and even having bm's. Not every day, but at least several times a week. She was only about 6 months old, so she too had started vomiting at about 3 mos of age. The vets had tried numerous things over the next few months and nothing worked. They finally decided to do a barium x ray and saw that everything wasn't going through as it should have been. Well, one exploratory surgery later, they had a large plastic button, and now the cat is fine! As a kitten, I guess the cat had been playing with this button and accidentally swallowed it.

Crazy case... and im sure yours is not the same, but have you had a barium study done yet?
 
Sorry, we're not allowed to give veterinary advice. This thread will likely be closed soon--but I would follow the recommendations of your vet or another vet that you trust.


Why close the thread? The OP is not asking for a diagnosis. Only posing a question to other pet owners about their own experiences in dealing with such a diagnosis and how they chose to proceed. Is this really not allowed here?
 
Why close the thread? The OP is not asking for a diagnosis. Only posing a question to other pet owners about their own experiences in dealing with such a diagnosis and how they chose to proceed. Is this really not allowed here?

Why close the thread: Because it will end in people giving medical (even if they do not realize it) advice, and CAN harm the animal.
 
Why close the thread: Because it will end in people giving medical (even if they do not realize it) advice, and CAN harm the animal.

Fair enough. After all, this is a pre-veterinary student forum. There are other places better suited for pet advice.
 
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