I wonder if you can help... My dog is a Samoyed male 9 years of age. Always been healthy and never really had any problems up until the last two years. It started when I noticed that every time he was on a walk he would try to be sick, and overtime resulted in him trying so hard he would fall to the ground and shake for a few seconds. His sick also contained blood so of course we rushed him to the vets, here I was told to try and catch one of his episodes on film which I managed to do. It was sent to many professional veterinarians although his condition could and can still not be explained. He next had a scan of his stomach where they found a lump thought to be cancerous, it was operable so our vet was able to remove as much as possible but explained to us that it didn’t look like cancer and more like a stomach ulcer. A sample was sent off and came back stating ‘abnormal cells’ and is still to this day not thought to be cancer. He went back to his normal bright self, keeping him on his medication being Metoclopramide, Omeprazole (gastro resistant capsules) and a syringe of Gaviscon to help with the stomach acid however, if we missed one of his medications in a day he would try to be sick again. The vets explained how his fitting episodes may actually be fainting so this put our minds at ease. Still with me….??? A year on and he started being sick again and fussy with his food however his fainting (or fitting) was very rare but we still continued with his medicine. He was scoped at the vets to find that the ulcer had grown back but not any bigger than it was. One day he started Coughing and refused to eat his food, we also noticed he was experiencing pain when lifting his head so back to the vets we went after about a week of him eating nothing and trying to be sick. Here he was put on a drip and kept overnight, they then tried him on liquidized food which he ate and we bought boxes of it for home. He was then scoped to look in his stomach and at his throat which found nothing, he was xrayed on his lungs which found nothing and stomach which found a carcase of some kind. This was thought to be the problem for his loss of appetite however didn’t explain his neck, coughing and loss of bark. Steroid injections were given to reduce inflammation of the neck which seemed to work! For the next few months he was back to himself appetite increased bouncy as ever! It got to a stage where the steroid injections were so small less than you would give a cat and basically not really affecting him. Only problem was he still coughed now and then and his bark still hadn’t come back. The present … One day walking about 3 weeks ago his appetite had decreased and he was coughing and trying so hard to be sick although he hadn’t eaten so had nothing to get out. When we did feed him, he would throw up straight away yet this time instead of yellow/ blood in the sick, it was pure white froth. My dad had already booked a family holiday ( we booked once we thought our Samoyed was better) and didn’t want to leave him in such a state. While we were away our family friends had said he was hardly eating although still drinking. When we returned he went extremely downhill. He is so weak from not eating but he wants to eat, everytime the fridge is opened or he hears a packet rustle his eyes are wide and his ears are up and I offer him some and sometimes he will eat sometimes not. We have tried him on liquidised food again but the thought of food to him makes him gag. We have been force feeding him with a big syringe and since then has perked up. However sometimes he will eat solids sometimes not I have tried everything. Tonight I tried him on boiled rice and he ran to it to start eating then ended up coughing it back up, his coughing is a lot worse and breathing sounds like snoring. His coughing makes him gag and he keeps dribbling which is very unlike him. We have been to the vets and they suggested upping his steroid dosage again however when this happened it made him extremely dozy and lifeless just lying down dribbling. When we force feed him he wants the food he doesn’t pull away or spit it out. He is happy in himself wants to come for car rides and walk although he is extremely weak which makes me think hes not ready to give up yet as he drinks regularly and wants the food. It’s so sad to see and I am just looking for answers. He also hasn’t been for a poo but that may be to do with the lack of food. I am not sure if any of the above problems link to the problem now but thought its best to say just encase sorry it’s so long. We love him so much and willing to do anything. If you recognise any of the symptoms please help!! We considered putting him to sleep but seeing him perk up makes us think he still wants to fight. Thanks for your time.
Welcome Hattie. Reading this I'm so sorry for you and your boy. I hope someone comes along with a positive suggestion for you, as this is completely beyond my range of experience. It is always unpleasant having to force feed - is there nothing that might tempt him, and stay down if given in small enough quantities? (ie. Mashed tinned sardines, tinned rice pudding, beef broth with a little mashed potato etc.). I send you my best wishes, and hope that your vets can find the basic cause before it becomes too late. I admire your persistence and dedication to your obviously much loved dog.
