Tetchy tummy? Sick? Lack of stamina?
This morning Gus had his breakfast (dry kibble) at 8:30 am and we took him for his walk around noon. As usual, he began running flat out (it’s amazing how much ground he can cover in a short time), but after 20 minutes he was dragging his tail and panting heavily. It was relatively cool (53°F) and he’d just had his summer “puppy cut,” so I’m fairly certain he wasn’t overheated. Gus looked so tuckered, I gave him some room-temperature water. It was as if he’d been dying of thirst. He lapped up the water, then proceeded to upchuck his breakfast. Gross! But he didn’t seem to be sick; on the way back he pretty much walked, but did have a few good sprints. When we got home, all Gus wanted to do was drink. I let him have a few mouthfuls, then took the water away, let him have a few more mouthfuls, then took it away again. I kept repeating this until he had had his fill, but he wasn’t allowed to gorge himself at one time. As I said, he doesn’t seem sick. He’s out in the yard now, barking up a storm at the neighbor’s horses (as usual). I should mention last week I didn’t give him water on his walk, but when we got home he gorged himself and upchucked, too. Is this normal behavior for an OES? Am I doing something wrong? Thanks in advance for any and all advice! |
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| Hi,
Welcome to the forum! I wish I could offer advice as to what is causing Gus this problem but I don't have the answer. You are doing the right things. Generally with our type of dogs there is always the danger of bloat so best to avoid excercise immediately after eating. However it appears you waited for several hours. This forum has many knowlegable people and I'm hoping someone has come across this problem and can assist you. You'd probably have better luck asking in the medical forum and one of the moderators could possibly move this post for you. I'll send one of them an email and request it. Best wishes to you. Belly rubs to Gus. Marianne |
| No, I wouldn't say it's normal, and it may be that the lack of stamina and upchucking etc are not related. (Throwing up after drinking water too fast is not unheard of) Sounds to me like you're doing exactly the right things (no exercising immediately after eating, not letting him gulp too much water)
My first approach, were he my dog, would be to run a full thyroid panel (not just the inhouse T4 - for more info on hypothyroidism & testing, you can check the OFA site http://www.offa.org/thyinfo.html) If his thyroid comes back normal, my next stop would be a cardiologist, just to be safe. Only reason I'm bringing this up is that your description reminds me of my first OES, back in the dark ages  She was like that all her life and died of congestive heart failure weeks after she turned 11. Looking back - I got her from a BYB so no help from the breeder and I don't think my vets back then were the greatest either - I always wondered if she was hypothyroid and we missed it. And further if she also had cardiomyopathy and we missed that earlier on too.
Years later when I was talking to a cardiologist while getting some of my current OES screened, she described a study they had done at U-Madison. There was one lone OES (dogs in study all had cardiomyopathy) whom as part of the general health screening they discovered was hypothroid. They put the dog on meds for his thyroid problem and his heart issues stopped progressing and may even have improved a bit. They lost other dogs in the study, but he was still going strong at that point, several years later. That does NOT mean that's what you're seeing. There may be and probably is no heart involvement at all. I just thought it was an interesting finding, even though it was one lone case, so worth mentioning to people in general. But hypothyroidism will often be accompanied by a lack of stamina, so it would definitely be worth ruling that out. I presume the young lad is in good weight? Kristine |
| Gus's weight usually fluctuates between 85 - 90 lbs. (it's hard to get a definitive reading at the groomer's because Gus won't stay still on the scale).
I thought he looked so cute and cuddly when in full sheepie coat -- and then last week we had him "puppy cut" for summer. Yikes! I suppose the vet would say Gus is at an ideal weight (you can't quite feel his ribs), but to me he looks so skinny! I miss my fluffy furball! Thanks for the tip about thyroid testing. Gus is due for a visit to the vet's next week and I'll be sure to mention it to the doctor. |
| Have you tried just walking him and not letting him run full speed. Maybe he just gets tired after the sprinting around and doesn't want to walk anymore. |
| My firtst thought was also thyroid for lack of stamina which may be contributing to a heart problem. In addition to the web site mentioned, let me include this:
http://www.apubasenjis.com/OVMAProc1.htm Dr. Dodds has done extensive work with OES as well as other breeds in their thyroid testing and evaluation. Ideally it would be great to also send her a sample, but vets are often very territorial and won't share the samples. Yes, a fresh sample has to be "over nighted" to Dr. Dodds. On the flip side she gets right back to you personally in most cases and gladly works with your vet. So yes, first, get your vet to do the other thyroid tests, not just the T4. As for touchy tummy sheepie........I've got one too. She is a pill to kept fed. I've found she does far better with 3 mini meals. |
| There´s a special food for high-performance dogs, maybe you can try with that. |
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