# Westie stomach issues- please help



## tebberen (May 15, 2012)

HI

I would really appreciate some advice.

Our precious Westie, Dougal is 3. He was being very sick a few weeks ago. After bloods, x rays etc, they found that he has an extremely sensitive stomach and gave him tablets away. Advised to give him very small doses of food and water regularily and to use James Wellbeloved chicken and rice.

Yesterday and today he has been sick, twice with food, and twice with water (But the latter was after walks and he perhaps gulped too much down). About a week ago my husband bought IAMS instead of James, and been giving him that.

I would really appreciate advice from anyone who can help before taking back to vet. Could the food be doing this, or is the vet wrong about the diagnosis? I don't know what to do. He is sick, but just once after eating or drinking. He is still energetic and stools are formed. He is 3 and is overweight which we are trying to rectify.

Any help to make him better would be appreciated


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## Galadriel17 (Jan 22, 2012)

Was he OK on the James Wellbeloved? Some foods agree with some dogs and some don't.

When you say the vets found he had a sensitive stomach; I'm guessing that was a diagnosis of exclusion i.e. they couldn't find anything else wrong with him?

Does he eat really quickly?


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## tebberen (May 15, 2012)

Hi

Thanks very much for your reply.
Yes they did not find anything else. I think he must eat quite quickly, but dont have another dog to compare him to.

He seemed ok on James Wellbeloved, but if I remember rightly, he was sick once straight after, but again, the quantity may have been too much for him perhaps?


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## Galadriel17 (Jan 22, 2012)

Hmm, maybe try giving him his food in a Kong to slow him down a bit and see if that helps.

Do you change food frequently? That can upset tums...

If I was you then I'd find a no grain food that's fish based like Fish4Dogs or Orijen 6 Fish (I found a website the other day that's selling F4Ds for £36 so not that much more than JWB) that's easier to digest, change it over gradually, feed from a Kong and she how he does.


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## Nonnie (Apr 15, 2009)

If he has a sensitive stomach, i'd avoid dried food altogether tbh.

What exactly is he sensitive to? Is it a dietry allergy confirmed by tests?


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## tebberen (May 15, 2012)

Hi the vet did not say, they only said he has a very sensitive stomach.


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## Mum2Heidi (Feb 17, 2010)

Hi, 
I have a little westie x JR and can only pass on what I found worked for mine. She had an ongoing sensitive tum for months. Just when I thought we were ok, back we would go again.

For us, any kibble is out other than for treats. I tried lots of different makes.

Wainwrights wet food trays from Pets at Home were a godsend. They are high in fibre like chappie (which worked well but the high cereal content made her itch).

I also used Pooch and Mutts Bionic Biotics ([email protected] sell in) alongside and she was soon back to rights. It took a while to strengthen it up so I could introduce other foods but now she has lots of different treats and a variety of wet foods. No need for BB either 

Hope you find something that works for you little lad


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## tebberen (May 15, 2012)

I should consider wet food, my only concern was it being bad for his teeth as he is not keen on brushing!

Thank you!


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## Lyceum (Sep 25, 2009)

The type of food you feed had no baring on teeth. 

Dry food is about as good for a dogs teeth as a ginger biscuit is for your teeth. 

It's carbs. Any food you feed with carbs, the carbs will cling to the teeth. 

A Rae chicken wing a few times a week or a stag bar will keep the teeth nice and clean no matter what you feed. 

I'd also go for wet ad it's easier to digest. Wainwrights trays (not the tins) get my vote too. Life saver for me when Novak was ill. 

If you want to feed dry go completely grain free and go for an uncommon protein like duck etc. not chicken.


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## Stephsssss (May 16, 2012)

Hi there,
I have 2 14 year old westies and one of them has had issues with his stomach for pretty much all of his life. He would either get over excited or eat too much too quickly and the poor little guy would throw it all up five minutes later. The vet said he just had a sensitive stomach as he has been healthy and happy and very active otherwise.
I found that giving him small quantities of food worked well and I have used various brands over the years.
Hope this helps.


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## silverbeetle (Jul 17, 2009)

I have a young westie too who has problems with chicken - any form of chicken really upsets his tummy. 

Freddie has Naturediet and does really well on it. I only give him the lamb or turkey & rabbit flavours (he used to have the fish but was never enthusiastic about eating it).

I feed him twice daily and split each portion into two - he has a short gap between eating each portion (he really eats fast and I find this slows him down and makes him less likely to be sick after food).

I would really recommend the Naturediet - he has good solid poos and lovely skin and coat. He does have tinned mackeral in tomato sauce ocassionally too which helps his skin and coat. I give him evening primrose oil in his food three times a week too - his breeder recommended this as being good for his skin.

Hope this helps


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## Jacquelinemary (Mar 5, 2011)

Westie Owners -- Please contact me if you would like any samples - k9natural is IDEAL for Westies ---message me with address and I will send samples and info x


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## BowWowPetsUK (May 2, 2012)

Another vote for Naturediet here. A lot of our customers who have Westies use naturediet, as I believe they can have sensitive digestion. The kibble/teeth thing is also a bit of a myth. A dogs natural teeth cleaning mechanism if chewing (ideally for 20 mins) ..so bones etc are great for this. You can also remove existing plaque quite effectively with neem bark powder (a fraction of a teaspoon in their feed, over a period of 3-4 weeks, the plaque just softens and disappears). I did this with my rescue lurcher whose teeth, as you can imagine, were absolutely manky. Now they're all sparkly clean. Marvellous stuff


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