Vomiting and diarrhea every two weeks.

Dr. Marie replied:

I'm sorry to hear of Alfie's recurring problems with diarrhea and vomiting. It's unusual for a dog to get sick on such a regular schedule like this.

If Panacur seemed to work, you could ask your vet about doing some repeat dosing of the Panacur. There are some parasites (such as whipworms that are very hard to find on testing occasionally) that need multiple doses of Panacur to be eradicated. Some vets will treat now, three weeks from now and then three months from now.

It's possible that Alfie is reacting to something in his diet. If you do give him treats or table food it may be a good idea to keep a diary of what he eats to see if you can find out what type of food is triggering the attacks.
Sometimes when I have dogs with periodic stomach upset I will put them on a special bland diet for several months and then try to gradually introduce new foods. You can talk to your vet about that.

Another possibility is some type of foreign object in his stomach. If it is small enough that it is not completely blocking him it could cause intermittent vomiting. However, diarrhea would not normally be a component of this type of problem.

If this were my case I would be recommending some routine blood testing for Alfie to look for signs of underlying disease. Small dogs can be prone to something called a liver shunt which can cause periodic problems. Sometimes there can be clues on blood testing, but not always. Similarly, a condition called addison's disease can cause periodic vomiting and diarrhea and can sometimes be picked up on regular blood work, but sometimes more specific tests such as an ACTH stim test would need to be done.

Another thing I would be suggesting is some xrays to look for the possibility of a foreign object.

Cases like this are tough because there are so many possibilities. And, in some cases we don't find the cause.

I hope you get to the bottom of things soon!

Dr. Marie



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