I Love My Orange (Syracuse Grad) But Am a Little Blue As We Figure What To Do with Glamis's Recent Stomach Issues. I Wish Her Drama Was Only an Act

This is a new one for me with dog ownership. Nail clippings, eating stuff that shouldn't be eaten, fleas, skunks, cuts, brawls, colds, etc. - that's normal. So are the ailments of aging, losing energy, graying, and simply not having puppy tendencies. 

Glamis is still a puppy. Well, she's almost seven, but she's full of energy: walks 4 to 6 miles a day with all of us in the house, loves to fetch and play with all her toys, entertains the neighborhood with the model-like performances in the bay window, has healthy dates with several dogs in the area.

But right before the skunk incident a few weeks ago, she was having trouble keeping her food down. I think my earliest memory of this was walking a 7 mile hike with her in January when she spit up bile and laid down in the middle of a lawn. Tunga was at head of the leash. 

It was mild at first, but quickly became every day, and when we finally took her into the vet she was down 14 pounds. We poured $$$ into medicines and she took them like a champ, began eating regularly again, and played like everything was normal. But the medicine ran out, and suddenly she wasn't keeping food down. The only think that seems to sit well in her stomach is scrambled eggs. She's had success for a week with that, so I moved up to boiled chicken and rice. She LOVED it. In fact, she digested, sat with it for a while, and got an energy that I couldn't keep up with: running, playing with sticks, bringing me all her toys, and sprinting around the yard with spring joy.

Then she vomited again. The chicken seemed to be digested, but the rice was rejected.

I did research and went to the store for canned pumpkin. I'm hoping that will stay down. 

It's just weird to me to know that a dog has eaten the same dog foot for 7 years and then one day rejects it. It seems odd and as if something else is going on. I just wish I knew what it was. At first, she was like nah with the pumpkin, but I also put puppy beef products...little cups that were mostly liquid to see if that would work. Once I mixed them in too, she was interested and ate the whole thing. If it stays down, we're making progress. 

And I've allowed her to sleep in my room again, which means she sleeps alongside me absorbing all my warmth. Something brings me serenity knowing that she's comfortable, breathing, and lying safely as we figure out what, exactly, is going on.