Boxer with constant stomach problems

If anyone can help with any advice I would be very grateful. We have a rescued boxer that came from the local stray kennels right at Christmas. We have had him in a foster home since then but he has had constant problems with his guts. He has been back and forth to the vets, had bloods, rectal swabs, different diet, anti-biotics, kaogel in fact every thing we can think of. He is about 5 years old, looks fit and well, definately not underweight.
We are now clutching at straws as to a reason or a solution. We have managed to rehome him but are still paying his way with the vet. His new family are brilliant but are worried about him. He is ok for a few days and then gets the runs again, sometimes accompanied by vomitting. Any answers???????

Hi novavizz .If the tests have all proved negative the dog may be one of the odd few that are prone to tummy problems..perhaps he just can't metabolise food very well to get the full nutrients. ...you haven't said what he is fed on.

I would stabilise his tummy with white rice and white fish (you can buy packs of frozen white fish quite reasonably at the supermarket) with porridge (no milk but a little honey)for breakfast then find a food that agrees with him( by a process of elimination) , feed small meals and stick to it.

Hi Novavizz, sounds like you have done just about everything with the vet on this one, and it might just be that his guts have taken a bashing with being fed on rubbish food in the past, and consequently he's unable to cope properly now. Have you thought about trying him on a digestive/low fat diet? One of my dogs with digestive problems is on this and she's fine. It is a prescription only diet made by Royal Canin, who make all sorts of different prescription foods, and this one is specifically for dogs with constant diarrhea or sickness, and EPI. Maybe ask your vet about it, or I could give you a link as to where you can get it on the net, where I get mine from, and they deliver within 2 days. Natural yoghurt with the bio-cultures in will be very good for him too, and I give mine this every day which helps.Because he's a rescue dog, I really feel this is what has happened to him from his puppy years and the only way you can deal with it to a certain extent is find the right food, and usually this means cutting out the fats. Good luck, you sound a wonderful person to be covering his vet's costs, and if you're insured maybe they would pay for this prescription food, mine did for one year only though. Ask your vet about it, he'll probably know of this food.

thanks for your replies. We have tried the rice and fish - no joy. At the moment he is on (yet again) 24 hours starvation then to go onto Gluten free to see if that works. We have tried potato, hard boiled eggs and all the usual things for upset tummies to no avail. He has been in a home for the first five years of his life(details checked through his micro-chip) and only unwanted since Christmas. His bills are being paid by Hull Boxer Rescue of which I am Vicechair and of course, because we are a charity, we are not insured for vet bills.

What food are you feeding at the moment?

I have a boxer that when she has an upset tummy giving her chicken and rice or any of the usual foods recommended for stomach upsets makes her ten times worse. After starving for 24 hours I have to give her small portions of her normal food then work back up to normal portions.

I cant ever give her any processed foods as this is one of things that sets her off.

Could be the same for your rescue boxer

Hi novavizz can you elaborate a little on what you mean by' no joy'..was there no change at all in the colour and consistency of the faeces ? As you know rice is gluten free and usually works as does fish..I steer clear of chicken these days unless it is free range, the fast reared/mass produced chickens sold in supermarkets have been found to contain hight levels of fat so are best avoided when treating chronic diarrhea.

Latest on Max. He has a decent night, stools are still a bit cow-patty but no linger projectile. We are thinking that he cannot tolerate any fresh meat/fish. Also awaiting results of blood tests which were taken yesterday. Should have results back by tea-time Saturday. No more vomitting, but he did have a Tagamet jab.Fingers crossed.

Glad he's a bit better then, and I would be interested to hear the results of the blood tests if you can tell us? I'm always interested in gastric problems, you can't learn enough imo.

Hope he is on the way to sorting his problems out, sounds a bit like my German Shepherd Jasper. He had a very delicate tum, just a small piece of biscuit or a scrap off the floor and he'd have diarrhoea for a couple of days

In the end we fed him on James Wellbeloved Lamb & Rice and this seemed to settle him down, we just had to be careful he didn't get chance of any scraps!

Blood results not back yet. Max has passed normal stools today, he is however, on a course of anti-biotics(yet again), it remains to be seen what will happen when he finishes them. All he has had to eat is James Wellbeloved Gluten Free. No meat, no fish, no treats.