First Lick Fit

[Yeti_Girl]

I'm so sorry Jen! I hate the lick fits!!! So he's getting more when its hot outside? Maybe the heat is upsetting his tummy? I wounder if a cool coat would help, or they have those cool down collar things...let me find the link.

Here it is: http://www.inthecompanyofdogs.com/it...srccode=NXBDGO

Better yet, send him to me. We are having PERFECT swissy summer weather.

[Swissy Mom]

Yes, the weather seems to be the one consistent factor. These days when the heat index approaches 110 seem to be more than he can handle. I keep him inside in the air conditioning except to go potty on these days, but he still seems to have fits. This may sound odd, but the barometric pressure readings have been almost identical for each of his fits. 29.92 for all but one and that one was 29.91 (I've been logging the weather along with everything else.) I really wonder if it has to do with atmospheric pressure, which would explain why keeping him in the a/c isn't helping. I suspect that the rapid growth of a young Swissy boy makes him more susceptible and then maybe the pressure triggers it? I don't know. I just really want to understand why it happens.

[mezmerelda]

I don't think that's odd. I tend to get migraines with certain baro pressure readings. It's very interesting.

[Yeti_Girl]

Very interesting!!!

[moondog]

sorry Jen I know its frustrating and you feel helpless. Thankfully he has you to take care of him. I wish I had a good relationship with our breeder. But I have all of you instead!!! Keep up your logging, Im sure something will click soon....like you said if nothing else the weather seems to be a huge factor.

another thing to consider with the weather is we had storms today..... also Id be interested to know what the barometric preassure is on the days where he isn't having licky fit. if it's a huge difference or not??

[Swissy Mom]

UGH...just got home from anniversary dinner and Cash started licking about 15 min after we got home. He just vomited his dinner - he has started vomiting during lick fits even without eating the grass. Ram just said he's about ready to go back to kibble. I don't know what to do.......

[ToBScholarly]

So he is barfing dinner? Not just bile?

[Swissy Mom]

Oh yeah...he loses whatever is in his stomach at the time. Usually dinner, though one day it was breakfast. He has had small bile barfs on two consecutive mornings a few days ago, but other than that when he pukes, he pukes.

[ToBScholarly]

Is he on daily Pepcid?

[Swissy Mom]

I got it this evening...starting tomorrow.

[Yeti_Girl]

Have you talked to your vet at all? I know some of them don't get the lick fit thing, but I feel like once we took Copper to the vet after a long one and they totally doped him up on famotidine. Maybe Cash needs a bit of that first and a bland diet for a couple days? Copper had issues with chicken so when we would do bland we did rice and boiled ground beef and a little pumpkin (like a tablespoon). I wish I could come and help. They are just so frustrating. Hopefully Karen will see this when she gets back from puppy adoption. I know she has had lots of licky fits at her house too.

[moondog]

I agree with Amy I think I would put him on white rice and boiled chicken for a week and see how he does. You can give him flinstone vitamins while hes eating rice and chicken. He may need his stomach settled for a while. If you go back to kibble I think I would add it in VERY slowly. I would add about 1/2 cup of kibble per meal for 3 days then up it to 3/4 for 3 days and so on until he is fully on kibble. What kibble were you feeding him before? I know every dog is different but Baron has had tummy issues since we have had him. He is doing really well on Merrick BG Buffalo. He has had 2 licky fits while he has been on it, he had been eating it for about a year now I think.

[sam.i.am]

I'm sorry he is struggling.
Be careful about choosing a vitamin intended for children. I just looked and it seems like Flintstones Complete vitamins have xylitol, which is poisonous to dogs in small amounts.
http://www.flintstonesvitamins.com/c...ml#ingredients
Calcium Phosphate, Sorbitol, Choline Bitartrate, Magnesium Phosphate, Sodium Ascorbate, Ferrous Fumarate, Gelatin, Corn Starch, Vitamin E, Stearic Acid, Carrageenan, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Soy, Castor), Magnesium Stearate, Zinc Oxide, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Niacinamide, D-Calcium Pantothenate, FD&C Red #40 Aluminum Lake, Silicon Dioxide, Mono- and Di-Glycerides, Aspartame†, FD&C Yellow #6 Aluminum Lake, Sucrose, Xylitol, FD&C Blue #2 Aluminum Lake, Cupric Oxide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Less Than 2% Of: Beta-Carotene, Biotin, Folic Acid, Magnesium Oxide, Monoammonium Glycyrrhizinate, Potassium Iodide, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin B12,Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol).

[moondog]

Oh good catch!!! I was told by a trusted source that they were ok. I initially gave BAron the CVS generic and I didn't check the label right away. Xylitol was much higher on the list in the generic vitamins. I gave them to him for a week before I noticed and they didn't harm him.

[Swissy Mom]

Here's the thing...Cash was doing just fine and had never had a licky fit until the heat really set in and now he only has them on the super hot/humid days. I really kinda want to try to wait it out and see what happens when the weather cools...even a little bit. It really seems to be the excessively hot days that he has them. I'm reluctant to switch everything around when weather is (so far) the only thing that has been consistent on the days he has had them. If the weather cools and the fits continue then we certainly need to look at other causes, but right now it really seems that the excessive heat may be the trigger for him. For now, we're going to try the Pepcid and see what happens.

[mezmerelda]

Well, perhaps one of the cooling products like Amy mentioned might be something to try in the short term? Won't help with pressure, though.

This place has some crate mats. Not sure how good they are. Here's another one from SitStay.com. One more with good prices. They aren't huge, but it's something to try before Cash is full grown.

[Yeti_Girl]

i still think he should come here. quite the mild summer..

[Swissy Mom]

Well, he's still a mama's boy so I'd probably have to come, too.......

[mezmerelda]

Me too. He seemed to like me a lot.

[ToBScholarly]

We could all go to Amy's. It would be a lick fit support group for Cash.