Long story short: I got back from vacation to find Boris super-sick as a result of being fed human food. He ate a whole, cooked potato, that took over 30 hours for him to puke up. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the dry heaving. The larger problem was all the other rich, fatty food that he'd apparently eaten with the potato. He finally stopped dry heaving after nearly 60 hours and meds. Ended up with pancreatitus, swollen intestines, and swollen stomach walls but survived and should be mostly fine in two more days. While the story is worth posting simply as a reminder to not feed dogs fatty, rich foods, the real reason I'm posting is for owners of Boris' brothers and sisters.

In diagnosing the "human food" issue above, they had to take x-rays as it originally seemed like he has something stuck in his throat. The vet said the x-rays showed all of the bad food was out and that there were no blockages and therefore no surgery required.

Apparently, the radiologist looked at the x-rays today and happened to notice that two of his discs have "disc disease". Apparently, it is genetic and degenerative. They weren't overly concerned because there isn't much that can be done but suggested I start a joint supplement to slow down the process as much as possible. I certainly don't think it is worth any of Boris' siblings being checked specifically for this but if you ever HAVE to get x-rays, maybe have them take a look. Also, it may be worth it to add a joint supplement just in case.

I have not seen any outward symptoms of the problem but was told that if his rear end ever appears to weaken or move awkwardly that this might be the cause. As far as I'm concerned, Boris has been super healthy and happy so this news doesn't really affect me much. In no way is this posting a dire warning or any indication that I'm unhappy with Boris. My wife contantly begs me to pester Art about doing it again and, honestly, we'd jump at the opportunity to have another one from them if it ever happened.

I hope all the other ones are doing well!

-AP

Bummer on the degenerative disc deal. I guess it's nice to know about it up front.

I have never heard of human food making a dog that sick.

My last lab was an escape artist and did garbage runs a lot. Some mud pies were the only negative I could see.

I've been nice to Chase and he gets some leftovers with the only side effect being he waits until we are done eating to assess if he's eating dog food or the goods. We are talking meat/potatos/fish/vegies/rice for the most part.

Is this a hippy thing or should I be concerned?

Forgot to say I'm glad he's good. They mean a lot.

Dave, there was no tofu or patuli oil involved that I know of. The real problem was that all of the eating happened about 6 to 8 hours before I returned from being gone for a week so I didn't even know what type of food he MIGHT have eaten. Apparently, there was quite the feast made (salmon, potatoes, beef, and side dishes). I KNOW that he ate a potato but have no idea what else. Apparently though, it was a lot of fatty foods. I'm guessing left over steak fat and lots of butter were the main culprits but it is possible that some seasoning/spices made things a lot worse?

I too had NO idea that something as simple as feeding them rich human food could cause this issue. In 15 years of dog ownership, I've seen my share of "mud pies" and puking of grass balls and odd items but I've never seen anything like the violent dry heaving. It would subside for 2 or 3 hours and then go 10 minutes straight like he was almost choking. That went on for days.

Onward and upward!

Thank goodness I don't feed Bear table scraps... Sounds like a pretty awefull 60hour deal...

Thanks for the heads up A.P. and I hope Boris feels better soon!

I would be scared to death if Tye went through all that. I will start him on joint stuff - just cuz it can't hurt.

This was Tye last night at reading with Rover.

thanks for the info, aaron. glad to see Boris is on the mend. we still have occasional issues with these two chewing and eating things they shouldn't! Mack has puked up at least a dozen socks since the beginning of summer. I'm always afraid he's not going to cough one up some day.... Kenna has a weird thing for anything paper, especially paper towel rolls, napkins... I hadn't heard of the people food issue being so severe in a dog. btw, I had a MRI on my spine about 2 years ago, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, stenoses, schmorl's nodes (really, google it!) etc. the more you look, the more you find.... the glucosamine/condroitin thing is probably a good idea for the dogs' knees and hips too. we still nedd to get these pups together!

willy

I'm all for a reunion.

Thats too bad about Boris aaron. Blue is 8 now and hasnt slowed down or missed a step yet. He acts like he is still a pup and shows no signs of any back problems, maybe i should have him checked