Expert: Silva Mirovics - 3/16/2008

Question
Our lab Bailey, 7 years old, has had a tough year with a botched up hysterectomy and exploratory surgery.  I have to blend her wet food in a blender for her to eat.  Either in the morning or at dinner, she HAS to throw up a mucus, saliva substance.  Once this comes up, everything is fine.  I've tried anti-acids, feeding her later or earlier, but nothing helps.  Any suggestions?  I'm sure throwing up once a day is not good for her.  No more playing when she eats.  She just sleeps unless I take her out.

Answer
Barb, Have you taken Bailey to a vet who specializes in natural therapies?  I am not quite sure of what the correlation is between the hysterectomy and her digestion?  Are these two separate issues?  You should speak to a herbalist about getting her on a liver detox as it seems she has had a lot of surgery, and it would be very beneficial for her to get rid of the toxic build up caused by anaesthetic.
Secondly, her digestive problems could be easily fixed by adding a digestive supplement to her meals.  Products that contain Digestive enzymes, acidophilus etc... are great and there are many pet products available like this.  You can also add Slippery Elm powder to her meals.  It would be good to talk to a naturopath about this first though to get the dosage levels right.  It is always best to start off slowly with these products and let her system get used to them.  Then there is less likelihood of diarrhea etc...
You may find some helpful products at www.herbal-treatments.com where you can click onto the "herbs for dogs" page.  
But I would strongly recommend either a visit to a natural healing vet, and/or to a naturopath.
I hope this was of some help.
Silva.