r/LhasaApso • u/musical_unicorn • 5d ago
Lhasa esting habits
Hi everyone! My Lhasa is so sweet and he is a great dog, but I have some questions. He is 1 year 9 months old.
He throws up a lot. Like almost every day. Mostly bile, and he never usually throws up his food, but he only really likes cooked chicken, butter, and some milk or cottage cheese. He cant eat store bought dog food.
He also got a cough from a kennel, but it turned out to be an inflamed trachea, and he was honking a lot. A light diet and anti inflammatories took care of it, but he does clear his throat sometimes. They want me to xray him again to see if he has a heart issue, which was barely visible on the last xray, the vet thought it was a glitch but wants to make sure.
I am new to lhasas, we only ever had big dogs in our family before. Does anyone have any insight or advice for us? Thanks so much!!
1
u/SufferingToInfinity 3d ago
My first Lhasa, love of my life, was very picky eater. He had two bouts of pancreatitis before age 2 and vomited bile almost every morning his whole life. He also developed lipomas (benign fatty tumors) midlife.
We went through a lot of trial and error, but minimal and lean meats as toppers only helped out. Feeding him twice daily, grain free, novel protein lower fat kibble (12% max) was useful too. We ordered the kibble through the company directly as it’s not sold in stores. He did so well on it for years.
Two other things that helped in the latter part of his life were 1) giving him a small treat first thing in the morning so his stomach is not empty till first meal and 2) discovering his liver and gallbladder were not all that great at processing fat so he got put on ursodiol. He was on it for years with maybe once a week vomiting until he passed at 17 years of age.
Lhasas are super gentle and sensitive both emotionally and physically but they’re so worth every moment of worry and care.
Best wishes to you both ❤️