~Anne~ Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I have an epileptic Pug who is 1,000 times more focussed on food than a normal Pug. His medication increases his appetite and he has a great appetite anyway. Recently he has taken to regularly choking on his food and having partial seizures at the same time. I have watched him closely each time and it appears he chokes first, can't get oxygen, his tongue begins to turn blue and then he has a partial seizrue. I think the seizure is brought on through the lack of oxygen in this case rahter than the siezure causing him to choke. Meanwhile, I am standing beside him feeling the panic rise but luckily each time he has regained consciousness within seconds and then regurgitated the great glob of food from his throat. We have tried the high bowl but it doesn't work. His is fed a combination of raw (usually mince and veges) and a small handful of kibble. Apart from standing beside him and slowly feeding him, does anyone have any other ideas of what I can do to prevent this gutso from being such a pig. I am worried that sooner or later his choking episode may become fatal. I am not sure why it has suddenly started to happen but it is now becoming a very regular thing. I am due to go away for a few weeks and my daughter will be caring for him. Whilst she is experienced with his seizures, she is not so experienced with choking and I worry she will panic...as my husband did when I was away overnight and he stuck his fingers in Monte's mouth to remove the food which Monte promptly bit down on...very hard.... which he is prone to do during a seizure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megan_ Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 what about one of those bowls that have bits of plastic sticking up so that they have to eat around it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 what about one of those bowls that have bits of plastic sticking up so that they have to eat around it? I've never heard of them?? Do you know who might sell them so I can google and check them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowanbree Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I have had this with Kayla. You can either just add some water which really slows them down or use the bowl as described above. I have used both. I do wonder if the flat face of a pug might find the bowl too difficult to eat from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vampy Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Hi PRS - My Pug WolfyMaynard has just started doing this. He doesn't have any medical issues except excessive greed. Lately he has been gulping his food so quickly that he starts choking. Once he fell down on his side and passed out for a few seconds - he then jumped up and starting eating, still choking on the last piece of food. We have tried putting a plastic ball the size of a tennis ball in his bowl so he has to eat around it. That worked quite well until he started pushing the bowl around and smacking it into the Frenchies bowls. But that won't be an issue for you so I'd give it a try. Also the bowls mentioned above may work. Hope you find something as it is very distressing worrying about your die dying whilst they eat. Here are some links for bowls that may help: http://www.petsplus.com.au/pet-shop.asp?id=1437 http://www.dogpause.com.au/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Thanks Vampy! The bowls look interesting to say the least. Now I know what they are I will do some further reasearch and see who sells them the cheapest. Monte does the same thing as Wolfy, he gets up and keeps trying to eat even though he is choking and is blue! I pull his bowl away and wait until I can see he has well an truly swallowed anything in there. Damn dogs, they're determined to make me old before my time. Not only did I have to ensure Monte got his meds but now I have to watch he doesn't choke. I though Marley was bad, but Monte takes the cake these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 I think one of the nicest sounds ever is the crunch of kibble in a Pug's mouth........ trouble is, the sound is so rare it is almost extinct. Olivia, the little rescue, actually crunches her kibble though and it is great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 would he be OK on a soupy meal? make up some warm stock and pour it over his food then beat with a whisk then he has to slurp it up. For his teeth give him bigger bones he can't break off and swallow, or just tooth brush them. conversely RC haev some rather large kibbles out there ... even my gulping Malinois can't swallow the giant as much as she tried once and now has to chew it slowly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 would he be OK on a soupy meal? make up some warm stock and pour it over his food then beat with a whisk then he has to slurp it up. For his teeth give him bigger bones he can't break off and swallow, or just tooth brush them.conversely RC haev some rather large kibbles out there ... even my gulping Malinois can't swallow the giant as much as she tried once and now has to chew it slowly We've tried larger kibble and they still inhale instead of crunching. It seems to me that the raw part of it being soft and 'gluggy' sits in blobs and the kibble then sticks to it... if this makes sense... and it makes the blobs even larger and Monte just keeps swallowing big blobs of food without giving himself time to swallow properly. I think I will go with your suggestion of making it more 'soupy' while I await the arrival of the new bowl. Hopefully it will slwo him down. The extra fluid will keep flushing his kidneys too which will be good for him given the medications he is on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Far be it from me to suggest anyone living in NSW should not follow the NSW guidelines which were bought out a week or two ago but there is a reasonable amount of reseach to suggest that feeding them without a bowl helps prevent choking and bloat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 if you pour hot water over the kibble and let it cool it should soak to a softer consistancy, enough that it wont get stuck and then you can really whip up a good soup when its all cool for him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Far be it from me to suggest anyone living in NSW should not follow the NSW guidelines which were bought out a week or two ago but there is a reasonable amount of reseach to suggest that feeding them without a bowl helps prevent choking and bloat. Yes, but I feed them on my porch and the thought of having to mop the porch twice a day is not appealing. Although, being Pugs they'd lick it pretty clean anyway. I have just ordered the 'Break the Fast' dog bowl. I like it better than the one that has four sections and I think it will work better for my purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeamSnag Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 My lil blak n tan bitch also used to hoover her food ... I had to buy her a brake fast bowl... Vet&Pet Direct sell them.. I also had to soak her kibble the nite before hand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallomph Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 What about pureeing his food with one of those stick blenders? Perhaps adding a bit of water so that it gets to the consistancy of runny porridge or thick soup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted October 11, 2009 Author Share Posted October 11, 2009 The special bowl I purchased is useless and I am berating myself for not realsing that it would be a waste of money for a Pug. Having no snout means that he can't even get his face close enough to the food to eat it! I have a free bowl, only used once, to anyone who wants to collect it. It is the blue one. P/up western burbs of Sydney or from the city CBD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanglen Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 Sorry to side track the thread but Steve what is the research about bloat and no bowls? any links please, it's a new theory to me and I would appreciate being able to follow up on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Could you put his food on a large tray.. so it is scattered, but not on the porch?Can pugs chew? (I know nothing about them)Could you just feed him large bones, like lamb shanks.. and make him chew his meals off it?It would take him ages, and use up some of that frenetic enrgy! Supplement with a small amount of soupy veg /kibble stuff..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Anne~ Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 We've had a temporary reprieve of his gutsing and choking as he has injured himself after a round of seizures. Thanks! I like the idea of the larger tray though. I might trial this when he is back on his feet again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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