Has anyone any information on damson fruit and diarrhoea/sickness? Does stoned fruit cause problems to puppies? 

My neighbour has a damson tree that grows over our garden.  My 5 month old Flatcoat has had the squits on and off for a couple of months and has just been to the vets for the second time but this time she has actually vomited twice this evening and has gone off her food.  She has obviously eaten the fruit because I have seen stones in her poo, and now her vomit had at least one in it.  The vomit was her lunch, undigested after 5 hours.  She is on anti-bois now, but after several times starting by starving her for 24hrs and giving chicken and rice until it improves then starting to introduce her normal food VERY gradually we don't seem to get very far before she squits again.  This time she is unwell and I am feeling quite worried and demoralised. 

Does anyone have any ideas about stoned fruit causing digestive problems?  If so how do we get over this problem as it is not our tree and we can't just get rid of it.  I have just read something about tulip bulbs, which she digs up in my garden too as well as daffs, but not huge amounts and I rescue them when I see them lying about.  They are only nibbled but is this the cause?  I am thoroughly fed up now, and i found myself actully almost wondering if I should have ever got a Flatcoat as it seems they eat everything in sight and I can't follow her about 24/7 to stop her.  I have put fencing up to stop her getting into the flower beds but she bulldozes them down.  We have now bought decking railings to partition off the garden but this doesn't help the problem of whether our neighbours fruit are the cause.  Of course we pick up the fruit all the time and we have picked off any left on our side of the tree but we can't prevent absolutely every one from dropping on our side from theirs in the wind. Am I wasting my time? Are they harmless and just a co-incidence?  I do actually think she is wonderful and am desperate to help her sort her tummy out (pardon the pun!)

Plum pits have cyanide in them.  So do apples, cherries, apricots and some others.  The stone would have to be chewed to allow the digestive juices to work on the inner pit but she could be chewing them.  It might not take many if she is sensitive to them.  Symptoms of cyanide poisoning are uncontrollable urination and defecation.  Ask your Vet about it.   And I would clean up all those plums so she can't get at them, just to be on the safe side.

Hi JJ,

Didn't know apple seeds were a problem - so a bit of useful info there, thanks ;)  I've been giving my lot apple stumps for years (not very regularly mind you - I'm not a fruit fanatic - if left over danish pastries were bad for them I'd be in real trouble :rolleyes: )

My neighbours windfall apples are often left lying around for the dogs to nibble at and birds/wildlife to have the remainder.  I'll certainly put paid to that from now on.

That's just one of the many great things about this board - always something new to learn or a different way of looking at things. 

Cheers, Teri :)

my 1st fcr use to go down to the apple tree  and pick them off the tree,

yes the acid from the fruit will give them tummy problem and bad wind,

shadow was walking one day funny just like he was drunk,after he eat quite alot of apples,result was where the fruit was breaking down in the tummy it was formating like how you make beer or cider,so the gases in his body from the fruit was give him side affect of being drunk,

so you got to watch them,got go out and pick up the fruit for your self to make jam out of it

Hi There

I think the damsons may  be a bit of a red herring which is making the squits worse.

Ask your vet to test her for Giardia, although the little so-and so's hatch in batches, so you may not pick up a result first test!

Flatcoats are notorious for rolling/drinking out of mucky puddles, where they pick up Giardia, which is a protozoon which can cause squits and occasionally vomitting.   You may then get bacterial infection in the gut, which jumps on the bandwagon, so to speak, which makes them feel under the weather.

Not sayng it is that, but it's the first thing I'd think of with a Flatcoat!

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

I had three damson trees and my flatcoats used to eat them, mine were always ok with them, most of the time, sometimes I'd get a dog with an upset tum. I would always go out two or three times a day to pick up any windfalls damsons as they can get problems passing the stones. I would get your dog checked out asap if she has eaten a stone and it has got stuck she could be in trouble.
Flatcoats are not the right dog for everyone and all caring breeders do understand this, we all know how energetic they can be, and into as much mischief as they can find. If you really are not happy with your bitch I do know there is help out there for you. If you would like some help or advice at any time do contact me.
Please email, telephone or pm me. Email is foxpath4@yahoo.com tel 01844 299508

Polly & Foxpath Flatcoats

You could try joining flatcoats@yahoogroups.com there are lots of flatcoats owners and breders on there all ready and willing to help anybody with their flatcoats.

We had a Laburnum tree that gave us the horrors!
Have you tried Kaogel liquid,given in 3 doses daily,by syringe if necessary,as this removes the toxins from the dogs bowels and clears the blood out.You can buy really large bottles from the "Furry pharm" website,about £12 delivered.It is actually a Veterinary online,better than constantly doseing with antibiotics all the time.One course of AB is enough now and again,but some dogs seem forever to be on them.
Gor Gardia (spelling??) infection -- after ours drank form a stagnant peat bog!! we gave then 2 doses of Drontal Plus for 2 consecutive days followed by a week of antibiotics,also plenty of live yoghurt.The trouble with the latter is that some dogs like it and some hate it,so you may need to spoon it in.We still give Kaogel if there are any danger signs,either in their motions or through not eating,or vomiting yellow bile.By the way we have given Gaviscon for bile vomit plenty of times with no ill effects.

From stagnant water I think they might more likely have gotten leptospirosis, which you can vaccinate for.  Can vaccinate for giardia too, but only in dogs, not people, though I might be out of date on that.

Jet got the runs when she was 8 months old and the Vet told me to give her an adult human dose of kaopectate after every episode outside to the bathroom.  I slept down in the basement with her to be handy to the back door and she was good as gold about telling me when she needed to go out.  This was near Christmas and there was lots and lots of snow in the backyard so I took to just opening the door and letting her out and giving the kao when she came back in.  Instead of her episodes of needing out getting further and further apart they became more frequent.  It was strawberry flavoured kaopectate.  LOL.

Well, I didn't expect such a diverse amount of replies!!  Thank you all.  She is now much better having had anti-bi's for a few days and she was leaping around looking for breakfast the next day anyway.  Nose put out of joint when she got none!  I don't regret her at all and would never part with her, my comment was made out of a moment of sheer demoralisation as I do worry.  She is a wonderful girl, probably the quickest and keenest to learn I've had with a lovely nature.  I have worked with and trained horses a lot of my life and had some very difficult situations at times, and bred and shown Siamese cats who can be very individualistic to say the least, so really she doesn't present problems that I can't handle temperament/energy wise.  I am forever fishing things out of her mouth in the garden so sometimes there can be a little feeling of 'wot you got NOW'.  There have been no dirty puddles for her to drink from, although she will insist on drinking from the emptied water feature which gets a little rain in it from time to time, which our Lurcher also drinks from until I catch them and empty it again (much to the dismay of the frog who lives in it), she has never had the squits and is only 12 months old herself.

As I say, many thanks for your advice and if the situation recurrs I will ask my vet to test for Giardia.  We have a fox that comes into our garden and leaves it's calling card, the neighbours feed it (quite unnecessarily in my view), and I wondered if this could be a factor.  They are vermin after all and carry diseases.

We have fenced off the part under the damson tree and pick up any that blow outside it. 

As a following issue Jo, what do you feed your dogs?  I will not be doing trials etc like you, although I would love to I don't have the time and if I do something I just have to do it properly!  I do obedience and ringcraft classes with her and want to show her for a bit of fun now and again, so what do you suggest?  I was concerned that what I fed her (Oscar large breed growth) was too rich, or that the recommended amount was too much for her and causing tummy upset.  And just how much chicken and rice should she have now?  I have dropped it right down to about a whole chicken breast  and a half a day and a couple of heaped tablespoons of rice each of three feeds, but it seems very measely.  I have become paranoid about feeding too much in case it is that causing the upset, but she is now looking a bit lanky, although not exactly thin.  I would really prefer to see her a bit more chunky at 5 months but am in a flat spin (sorry!) because I just don't want to start it all off again but worry that I have now gone too far the other way.  Vet's don't seem to listen and appear to think you are too stupid to be able to discuss such things, and I didn't get very far.  Can't remember having these problems in the good old days when you bunged them a tin and some biscuit, and porridge or weetabix as pups!  Have we evolved dogs that are too sensitive  nowadays?  Are Flatties better off on a poorer diet like native ponies?  I have never had this problem before so a little guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks