#RiddickPup Is Nineteen Weeks Old

He weighed 17.4kg at the vet this morning which is a 750g gain on last week.

I have increased his food to 200g Nutriphase Puppy three times a day. He would have been on 190g as we usually increase it by 10g per meal per week, but the silly narna took up the disgusting habit of eating poop, AKA coprophagia (sorry about the TMI)!

Our SAGA PDS suggested giving him a little more food in case he's not getting enough, and also discouraging him whenever he so much as sniffs a poop in the garden. I am now also scooping the garden as soon as they poop rather than every couple of days like I was before. If he doesn't stop doing it I will be adding a little bitters or broccoli to all their meals so that their poop will really taste gross. Coprophagia can be because of a nutrient imbalance, worms or hunger, but a dog or puppy that is regularly dewormed and eats well, coprophagia can be a behavioural problem and the last thing I need is for Volt to start doing it too!

Riddick seemed determined to keep me on my toes this week!
On Friday- my busiest work day of the week- I called him downstairs for lunch from where he'd been sleeping on my bed, and as usual he went out for busies after his lunch and then went to sleep. He had a big round tummy and he drank a lot of water, but I figured the water I add to his food just had to digest a bit. An hour or so later I heard him gagging and went to see what was up, and he threw up a handful of paintballs!
Thats right...

PAINTBALLS!

He'd found them in my son's bedroom and swallowed a whole lot! He threw up two more times and I figured I could count 50 or so paintballs by then, some whole and some broken. I spoke to several vets to find out what was up (I was without a car right them) and the one vet wanted to send an animal ambulance to fetch him and pump his stomach! There was no way I could afford a R5.5K vet bill so I then called SAGA and they said to contact BVH where I take Volt. Their vet assured me that paintballs are non-toxic and that if he'd thrown them all up he'd have an upset stomach but should be fine. I told them I was a little worried about his ever expanding stomach and how much water he was drinking and that I didn't know how many paintballs he swallowed! They suggested I take him in and I as soon as my car came home with my hubby we set off for the vet. Riddick was very uncomfortable and whiny but I was REALLY glad he didn't throw up in the car!
Once we were there the vet agreed that he looked like he'd swallowed a basket ball and they'd best help him out. They attempted to xray him but couldn't see anything, and then gave him a shot to make him throw up. About half an hour later they figured he was "empty", gave him another shot to stop him puking, and then brought him back to me- and he was his normal size again! Seems he swallowed 100 to 150 paintballs!
He was absolutely exhausted!
The vet was confident he'd be fine and said I must keep his food and water intake to a minimum to avoid more puking, and that he would have a very runny tummy for a day or so.
By Saturday morning he was a hundred percent back to normal thank goodness!
Here are some photos of him playing in the garden on Sunday.