Throwing up: when should we get worried?

[Mireille Renaud]

Hi there,

Our 7-month old dood Cashew has been throwing up fairly frequently (probably 4-6 times a month) in the early morning. He spends a lot of time in our yard and as much as I try to supervise him, sometimes he still manages to eat some mulch (homemade mulch so at least we know there are no nasty chemicals) and it makes him throw up. When I can see what it is that has made him get sick, I don't really worry much about it.

But this morning, he gagged a few times and very little came out - and whatever did, he didn't spit it out... he just swallowed it. It looked white and foamy. Then he went right back to sleep.

Has anyone else had this happen to their dood? Should we be worried?

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Firstly I ( and a lot of others here) are not a fan of dogs left outdoors unsupervised and of course in that case mulch can be especially toxic. Gardens and yards need to be puppy proofed as lots of plants are poison. There is a list here on DK if you search.  Lots of pups throw up bile when their tummies are empty so it usually happens early morning and it sounds like this is what may be happening here.  To prevent that happening just feed a small amount of the daily kibble allowance before bed and it should resolve. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I completely agree. 

[Ginny Nightingale]

I agree with Nicky--I have a doodle who runs out first thing in the morning to eat whatever grass she can find and then throws up--she does this often--then runs in to eat her breakfast--if I give her a let night snack, it helps--vets have also recommended pepcid or something like that, but I have been reluctant to try it--I try to get one food in her stomach late at night and also, if I can get her to eat before she goes out in the morning, that helps too.

[Mireille Renaud]

We'll try that. And to be clear, I don't let him out unsupervised. He is always watched closely, but as others with mouthy dogs will understand, sometimes by the time I say "no" and get my finger in his mouth to pull whatever he's got out, it's gone. Actually i just realized he didn't finish his dinner last night, so today it was probably an empty tummy problem. Thanks for the tip.

[Christine & Shelby]

I give my Shelby two of my homemade dog biscuits at bedtime. I started when she was a puppy after we had morning bile/vomit issues. It does wonders to help :)

[Linda And Loo]

How many times a day do you feed you feed your dog? I had that problem with my first dog and when I mentioned it to my Vet, she said I should feed her 3 times a day until she turned 1yr. I was feeding her in the morning and then in the evening. I added a noon meal and it solved the problem. No more early morning throwing up! Hope this helps!

[Mireille Renaud]

We transitioned from 3 feedings to 2 a while ago, just for the sake of convenience... This throwing up bile in the morning thing has only happened once so far but if it continues even with a pre-bed snack, we'll give that a try! Thanks!

[Judy Gordon]

Miah was throwing up regularly along with bouts of diarrhea. When we let her outside she would sometimes "fake pee" all the while munching grass. And it's virtually impossible to keep her from eating rabbit poop, although the vet says lots of dogs do it. We can't stop the rabbits from coming in under the fence. So at the vet's recommendation we put her on a grain free diet. No more diarrhea or vomiting. Now if we could only get rid of those rabbits. I worry about whatever disease she might get from eating poop.