Weird tummy troubles

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna has been having some issues this week with vomiting at night.  It may or may not be a food issue, but she's acting/playing normally other than at mealtime so it might be.  She's also been eating a ton of grass, but she always has.  Stools have been firm and normal.

She gets up between 3-5 AM and vomits, which is about 12 hours after her last feeding.

Here's how our week went:

Monday/Tuesday- didn't want to eat in the morning, ate her dinner (Acana Pacifica).  Monday/Tuesday night vomited in the middle of the night and there was kibble in there... very weird since we feed her at around 4-4:30 pm.  Her food should have been digested LONG before then.

Wednesday/Thursday - Called the vet Wednesday and asked if we should take her in.  We had already started Wednesday AM giving her a bland diet of lean ground beef and rice, which she ate readily.  The vet's office said to keep up with the bland diet for a couple days and if anything changes to take her in.

Friday - Fed her kibble again (Acana Pacifica)  for breakfast and dinner.  She ate it readily - guess that beef and rice didn't have enough calories for her!  Friday night she vomited again at around 5 AM, but no kibble in there this time.

Saturday AM - fed her new Acana Ranchlands just in case it has something to do with the kibble.  Her stash of Acana Pacifica is about a month and a half old (almost empty), expiry date is sometime in 2014 though and we keep it in a plastic box in a cool, dry place so it should be fine.

The jury's still out as to whether the food change will help with the night vomiting, we'll find out tonight!

Any thoughts on this in the meantime?  It's pretty weird!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's concerning, and I agree that it probably doesn't have anything to do with the kibble formula. I don't want to worry you, but delayed gastric emptying was the first symptom of what turned out to be Inflammatory Bowel Disease for JD. Bringing up undigested food hours later is the main concern, so it's good that you are taking note of that. 

Is her stool volume the same? 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

It was the same the first few days, then less volume the second day she ate the beef and rice...  Friday no poop, then this morning a giant one.  I think the rice may have constipated her a bit.

It's weird that yesterday she seems to have digested her kibble just fine.  She's also eaten all the Acana regionals formulas before and had no issues.

This also just started up coincidentally when our ragweed season started.  It's not as bad as last year, but she is scratching a little.

It's good to know that it was a starter symptom for IBD for JD, so that's something to keep in mind.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There could definitely be a connection between the inhalant allergies and the GI issues. There is for JD. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Dogs often vomit some bile in the AM if they have empty stomachs but this certainly doesn't sound like that. I hope it disappears as it came.

[Kerry Daly]

Zeus would vomit at 4am. Usually no food but every now and then there was. There were a few times it had blood- but vet said it was from an irritated esophagus feom vommiting. The one thing we did that I didn't mention is gave him a small amount of food around 11pm-12am- called his midnight snack. Found others with the issue online and that was a suggestion. It worked for him and we were able to take him of the Zantac (which I was happy about- vet said didn't hurt him but I just was better about food). Trust me I have been there thinking it was food issues. But since we use Fromm it was hard to tell- they have never recalled their food. Your pattern sounds exactly like Zeus. He was hiding when he did it. Would find it in my office closet. Learned to close doors. :). I would try the small amount of food late. We did 1/2 cup. It really did the trick.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah I was thinking it might have something to do with the long stretch between dinner and breakfast.

Definitely something to try if it doesn't magically disappear on its own.

We go to bed around 10, so I could give her a little kibble "snack" just before bedtime.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The difference is if the dog brings up plain bile or if they are bringing up undigested food. Plain bile indicates a stomach acid problem from an empty stomach, and can be remedied by giving a small snack in the evening before bed. Undigested food indicates that the food is sitting in the gut not being processed, and giving more food won't help that; it may make it worse. 

The inappetance is also part of it, since they aren't hungry to eat more food when they still have food in the gut that isn't moving.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah, I'd only try the snack if she doesn't vomit intact kibble again.  

The thing that makes me think it's acid-related is she didn't vomit at all the 2 days she had the bland diet.  The rice is a lot more starchy than her usual grain-free food, so it should have taken longer to process.   

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Homecooked food digests much faster than kibble. Even rice. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Hmm that's weird then.  There goes my explanation for the bland diet working out better!

Hopefully she won't have another episode tonight with the undigested kibble.  We're on day 2 back on kibble after the rice/beef.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Something we did with Oscar and Lucy the several times they were on bland diets, was to wean them back onto kibble, just a very small amount per day, rather than completely stopping the bland diet all at once. Once with Lucy I went too quickly with the transition and she regressed to her previous condition before the bland diet, so I had to start all over again from square 1! Just a thought...

[Gail & Bogey]

My trainer told me if puppies have a gagging episode and just throw some bile early in the AM it's a sign they are having a growth spirt and are hungary. With Bogey it was like 4:00 in the AM, he started gagging, I jumped up to take him outside and there was just a small amount of white stuff. That's what the trainer told me - he was hungary. Hasn't happened since.