My doodle and his tummy!

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Hope someone has some suggestions. My Dempsey keeps throwing up! It's always at random times, 8, 10 even 15 hours after he's eaten. I've tried everything from Pepcid in the morning (vets suggestion) to pumpkin paste with his kibble. To a raised bowl. He eats one meal a day and its a limited ingredient kibble called Signature, made in USA and its turkey flavored. He just threw up again nearly 16 hours after he last ate and there were still bits of kibble. He's not under weight remarkably and because there is no pattern to his throwing up the vet seems stumped too.... Any thoughts?? Oh, he's 2 1/2 and 78lbs. Thanks!

[Diane, Baker & Oskar]

I can't offer any help as to why he's throwing up, but I wanted to say we have had several dogs who threw up many hours after eating & I was always amazed that the kibble was still there.  Seems like it should be digested much sooner.  Hope you can figure this out :)

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Thank you

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How long has Dempsey been vomiting? Have you tried dividing his food into two meals a day? It might be easier on his GI system to have less food at one time and not be empty for so long between meals. Many dogs will vomit bile in the a.m. when their stomachs are empty. Smaller, more frequent meals are often recommended for dogs with digestive issues. 

Sometimes, a canned or dehydrated raw food like Honest Kitchen can help, too. The more moisture the food contains, the easier and faster it is for them to digest it. 

If this continues, I would suggest that you ask your vet to run blood work, specifically a full GI panel, as chronic vomiting hours after eating can be indicative of a GI disease. The blood work will need to be sent out; here is what needs to be tested:

• Full GI panel (cobalamin, folate, TLI, PLI, plus gastrin and C-reactive protein)

I hope you can get some answers.

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

It's been going on intermittently for about a year. He'll be fine for weeks/months then he'll throw up at 2 in the morning. Then it won't happen again for weeks. It's bizarre. No pattern. I will try 2 meals. I did once before but it didn't seem to change the frequency or lack of frequency of him getting sick. I thought it sometimes gets worse when I'm really stressed out about stuff (moved, lost my job, got a new job) but things are good now and he's thrown up 3 times in the last week and a half?? He like the dehydrated raw food so I can try that (portion suggestions). I do know you've had your fair share of puppy issues Karen, so I truly appreciate your response. How long should I give the 2 meals and dehydrated food before I go the GI testing route?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Give the two meals/dehydrated raw a fair shake, at least two weeks. If the vomiting stops, great, but if not, I'd schedule the blood work. 

And please keep us posted. 

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Will start tonight thank you Karen!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Please let us know how it goes. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sorry I don't have the answer but something is going on with his GI tract. A veterinary GI specialist might be of help. Karen know a great deal about all this and will no doubt chime in. Whoops, I see she just did.

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

Thank you, I always appreciate your support!

[Kris and Sawyer]

Has he always been on the same food? I know with our cat, we fed him the same food made with salmon for over a year...and he started randomly vomiting it up. I switched to a different flavor and all is well. We leaned he developed an allergy to all seafood. No tuna, salmon, fish flavor of any kind. I've also heard that feeding the same flavor dog food can cause allergies and you should switch flavors if possible every other bag or so. This way they won't develop an allergy. This was told to me by the owners of the specialty pet food store. So not a vet. Hope he feels better soon!

[Jayd (Dempsey)]

This is his 4th brand of food and I do change flavors from time to time but not monthly. I have found that when I switch his food that there is a respite from the throwing up...... Hmmm maybe I'll try again though. Thank you! First I'm going to try Karen's advice.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Vomiting is rarely if ever a symptom of allergies, food or otherwise. An intolerance perhaps, but not an allergy. And you don't need to switch proteins every month to prevent the development of an allergy, every few months is fine.