Samsonsworld Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 We've been scratching our heads for over a week trying to figure out what's wrong with one of our BC's. She got sick 3 nights in a row so I visited with the vet about what to do for her nausea. She pukes once between 1 and 2am and then is fine. She asked about her stool and activity level and didn't seem too worried. She suggested pepto bismal. That was last Saturday. Because she was losing a lot of undigested food, I feared I was overfeeding her or she was eating too fast so we changed he food availability. Instead of mixing dry with canned food, we've just left dry food available for her to eat at her discretion. I thought this was working and i'm convinced its helped but she's still gotten sick 3 times this week. About every other night. Do any of you guys feed your dogs ginger cookies around bedtime??? I'm wondering if an empty stomach is just as bad as a full stomach??? Maybe some yogurt to aide digestion??? Any experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 I had experience with a young dog who would vomit bile overnight a few times a week. We found giving a cookie before bed did the trick. But I think you may have more of a problem, hope some of this helps you.. An empty stomach is not such a good thing before bed but neither is a full one. Try giving a cookie before bed , a ginger snap is fine , try just one. This might settle any excess bile in her gut. Leaving kibble out all day IMO isnt a good idea. You really cant monitor the food intake that way . Adding plain yogurt is very good idea. I would wet down ther kibble , let it soak up some water ,and then add a dollop of yogurt. Kibble expands when warm water is added , this is a good idea to do before you feed because dry kibble will expand in the gut and can cause other major problems , bloat , etc... Dont exercise dogs before feeding and wait at least an hour or more after feeding to do any exercise. I would also omit the can food for now , if you feed a good quality kibble , can food isnt needed at all , just a waste of money IMO. Pepto Bismol contains aspirin , so try to avoid giving it frequently. The yogurt will help. Remember , you dont feel like running around after you eat a nice meal, not a good idea for the doggies either Good luck.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geonni banner Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 I used to have a Lurcher that would throw up bile in the early morning. (3 to 5 AM - remember, I'm a city person - this is the middle of the night to me!) This was a semi-regular occurrence and I tried EVERYTHING to stop it. She would have this "morning-sickness," and since her tummy was upset she wouldn't eat her breakfast, which made it worse. (Pepto didn't help, and I would have to force-feed her, (which she accepted without fuss, and immediately felt better after.) Then I started reading about feeding raw meat, and I thought, "What the heck..." So she started getting about 1/3 lb of ground beef with her evening kibble(5PM). (Cut down on the kibble, obviously.) And the nausea just stopped cold that first day of getting raw meat. After six years of on-again/off again nausea, it just stopped and never returned. She also got much more enthusiastic about her meals in general. She went from, "OK. I'll eat it. Give me time here." to "Gimme! Gimme!," scarf, scarf, scarf. She got more active and bouncy and her coat just gleamed. All you folks who feed raw are probably nodding wisely - but I never imagined the global change that a little raw meat would have on that dog. My current dog, Sugarfoot gets the same thing now. Dry kibble in the morning - which she inhales, and dry kibble garnished with 1/3 lb. of raw beef in the evening - which she inhales even faster, if that's possible.. I usually feed ground beef because I get it from my local small market w/ butcher, so it's not supermarket 1000-cow per patty scary ground beef. It's yesterday's round-steak - lean and from one cow only. I also give my dogs 3 tiny Milk Bone cookies before bed too. It just seems like the thing to do. (No milk or bedtime story, but they do get a lullabye...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 I used to have a Lurcher that would throw up bile in the early morning. (3 to 5 AM - remember, I'm a city person - this is the middle of the night to me!) This was a semi-regular occurrence and I tried EVERYTHING to stop it. She would have this "morning-sickness," and since her tummy was upset she wouldn't eat her breakfast, which made it worse. (Pepto didn't help, and I would have to force-feed her, (which she accepted without fuss, and immediately felt better after.) Then I started reading about feeding raw meat, and I thought, "What the heck..." So she started getting about 1/3 lb of ground beef with her evening kibble(5PM). (Cut down on the kibble, obviously.) And the nausea just stopped cold that first day of getting raw meat. After six years of on-again/off again nausea, it just stopped and never returned. She also got much more enthusiastic about her meals in general. She went from, "OK. I'll eat it. Give me time here." to "Gimme! Gimme!," scarf, scarf, scarf. She got more active and bouncy and her coat just gleamed. All you folks who feed raw are probably nodding wisely - but I never imagined the global change that a little raw meat would have on that dog. My current dog, Sugarfoot gets the same thing now. Dry kibble in the morning - which she inhales, and dry kibble garnished with 1/3 lb. of raw beef. I usually feed ground beef because I get it from my local small market w/ butcher, so it's not supermarket 1000-cow per patty scary ground beef. It's yesterday's round-steak - lean and from one cow only. I also give my dogs 3 tiny Milk Bone cookies before bed too. It just seems like the thing to do. (No milk or bedtime story, but they do get a lullabye...) I totally agree with you Geonni Banner about the raw feeding , I too feed raw . I like to rotate the kibble in at least a few times a week, along with lamb , chicken , turkey , fish , bison...along with lotsa other good stuff...LOL...But I didnt want to take the plunge and suggest rawfeeding. That's a whole other story , LOL...Anyone want to start a post on raw feeding ? pros and cons... My dogs have had great results with it.. ANYBODY ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4ever Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 When Scooter was having a lot of digestive problems, vomiting bile early in the morning, the vet said an empty stomach was as bad as a full one. So, now we give one or two small all natural treats before bed and it does seem to have helped. Vet also recommended a Pepcid for acid stomach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 You mention that the dog is vomiting up undigested food, so this may not be useful but... My dog and my sister's dog had periods early on when they'd vomit yellow, frothy bile. (My sister's dog: early in the morning. My dog: late afternoon, before dinner which I was trying to feed 12 hours after breakfast.) Turns out it's not uncommon in dogs whose stomachs are too empty. My sister started giving a small dog cookie upon waking, and I started giving Buddy his evening meal before his big walk, so there was always something in their stomachs, and neither of them have vomited bile since. If there's food in the vomit, that's another thing, obviously. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCjetta Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 My BC had an issue with vomiting in the early mornings at one point...we ended up going down her stomach with the endoscope and found a big hairball type clump of grass that must have been irritating her stomach and was too big for her to vomit up. My parents dog has always had issues vomiting when its been too long since she's eaten. Always bile, never food. Giving her a cookie or 2 right before bed (or nowadays feeding her right before bed since she wont eat in tha am anymore) has fixed that issue. I've also heard of other dogs with a foreign body sitting in the stomach irritating it on and off and causing vomiting. We actually had a cat with this a few weeks ago. The owner said it had been vomiting on and off for a month, somtimes food, sometimes bile and had started to loose weight etc. We did bloodwork and rads - nothing obvious. The vet decided to look at the stomach with the endoscope and they found part of a foam bath toy in there that was plugging off the outlet to the stomach at times (hence the vomiting food up sometimes). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacie R. Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 We've been scratching our heads for over a week trying to figure out what's wrong with one of our BC's. She got sick 3 nights in a row so I visited with the vet about what to do for her nausea. She pukes once between 1 and 2am and then is fine. She asked about her stool and activity level and didn't seem too worried. She suggested pepto bismal. That was last Saturday. Because she was losing a lot of undigested food, I feared I was overfeeding her or she was eating too fast so we changed he food availability. Instead of mixing dry with canned food, we've just left dry food available for her to eat at her discretion. I thought this was working and i'm convinced its helped but she's still gotten sick 3 times this week. About every other night. Do any of you guys feed your dogs ginger cookies around bedtime??? I'm wondering if an empty stomach is just as bad as a full stomach??? Maybe some yogurt to aide digestion??? Any experiences? One of our dogs has a problem with digestion. She will throw up bile if her stomach gets to empty and like other posters we use cookies near bedtime to combat this. We do also use yogurt as a probiotic in her food especially on days when she has had anything other than normal food or treats (like class days when she gets hotdogs and cheese). It has really helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Samantha gets a quarter of a generic pepcid at bedtime, along with a small snack. Just the snack helped, but didn't defeat the Morning Upchuck. The addition of the pepcid made everything better. Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 I give my Willow a pepcid AC (generic) daily, but of course her stomach issues are related to mast cell tumors. Still, acid stomach can cause vomiting, so I'd probably give a small meal/treats before bedtime (main meal in the morning) and a pepcid and see if it helps. I'd probably have my vet run a complete blood profile (not a CBC, but the full workup) to see if there's anything going on with her liver or kidneys as well. IPSY, Try the search function. There have been probably a gazillion (only a slight exaggeration) discussions on raw feeding. Your best place to find raw feeding threads is in the health and genetics section, though there have been raw feeding threads in this section as well. Trust me that the pros and cons have been very thoroughly discussed.... J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 If at 2 or 3 in the morning she's still tossing partially digested food, I'd second guess the vet and get a second opinion. By that time, their food should be well into the intestines, shouldn't it? I know if my foster dogs eats too fast he'll chuck within 20 minutes of his meal and that is almost digested then. (so i hand feed him so he doesn't inhale his food!) Have you tried changing food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 I give my Willow a pepcid AC (generic) daily, but of course her stomach issues are related to mast cell tumors. Still, acid stomach can cause vomiting, so I'd probably give a small meal/treats before bedtime (main meal in the morning) and a pepcid and see if it helps. I'd probably have my vet run a complete blood profile (not a CBC, but the full workup) to see if there's anything going on with her liver or kidneys as well. IPSY, Try the search function. There have been probably a gazillion (only a slight exaggeration) discussions on raw feeding. Your best place to find raw feeding threads is in the health and genetics section, though there have been raw feeding threads in this section as well. Trust me that the pros and cons have been very thoroughly discussed.... J. Thanks for the info , I will definately add that to my must reads .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 If at 2 or 3 in the morning she's still tossing partially digested food, I'd second guess the vet and get a second opinion. By that time, their food should be well into the intestines, shouldn't it? I've always fed in the mornings, and as an early riser, I feed pretty early in the morning. Some years ago I was visiting a friend who had put rat poison out. She said she picked it all up before the dogs and I came to visit, but sometime around 11 p.m. I noticed Farleigh smile, and there was blue gunk in his teeth. It seems he had found the one box of poison my friend had forgotten under her bed. I rushed to the store for hydrogen peroxide, and since we couldn't be sure that Farleigh was the only one who had ingested poison, we dosed everyone. By the time dogs started throwing up, it was after midnight. And they threw up clearly recognizable kibbles, even something like 18 hours after having been fed. I don't know if that was a fluke, but it was all the dogs, which makes me think not. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 Good to know. I just assumed digestion was a fairly quick process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geonni banner Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 I've always fed in the mornings, and as an early riser, I feed pretty early in the morning. Some years ago I was visiting a friend who had put rat poison out. She said she picked it all up before the dogs and I came to visit, but sometime around 11 p.m. I noticed Farleigh smile, and there was blue gunk in his teeth. It seems he had found the one box of poison my friend had forgotten under her bed. I rushed to the store for hydrogen peroxide, and since we couldn't be sure that Farleigh was the only one who had ingested poison, we dosed everyone. By the time dogs started throwing up, it was after midnight. And they threw up clearly recognizable kibbles, even something like 18 hours after having been fed. I don't know if that was a fluke, but it was all the dogs, which makes me think not. J. A little off-topic, but I once went to my regular dog park with my Doberwoman, and normally they had a terrible gopher problem there. But this one time after we had been there half an hour or so I noticed there wasn't a gopher to be seen... I thought, surely they wouldn't lay poison baits in a dog park... I called Blaise and she came running. I saw all this green stuff in her teeth and freaked. Bundled her into the car and went tearing off to the vet's where I worked. Into the treatment room where the doc looked at the green junk in her teeth and administered a dose of ipecac - up came more green stuff, and red, and brown, and (oh crap!) some still recognizable as the Flavor Snacks (different colored Milk-Bones)I'd been tossing to her at the dog park. The staff all thought it was hilarious. Poor Blaise, with a dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers, vet's assistant owner. Took about two years to hear the last of that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 Food can stick in the stomach for hours. If the dog is vomiting up food and it is happening on a somewhat regular basis and is new I would have the vet do a more thorough check for a possible obstruction. If you dog inhales food, I would find a way to slow down the eating. This can be done in different ways and what works for one dog does not always work for another: try a bigger bowl, try a smaller bowl, find a bowl that has something in the middle to slow down the eating, you can take a metal water bowl and usually turn it upside down and that may work, soak the food in water, throw the kibble on the floor, feed via one of the food game things... Hopefully you can figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samsonsworld Posted November 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 Lot's of good information. Thanks. I just wanted to clarify that she was vomiting large quantities of undigested food up until we changed how we were feeding her. After that, it's been a lot more liquid. I tried giving her some dog treats last night before bedtime and she didn't get sick until 5am. It pushed it back a few hours. I haven't tried the ginger yet but I plan to make it to the store today. I'll also pick up some pepcid. I'll start there and see how things go. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 Lot's of good information. Thanks. I just wanted to clarify that she was vomiting large quantities of undigested food up until we changed how we were feeding her. After that, it's been a lot more liquid. I tried giving her some dog treats last night before bedtime and she didn't get sick until 5am. It pushed it back a few hours. I haven't tried the ginger yet but I plan to make it to the store today. I'll also pick up some pepcid. I'll start there and see how things go. Thanks again. Only give small amounts of everything , including cookies ..I would only feed him one ginger cookie at night and see what happens . If no vomit , good , but keep the food limited to small amounts. Giving any more may cause him to vomit gain , and we dont want that...poor dog. You mentioned he is vomiting up water as well , not good... If she continues , I wouldnt offer anything , just get her checked for a blockage of some kind. Bringing her in without any food or water , will be best if she does go under anestesia .. My opinions . Good luck and keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samsonsworld Posted November 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Saturday night, I got a phone call around 9 so I was distracted. I kept hearing a noise and when I investigated, it turned out somebody forgot to shut the pantry door...I won't say who somebody is. Anyway, Madi got into an undetermined amount of doggie treats...but it was enough to give her quite the upset stomach. I gave her pepto bismal after cleaning her mess and we made it through the night without incident. Sunday night. One gingersnap and half a pepcid before bedtime. She made it through the night again. Hope this is a good sign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted November 23, 2009 Report Share Posted November 23, 2009 Saturday night, I got a phone call around 9 so I was distracted. I kept hearing a noise and when I investigated, it turned out somebody forgot to shut the pantry door...I won't say who somebody is. Anyway, Madi got into an undetermined amount of doggie treats...but it was enough to give her quite the upset stomach. I gave her pepto bismal after cleaning her mess and we made it through the night without incident. Sunday night. One gingersnap and half a pepcid before bedtime. She made it through the night again. Hope this is a good sign. Wow , how lucky is she thats all she got into ! Becareful of the pepto , it does contain aspirin. Making it thru the night without vomitting is a good thing ...Hope the rest of her nights go as well ( without the pantry episode. ) good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanzi_and_Molly Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 We've been scratching our heads for over a week trying to figure out what's wrong with one of our BC's. She got sick 3 nights in a row so I visited with the vet about what to do for her nausea. She pukes once between 1 and 2am and then is fine. She asked about her stool and activity level and didn't seem too worried. She suggested pepto bismal. That was last Saturday. Because she was losing a lot of undigested food, I feared I was overfeeding her or she was eating too fast so we changed he food availability. Instead of mixing dry with canned food, we've just left dry food available for her to eat at her discretion. I thought this was working and i'm convinced its helped but she's still gotten sick 3 times this week. About every other night. Do any of you guys feed your dogs ginger cookies around bedtime??? I'm wondering if an empty stomach is just as bad as a full stomach??? Maybe some yogurt to aide digestion??? Any experiences? Be careful with cookies, especially the ingredients like xylitol which is quite poisonous to dogs. You can't always count on something being listed in an ingredients list on people food. I have found this out for myself as I have food allergies. I make my own organic Kefir. I give my dog a little bit of that, daily. She gets Petguard Life Spans dry food, and Petguard Mr. Barky treats. I have not with her had any digestion problems. For training purposes, I have little free range chicken bits/untreated bacon bits. I also use homeopathy with my dog. I'm really surprised that a vet would recommend pepto as it has aspirin, and other chemicals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samsonsworld Posted November 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 Be careful with cookies, especially the ingredients like xylitol which is quite poisonous to dogs. You can't always count on something being listed in an ingredients list on people food. I have found this out for myself as I have food allergies. I make my own organic Kefir. I give my dog a little bit of that, daily. She gets Petguard Life Spans dry food, and Petguard Mr. Barky treats. I have not with her had any digestion problems. For training purposes, I have little free range chicken bits/untreated bacon bits. I also use homeopathy with my dog. I'm really surprised that a vet would recommend pepto as it has aspirin, and other chemicals. I appreciate that. I'll check out the ingredients. Also, just an FYI on the Pepto. I was wondering after some of the comments so I looked into it. Children's Pepto has no aspirin in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 I appreciate that. I'll check out the ingredients. Also, just an FYI on the Pepto. I was wondering after some of the comments so I looked into it. Children's Pepto has no aspirin in it. [/quot It might have a sugar substitute to make it more appealing to the kids . Check it out.. Hows she doing ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samsonsworld Posted November 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 It might have a sugar substitute to make it more appealing to the kids . Check it out..Hows she doing ? Looked on back. It has sugar listed. She's been doing a little better, thank you, but not completely cured. We switched over to Iams lamb and rice and I went back to feeding twice a day with a snack or two in between and right before bedtime. The second meal I mix with yogurt. I've tried both pepcid and pepto. I can't tell any difference. I guess getting sick every 3rd night or so beats every night but I still need to visit with the vet again. When she does get sick, there has been a LOT less clean up involved. There's my silver lining, I guess. She got a hold of a jalapeno chip on the floor the other day that I dropped and puked within 5 minutes (No I don't ever intentionally feed my dogs table scraps). Can a dog just have an ultra-sensitive stomach? Can it get better with age? I've always had dogs that could eat anything. This is new for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Looked on back. It has sugar listed. She's been doing a little better, thank you, but not completely cured. We switched over to Iams lamb and rice and I went back to feeding twice a day with a snack or two in between and right before bedtime. The second meal I mix with yogurt. I've tried both pepcid and pepto. I can't tell any difference. I guess getting sick every 3rd night or so beats every night but I still need to visit with the vet again. When she does get sick, there has been a LOT less clean up involved. There's my silver lining, I guess. She got a hold of a jalapeno chip on the floor the other day that I dropped and puked within 5 minutes (No I don't ever intentionally feed my dogs table scraps). Can a dog just have an ultra-sensitive stomach? Can it get better with age? I've always had dogs that could eat anything. This is new for me. Yes , Ive seen dogs with sensitive stomachs. But I dont think it will change as she gets older... I would keep her diet VERY bland. There are perscriptive diets sold at vets that are for sensitive stomachs and there is food sold retail too. And , you will need treats that are very bland . You can bake meatballs made out of her can food for a treat . ( Dont worry , she'll love them ) Trial and error with the baking.. Be careful with EVERYTHING. Try to keep her daily feeding schedule the same everyday too. Dont change anything too fast either . Do it gradually , like if you were to change the brand of food , just as example , if you fed one cup of dry , you would give 3/4 old food and 1/4 new food and so on , till she is completely on the new food. I would do this in about a weeks time or longer , if she starts vomiting or has loose stool , dont add any more new food until she becomes better , then go slow.. But please be careful with the pepto . I would just give the pepcid and see if that makes a difference . In my opinion , I dont think the pepto is doing her any good. Follow the advice of your vet on the dosing of pepcid for her . The vet may not want her on it long term , so make sure to ask . ( if you havent already) This is something she could have her whole life , (sensitive stomach) so it's up to you to find out what will work and what wont , but you dont seem to have a wide margin for error , so like I said before , be careful and go slow with her... she depends on you Thanks for letting us know how she is doing.. My opinions , only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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