Throwing Up Bile On An Empty Stomach.

[Guest starbuck]

She's been on Nutro Max Lamb and Rice for over a year, and she eats about 3 cups of that a day (split into four meals: two in the morning before we leave for work, and two in the evening when we get back). We don't keep any plants in the house, largely because we have really naughty cats who get into everything. Nothing has changed with regards to our schedule/routine/food, and other than the throwing up, she's been completely happy and normal. I'm pretty perplexed, so that's why I'm going to be giving the vet a call tomorrow morning.

[krissn333]

Oops, SHE! Sorry about that! I hate when people think that my Ace is a boy

 

Yep, definitely worth a call to the vet, especially since this is sort of out of nowhere. Hope you can find a simple fix. Did this happen to coincide with opening a new bag of food? I think Nutro had some recalls not too long ago...

 

My kids can't eat lamb, they have diarrhea within 15 minutes of eating it...it's very severe So, I have no experience with lamb-based foods.

[Guest starbuck]

The actual food was my only other thought, because we did just open a new bag. Nutro hasn't had any recent dog food recalls (that I can find; there were cat food recalls and puppy wet food recalls in late 2012), but there seems to be a lot of negative buzz. We've thought about switching to the IAMS green bag, so this may be the proper opportunity to do so.

[Batmom]

Change to a different brand of food -- something other than Nutro. It's worth a vet visit to make sure there's nothing obvious wrong, but I'd switch foods.

 

One of mine threw up mornings, at least 5 days out of 7, and sometimes in the afternoon as well, for 6 months. We tested for everything, found nothing. For an unrelated reason, I switched foods from Nutro to something else. It was like turning off a tap -- I couldn't believe it. As soon as he was 100% on the new food, the vomiting stopped. It just stopped, and never returned.

 

My theory is that there was some ingredient in the food that irritated his stomach. No idea what. But I fed that dog many other foods over the years and never had the "morning urpies" problem again.

 

Hugs and best luck!

[Charlies_Dad]

I agree trying another food is a good option. Also a vet visit is a good idea.

[Guest starbuck]

Yep! Consulted with the vet as soon as they opened this morning. They haven't been getting reports of problems with Nutro, but they're going to look into it so that they can get in touch with some of their other Nutro feeders. They seconded my idea of switching to another food, and we have an appointment this afternoon just to check on everything. I swear, it's always something.

[IndyandHollyluv]

Poor Starbuck and poor you! Lots of good suggestions here. I have a few thoughts to offer as well.

 

(1) Years ago, I tried Nutro L&R with my first two greys. Both threw up. Returned the bag. Rep said it was probably too rich for them. Switched food. No further problem.

 

(2) I adopted a psycho Collie/Basset mix last year. He is now 12-1/2. He is a little chunky and gacked up bile one morning as well. I feed my dogs a mix of dry and canned (warmed in the micro) and that has worked pretty well. A few months ago, I purchased Evanger's Vegetarian (lower fat) canned food at Pet Supplies Plus and he seems to be doing well with it. So you might try mixing in a lower fat canned food.

 

(3) Pee, poop, and vomit - oh my! I'm been up to my elbows in senior messes these days. I have a 13-1/2 yr old female greyhound who has some degree of incontinence. Sigh. You're right, bile and the Big D are tough to get out of carpet. I've tried various pee and stain removers. My latest favorites are made by Shout - there is a urine destroyer and a stain and odor remover. Pleasant fragrance, not as expensive as some other well-known brands, and does a good job. I purchase it on sale at Petsmart although you may be able to find it elsewhere.

 

I clean funky spots, sometimes for days or weeks. I treat the area with cleaner and place a few layers of paper towels over the spot. Place the gallon containers on top of the paper towels to wick up the mess. Repeat as necessary.

 

Hopefully, it's the food and not something more sinister. Good luck to you and Starbuck!

Edited April 10, 2013 by IndyandHollyluv

[Guest iconsmum]

right before bed i give a full thick slice of whole wheat bread soaked in almond milk so it goes down comfortably. it works like a charm. the other thing that's worked for other dogs here at bedtime is half a cup of warm oatmeal loose enough to be lapped up. Telltale lip licking (from the acid) usually comes before bile barf - just feed more or more often because acid reflux is very hard on the esophagus. my question is, is it safe to keep using pepcid? i thought there was an aspirin component in it, wrong?

[Guest starbuck]

So far, the addition of green beans seems to be working for the yakking on an empty stomach. If that stops working (assuming, of course, that we're just in the honeymoon phase), everyone has offered some great suggestions.

 

As for the throwing up dinner every night at 9:30 p.m., the vet was suitably perplexed and wanted to run a hugely expensive battery of tests. We opted for a more conservative approach (for now), and we're monitoring her temperature and feeding her the very bland Prescription Diet GI Healing food (which she seems to really enjoy). The vet gave her a Cerenia injection yesterday to settle her stomach for the evening, so tonight will be the real test. If she throws up this food and her temperature rises again, we're going to go back in tomorrow for more testing.

 

But, other than the night puking, she's been active and happy and hungry. It just seems to be a huge coincidence that this started happening after we opened a new bag.

Poor Starbuck and poor you! Lots of good suggestions here. I have a few thoughts to offer as well.

(1) Years ago, I tried Nutro L&R with my first two greys. Both threw up. Returned the bag. Rep said it was probably too rich for them. Switched food. No further problem.

(2) I adopted a psycho Collie/Basset mix last year. He is now 12-1/2. He is a little chunky and gacked up bile one morning as well. I feed my dogs a mix of dry and canned (warmed in the micro) and that has worked pretty well. A few months ago, I purchased Evanger's Vegetarian (lower fat) canned food at Pet Supplies Plus and he seems to be doing well with it. So you might try mixing in a lower fat canned food.

(3) Pee, poop, and vomit - oh my! I'm been up to my elbows in senior messes these days. I have a 13-1/2 yr old female greyhound who has some degree of incontinence. Sigh. You're right, bile and the Big D are tough to get out of carpet. I've tried various pee and stain removers. My latest favorites are made by Shout - there is a urine destroyer and a stain and odor remover. Pleasant fragrance, not as expensive as some other well-known brands, and does a good job. I purchase it on sale at Petsmart although you may be able to find it elsewhere.

I clean funky spots, sometimes for days or weeks. I treat the area with cleaner and place a few layers of paper towels over the spot. Place the gallon containers on top of the paper towels to wick up the mess. Repeat as necessary.

Hopefully, it's the food and not something more sinister. Good luck to you and Starbuck!

 

We've been using the Resolve Pet Stain Remover, and while it's generally pretty effective, I definitely have to work hard (over multiple days) to get the stains out of the carpet. Truthfully, I much prefer when she barfs on her cot or crate pad, because those are washable and waterproof, respectively. I'll look into Shout; I really like their laundry stain removers. Thanks!