Grass Eating

[Guest hazeygrey]

Bonnie woke me up in the night with that "I'm about ti vomit" sound. I let her outside and she just started to frantically eat grass and I couldn't get her to come inside. When I did make her come in, she wouldn't settle, and when I did let her back out about an hour later, she went right back to the grass. She never did throw up as far as I know. Will all the grass hurt her?

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

How is she now? Are you awake? If she is trying to vomit, but cannot, that can be a sign of bloat (gastric torsion). It could also be a very upset tummy (typically with bloat, I think you have under an hour or so to get to a vet, which doesn't seem to be the case here)

 

Dudley had an upset tummy once and ate tons of grass, he just pooped it out

[Guest hazeygrey]

She finally came inside and just went and lay on her bed so I went back to bed for an hour as she seemed settled. She's still a little out of sorts- was keen when she heard the breakfast bowl rattle (I have another grey who will only not be hungry if it's the end of the world!) but, as I suspected, she didn't want to eat. I gave her a very little home made chicken bone broth which she enjoyed. It did almost seem as if she wanted to vomit, but couldn't. I have been in the process of switching to a new food as she doesn't seem to like the old stuff anymore - she's a picky eater... I don't have to work until noon today, so I'll keep a close eye on her and hope she poops it out on our walk.

 

Thanks Clawsandpaws:)

[retread]

The grass probably won't show up until tomorrow so be ready for "hangers".

[Guest hazeygrey]

Well, she pooped normally on our morning walk, and slept most of the day. My husband told me that she only ate a little at dinner, but was quite playful when I got home from work tonight. I may try and cook a little boiled ground beef and rice or noodles for her tomorrow to mix with her kibble...

 

I hate hangers..! lol

[Guest psdirector]

Hutch is a grass eater whenever his tummy is bothering him. Sometimes he vomits, sometimes not. Really the only time he has vomited since we got him is when his hookworms were active.

[quarrystepper]

Sorry to top an existing thread with a slightly different case, but Kali (our foster girl who is six weeks off the track) has taken to eating grass relentlessly while outside in the yard. I give her a stern "eh-eh" whenever I see it, but she is clearly sneaking into the corner and nibbling some because she's horked it up on the carpet a couple times.

 

1) Is this indicative of bloat, as stated above? She is a bit of a gulper, so I wouldn't be surprised. I will get another gulp-stopper stainless steel ball for her food dish when I go for pet food this week, just in case. This has helped Brooks a lot with his gulping.

2) If it's not necessarily bloat, and more general gastic distress, any suggestions on how I can help diagnose what's really bothering her? I will point out that we switched her food (gradually over a week) when we started fostering her. She doesn't have the firmest stool in the world, but she's not prone to diarrhea so I didn't think we had any issues.

3) Any suggestions on training methodology to help her get over this? I keep the lawn trimmed but if she wants to keep eating grass, something tells me she will find a way.

[muddgirl]

Batman is a grass-eater. I think it started when he had an upset tummy and we let him out in the middle of the night, and now he just does it because grass tastes good to him. For related reasons we started muzzling him with a stool guard when he goes out and that's cured him of the grass-eating

 

From everything I've read, grass-eating doesn't actually aid digestion, but it doesn't much hurt dogs. If Batman actually has an upset stomach there are other signs (refusing food, diarrhea, vomiting), so I don't usually use grass-eating alone as a sign that he's having a problem.

Edited May 1, 2013 by muddgirl

[quarrystepper]

Good point, I could just muzzle her every time she goes out. I muzzle her when she's running with Brooks since she's still a foster. It's not convenient but then again, neither is Resolving grassy barf from the white carpet in our dining room.

[muddgirl]

Batman also used to eat grass and vomit it back up when he had an empty stomach - like, he'd do it an hour before dinner or so, and in the middle of the night. We started giving him a treat before bed and moved around his meal times and that seemed to help. If she's vomiting regularly, I'd probably talk to a vet - it could be acid reflux or something else.

[PrairieProf]

They eat grass (to try to make themselves vomit?) when they have upset stomachs, but they also like to graze when they feel fine, especially the new spring grass, especially where there are longer shoots. We were at the dog park this morning and Beth is very into the fresh young grass right now -- it's just gotten to the point where it's sending up taller leaves. I do try to discourage the grazing but it's never seemed to hurt her.

[quarrystepper]

Well, you nailed it... it's the new shoots coming up in our backyard that are of particular interest. Heading home to mow in five! She only got sick once (knock on wood) so I don't suspect anything more epidemic. Thanks, all!

[EllenEveBaz]

Some people call their black-and-white hounds "cowdoggies" because of the coloring. I call mine cowdoggies because they love to graze. I let them eat grass in the yard, but not on walks because who knows what yard chemicals are on the grass.