Yellow Vomit

[Guest rarmstrong]

This morning, Willis vomited

 

I couldn't tell if he had gotten a hold of something, as I was sleeping and the first thing I saw was him vomiting. It was a bright yellow and foamy. He didn't continue to vomit, seemed normal, voraciously ate his breakfast and went when I took him outside. I did notice that he was attempting to graze when we were outside.

 

This isn't serious, is it?

[KF_in_Georgia]

Nope. Nothing serious. It sounds like "empty stomach" issues (the yellow stuff is bile). Give him something to eat at bedtime. It'll stop the vomiting, probably block the queasiness that makes him want to eat grass, and possibly encourage him to sleep later (and let you sleep later when you want to).

 

You can give him a treat, or--if calories are an issue--hold back a quarter-cup of his dinner and just give him that at bedtime.

Edited June 17, 2014 by KF_in_Georgia

[Guest chickenpotpie]

Not serious at all if he's acting just fine afterwards. Ditto what KF_in_Georgia is saying, its just empty stomach. Lucky always has her last cookie right at bedtime.

[Roo]

I'll third the empty stomach. Our boy Regis left little piles of bile in the mornings if we forgot to give him a treat before bed. If we gave him a treat, we didn't find bile puddles.

[Guest roweboy]

Yep, empty stomach. Every dog I ever had will throw up some foamy yellow stuff from time to time. Vomit usually doesn't mean something serious in a dog unless it's constant, frequent and the dog is acting very sick. Dogs get upset stomachs for lots of reasons.

 

Our CJ did the same yellow foamy vomit thing yesterday. He'll also go out in the yard and eat leaves then vomit those. I'm trying to figure out how to avoid the empty stomach because he'll walk right past his dry food. I give him a large milk bone at night before bed and leave some kibble in his dish so he can find it in the am if he's hungry before I actually "make" him breakfast. He'll turn up his nose at the kibble unless I mix it with a bit of something yummy (canned food and hot water), but will get a sick stomach in doing so :/ Spoiled?? LOL!

 

I work from home and sometimes get busy before I can feed him. Plus, he rarely "asks" for food, so I have to get better at making sure he gets a yummy breakfast on a schedule to prevent upset. Operator error

[Guest rarmstrong]

Phew, thanks for the advice guys! I wasn't too concerned, as he appeared to be just fine the rest of the morning (eating, playful, went to the bathroom, didn't vomit multiple times, etc), but because I can get overly anxious about things I tend to discredit any concern I have.

 

Since it seems to be an empty stomach, I wonder if I'm not feeding him enough. Willis isn't an overly large male grey. He's 70.5 lbs and while at his foster home was fed 1 1/2 cups of kibble in the morning and at night. I've continued that ration, as he has gained some weight since I adopted him (he came to me at 65 lbs). I don't typically give him treats during the day unless we are training or I'm reinforcing general good house behavior. Even still, I try to use his kibble if I know we are going to be doing a lot of trials in a row. He does get his kibble throughout the day when I'm not home. I leave them in a food puzzle and it's always finished when I come back. He gets a 1/2 cup first thing in the morning as part of his morning routine (wake up, go outside, feed Willis, human gets ready). I put the rest of his morning ration in the food puzzle (1 cup). Some days I come home in the middle of the day, and when I leave the second time he gets another cup of kibble in the food puzzle. Once I'm home in the evening he gets his last 1/2 cup. If I don't come home during the middle of the day, he gets his dinner in the bowl (1 1/2 cups) or the food puzzle if company comes over.

 

I only make changes to the amount of food he gets if he's gotten a bunch of treats, and it's usually that he loses a 1/2 cup at night. Either way, he is fed in the evening no later than 9pm.

 

Is it too little for a grey his weight? I was concerned about him gaining weight since he's gained 5 lbs in the 4 months I've had him. I will admit, at first he was getting all kinds of yummies as I was crate training him, as well as doing some preventative SA training. But, in the last 6 weeks (the food puzzle was at the suggestion of the behaviorist we saw) he hasn't been getting those high value treats as frequently and doesn't veer from his diet too much.

 

**also-he is on Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. The feeding instructions suggest 1 1/2-2 cups twice a day for a dog his size**

Edited June 17, 2014 by rarmstrong

[RaineysMom]

Phew, thanks for the advice guys! I wasn't too concerned, as he appeared to be just fine the rest of the morning (eating, playful, went to the bathroom, didn't vomit multiple times, etc), but because I can get overly anxious about things I tend to discredit any concern I have.

 

Since it seems to be an empty stomach, I wonder if I'm not feeding him enough. Willis isn't an overly large male grey. He's 70.5 lbs and while at his foster home was fed 1 1/2 cups of kibble in the morning and at night. I've continued that ration, as he has gained some weight since I adopted him (he came to me at 65 lbs). I don't typically give him treats during the day unless we are training or I'm reinforcing general good house behavior. Even still, I try to use his kibble if I know we are going to be doing a lot of trials in a row. He does get his kibble throughout the day when I'm not home. I leave them in a food puzzle and it's always finished when I come back. He gets a 1/2 cup first thing in the morning as part of his morning routine (wake up, go outside, feed Willis, human gets ready). I put the rest of his morning ration in the food puzzle (1 cup). Some days I come home in the middle of the day, and when I leave the second time he gets another cup of kibble in the food puzzle. Once I'm home in the evening he gets his last 1/2 cup. If I don't come home during the middle of the day, he gets his dinner in the bowl (1 1/2 cups) or the food puzzle if company comes over.

 

I only make changes to the amount of food he gets if he's gotten a bunch of treats, and it's usually that he loses a 1/2 cup at night. Either way, he is fed in the evening no later than 9pm.

 

Is it too little for a grey his weight? I was concerned about him gaining weight since he's gained 5 lbs in the 4 months I've had him. I will admit, at first he was getting all kinds of yummies as I was crate training him, as well as doing some preventative SA training. But, in the last 6 weeks (the food puzzle was at the suggestion of the behaviorist we saw) he hasn't been getting those high value treats as frequently and doesn't veer from his diet too much.

 

**also-he is on Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. The feeding instructions suggest 1 1/2-2 cups twice a day for a dog his size**

 

our boys weigh 80lbs and 78 lbs and they get 1 1/2 cups TWICE a day, plus all kinds of treats during the course of the day and are at their perfect weight. And personally, I like to keep them (if even possible) at a pound or two over, in case they get sick. The pounds literally PEEL off when they're ill so I like to have a little extra on hand...

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Mines only been doing that since,,well ,,she has lived here. For her the quick fix is a couple of cookies before bedtime.

 

our boys weigh 80lbs and 78 lbs and they get 1 1/2 cups TWICE a day, plus all kinds of treats during the course of the day and are at their perfect weight. And personally, I like to keep them (if even possible) at a pound or two over, in case they get sick. The pounds literally PEEL off when they're ill so I like to have a little extra on hand...

MIne is 11 and you speak the truth. Leia is maybe 5 pound overweight and when she stopped eating for a bit she lost 3 in a couple of days. They get skinny real fast.

[greyhoundlady]

It sounds like you are feeding him enough - 3 cups a day. I am impressed he works a food puzzle . Neither of my two would have the patience. . I have an 80 lb male and a 57 lb female. My boy gets 3 cups of kibble plus a little add-in of my human food recipe split into two meals per day. Amazingly my little girl gets the same and seems to never put on weight, but she is young. They both get treats during the day and just before bedtime as a reward for going out to do their 'business'.

 

I haven't had the bile issue in a really long time - but when we did, it was an empty stomach as the others here have said. Maybe you could give Willis a cookie before bedtime, just to get him through the night .

[greytpups]

Our 3 pups get 2 cups 2 times/day. Brooke is 60, Ben is 61 and Katie is 68 lbs. They get few treats. They would lose weight on vomit bile if I fed them less. Perhaps you could offer a bit more before bed so he doesn't wake up too hungry. If he gains weight then you'd have to cut back assuming he's at a good weight now. Ben and Brooke are fine, but we feed Katie a bit before bedtime or she's have the gurglies next morning for sure. It's about trying things to see what works best.

[scullysmum]

My guess is that his tummy got too empty. My boy Scully used to do this quite frequently, only he used to make me go out and pick him some grass!

 

I don't know how late use usually feed Willis, but if it happens again try giving him a small snack at bedtime.

[Guest rarmstrong]

Our 3 pups get 2 cups 2 times/day. Brooke is 60, Ben is 61 and Katie is 68 lbs. They get few treats. They would lose weight on vomit bile if I fed them less. Perhaps you could offer a bit more before bed so he doesn't wake up too hungry. If he gains weight then you'd have to cut back assuming he's at a good weight now. Ben and Brooke are fine, but we feed Katie a bit before bedtime or she's have the gurglies next morning for sure. It's about trying things to see what works best

When we saw the vet a couple weeks ago, he seemed to be happy with his weight. His waist is tucked, visible but not gaunt ribs showing and his hip bones are visible but again super pronounced.

 

I could maybe space out his meal a little bit later. There is a bit of discrepancy between when he is fed and when we go to bed. He is fed around 8/8:30 and bedtime isn't until 12:00ish. Two years out of college, still haven't gotten a decent bed time. Probably won't improve as I'm going to graduate school in the fall

 

@greyhoundlady-He could certainly get a cookie before bed He's a little cutie. It's so hard to say no to him sometimes.

Edited June 17, 2014 by rarmstrong

[greysmom]

Greyhounds tend to do better when they have a set feeding schedule and little variation in amounts. My guess is that the vomiting happens most I often when he's gotten the bulk of his food early in the day due to your schedule of leaving.

 

He will likely do better if his two main meals are exactly that, and what he gets in his puzzle is more of a treat. If he has some SA when you leave, try freezing something to put in the puzzle so it's less food but lasts longer.

[Guest rarmstrong]

This has been the only time this happened

[Guest Houston1219]

Houston is the exact same size as Willis but he has a pretty high metabolism. He eats 4-4.5 cups a day just to keep him at that weight. He looks much smaller than he is, appears on the skinny side of normal even. Our vet had us keep a chart to track his weight between visits. He lost weight so slowly we barely noticed until he was looking boney. Maybe he could stand a more heaping scoop? Track his weight and see how he's doing on current amount

[KF_in_Georgia]

You've probably got his weight right at present. And dogs often adjust to pretty much any schedule they run into where food is concerned. ("You can feed me early. You can feed me late. You can feed me anything, as long as you feed me!" is the cry around my house. I've had jobs that started at 7am or 12:30pm, depending on what the boss decided. And sometimes, 7am came the day after 12:30. Around here, the dogs learned that breakfast is what happened when mom got vertical; dinner is what happened when mom got home. And my guys will let me sleep in.)

 

Maybe try pouring him a quarter-cup of kibble before bedtime. If he's eaten it by morning, give him a quarter-cup less for breakfast. If he didn't eat the kibble, he can get that quarter-cup along with his breakfast. And if his weight starts to drop (sometimes weight may vary depending on how many times you have to leave him with a treat; that happens at my house), you can always increase what he gets on a meal to compensate.

[juliemac]

If Willis has gained a small amount of weight since you got him home, then you're feeding him the right amount (just watch that he doesn't continue that trend, but up to 5# is normal).

 

One of my hounds develops awful stomach issues (bile, gurgly tummy, followed by poisonous gas) when he doesn't get some food in his tummy overnight (or when he gets upset, or when the fireworks are going off or ...). Anyway ... I reduced my hounds' food by a bit and used KONGS that I freeze (put kibble or small treats in the kongs, fill the hole with peanut butter, and freeze them). A small bowl of kibble or a special evening treat would do the same thing, I'm sure.

 

good luck

[Guest rarmstrong]

Thanks for all the advice guys!

 

I've given him a small bite of kibble and/or a cookie before bed the past couple nights. Willis has been more than happy to oblige pre-bed treats. That little bugger is food motivated and then some!

 

No yellow vomit since then. Glad it was a quick fix!

[Sambuca]

Bu eats 6-8 cups of food a day and still throws up bile on occasion. As long as his weight is good, it doesn't matter how much you're feeding him. You can start giving him a cup of food 3 times a day. 1 each at his normal times and 1 at bedtime. A big treat works as well.