Eating Grass And Vomiting

[Guest Mull]

So our poor boy Rory seems to be having some sort of trouble. Several times this month, he has woken us up very early. The purpose of this seems to be so that he can go eat the long grass outside. He doesn't want anything to do with his dog food at that point. A few hours later, he barfs horrible grass balls somewhere in the house. Is there anything I can do to stop this cycle? We changed his food thinking it might help with this and his itchiness/yeast infections, but he just did the grass eating and barfing again today.

[Jessa]

I always heard that animals eat grass when their stomach is upset.. not sure if that is just a myth though. You could call his vet to try and get some insight into why he's eating it in the first place!

 

Maybe muzzle him with a stool cup in it so he can't eat grass outside?

[3greytjoys]

Many Greyhounds vomit bile if they go too long between meals. Assuming you're already feeding breakfast and dinner meals, try offering about 1/3 or 1/2 cup of his dinner kibble at bedtime to help his tummy last through the night until breakfast. If their tummy is too upset with bile, they often refuse to eat dog food for up to a day or two. Prevention by managing meal/snack timing is very helpful if there isn't another underlying medical cause.

 

I'd escort him outside for potty breaks and prevent him from eating grass, or any other plant material. Eating grass is not healthy. Sharp grass blades can cause internal cuts (like a paper cut), and grass is often treated with chemical fertilizers, weed-killers, insecticides, etc. that are toxic and can eventually cause or contribute to cancer in pets. Those chemicals can stay in the ground for a long time. Also, a surprisingly large number of plants are toxic to pets, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, etc. One example: Generally, vets have taught me to "consider" all mushrooms as poisonous to pets (even though some are not toxic); they're difficult to I.D. and not worth the risk.

 

Even though a muzzle with stool cup can help prevent hounds from eating plants. A muzzle with stool cup is not recommended for hounds who are at risk of vomiting because vomit can get trapped inside the cup and choke the hound who is trying to expel fluid and breathe. Dogs hang their heads down while vomiting, so the vomit can't drain out of the solid cup fast enough.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited June 4, 2016 by 3greytjoys

[Time4ANap]

Definitely try the suggestion above regarding the pre-bedtime snack. Rocket had stomach issues off and on for years, and an empty tummy is most often the cause of the grass eating. Are you hearing tummy squeals either before or after he goes out? Often you will hear gurgles or squeals early in the morning / middle of the night when the tummy is empty.

[Banjoman]

New little lurcher Nutmeg does this quite often in the mornings even though she has her 2nd meal of the day around 9.00.p.m. so I doubt that it is because her stomach is empty. When she has eaten a lot of grass in the morning she sometimes just picks out the tinned meat from the dried food at lunch time but will wolf the whole lot down the same evening. She does often have a gurgly, squeaky tummy.

After I cut the back garden lawn the other day she decided to graze on the new variegated grass I had recently planted then promptly threw it all up again. Thankfully she usually throws up out in the garden!

[MandysMom]

Sammy will try to eat grass and subsequently vomit if his stomach is completely empty. He also has acid issues. I feed him three smaller meals each day, one of them about 20 minutes before bedtime. He also takes Pepcid to help with the acid. Between the shift in meals and the Pepcid, his goat imitation has gone from daily to once every couple of weeks.

[lukasmom]

Ok, my boy Luka is 11. He eats a good amount of kibble before bed. He does this this every night. He gets a cookie too. He eats grass first thing in the morning but does not throw up. I have started to give him a pepcid in the morning. He is in a dog run, no chemicals on the grass. My brother and Mom can't get him back in the house because he is eating grass .I am frustrated.

[4My2Greys]

Ok, my boy Luka is 11. He eats a good amount of kibble before bed. He does this this every night. He gets a cookie too. He eats grass first thing in the morning but does not throw up. I have started to give him a pepcid in the morning. He is in a dog run, no chemicals on the grass. My brother and Mom can't get him back in the house because he is eating grass .I am frustrated.

I was replying to your post then reread it again. Is the problem he doesn't want to come back in or do the not want him back in because he is eating grass?

[Guest chickenpotpie]

Lucky eats grass but she's a very picky grass eater. I let her eat it. No bile issues, she doesn't throw up, she eats very good diet (mostly raw). and she likes to pick her own grass, thank you very much!!! I let her eat it. She doesn't eat it in the winter, nor in the summer, its strictly a spring thing. Why is anyone's guess but maybe its because its new grass.

[lukasmom]

I just am concerned why Luka eats grass and does not throw it up. it seems like most dogs eat it and throw up.

And it is a pain when I can't get him back in the house.

[TXRedbo]

I just am concerned why Luka eats grass and does not throw it up. it seems like most dogs eat it and throw up.

And it is a pain when I can't get him back in the house.

 

Mine eats grass on a daily basis (not a lot, just a handful of blades here or there) but never throws up. He only eats one specific type of grass though... maybe he likes the freshness?

[Banjoman]

The trouble with them not throwing up is that you then have grass trailing out the other end and a dog walking bandy legged!

[GeorgeofNE]

Buck loves to eat grass, never throws it up, and I have surrendered to his need for "salad."

[JohnF]

The trouble with them not throwing up is that you then have grass trailing out the other end and a dog walking bandy legged!

... and they often need 'help' with it too!

 

It wouldn't hurt to have your vet do basic liver and kidney tests before going onto pepcid /zantac / omeprazole at random. They won't eat if they don't feel like eating and that may be down to slow clearance of waste products. Also make sure the dog is up to date with worming and isn't getting food that is too 'rich' and fatty/

[Jerilyn]

Lila enjoys her "salad" as well. She's really picky about which grass she eats and it never makes her sick. When she's out grazing she's totally deaf to my calls for her to come back in.

[MSTmom]

We were having the same problem with Steven. A few weeks ago he started waking up at 6 am dying to go out. As soon as he was out in the backyard he was chowing down on grass and plants with long leaves. He wasn't vomiting after but also wouldn't eat and his stomach was gurgling like crazy. He didn't lose energy at all, he was thrilled to go on walks, but was not eating. We just left his food out and eventually he would go to it but it took a while. I even tried giving him pumpkin, and a new food but nothing really worked.

 

Someone on here suggested giving your grey a little food before bed, so we did. It's been a few days now and Steven is back to normal! So thank you to whomever had that suggestion!

[Guest xengab]

Tiber has always eaten grass from day one of getting him. No issues with worms or anything else. Just his thing. Sometimes he does eat more grass and well, those bits of chewed up tissue come back out. Our vet says its just something dogs do.

He gets fed breakfast/dinner with afternoon snack and another near bed. (plus training treats)

[cleptogrey]

they all seem to do that. some more than others. i was walking felix last night and on the go he didn't even stop, chomped down a huge blade of a tall grass at the edge of a lawn and proceeded to chomp down and then choke on it. sometimes he eats grass at home, sometimes he pukes it up, sometimes i clean it up in his stool on yard duty. nothing to go gray over. try the extra treat/food, maybe a large milk bone or 2 at night and breakfast as soon as he gets up.

[Guest chickenpotpie]

Since living in Florida, Lucky hasn't found any tasty grass.... It doesn't mean she's stopped looking of course. I'm considering growing some (organically of course) so maybe she'd stop looking so hard!