Dog throwing up - ideas? (UPDATE..off to vet)

[Senszuri]

I have a 5 year old Boxer mix (40#, mixed with something smaller as she is not full big Boxer.) She had always been a very healthy, low maintenance dog.

About 3-4 weeks ago I switched her food to Nutro Ultra, which was on the Whole Dog Journal list of best foods for 2015. She was previously on Kirkland which has a 4 star rating in online reviews. The foods are relatively similar, no big changes (like to grain free or something) and the protein sources are both primairly chicken with a similar protein % level in both foods. I switched her over the course of 2 weeks gradually and all was well.

Over the last week and a half, she had been throwing up… But I’m not convinced it’s the food. So far she has thrown up twice when SO got home from work. Not near meal time yet so it’s not like she had just eaten and then got sick… It was just random. She also had woken me up and got sick 2-3 times at 5am. Also not feed time yet. Each time she gets sick, it’s a small pile of liquid and that’s all. She then goes back to being 100% normal with an appetite. No other symptoms at all. Not throwing up every day either, usually a day or two between.

The only other thing I can think of is that I switched her to a natural beef bone for a chewing bone. She had nylabones previously but I took it away since she could get plastic pieces off. The beef bone is USA sourced and has no marrow fill. She only has access to it when we are home so not all day. BUT…I took it away to see it that was the cause and she still threw up this morning at 5am.

Ideas??

[spotted_draft_x_fill]

Bring her to the vet to check for stomach ulcers and worm load.

[Beethoven]

Is it just yellow liquid aka likely bile? Look up Bilious Vomiting in dogs.

[keysfins]

If it is between meals/overnight, it could be just bile, like Beethoven mentioned. Some dogs do well with a small bedtime snack to avoid the bile barfs.

However, you mentioned you changed to beef bones recently for chewing. What type of bones do you give, what is the source, and are they completely raw? If they are cooked/smoked at all, they can become more brittle. So it is easier for pieces or shards to break off as the dog chews. These can irritate the stomach when swallowed, and if sharp, can cause perforation.

You may want to go to the vet and have an x-Ray of the stomach to see if there are any foreign objects (bone pieces).

For recreational chewing, I give RAW beef back ribs with meat on them, beef neck bones (my dog is working on one right now), and pork neck bones. Nothing cooked, and none of the large, weight bearing bones (femur, for example).

[Senszuri]

Yes I completely suspect it is just bile as it is yellow. She will usually only throw up the equivalent of a small pile that is two inches around.

She has never thrown up in the past, this only started happening about 2 weeks after the food switch/when the new bone was introduced.

The bone is not cooked or smoked. Just a raw bone that has been cleaned from a local shop. It is a femur bone though, perhaps that is the issue as keysfins expressed using non weight bearing bones. This is our first time trying a raw bone as she is an aggressive chewer and other chews do no work for her. In total, she has chewed on it for about 2 hours per night for the past two weeks. She has worn down one edge a little bit, but no evidence of significant pieces being broken off.

[Beethoven]

[QUOTE=Senszuri;8100767]
Yes I completely suspect it is just bile as it is yellow. She will usually only throw up the equivalent of a small pile that is two inches around.

She has never thrown up in the past, this only started happening about 2 weeks after the food switch/when the new bone was introduced.[/QUOTE]

How do the calorie content of the two foods compare? Could she be getting hungry in between the meals?

I agree with possible bone shards causing issues. Its never wrong to take a trip to a vet to rule out any major issues.

I am a 4th year vet student and in 5 weeks, I am a full fledged vet. I switched my cat to a new food and he too started vomiting. I knew most likely it was the food and not all of the crazy ideas that I was coming up with. I was also going out of town the next day. I made the trip to the ER and told them I know he is likely okay and it is due to his new food, but can you do some bloodwork and a radiograph to ease my mind. Sure enough everything was okay and the new food did not agree with him. I was slowly transitioning him too, but for whatever reason he couldn’t handle the food. My other cat was completely fine.

[keysfins]

You are lucky to have a good source for raw bones.

If she’s chewing it in the evening, the chewing/salivating/swallowing could be triggering acid production in her stomach. See if a bedtime snack helps. I have a 90 pound dog, and I give her a handful of her raw nuggets or freeze dried raw treats at bedtime.

[keysfins]

Also, great that you are monitoring how she’s working on the bone. If she’s not splintering or getting chips off, it is probably fine. Some weight bearing bones from large animals can be very hard/dense, and can cause tooth fractures, and the bone can splinter or shard. Sounds like that is not the case for your dog.

[Casey09]

My dog throws up bile on an empty stomach. It is worse on some foods than others. He was the worst when he ate Orijen, which many feel is the best dry food out there - it just didn’t agree with him. I’d try another food on the list.
I would visit the vet also, just to make sure there isn’t something more. I do give my boy treats at bedtime, which helps, and I feed twice a day - but I’ve found that it is worse on some brands and better on others. The other thing I do that I think helps is mix cooked real meat with his food

[Senszuri]

I do always go to ‘worst case scenario’ in my mind… she is due for her annual vet visit so I will bring it up with our vet and see if we can do an X-ray to rule out any small bone pieces that could be bothering her, even though she hasn’t chewed the bone down much. Are there any other symptoms that are usually present when there are bone pieces in the stomach? She is 100% normal other than the few times she has thrown up over the past two weeks.

Good point about the calorie content, I was feeding her towards the lower end of the recommended feeding range for her weight on the new food as she does not have a high level of activity. I will try bumping it up closer to the higher end of the suggested feeding range for her weight and see if that stops the small throw-up episodes. That would possibly make sense, since if she does throw-up it is routinely at 5 am (1.5 - 2 hours before her normal breakfast time) or around 4pm (also 2 hours before her normal dinner time).

This morning i also put 2 tennis balls in her food bowl to try slowing down her eating so she is chewing everything and not swallowing some pieces whole.

[Beethoven]

There should be hopefully on the bag the kcal/cup of food which should help you figure out if the calories are different between the food. If it is not on the bag then it is usually on the website.

I would think she would have more symptoms if it was a partial obstruction from a piece of bone, but you never know, so a trip to the vet would be great.

[Senszuri]

Current food is 25% protein, 14% fat, daily feeding for 40# dog is 2.5 - 3 cups. 334 kcal/cup.

Old food had 26% protein, 16% fat, daily feeding 2 cups per day. 373 kcal/cup.

[Foxtrot_s]

We don’t give bones to our Bull Terriers, but when we did have elk shank bones they got them. My goodness, those dogs could not tough them. They are like ivory and so h.a.r.d.

They are older dogs now and I’m afraid they will crack their old teeth if they chew too hard…

[Simkie]

Did you drop the volume of kibble fed by a half cup/full cup? That could be your culprit right there. Some dogs just need more volume. I had one like that years ago…

Increase the volume with greenbeans or rice or more kibble and see if she stops.

[Senszuri]

[QUOTE=Simkie;8101051]
Did you drop the volume of kibble fed by a half cup/full cup? That could be your culprit right there. Some dogs just need more volume. I had one like that years ago…

Increase the volume with greenbeans or rice or more kibble and see if she stops.[/QUOTE]

She has been getting 1 1/4 cup of new food per serving which is the lower end of the recommended feeding for her weight. I will try increasing that to be closer to 1 1/2 cups per feeding (2x day).

My guess is some days she would get leftover plain grilled chicken breast or a small treat after dinner which meant some days she would throw up (not enough new kibble) and some days she did not.

Thanks COTH! I had not thought it simply might not be enough food given that I was feeding within the suggested amount for her weight. I will increase and report back!

Taking suggestions for other chewing options! Not sure I like this raw bone, and I don’t like the nylabone she had previously.

[Beckham03]

Continue to monitor, sounds like you are on top of things!

I switched foods this winter for my dogs…I have three. I noticed a little mucous in my pit bulls stool and took it in for testing. Nothing found, everything seemed ok. Then one day I came home to a poop/vomit fest. The other two were fine. I ran him back to work for an ultrasound, which was normal. A few meds, chick and rice for a few days, and another new food, we are good. These were all highly rated foods as well. Sometimes foods don’t agree with them:(

[keysfins]

I have fed the Orijen Regional Red, and it did NOT agree with my Rottie’s gut. She’s been raised on a wide variety of foods: kibble (changing formula or manufacturer with each new bag for variety), raw, freeze dried raw, home cooked. Almost never the same meal twice. The Orijen Regional Red gave her gastric upset, loose poops and THE worst gas. And she even gets pre/probiotics. That bag went back to the shop, and we just changed to another Orijen formula that she is fine with.

Antlers are another natural, durable chewing item. They are naturally shed from deer or elk, and are available in different sizes. The Himalayan Yak milk chews are one of our favorite chews. Durable, the dogs seem to love them, and they last quite a good while.

[HenryisBlaisin]

Hopefully everything is fine. Depending on where you are, are there stinkbugs? The wake up in the spring and I know my dog will eat them if he gets the chance. If he eats them, he throws up. Just another possibility.

[Nezzy]

Could be Inflammatory Bowel Disease. my JRt got it and had to be managed the rest of her life. please go to the vet and have dog diagnosed. IBD is very painful and IF it is, you might need steroids for a while like my dog.

[french_fry]

Another vote for bilious vomiting. Our friend’s dog started it when they switched her to a (higher quality, I believe) food and has been doing it ever since even with her old food.

As long as she eats at regular intervals throughout the day/night she’s fine. They have a timed feeder so she never has a completely empty stomach.