throwing up

I was just wondering if it is normal for a dog to throw up on regular occasions. Bender does this often, and because he has done it for a long time, I have been assuming it's normal. I read somewhere that if a dog doesn't chew bones properly they'll throw them up and chew them and eat them again and apparently this is quite normal. I have also read that it is quite easy and natural for a dog to throw up- not like us. But the other day Bender threw up bright orange foam (and I couldn't for the life of me think of anything orange he ate), and he occasionally has the runs. But usually only after being in the car (he is scared of the car so I thought maybe nervous poo) or after being really excited at the park. Anyway I'd just thought I'd ask people's opinions, as Bender is really hard to take to the vet- he needs to be sedated. He is also on a raw food diet if this makes any difference. He is otherwise healthy looking. He does seem to be unsettled alot, pacing around the house and crying, but I think this is due to hearing noises outside and wanting to chase things and trying to get me to play with him.

 

I personally would be concerned. Nothing you have said sounds normal to me. If nothing else, you should call your vet. There could be something very wrong. My dog had similar problems and it turned out to be a very big deal, she had a birth defect that caused paralysis of her throat so she couldn't eat or drink properly. She also had an elongated soft pallete and we had to do surgery(well, the vet did) we adopted her from the shelter I worked at, she was about 2 months old and we had to put her down at 4 months old because of all this.
But she couldv'e been alot worse had I not taken her in as soon as I was concerned. It saved her a lifetime of suffering.

 

The orange foam is bile or something from their stomach. That is normal. My dog had this when she ate a bone and then threw it up.

I don't think it is something urgent. Maybe next time you take him to the vet you could mention it. My dog used to throw up clear liquid goo stuff but she has since quit now that I feed her twice a day. Or it could be that he has just eaten something funny. Or gotten overly excited. Or eaten too much at one time. Not necessarily serious things. I would think though that if he is throwing up more than once a day, that may be an issue.

 

elizavixen

elizavixen
I agree, we had a dog that would throw up at lest once to twice a week and the vet never found anything wrong and he grew out of it in a few months as we found a good diet for him. Our Jack dumps her stuff at least once a week she well eat just about anything, fly's,grass,her favorite spiders.Very hyper and could not sit still for a minute. Many times the dyes in the food given change color once they start to digest the food given them. To rich a food could even be a problem, conditions such as moving,change there area they go in,I have even wondered about the changes we do in our home a new wall, different color of a room as to the effect on our guys. But as said I would bring it up to the vet and keep and eye on what is coming up, you may wish to take some to the vet, as we did and he - found butter cup and some pebbles in it. By the way butter cup is "dangerous" for dogs to eat. In my day grass was considered a sign of stomach problems when a dog would eat to much of it. They would eat grass to help sooth and bring up there food to re -eat it and then digest it as it was know longer as rich for them.( one of the many theories) Some dogs could eat just a few bites and it well make them throw up, but you should see the grass in it. My concern would be dehydration, keep and eye on the gums and skin. If this should happen take to the vet at once. Oh I well assume you have illuminated worms as a cause.
2pyrs

 

Jules,
I hope this dosen't open up the raw food debate again but if Bender is eating raw bones then he might just be expelling irritating bone fragments. It seem dogs will naturally throw up undigested items. I had to stop giving Duke those calf hooves because he was able to break off large chunks which he would then throw up in the middle of the night.
I just believe it can't be healthy for a dog to be throwing up on a regular basis.

 

I agree. He's probably eating or drinking too fast. Its normal for a dog to expell fragments of bones, or grass or anything non digestable.

Though the way your explaining it, I would call your vet just to be on the safe side.

 

They don't speak human. We don't speak dog. Better safe than sorry. Just call the vet and run it by them. You will feel better if you do and feel terrible if you don't and something happens.

 

It is normal for a rawfed dog to throw up bits of bone that didn't get digested. Usually bile comes with it, which is brownish watery stuff. However, usually only dogs new to raw food do this - they tend to outgrow it as their system gets better at processing real food.

Sometimes going to either more or less feedings a day helps, also. So if you feed once, try two smaller meals.

Is he otherwise healthy and happy? Does he eat, drink, play? Is he the proper weight? Losing or gaining weight?

I would run it by your vet, but if it's not a vet that promotes raw feeding, you really can't go by what he says if he says you need to feed your dog kibble. Vets are like that. However, it would be good to rule out any other possible issues.

You could go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/ and ask them about it - they are very knowledgeable and rawfed dogs!


Jamiya

 

Thanks for all your replies. Yes, Bender is otherwise happy and healthy and playful. Loves his food. He does eat a little too fast, because now he has competition. When I say regularly throws up I mean about once a fortnight. Or even once a month. This is a really rough guess because I have a shocking memory and he may do it outside also when I'm not with him. I also forgot to mention he makes this gagging noise like he's trying to cough a furball up. Our neighbours dog actually has been doing this aswell (now this info seems important to the topic and don't know why I forgot to state this) and they took him to the vet, and couldn't find anything wrong with him. They said they thought the same thing as me... that he could have something stuck- like a piece of bone or something. But the vet reckons that if the neighbours dog did have a bone stuck- he'd be coughing up blood. They said they could give him an x ray to check him out, but the vet seemed to think it wasn't necessary. I should ask my neighbours if their dog has been throwing up too.

 

My dog would throw up if she ate and got too excited or managed to swallow a piece of her toy that she chewed off. In the second instance she would be hacking and coughing to get it up, in the first she wouldn't make any noise. We just avoid feeding her before a car ride or excitement and keep toys away from her that she might get a piece off and swallow.

 

I would say once every couple weeks or months is not terribly significant, especially if there are no other symptoms. Dogs eat weird things.

You say he has competition when eating so he eats faster now? I separate my dogs when feeding them. I have found the easiest way to do this - since I feed outside due to their raw food - is to put a tie out in each of their favorite spots to eat. I put each dog on their line and then give food to the alpha and then the other dog. When they are both done, I let them off. It works well for us!


Jamiya

 

My dogs bile is usually yellow. Eating grass can cause vomiting. What you describe does not sound like a huge problem. Sometimes dog tummy get upset and they purposely aet grass to vomit. The stomaches can't digest the grass. Is there ever any grass in the bile? My poodle will vomit a couple times a month. My terrier will vomit if I give him veggies.

 

I don't know if it's cause from a particular food. But he does make that coughing gagging sound regularly. I'll hear it almost every day or every couple of days. Sometimes there is grass, sometimes it's just clear and mucusy, sometimes bits of bone, sometimes food he has eaten. MMmmm yum, he has a whole smorgasboard of vomit. :0024: as I'm sure all dogs do!

 

I've had Molly and Emma for just over 4 weeks.. Molly has thrown up 3 times and Emma once. They still eat, they are very active so I wasn't overly concerned but wanted to check with the vet anyway.

She said that dogs will tend to throw up more than humans do.. they eat so much junk somestimes, between grass and misc. things that they find on the floor/ground. They also can get sick if they eat too fast etc.

I would call your vet just to let them know but also keep track of how often he throws up and write down what it looks like (in case the vet asks).

More often than not, it's normal, however, if it becomes excessive or there are other symptoms associated with it, then there's a problem!