Throwing up

[Cheza]

Hi everyone,

Cheza throws up a lot (it seems to me). Once every 2-3 days is about the norm. She gags for a bit and then tosses up what usually seems to be a full meal, somewhat digested. She also gets really peeved when we dont let her eat it lol... (she HOWLS).

She throws up at all times of the day too... even waking up in the middle of the night to do it, and eat it... we just see the stain in the morning.
A couple of times she's woken me up in the morning by horking lol.

We asked the vet about it, and he said it wasn't a concern... but it still worries me that she's doing it so often. Anyone have any advice?

Thanks!

[Buddy'sParents]

That's strange.

How long after you've fed her that she throws up?

Is she active directly before/after being fed?

What are you feeding her?

[Cheza]

Thanks for the response :)
The time varies... but its typically late night, overnight, or early morning, which answers the next question hehe; she's typically inactive before she does it... in fact it's usually right after she wakes up.

She was on Diamond Lg. Br. Puppy and we're in the process of moving her over to Eagle Pack Large Breed Puppy. However I dont think it's the food switch that's doing it, because she was still throwing up before we started to switch her food over.

Oh, and she poops normally.

[bubbatd]

To me it's not natural .....something is causing it . Eating too fast or too much at one sitting ?? Or both ??

[Maxy24]

yeah the fact that she is actually throwing up the meal and not just bile is worrisome. Does she "wolf" down her food really fast? (if she does you may want to stop her since that could be making her puke and it can also cause bloat especially since she's a dane) Also how many times a day do you feed her? You said she is not active before you feed her, how about after? I'm by no means an expert on dog health but theses are a few of the things that could cause it.



-Erin:)

[Cheza]

Well she definately does inhale her food. In fact, sometimes she coughs up a bunch as she's eating because she hasn't chewed it.
We've started putting a ceramic mug in her dish to encourage her to slowwww down when she eats.

She's usually fairly subdued before and after she eats. We also make a point to keep her calm after she's done eating so she doesn't upset her stomach.

We feed her three times daily; once at ~10:30 in the morning (when she wakes up) lunch at ~3:00 and dinner at ~7:30. She has access to water all day from when she wakes up til 10:00 at night, and she's usually asleep and in her crate by midnight.

We're feeding her 1.25 cups per meal. She started out at 1, but she looks a teensy bit underweight, so we upped it a little just recently.

[Buddy'sParents]

Has this always happened?

She could have an extremely sensitive stomach... She could be not getting enough food.... Is she eating too fast? How many meals does she get a day? What are the time intervals?

Ok, I'm going to stop the 20 questions game.. for now. ;)

[bubbatd]

Stumps me !!! Do you add plenty of water to her food ??

[Buddy'sParents]

OK, we were typing at the same time, heh.

If she inhales her food that could very well be the cause. (I'm no expert though!)

I know of some people who put a large chain in their dogs bowl so the dog has to work itself around the chain to get its food, which slows down the eating process tremendously.

I wonder why it would not be a concern to your vet.. a giant breed throwing up meals several times a week is not something to scoff at...

[Cheza]

Well we weren't sure if she was allergic to chicken at first, but it turns out she's not. And she for sure eats too fast. It's just odd because she doesn't throw up immediately after a meal... she usually does it in the middle of the night. You got me thinking though... maybe she isn't getting enough food?

That seems so odd, because she gets lots of treats during the day too...
She gets 3 meals of 1 1/4 cup per day at time intervals of roughly 5 hours. She wakes up at 10:30 like clockwork, goes out, eats breakfast. Lunch at around 3:00-3:30, and then dinner at around 7:30.

[Cheza]

Ooh I like the chain idea.. thanks for that. We'll try that one out.
And yes I'll bring it up to the vet again when we go, because it doesn't seem normal to me either.

No, she eats her food dry. Should we add water to it? How much water should we add?

[bubbatd]

I have always moistened dry food .... about 1/2 and 1/2 ( warm water ). Slows down the eating as they usually slurp up the water 1st .( I like to use water left over from steaming or boiling ....better in the dog that down the drain ! )Otherwise , dry goes to stomach and soaks up whatever fluids are there .I'm no expert !! Just logic to me and more nutrition .

[Julie]

My Charlie threw up undigested food about once or twice a month.... I thought he just grew out of it, but come to think about it, he stopped doing this at about 18 months.....also about the same time I started mixing water in his dry food.
I always mix some water into the dry food, plus whatever leftover that might be appropriate. I don't let the water and food soak, just mix and give it to him.
I think you should try mixing the water with the dry food, if it does help... a simple solution! I just mix enough water to almost cover the food depending on the dog bowl, but not enough to float the dog food..... stir it up until it looks like gravy.

Good Luck, and let us know if this helped! :)

[Cheza]

Thanks! We'll give it a try and let you know how it works out over the next couple of weeks :)