Vomiting in the night

    • Puppy

    Vomiting in the night

    I recently homed a dog (2/3yr old lab/ collie cross). He is a little nervous, but will happily play fetch, walk around wagging his tail and takes every opportunity for a cuddle on my lap. The first 2 nights he was sick at about 3am. Then, the following night we tried making sure he was settled, wasn't eating anythingelse and for 3 nights he wasn't sick but then last night at 3am again he was sick - he still seems reasonably happy and is wagging his tail. Can anyone help?
     
    New to this site - looks like i posted my message in the wrong place.

    He is eating 2 meals a day with the 2nd about 6pm. Originally thought it might be anxiety but he seemed to be ok then started again.

    Might go to the vets
    • Gold Top Dog
    Nned to know WHAT he's thowing up.  Yes, serious question -- is it what he ate at 6?  Digested or UN-digested (that's a biggie - food staying in the gut and not digesting is a big clue to some nasty stuff).  Or is it just bile or foam??  All different things wrong.  Vet would be a good idea.
     
    Sheer stress (new place, new rules, new everything) can cause intestinal/stomach bacteria -- he may need some meds.
    • Puppy
    Thanks for your reply. It looks like what he ate for his dinner - but digested as instead of hard biscuits it looks more like soggy weetabix. Then last night was sick for a second time after drinking some water and it was mainly just the water he threw up.
     
    Think I will take your advice and go to the vets - he might have this axiety induced stomach upset - he is reasonably nervous - hit by his previous owner etc.
     
    Thanks
    • Gold Top Dog
    Good idea with the vet - If he's throwing up 9 hours after dinner, and there's still a significant portion of food there versus bile, it generally isn't a good thing.  I'm not sure what soggy "weetabix" are, but if it looks like his dinner would after it sat in liquid for that many hours, then he's probly not digesting it.  That should really get checked out as soon as possible. 
     
    Good for you for taking in a rescue - not bad idea to get a vet check anyway, if you haven't yet (not sure how recent is recent).
     
    Good luck at the vet's and please let us know what the vet says!  Poor little guy......
    • Puppy
    "Recently homed" meaning last Friday.
     
    Got confused why you didn't know what soggy weetabix were - but then realised I am a brit on a US website - FYI Weetabix is a famous British breakfast that starts crunch and then very quickly goes soggy when in milk.
     
    Got home to find he'd vomitted again but this time including some blood - needless to say 20 mins later we were sat in the vets waiting room.
     
    The vet said he is generally very healthy - wet nose, shiney coat, good weight etc but appears to have some stomach ulcers which may have been partly brought on by stress of being in the home etc. She has prescribed bland food (egg, chicken, rice), some antacids and some antibiotics. She said it should clea up in 2/3 days but to come back if not. Also he managed to sleep right through last night with no vomitting.
     
    For info: she said he was sick at 3am because his stomach would be fairly empty and the ulcers would cause an acid build up thus causing him to be sick.
     
    Hopefully he should be all better.
     
    Thanks for your suggestions.
    • Gold Top Dog
    So glad to hear everything is heading towards being better!  Good that you did the vet thing and it's not too serious.
     
    Some folks on here also give their dogs "snacks" right before bed since it's reasonably common that dogs can throw up bile/stomach fluids if there's nothing in their tummys. Some dogs are okay with 1 meal a day, but I feed 2 and he's ok with that - some people do 3 meals a day even for an adult dog.  So perhaps give him a few bites of something before bed to calm his tummy as well.  Chicken and rice are good for bland diets, you can even boil some hamburger with some rice as well and from what I understand from people on here its also fairly bland. 
     
    So now that your dog is on the mend, we can push you for more info about the pup - what's his name, for example, and when he gets used to you, you can tell us funny stories about things he does.  And pictures!  we love pictures on this place :)
     
    Also, thank you for the description of soggy weetabix [:)]