Dog being sick after food

[countrybump]

Hi,

I have a three and a half year old flatcoat retriever, and he has started to vomit in the mornings, after his food. It all comes back up, undigested.

He does get walked in the mornings, but we leave it a while after he returns before feeding him.

Any ideas what could be causing this? It's only started to happen over the last few weeks. It isn't every morning and he has another meal in the evening, and, as far as I am aware, he rarely vomits after this meal.

Nothing else has changed about his routine. I am wondering if he is eating too fast, but this hasnt changed in the last few weeks?

He is sometimes sick after gulping down water, but I don't think that's really that unusual is it?

I haven't wormed him for a while, so could it be that? But if so why is it only in the mornings?

Anyway - please advise if you can. I'm perplexed but also worried!

Thanks

I would get him checked over, especially if you are not sure if he vomits his evening meal too. If he did (e.g. in the garden) then that would potentially be very serious and life-threatening.

Sometimes they vomit in the mornings because their stomach has been so empty for a long time, but it really is best to have him checked out.

And no, it's not normal for him to vomit water.

And nothing to do with worming.

Thanks, I have made an appointment at the vets this afternoon. The water thing is normally when he gulps it down after exercise, and he then vomits it back up almost immediately, and it doesn't happen very often.

Hopefully the vet will be able to help.

Best of luck - keep us posted please

Thanks Bella,

The vet says it is likely to be his feeding position and we should try to elevate his bowl, and ideally make a feeding station for him so he puts his front paws on a step to feed. Says that the food isn't getting down to his stomach properly, and is something that is common in big dogs and particularly large chested dogs.

I hadn't even thought of this.

If things don't improve then we go down the route of having an x-ray to see if there is a blockage, but as he isn't throwing up every time he eats, we're hoping a blockage isn't the problem.

He's happy to be home from the vets anyway, and I'm now about to get his dinner for him (and put it on a stool for him to eat from until I can fashion something a bit better and more permanent!).

You might want to consider buying this to help. We bought it for our dog but unfortunately his problem turned out to be something a bit more serious.

Try splitting his food into several small meals too. I would be suspicious of something like a hiatal hernia from the description you give. Overloading the stomach and feeding position will make symptoms more obvious, and in time these can get worse - though some can be managed too with things like raised feeding platforms.

Hopefully the vet can put your mind at rest if it carries on - may be worth asking for a referral if the vet finds nothing and can't rule out a hiatal hernia?

Well, happy to report that this morning he ate his meal with his bowl elevated and he hasn't been sick. He ate like this last night and last night's meal stayed down as well.

I'm trying not to scare myself by thinking what else it might be. He was never being sick after every meal, just a few, usually in the morning and I got worried when it was two mornings consecutively. He's as lively as normal, likes his walks, is pooing as before and there's nothing I'm alarmed about in his vomit - just undigested food.

So, I'm hoping that we have found the cause and a remedy, although obviously I'll be back to the vets if he's sick again despite the raised feeding platform.

Thanks everyone!

If he wolfs his food down as well, another thing you can try is a large, smooth stone in the bowl (more rock size than stone size, too big for him to swallow). Our lab used to gulp it down, but the time spent chasing the biscuits round the stone slowed her down and helped stop sicking up.