Dog vomit (TMI)

[Cheria]

2.5 year old goldie, male. Generally in pretty good health but prefers leftovers and raw meat to his biscuits. I'm careful what he eats, though sometimes things slip through the net.

He hadn't eaten since yesterday evening then while he was sleeping earlier he obviously was dreaming, twitching and whining etc, and kind of peed himself. He has never done that before - just a few drops but still.

When he woke up he started to vomit orange bile - there was nothing in the vomit it was liquidy (but remember he hasn't eaten since yesterday evening).

He looked very sad for a few minutes and then went and emptied his biscuit bowl and drank lots of water, and seems to be better, tail wagging, more alert etc.

I can't get him to the vet right now, it would have to wait til my husband gets in later this evening and then would go to emergency vet. My usual vet is on holiday until Saturday.

Does this sound urgent to you? If he deteriorates again in the next couple of hours I will take him in, don't worry, but would just like thought in the meantime.

Thanks

Not urgent unless he's vomiting repeatedly or it has blood in it or he's unwell in himself (wobbly etc). Best not to let him drink lots just after vomiting, as an irritated stomach is better with small amounts of water at first, as with people. Would have advised not to let him eat for a few hours and then try him on small amount of something bland first. Single episodes of vomiting are really common in dogs, and often of no particular consequence, so I wouldn't worry too much unless something else happens or it persists.

I learned recently that they can sometimes vomit if they haven't eaten because their stomachs become too acidic. Could this be the reason?

You could check his gums. Lift his lip and press the gum. If it goes white and immediately pink again, it is a good sign and means that he doesn't have anything sharp in his gut that might be causing bleeding. Dogs are fine if they don't eat for a couple of days as long as they are drinking. It's really important that if your dog is off its food that you don't try to make something special. The dog may need time to get rid of what is bugging it and more food can create more problems.

If it were me, I'd keep a close eye and see the vet if you still feel the need later.

Thanks so much for your answers. alice I was going to remove his food for a while but he got there before I did. He has been fine since, and is stood up on the armchair looking out the window waiting for my husband to come home, so that is a good sign.

He actually perked up after eating and drinking.

Thanks for the tip silentcatastrophe I'm going to give that ago. I have checked the garden for his toilet and no signs of blood in there.

I'll give him some rice later if he is hungry, but it looks like the trip to the vet won't be necessary. The thing that woried me most was that it was bright orange - never seen puke quite like it and that couldn't have been anything he ate

I wondered too if it was to do with his stomach being empty. Ours used to be sick sometimes early in the morning, or shortly before his evening feed, so when he'd been for the maximum time without eating. It wasn't quite bright orange, but a fairly 'lurid' nasty-looking yellow liquid. We split his food into three meals a day instead of two, and that seems to suit him much better.

Glad to hear your boy is looking a bit better :)

Yellow or orange colour in dog vomit is just due to bile pigment, and is not sinister, just, as Ephiny says, is commoner on an empty stomach when the bile hasn't been used up on digestion. Entirely normal.

One of mine vomits if his stomach gets empty. Usually very early in the morning. It's just yellowy coloured bile and a bit of froth. A Bonio biscuit before bed generally prevents it from happening.

I've recently split my dogs feeds into two meals as he was regularly sicking up frothy bile around 4am. It's really helped.

OK - glad it's just bile. He's on top form and peeing through the fence at th eneighbour's dogs this evening so he must be fine. Am doing some rice for us now so will give him some too before bedtime - and nothing else til tomorrow morning.

It looked like orange juice mixed with egg white. Sorry, TMI I know.

This evening he has been eating some grass in the garden but as he eats anything this is nothing out of the ordinary (has eaten grass pretty much every day since we got him!!)