My 8 m/o sometimes vomits bile

[DogueOwner]

I have an 8 moth DDB, and he eats raw chicken/beef/tripe his whole life. Every now and again he'll go on spouts where he throws up once or twice during the week. Over the past four evenings, he vomited up some bile twice. Not a ton, but enough where his heaving sound woke me up in the middle of the night both times. He seems okay all day, playful, happy to see us when we return from being out, etc. Stools look normal.

My only thought is he is maybe chewing something at night which causes his stomach to get upset. Both times this happened it was early morning hours. 2 or 3a. My breeder tells me his dogs are vomiting on occasion and some bile is likely nothing to worry about.

Has anyone had similar experiences? Thanks.

 

[greykyttyn]

Our 7 month old DDB just started this 3 weeks ago. He will hack & cough like he's a cat with a hair ball then a little bile comes up. He's done it maybe 4 or 5 times total. No clue why, it wasn't a lot of bile, just a tiny bit so we hadn't been concerned yet. My other little dog has done this for years. It appears to only happen when she's been snuggling & cleaning the cat so i assumed, maybe incorrectly, that it was just a cat hair tickling her and she was trying to cough it up. I could be completely wrong and I am curious to see what other members have to say that have way more experience than we do with DDB's.

 

[DMikeM]

RAW fed dogs often throw up bile. Raw food digests faster than kibble and leaves the stomach empty, some dogs just don't get used to this or are on a constant feeding schedule and the acid builds up. Then you get a throw up. Feeding at irregular intervals can sometimes cure this or just breaking meals up into multiples can cure it. RAW food is gone in about 1 to 3 hours just like in humans so feeding every 3 to 4 hours stops the hunger pangs and reduces acid.

 

[DogueOwner]

@DMike, thanks. That makes a lot of sense. We thought about feeding him less quantity more frequency, just like active humans do today. Appreciate both user replies.

 

[Kujo]

Sounds like a hunger vomit. Kujo would get this when he refused to eat breakfast...granted he's on a kibble diet so it's hard to compare to a raw fed dog...but when he refuses to eat all day he will vomit bile.

 

[NYDDB]

Agree with what's been said already.

Mateo is raw fed, and very occasionally will vomit bile. It's only happened maybe 3 or 4 times or so in the past 2 1/2 years, so I don't worry about it.

 

[mcarrel]

Everything said so far is spot on. Kronos will vomit bile too if he doesn't eat on schedule he is also raw fed.

 

[musicdeb]

Titan will occasionally throw up bile and I know he's hungry. I feed Titan twice a day to keep food in his stomach.

 

[DennasMom]

Denna's raw fed, normally two meals a day, but the times are very flexible (9am +/- an hour and 7pm +/- 2 hours), and on occasion (i.e. when we'll be out all afternoon/evening) she'll only get one big meal for the day. I think mixing it up helps keep her stomach guessing, so it doesn't produce bile until it KNOWS there's food on the way. I've heard the "hunger pukes" occur more often in dogs that are on a strict feeding schedule - to the point where the stomach starts anticipating food and building up juices with nowhere to go - but up & out.

Not sure if that makes sense for a 2am vomit event, though...

Denna does the 2am (or 4am) vomit when she's had too much bone or indigestible material in one sitting the day before (too much bone in a meal, a "recreational" bone, too many pine needles from the yard, or a destroyed toy). But, it's not just a bile pile, then... it has "chunks". :scared2:

 

[TN Dogues]

Sometimes our spoiled DDBs will refuse their kibble and skip a meal - and then we get the bile vomit. Usually a morning thing, since they haven't eaten since the night before. Doesn't happen often, but it's nothing serious.