[hapyface]

For the past several weeks, my dog has been puking (like once every two weeks or so)

I know its normal for them to barf out some yellow liquid (and both my dogs and other dogs i know been doing it once in a while since pups), but the lastest several rounds with this new food we bought the puke was more solid substance (like minced meat type of material and happens during midnight or early morning when sleeping).

Should I be concerned and does it warrant a vet visit? If so, what should I bring (besides the dog)?

i also notice with the new food (Lite version) that they poop a lot more

 

[Yoda E SC]

My dog (rescued bull terrior mix) has the same sort of reaction sometimes when we switch his food. my reasoning behind it is that he eats it alot faster cause it is something new. this may not be right and i am no vet but i have watched my dog do the same thing. he switches back and forth between regular iams and weight control every other time and the reason the crap more is because of the fiber content being higher in the weightloss food. my friend that is a vet told us that since we ffed him a good food (iams, euk, science diet, etc) we could just feed him a little less of the regular stuff and he will still get the nutritian he needs but we wont have as much crap to clean up. i feel better giving him the weight loss food so i dont starve him. if it continues take him to the vet but i am constantly told how good my dog looks when he goes to the vet and once a week or everyother week he is puking up something he decided to eat in the back yard or cause he ate his food too quick when we put some gravy or something on it. keep an eye on him.

 

[LMntGuy1982]

Changing your dogs food after every bag is a good way for them to get sick every couple weeks. Their digestive tract isn't as versatile as ours so a quick change from one meal to the next can make them sick. We were told by our vet that if we had to change food to do it over a 2 week period. Mix the new food little by little to the old food until you only have the new food. This way their systems can adjust to the fiber, protien nutrition content.

Though its a little extreme just think as if you were on a health food only diet for a few months then switched to only eating McDonalds. Sure its all food but the content would be way different than what you're used to. We use Purina One Large Breed food for 3 years now with Gracie and haven't had any problems. We tried a few different foods about 2 years ago and she did poop more but also got sick in the yard a time or two with the change.

To sum up, Stick with one food!!! and no Gravy. Dogs don't need extra fat. If your dogs like moist food add water too it about 5 minutes before feeding time. it'll soften their food and they'll think its a treat.

 

[bh241]

LMntGuy1982 is exactly right, a dog's digestive systems is unique. They typically aren't tolerant of a quick change in their food. But I too know some dogs that will eat anything.... any food, sticks, stones, poop, small furry critters, large furry critters, chairs, couches, you get the idea...

Anyway, check this site out, it is a good resource for understanding the basic foods available for the dogs. And if you have the time to look through it, then you'll see why some foods are better than others. I wholeheartedly recommend you pick one food and stick with it.

When evaluating foods, a good rule of thumb is when the dogs stool actually increases in volume for the same amount of intake then clearly there is something in the food that isn't digestible to the dog.

I wouldn't take one of ours in to the vet every time they puked, but any time one of them does something 'out of the norm' is does warrant closer attention on my part.

A neat trick you might try if the dog(s) are eating too fast (which really isn't good for them at all) is to plop a big honkin' rock right in the middle of their food bowl. They will have to 'eat around' it and of course they can't go as fast. Just make sure the rock is too big for the dog(s) to actually eat. There's other tricks to keep them from eating too fast but that one seems to work the best, well this side of hand feeding them that is... ;-)

 

[shepherdqueen]

Whenever I do a change of food, I do it very gradually. I start with 3/4 old 1/4 new, working up to 1/2 old 1/2 new, taking a week going from one to the other.

And if you choose a premium brand, you will feed less food as it is more nutrient dense.

 

[hiker chick]

For the past several weeks, my dog has been puking (like once every two weeks or so)

I know its normal for them to barf out some yellow liquid (and both my dogs and other dogs i know been doing it once in a while since pups), but the lastest several rounds with this new food we bought the puke was more solid substance (like minced meat type of material and happens during midnight or early morning when sleeping).

Should I be concerned and does it warrant a vet visit? If so, what should I bring (besides the dog)?

i also notice with the new food (Lite version) that they poop a lot more

I wouldn't say barfing yellow stuff (bile) is normal or healthy.

Sounds to me like it could be acid reflux. Gidget, my Samoyed, was diagnosed with it a few years ago. It's rarely a problem now.

Try giving them a Pepcid AC before bedtime. Plain 'ol Pepcid AC, over the counter. That's what my vet told me to do and it worked.

That and holding back a little of their dinner to give to her before bedtime.

What's this new food you're feeding them? High-volume stools are often associated with poor quality food.

If the vomiting persists or has been going on for long, then I recommend taking the dogs to the vet. Vomiting and diarrhea are symptoms of all kinds of stuff -- some serious, some not.

Good luck. Always hurts to see our pups suffer and frustrating they can't tell us what' they're feeling.

On that note, I have to put some medicine on Gidget's tush. Long story, painful for both of us - her more than me, of course.

 

[Basset Box]

my friend that is a vet told us that since we ffed him a good food (iams, euk, science diet, etc) we could just feed him a little less of the regular stuff and he will still get the nutritian he needs but we wont have as much crap to clean up.

I will keep this short and sweet. Those foods are not good food. In fact they are of very low quality. This site has a lot of good information on dog foods. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

For the past several weeks, my dog has been puking (like once every two weeks or so)

Should I be concerned and does it warrant a vet visit? If so, what should I bring (besides the dog)?

i also notice with the new food (Lite version) that they poop a lot more

Puking is not normal, ever. Switching foods will should not cause this if done properly. The proper way is to gradually switch over a week or more. Don't buy Lite food, it is for people marketing and nothing more. It is the same amount of food with less nutrients for the same price. Just feed them less, very simple.

Changing your dogs food after every bag is a good way for them to get sick every couple weeks. Their digestive tract isn't as versatile as ours so a quick change from one meal to the next can make them sick. We were told by our vet that if we had to change food to do it over a 2 week period. Mix the new food little by little to the old food until you only have the new food. This way their systems can adjust to the fiber, protien nutrition content.

To sum up, Stick with one food!!! and no Gravy. Dogs don't need extra fat. If your dogs like moist food add water too it about 5 minutes before feeding time. it'll soften their food and they'll think its a treat.

There is quite a bit of misinformation in here.

#1 switching dog food the correct way is not bad. Variety is good. Sticking to one food is how dogs develop allergies and deficiencies. You are right in making adjustments over a period of weeks, not days. But variety is a good thing. The reason they can't handle abrupt change is because of our feeding habits, not their biology.

#2 Dogs are not people and they don't digest food like us. They need meat protein and fat, nothing more. Fat is absolutely something dogs need, in fact they probably need more. They do not need the high amount of carbs (which is 60-75% of commercial dog food) or the grain protein. The reason stool is large is because of undigested food. A high quality food will yield less stool because the food is digested. And by high quality I do not mean anything sold in a grocery store, or wal-mart.

If you want to play a little game, look at the bag of your dog food and compare it against this list. It will define those awesome things like rendering, by-product and digest that are in much of the commercial food.

http://www.braypets.com/FRR/aafcodef.htm

 

[LMntGuy1982]

I will keep this short and sweet. Those foods are not good food. In fact they are of very low quality. This site has a lot of good information on dog foods. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/



Puking is not normal, ever. Switching foods will should not cause this if done properly. The proper way is to gradually switch over a week or more. Don't buy Lite food, it is for people marketing and nothing more. It is the same amount of food with less nutrients for the same price. Just feed them less, very simple.




There is quite a bit of misinformation in here.

#1 switching dog food the correct way is not bad. Variety is good. Sticking to one food is how dogs develop allergies and deficiencies. You are right in making adjustments over a period of weeks, not days. But variety is a good thing. The reason they can't handle abrupt change is because of our feeding habits, not their biology.

#2 Dogs are not people and they don't digest food like us. They need meat protein and fat, nothing more. Fat is absolutely something dogs need, in fact they probably need more. They do not need the high amount of carbs (which is 60-75% of commercial dog food) or the grain protein. The reason stool is large is because of undigested food. A high quality food will yield less stool because the food is digested. And by high quality I do not mean anything sold in a grocery store, or wal-mart.

If you want to play a little game, look at the bag of your dog food and compare it against this list. It will define those awesome things like rendering, by-product and digest that are in much of the commercial food.

http://www.braypets.com/FRR/aafcodef.htm

I'm not really sure what you mean by misinformation. You pretty much echoed everything I said and added to it. I didn't say you can't change food. I said do it right. And if you find something your dog likes and digests it well stick with it. I've had half a dozen dogs in my life and once we found a food that they liked we fed them that their while life. No allergies. No deficiencies. Obviously don't feed them the no name food. We've tried several different foods and settled on one that keeps our dogs regular and they like it. No allergies or deficiencies.

 

[Basset Box]

I saw someone mention trying to slow down the eating. Check this bowl out, I have one and it works well. http://www.brake-fast.net/

I'm not really sure what you mean by misinformation. You pretty much echoed everything I said and added to it. I didn't say you can't change food. I said do it right. And if you find something your dog likes and digests it well stick with it. I've had half a dozen dogs in my life and once we found a food that they liked we fed them that their while life. No allergies. No deficiencies. Obviously don't feed them the no name food. We've tried several different foods and settled on one that keeps our dogs regular and they like it. No allergies or deficiencies.

The misinformation I was referring to was your statement "stick with one food!!!!" and "Dogs don't need extra fat". I disagree with both of those statements and I elaborated in the post.

But, like you said, much of what I said was in agreement with your previous statements.

 

[LMntGuy1982]

When I said extra fat, I meant adding gravy to their food. I understand dogs need fat. It's energy. Like carbs for us. I just don't think they need excessive amounts like adding gravy or giving table scraps. My aunt and uncle have gotten their dog into the habit of giving it ice cream every night before bed!! That really aggrivates me. Everytime I see the dog he's a little bit fatter.

 

[Basset Box]

When I said extra fat, I meant adding gravy to their food. I understand dogs need fat. It's energy. Like carbs for us. I just don't think they need excessive amounts like adding gravy or giving table scraps. My aunt and uncle have gotten their dog into the habit of giving it ice cream every night before bed!! That really aggrivates me. Everytime I see the dog he's a little bit fatter.

Very true, gravy would not be a good idea. Ice cream sound crazy. I bet that dog has some wicked gas.

 

[hapyface]

omg .... i'm gone one weekend and i got so many responses.... thanks.... definitely valuable information....i shall start blending the food...... yes she farts a lot!