Puppy dry heaving?

[yahtzee92]

Hey all,

My 7 month old puppy has been occasionally dry heaving over the course of the last week. He was recently neutered so I had the vet take a look at him and they didn't seem to think anything was wrong.. though, how much can one really tell without a more in depth evaluation? He has continued to do it and I'm a little worried that something is either in his stomach or caught in his throat that won't come out.. it's definitely not a reverse sneeze or kennel cough so I wanted to see if any other basenji owners had experienced this.

Thanks

[senjisilly]

Sometimes if my boy doesn't eat his breakfast he will start dry heaving and eventually barf up bile. Is this what is happening? As far as the vet goes, record a video of when this issue starts to he/she can see what you are experiencing since your puppy is unlikely to recreate the problem on command.

[Julie4444]

My Clara was spayed and she did the same thing in the morning for 6 days then quit. I figured it was because of the anesthesia. She wouldn't eat breakfast, then threw up yellow bile. I'd wait about a half an hour or so, then offer food. She'd eat then. But again, this quit on its own. Clara also had a hard time with her first vaccination. She swelled up on the site of injection badly and scream at times if moved. After that vet then would give a shot first to counteract and an anti inflammatory to go home with. I think this breed may be extra sensitive to these things.

[yahtzee92]

Hey @senjisilly he has done similar but this is different - it's a dry hack versus the empty tummy bile. I saw that he was able to hack out what looks like a small piece of the bathroom rug... I'm worried that maybe there's more in him and he's struggling to get it out...he's acting normally otherwise

@Julie4444 Hey Julie - so this began prior to the neutering, sorry if that wasn't clear. He has been a bit more groan-y since though, some darth vader like sounds.

[tanza]

@yahtzee92 - If he hacked up a part of a rug, you really need to have this checked out, this could be causing a blockage in the bowels. Did you tell the Vet that he ate part of the bathroom rug? X-ray and/or ultrasound in my opinion needs to be done...

[yahtzee92]

Thanks @tanza - getting him set up with an appt ASAP.

[tanza]

@yahtzee92 - Glad to hear that, best to make sure there is nothing "stuck" in his gut... especially since you have seen a part of a rug coming up....

[yahtzee92]

@tanza Nothing showed up in the x-rays - they gave me some nausea medicine to see if it helps so we'll see.

[elbrant]

@yahtzee92 said in Puppy dry heaving?:

Nothing showed up in the x-rays

That's a good thing!

[yahtzee92]

@elbrant Definitely a positive! But, on the flip side, doesn't help explain what's going with him : / Its happening right as he wakes up in the morning (at its worst) then continues only a couple of times throughout the day. May go get a second opinion at a different vet.

[tanza]

@yahtzee92 - You should video what he is doing so the you can show the Vet.

[yahtzee92]

@tanza It really was just exactly as described - trying to throw up with nothing coming up. Thankfully it seems to have cleared up! And he handled last nights fireworks quite well which I'm very grateful for

[rhughes89]

My pup will dry heaves and some times throws up in the morning usually no food in the barf. From What I understand this is due to too much time between feedings and the stomach acid get harsh. For example, If your last feeding is at 6pm and he/she dosent feed untill 9am that may be the problem. I would suggest keeping the delay between feedings less that 10 - 12 hours

[Zande]

It is a Basenji 'thing', @rhughes89. Mostly they bring it on by eating grass and then chucking it up but they can also just dry heave and eventually, maybe, throw up bile. Kito does it if he has had fresh bones the day before - so I ration the time he gets to work on them until they are no longer fresh !

[Lawrence Chow]

Replying late but our B had this problem for quite a while. It's called bilious vomiting syndrome. Usually the vomit is yellow foam in the morning when they have an empty stomach. Our vet suggested feeding 3 meals through the day with the last meal as late in the evening as possible and then the moment they wake up, feed them right away, even just a spoonful is good. Our B had this issue on and off for a good 4 months before it eventually going away, the feeding very first thing in the morning seemed to help. She's 9 months now and it still happens occassionally, the last time was when we forgot to feed her dinner the night before. She's otherwise totally healthy.

[elbrant]

@lawrence-chow said in Puppy dry heaving?:

with the last meal as late in the evening as possible

Interesting. I leave 1/2C of kibble in doodle's bowl when I go to bed. If she's hungry, she can have something to eat, if not, then it's there for a nibble another time. (I know, bad me, I shouldn't leave it out.) But I have not seen doodle have one of those "upset stomach episodes" since I started doing this....

[yahtzee92]

@lawrence-chow said in Puppy dry heaving?:

Replying late but our B had this problem for quite a while. It's called bilious vomiting syndrome. Usually the vomit is yellow foam in the morning when they have an empty stomach. Our vet suggested feeding 3 meals through the day with the last meal as late in the evening as possible and then the moment they wake up, feed them right away, even just a spoonful is good. Our B had this issue on and off for a good 4 months before it eventually going away, the feeding very first thing in the morning seemed to help. She's 9 months now and it still happens occassionally, the last time was when we forgot to feed her dinner the night before. She's otherwise totally healthy.

Sadly this was a totally different issue at the time. It was dry and repetitive even post-feeding. Ended up being nothing which is odd but he's all good now