Advice please

[Cath S]

Hi there. New to this forum I have a 6 month borderpoo (border collie poodle cross) who is currently fed at 8am 1pm and 6pm. He has been fine until recently when he had woken between 4.30amand 6 ish throwing up bile. It has happened 4 times this week. I think he may well have bilious vomiting syndrome - I started to give him a snack just before bed and the first morning no vomiting but the second morning it started again . He is eating and drinking fine. Any advice? - he has only just started not needing the toilet during the night and has a regular toilet schedule for no 2’s. I am also guessing it is not advisable to go to 2 meals a day at present? What snack can I give him to avoid this and what amount? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks

 

[JoanneF]

Funnily enough, I have read something about this recently.

It's all related to what you feed. Bile comes from an empty tummy, so it's good to give him a late meal or snack. It's also good to make it carbohydrate rich, because that will be digested more slowly and helps use up the bile.

I'd be inclined to make it more than just a snack. It wouldn't worry me about toileting, because to passage of food from eating to pooing takes several hours. You could always put a few kernels of sweetcorn into one of his meals to test, but at night time it slows down a bit too. So maybe put sweetcorn into his breakfast, and then, if necessary, adjust the lunchtime meal so he poos before bed, because a later evening meal shouldn't cause any need to toilet overnight. Does that make sense?

 

[Cath S]

Yea that does make sense thanks. What time would you suggest changing lunch and dinner to? And can I do it suddenly or should it be gradual?

 

[Finsky]

Hi there. New to this forum I have a 6 month borderpoo (border collie poodle cross) who is currently fed at 8am 1pm and 6pm. He has been fine until recently when he had woken between 4.30amand 6 ish throwing up bile. It has happened 4 times this week. I think he may well have bilious vomiting syndrome - I started to give him a snack just before bed and the first morning no vomiting but the second morning it started again . He is eating and drinking fine. Any advice? - he has only just started not needing the toilet during the night and has a regular toilet schedule for no 2’s. I am also guessing it is not advisable to go to 2 meals a day at present? What snack can I give him to avoid this and what amount? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks

Sometimes our girls do bring up bile and it most often happen during night or early morning...so as Joanne already mentioned, it is often to do with having empty tummy. It can be that your dog has been that little bit more active than normal and/or it has not eaten quite enough/readily to cover their tummy's needs.
Yes, you can split the meals into more than you currently give and maybe give teeny bit onto each portion...or give a snack. It could be that for some reason his digestion works bit too efficiently and although the amount food you give him should cover his needs...it just goes through the tummy little too well.
Unfortunately there is no given 'recipe' to suggest what to do...it is more of 'trial and error' thing. I tend to feed 'as normal' but come later on in the evening, mine get a 'meaty' chew (dried turkey neck or fish skin etc) and if they've had busy day a biscuit type of treat too. If the dog's weight is ok, there is no harm done giving little extra to eat.

 

[Finsky]

Sometimes our girls do bring up bile and it most often happen during night or early morning...so as Joanne already mentioned, it is often to do with having empty tummy. It can be that your dog has been that little bit more active than normal and/or it has not eaten quite enough/readily to cover their tummy's needs.
Yes, you can split the meals into more than you currently give and maybe give teeny bit onto each portion...or give a snack. It could be that for some reason his digestion works bit too efficiently and although the amount food you give him should cover his needs...it just goes through the tummy little too well.
Unfortunately there is no given 'recipe' to suggest what to do...it is more of 'trial and error' thing. I tend to feed 'as normal' but come later on in the evening, mine get a 'meaty' chew (dried turkey neck or fish skin etc) and if they've had busy day a biscuit type of treat too. If the dog's weight is ok, there is no harm done giving little extra to eat.

Oh and to add...mine tend to eat only if they are ready for it...so I tend to wait to get the signs that they are looking for food or signalling that they are hungry. Just like us, some days they eat little more in quantity and maybe are willing to eat more than once a day. I'll try to 'read' what mine are telling me and go with the flow. This might not work with you and your dog...but keep it in mind and see if yours is signalling his willingness/need for more food.

 

[JoanneF]

I'd probably keep the morning and lunchtime one the same, give a half meal at 6pm and another half meal at 9.00 or 9.30.

 

[Cath S]

Thanks all for your help. I will give it a try!

 

[JoanneF]

I should have asked, what are you feeding? If it doesn't have carbs (raw for example) you could add a plain mashed potato to the last meal.

 

[Cath S]

He is on kibble - sometimes I add some chicken into it. He doesn’t get on with wet food and I live in a studio flat so don’t have the storage space for raw

 

[JoanneF]

Can I ask what brand? Just re the carbohydrate content. It sounded a little like you thought we'd be critical because you don't feed raw - that isn't the case, many of us feed kibble for our own reasons. At the end of the day, the best food for your dog is the food that suits his tummy and your pocket.

 

[Cath S]

Sorry - wasn’t meant to sound like that. I know a lot of people feed raw and it suits them. He eats AVA (Pets at Home own brand) was recommended to us when his previous kibble upset him and it seems to suit his sensitive tummy.

 

[JoanneF]

AVA is a decent food, which a high enough carbohydrate content, so no alarm bells there

 

[Cath S]

Ah thanks. So I fed him half his meal at just after 6pm and half just after 9pm. He was still sick this morning. Having said that he brought something up into his mouth and was chewing it until he swallowed again so not sure if it was something else. I couldn’t get near him to see. I guess I just persevere for a few days?

 

[JoanneF]

It might take a bit of tweaking to find what works for him. Was it bile he brought up?

 

[Cath S]

I couldn’t see - he didn’t spit it out. It was something in his mouth and he was definitely chewing it and the swallowed again.

 

[JoanneF]

Sounds like not bile then, so hopefully that's a step in the right direction.

 

[Cath S]

Ok cool - will stick with it and see what happens tomorrow. Thanks!

 

[Cath S]

UPDATE! Freddie didn’t improve and an operation showed he had a blockage which was subsequently removed - a stressful time all round. He has made a good recovery and is on 4 small meals a day. He has recently started vomiting white foam in the early hours when his tummy rumbles - vet did think he had acid reflux before the op proved otherwise. Has anybody had a similar experience. His last meal is 8pm and he has a biscuit snack before bed but this doesn’t seem to help. I have contacted the vets for advice bu5 would welcome any other advice. He has been through a lot in his short life and would just like a healthy happy little chap.

 

[JoanneF]

Oh poor lad, I’m glad you got the diagnosis and surgery.

It could be acid, it could also just be that his digestive system is really out of kilter. If it was me - and I am not a vet, so do check with your vet - I’d probably be giving steamed or microwaved white fish (no bones) and rice or potato before bed.

Tummy troubles do take ages to sort out though, gut recovery is a slow process.

 

[Cath S]

Ok thank you. Would you do this as an extra on top of his normal food?