Occasional throw-up...

[yung1s]

Does anyone else's chow(s) sparatically throw-up? If so, do you know what could be the cause of it? At first I thought it was because of the heat and maybe the lack of water. But lately, we've had the A/C cranked up and plenty of water and the other day Titan threw-up three times in a row. What's also odd is that Roxy is the same way. They don't eat anything other then Nutro dry dog food and our garbage can is in our pantry so I know for a fact that they're not getting into anything else.

Any ideas???

[Auddymay]

Is the vomit yellow or white with no food in it? Some of the chows on here occasionally barf from what one member suggested may be an empty stomache out of balance. I would ask-
How often is this happening?
Have you kids been wormed of late?
How old are your chows?
How are you feeding them, number of times a day, and do you leave the food down?

[kiwani]

Re: "...At first I thought it was because of the heat and maybe the lack of water."

In addition to what has already been asked, did your Chows have access to drink out of the toilet bowl when there was lack of water?

[yung1s]

Is the vomit yellow or white with no food in it? Some of the chows on here occasionally barf from what one member suggested may be an empty stomache out of balance. I would ask-
How often is this happening?
Have you kids been wormed of late?
How old are your chows?
How are you feeding them, number of times a day, and do you leave the food down?

Yes, the vomit is yellow and sometimes there will be food and sometimes not. It's only happening about once a month, maybe even less often. The last time they went to the vet for their check-ups was maybe 6-8 months ago. Titan (the cream chow) is 3 y.o. and Roxy (the red one) is maybe 1.5 - 2 y.o. I feed them twice a day, once in the morning and once at night when I come home from work. Every once in a while, I'll just leave food out for them and they eat as they please (usually on weekends when I'm home all day). And finally, we leave all doors shut including the bathrooms.

And on the subject of food... has anyone else noticed their Chows picking out certain kibbels and leaving them on the floor next to their food bowl or elsewhere around the house? My cream chow does it all the time and it drives me crazy!

Anyways, I hope this helps describe my situation with the vommiting.

[Auddymay]

Unless you have food aggression issues, I would let them graze, and of course, make sure they have access to plenty of water. I don't know this for a fact, but if they had worms, they would likely show up in the vomit (of course, I never study such things too hard, unless I have to.) For piece of mind, you could have their stools analyzed for parasites.

Mine recently switched from Nutro th Nature's Recipe Farmstand blend, or something like that. Anyway, it has peas and carrots, and some of the carrot pieces are big. Not sure which girl is doing it, but one of them has been leaving the carrots in the middle of the kitchen floor. Mine are notorious food transporters, but they eat what they move.

[Rogansmommy]

Rogan did this forever, at least once or twice a week. Then, after he tore BOTH cruciates and we opted to just put him on piroxicam and do no surgery, the Orthovet suggested giving him one 20mg. pepcid A/C every day. He has not vomitted since.

[Sy's Mom]

My chow doesn't like to drink water on his walks, he'd rather sniff and run after squirrels. But...when he gets home - he wolfs down his water and then throws up a little bit of the water later. We've just tried to limit his amount of water when he's drinking it, so he doesn't drink his whole bowl and the cat's water all at once. Seems to work.

[fillyok]

Ping had a problem like this several months ago. She would vomit a yellow bile early in the AM. I think it was due to an empty stomach. I started giving all of them a biscuit or two before bedtime and it never happened again. Now I keep food and water bowls in the bedroom as well as the kitchen (can you say spoiled???).

[pfordeb]

We do the same thing as Fillyok and give our dogs a couple biscuits before bed and that works for ours -- our vet explained, in Sullivan's case, it was about having an empty stomach. Occasionally we give a pepcid ac to Sullivan, but she hasn't barfed in a long time. If it happens in the morning, as it was with Sullivan, it very well could be having an empty stomach. Good luck.

[bama]

I agree with the others, give them a little bit to eat prior to bedtime. I try to give my furkids a few licks of
live-active yogurt in the evening.

In addition to what others have already said...
Does Titan nibble on grass? It is common for dogs to eat grass, then throw up.
Do you leave water in a dish outside, or a container that holds rainwater? Not your everyday happening, but this does happen...
outside water containers invite toads to hop in or sit around the edges of the container. A toad can expel enough poison to make a dog sick, and vomit, if they drink the contaminated water, or lick the spot on which the toad was sitting.

[coleywoley]

I never would have thought of the toad thing. Interesting.

[Juniper]

My Troy used to throw up periodically. That's when I discovered he ate dirt, rocks...and especially feces. The feces would make him upchuck. Makes me wanna...just at the thought of it!!!! He licks and drinks anything and everything...floors, carpets, furniture, boxes, dirt puddles...so I need to be very careful with what I place on the floor/carpet, etc. and watch him outside. So I don't use furniture polish, use natural substances to clean floor, etc. He hasn't been vomiting since I've changed my ways of cleaning and watching him. I plan to get an Italian basket plastic muzzle for Troy for the times the Chinese Tallow Tree (poisonous) in my neighbors yard starts dropping their leaves/flowers/buds in the fall and spring and drop into my yard. I can't catch Troy all the time-he's way too fast. Usually poisonous plants 'cause gastrointestinal problems which would 'cause vomiting. So check the plants in your yard.

Oh, yep!! Troy had that disgusting habit of picking up the pieces of food and tracking them through the house. I finally broke him of that habit by standing at his bowl while he ate and EVERY time he started to take the food away and drop it someplace else I stopped him, Said NO and picked up the food and returned it to his bowl and stood there as he ate. He would do it again and again and I would do the same thing again and again. I don't remember how long it took to break him of this habit (maybe one month?) but he doesn't do this anymore. OH, and most importantly, when he completed eating his food without dragging it throughout the house and without me needing to scold him, I gave him a special treat as soon as I noticed him be a good boy. He eventually realized that not dragging the food was a good thing. And now I don't need to give him treats anymore-just hugs.

I also give a treat prior to bedtime to both my chows since they eat at 7:30 AM and 7:30 PM, 12 hours is a long time to have no food in one's stomach. So at 11 to 12 PM at night they each get a treat.

Hope this helps some.

[xueshuxin]

My boy Songsong also vomits from time to time. Usually it's because he ate some bones that cldn't have been digested.

As far as I know, as long as your kids eat what he vomits it's ok.

Did you feed them bones recently?