Hi there XXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for your question regarding your young Yorkie who has a chronic vomition problem. As you can imagine there are quite a myriad of possible causes for chronic vomition in the dog, however, hopefully we can try and rule some of these in and out. First and foremost, it is very important to work out if your boy is either vomiting or in fact regurgitating. If he gobbles his food down extra quickly and 'vomits' within 5 - 10 minutes of eating, then this is most likely a regurgitation problem rather than a vomition one. Likewise if he 'vomits' between half and hour to an hour after eating and the vomitus looks like undigested food, it could quite well be regurgitation again particularly if it appears tubular and compact. Regurgitation occurs either because a dog is simply eating too quickly, or because there is a functional defect with the esophagus or food pipe. From what you describe however, this definitely does not sound like regurgitation

If this is deterimined to defintiely be vomition (your boy has abdominal effort and 'heaves' , plus this occurs sometime after finishing a meal), then there are quite a range of possibilites. Your boy may have a condition known as IBD or inflammatory bowel disease or a food sensitivity, in which the immune system reacts to foreign proteins (i.e. any sort of food) in the gut, and resonds with vomition +/- diarrhea. There are other endocrine diseases such as hypothyroidism and even sometimes Diabetes that can also cause chronic vomition, as well as liver and kidney disease. We also have to consider something nasty like a tumor in the gastrointestinal system somewhere, or even an associated lymph node, however this is MUCH less likely in a young dog like yours so don't panic.

I really would encourage you to get your boy checked with a Vet to try and diagnose exactly the cause of his vomition. He or she will want to take a blood and urine sample to check the internal organs as well as carry out a full physical examination and possibly take either several x-rays or an ultrasound of either or both of the chest and abdomen.

In the mean time you could try switching your boy on to a novel protein (such as Hill's Z/D ultra allergen free) or a 'sensitive stomach' diet - preferably a premium food like Hill's or Eukanuba, as well as feeding him less amounts in a day, more frequently (i.e a half cup of biscuits three times daily instead of two thirds twice daily) to try and prevent regurgitation if this is in fact regurgitation.

Best of luck with your boy and please let me know how you get on at the Vet.

Thank you for your question and please now click ACCEPT.

Kind Regards,

XX X X Edwards

Hi again XXXXXXXXX,

Thanks for the accept. Sadly we can't narrow down to much from here. It definitely sounds like vomition, however we will need further bloodtests to help classify the cause of the vomition. I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from! It would be great to be able to examine your boy and run diagnostic tests via the internet, but sadly this is not a possibilty - as yet anyway!

Please do keep in touch though and remember you can reply to this post as many times as you like for my assistance if you need help interpreting the blood results your Vet takes.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind Regards,

Dr Edwards