JustAnswer > Dog
Ask A Question|Register|Login|Help
JustAnswer

Dog

Ask a Dog Question, Get an Answer ASAP!

Have your own Dog question?

12 Vets and Dog Experts are Online Now
characters left:
Not a Dog Question?

Related Dog Topics:

  • Dog
  • ,
  • Eat
  • ,
  • Gas
  • ,
  • Lab
  • ,
  • Lot
  • ,
  • Run
  • ,
  • Vet
  • ,
  • Corn
  • ,
  • Dogs
  • ,
  • Eats
Bookmark and Share

Question

I have a black lab that is almost a year old. She has a condition that has puzzled us as well as my vet. After extensive testing we still do not know the answer. She wakes in the morning and often gags and then throws up what looks like clear phlegm. Then she has no interest in eating her breakfast. She eats dinner without incident. This only happens in am and does not happen every day. Probably on average about 4 times a week. We have changed her food to Hills Prescription z/d and are not giving her any other food or treats during the day. She has had xrays and also a dye solution test to check her digestive tract with no abnormalities found. A slight bit of gas showed up on the xrays. She is not losing weight and seems healthy in every other way. Any thoughts??

Submitted: 19 days and 21 hours ago.
Category: Dog
Value: $15
Status: CLOSED
+
Read More

Optional Information

Pet's Gender: Female
Pet's Age: 1
Type of Animal: lab

Already Tried:
Zantac two times a day and Hill's prescription diet

Posted by NancyH 19 days and 21 hours ago.

Info Request

Is she eating any grass?

Have they checked a stool sample?

Does she have access to outside water like a pond or stream?

19 days and 21 hours ago.

Reply

Yes, she does usually eat grass right before she throws up. This is usually our indicator that she is going to get sick. They did check her stool and found it to be normal although it seems to be quite soft. She does like to swim in our river but we can't seem to see a correlation between when she swims and when she throws up.

Posted by NancyH 19 days and 21 hours ago.

Answer

Try keeping her out of the river for a week and see if it changes the vomiting.

It is possible there is an intermittent contaminant in the river water that she is ingesting (say an overflow from a pipe carrying waste from a home or factory up stream) that is leading to digestive upset.

If you have not tried a broad spectrum wormer such as Panacur (fenbendazole) you might want to try that as sometimes a hidden worm infection doesn't show in the stool or a protozoan parasite such as giardia or coccidia might not show if the stool checked wasn't extremely fresh.

If the vet has not run blood work that might be another good test to run to check liver and kidney function etc.

You can also consider doing an endoscopic exam of the upper gastrointestinal tract so the vet can look to see if there is anything that coud be the problem such as a small ulcer, a splinter of wood stuck somewhere that was too small to show on the x-rays, a calcification of the stomach valve can be seen using that etc.

There are health issues such as Addisons which you can read about here which can cause intermittent vomiting

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/addison_s_disease.html

Hope this helps you!

 

19 days and 21 hours ago.

Reply

I read about Addison's disease.. very scary... but that sounds as if the vomiting would be not just phlegm but possibly food as well. I think our dogs issue is unique in that it is only first thing in the morning. She has never gotten sick any other time of the day. She has been wormed extensively so I don't think that is it. The water where she swims is a river that is not near anywhere near other homes, factories but about a mile from the ocean. Water testing has been done in our area with no adverse results. Blood work has been done with no adverse problems. Our vet is suggesting the scope be done next but we have spent so much on vet bills we were hoping to rule everything else out first. It really seems to me that it is some type of allergic reaction... reminds me of a person who sleeps all night and wakes in the morning with congestion and has to cough it up. Any other thoughts before we conclude this discussion?

Posted by NancyH 19 days and 21 hours ago.

Answer

Actually vomiting in the morning is really common in dogs due to the stomach being empty and irritation from stomach acids that flow in anticipation of breakfast can cause vomiting.

Sometimes a high fiber snack before bed can help keep that from happening.

Check which wormers were used - Panacur just happens to clear a lot of things while others such as Nemex might not.

Toxins can travel a long way.

Blue green algae can be an issue. Usually though its right after drinking water with that in it

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/news/toxin_warning_for_dogs_who_swim.html

I'm presuming your vet checked liver, pancreas and gallbladder while doing x-rays but if not those are other areas that can trigger vomiting.

I have heard of some dogs not doing well on Z/D due to the corn component in it. If you see no improvement after doing a trial with that you might try a grain free food.

19 days and 21 hours ago.

Reply

So let me make sure I'm clear. Do you think it could be possible that the vomiting could be nothing more than just built up acids over night and possibly a high fiber treat before bed might help? What would be a high fiber snack that would be appropriate? I will check on the worming he used.

Accepted Answer

With your dog on ZD you can ask your vet about an appropriate treat but plain canned pumpkin, a sweet potato, or cooked winter squash mixed with some ZD might work for you. Or even feeding the second meal later in the day.

I'd still try a week of no river swims to see if that resolves this.

Picture
Expert: NancyH
Pos. Feedback: 99.5 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 11/2/2009

Dog Expert:Rescue, Train,Breed,Care

30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics

19 days and 21 hours ago.

Reply

Thanks for your help!

Posted by NancyH 19 days and 20 hours ago.

Answer

You are very welcome and thanks for your accept.

You can reply here any time and I will get notified about it!

+
Read More

Related Dog Questions

  • I asked a question earlier about prevention and treatment of
  • mother and son breeding
  • I have a 4 month old German Shepherd & he is vomiting white
  • My 5 yr old Cavalier has swollen lymph glands. Blood tests
  • My dog flicks up the grass in my backyard and it makes a mes...
  • how to get a dog to shit out side she 8 mounths old and stil...
  • My husband and I adopted a border collie/australian shepard
  • HI I HAVE A NEARLY 14 YEAR OLD STAFFY DOG. BUT HE HAS A STRE...



Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.
Question List | Become an Expert | Terms of Service | Security & Privacy | About Us
© 2003-2009 JustAnswer Corp.