Random vomiting - when to worry?

Cain has inherited GSD tummy, it's very sensitive. A few months ago he picked up a mild tummy bug and had to go to the vets as he had serious sloppy poo and threw up. Antibiotics soon cleared him up.

Over the two weeks, he's thrown up 4 times on seperate occasions. I don't know whether to be concerned or not.

Once he threw after having rawhide that he clearly hadn't chewed properly as a big sheet of rawhide came up The other times he has thrown up very small pools of yellow vomit at random times. Twice was during the hot weather. Today's had big hunks of apple and carrot (he's had them in his Kong earlier), he didn't seem to have chewed it properly. He did have a rare pigs ear yesterday which may have upset his tum.

He's never thrown up after meals, it eating very well and keeps it all down. He absolutely fine in himself, no sign of any illness. His poo is fine, the occassional soft one but that's nothing unusual for Cain.

I'm considering taking him to the vets (Moon was taken to the vets with vomiting yellow bile and diarrhea and turned out ot have kidney failure so I take vomiting very seriously now), but in the absence of any other symptoms and with it being random and not regular, I'm not sure what they can do or even if anything is actually wrong with him.

Could it just be random things like the heat or not chewing his food properly? Or should I be more concerned?

With random vomiting, I always tend to think along the lines of worms, so you should check out your worming programme, or drop a poo sample into the vet and get it checked out for all the worms, that would be my advice.

I get occasional vomiting here, but that's because Zena goes a bit loopy sometimes when I let her outside with Georgie and they've eaten within the hour, and she chucks it all up, so that is explainable to me.

Same with the rawhide chew, that's explainable, rawhide can make dogs vomit, it's quite rubbish stuff imo. Same with the pig's ear.

Maybe keep a log of when he vomits and see if something shows up with something he's either eaten or something you/he has done? Maybe you've been a bit lax on exercise either before/after food sometimes, and that's turned his tummy? Either that or it's the treats or it could be some worms. The reason I veer on worms is because they migrate at certain times causing this sickness you see. Good luck, hope you sort it, sorry I can't be of more help.

Thank for your reply Yes, I posted a thread on here recently about trying to find rawhide alternatives to keep him busy. After he threw it up it really put me off feeding it, plus it upsets his tum.

I'm really strict about his exercise and feedng, never gets walked an hour before or after food, and his throwing up has always been hours away from his meals. Although he does sometimes drink loads then go loopy and has a mad 5 mins, I think he threw up once after this.

He has his Frontline and Drontal on the 26th May.....? So he's just been treated for worms. Any connection?

Hi Amanda I appreciate you feel the need to be extra cautious after losing Moon and by all means get things checked out by the vet to be on the safe side.

How old is Cain and how many meals a day is he being fed ?
From what you have told us above he mostly throws up having swallowed something his stomach can't easily digest and this is normal for some dogs . Cain may be better having a number of small meals to prevent his stomach getting too empty .

You have also told us he is eating well which is always a good sign and an indication you don't need to worry he has the same problem Moon had.

It should be TWO hours after feeding, so maybe sometimes you've not stuck to that rule? Yes, the water thing and then the zoomies could also cause it, especially if he drank loads just before, coz that would be similar to the stomach holding food. It's so difficult to control the food, the exercise, the drinking large amounts when you've got a hyper-active youngster isn't it, coz I have the same, hence the odd throw up, but I've learned when and why, and I suppose you can only do the same.

What about those Fish4Dogs fish sticks, or fish knots, although of course, they won't last as long as a rawhide, at least they're full of goodness instead of rubbish. What about a frozen carrot or a stuffed kong, I'm sure those would be better and last just as long!

When I used to give Zena a rawhide to keep her occupied, I used to get those extra large, solid bone shaped ones, and she couldn't actually chew it and get it soft, but she'd get little bits off it as she was gnawing away, but she always left those for mummy coz she knew she'd choke on them! I consider those to be a lot safer than most, but they're hard to get, P @ H don't do them, they do a smaller version, but a good pet shop will have them at around £2.50 each, but they'll last for weeks! Good luck, that's all I can offer.

I wouldn't have thought there's a connection with that Frontline it's been a while hasn't it, and it should have worked with the Drontal, so worms could possibly be ruled out? If it carried on maybe get a stool sample done like I did?

I don't really exercise him after feeding, our usual routine is I come home from work, take him for a long walk then make him wait for a minimum of an hour before he gets dinner, so he does tend to eat quite late. He tends to throw up during the day. I will monitor it though and see if there is a connections.

I nearly always feed him the large pressed bones and they have never caused him a problem. They day he threw up I had fed him a cigar shaped roll, I won't be doing that again! He gets frozen Kongs regularly, and I will definately be trying out the Sea Jerky.

Cain is just turning one year old and is on two meals a day, early morning around 6.30am and in the evening any time from 6pm-8pm depending on when he gets his evening walk. He also tend to get two interactive toys a day when we're at work e..g. Kong and a Buster cube (this will often contain half his breakfast kibble), so he shouldn't really get a totally empty tum.

Thanks Mini, I do worry after Moon though, although I try not to. Cain also drinks a fair amount which worries me, but then he is twice the size of Moon and on a kibble diet so I think I'm just being paranoid

I think I will cut out any treat that I know upsets him like rawhides and pigs ears (not that he got much before) and monitor when he's throwing up to find a connection. Hoever if he does it another 2 times in the next week, we're off to the vets!

Dont know if this will help but my previous dog used to have radom vomiting now and again.

I found that he would vomit yellow bile like stuff in the morning if he didnt have a supper - I would just give him a handful of his ordinary dog food about half an hour before bed to stop that.

Treats like rawhide/ears/trotters were a real no go with him. He would love them but would either just swallow whole chunks and vomit, or they would make him thirsty, he would drink loads of water and be sick, so I stopped all artificial treats like that.

If I wanted to give him a treat for any reason, it would either be some raw chicken, egg stuff like that, but by and large he didn't get treats at all, just his meals.

It sounds a bit dull for him but it did stop the vomiting, and he ddn;t seem to mind.