Dog ... dog food/empty tummy syndrome?

[Sara_toga]

Our 6 year old working cocker spaniel has for over a year been vomiting bile. There are no other symptoms and she is very healthy apart from this.

When she started off with this it was always in the early hours of the morning. She was put on antacids for a few weeks and then a short change of diet. The vet suggested if it continued that she should get an xray to see the cause.

Fast forward a few months later and the next vet suggested it was empty tummy syndrome and to feed three times a day which helped but on average she was still sick twice a month.

Five weeks ago when having her boosters I mentioned it again and she was put on Hills prescription wet and dry food. She has been sick twice once after being fed later in the morning and once with a longer time span between meals. We now try and feed ever 8 hours.

Today I had to let the vet know how she was. This vet (another one) has no concerns about her but I have to wean her off the Hills prescription. Before this she was on Chudley's sensitive and Pedigree chum pouches. I have to stop the Pedigree chum. Suggestions from the vet are: Forthglade, Natures Harvest, Lily's kitchen or Barking heads.

Any one with a dog that has this problem, if so what do you feed your dog and has it made a difference?

Thanks

[catlady]

Hi I have a Chihuahua that has a similar problem to your dog although obviously she is a lot smaller! He didn't call it that though 🤔? But the symptoms are the same? My vet recommended James Wellbeloved Turkey with rice and vegetables pouches. (I buy from Amazon, but you can get it in pets at home?)Changing over to that food has made a huge difference! Frankly I was amazed! My vet recommend a single protein source too, so basically just Turkey in her diet. Turkey is apparently the easiest to digest?

The food has 95% helped with the problem with just occasional bile vomit etc.

[Gryff]

We had a spinone who suffered really badly with it
We divided her daily allowance of James Wellbeloved again turkey
In to 3 meals Half in the morning and the other half in to two meals one around 4 pm and the other around 9 problem was 99% sorted with that

[borntoshop]

We have to feed our boxer 3 times or she's the same. We do 7.30am, 3pm and the 7pm.

[Sara_toga]

Originally Posted by catlady

Hi I have a Chihuahua that has a similar problem to your dog although obviously she is a lot smaller! He didn't call it that though 🤔? But the symptoms are the same? My vet recommended James Wellbeloved Turkey with rice and vegetables pouches. (I buy from Amazon, but you can get it in pets at home?)Changing over to that food has made a huge difference! Frankly I was amazed! My vet recommend a single protein source too, so basically just Turkey in her diet. Turkey is apparently the easiest to digest?

The food has 95% helped with the problem with just occasional bile vomit etc.

See more...

Originally Posted by Gryff

We had a spinone who suffered really badly with it
We divided her daily allowance of James Wellbeloved again turkey
In to 3 meals Half in the morning and the other half in to two meals one around 4 pm and the other around 9 problem was 99% sorted with that

See more...

Thank you both. Do you feed both wet and dry?

[Gryff]

Lacy had dry slightly moistened with salt free home made turkey stock
Just used to buy cheap frozen turkey fillets and boil them to make the stock then freeze it in small containers
The other dogs got the turkey in with theirs

[catlady]

My dog has wet twice a day and I use the small breed dry turkey kibble in the same brand for treats and evening meal. My dog prefers the wet but she always has preferred wet!

[marypoppins38]

Not quite the same but I had a cat that would be the same early on a morning before he was fed. We fed James Wellbeloved turkey and rice and I did a lot of research into the food. It’s great for digestive problems because it is a single source protein that has been hydrolysed, meaning that the protein has been broken down into its smallest, simplest form. This means that it can pass through the digestive system undetected without causing any inflammatory response. The other thing my vet suggested was to give a spoonful of natural live yogurt a day to help keep up the natural bacteria levels in the stomach. This helps to stop the build up of excess acid (which causes the sickness). Hope this helps and you find something that works.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Our 9 year old dog has always had this. He is a small mixed breed. Throughout his life, usually in the mornings, he will vomit bile. Sometimes it’s once a week, other times he can go a few months without doing it. We mentioned it to the vet who said it was possibly to do with an empty stomach and to make sure he ate regularly but it didn’t seem to make any difference

However last year the vet suggested (unrelated to the vomiting) that we had Rolo’s teeth scaled and polished under anaesthetic and the vet also discovered 2 bad teeth which he extracted at the same time. Since then we have noticed Rolo hasn’t vomited bile anywhere near as often (maybe once or twice in 12 months) So it may be worth getting your dog’s teeth checked out. It may have been a coincidence but Rolo seems better since his teeth were cleaned/extracted

[Sara_toga]

Originally Posted by marypoppins38

Not quite the same but I had a cat that would be the same early on a morning before he was fed. We fed James Wellbeloved turkey and rice and I did a lot of research into the food. It’s great for digestive problems because it is a single source protein that has been hydrolysed, meaning that the protein has been broken down into its smallest, simplest form. This means that it can pass through the digestive system undetected without causing any inflammatory response. The other thing my vet suggested was to give a spoonful of natural live yogurt a day to help keep up the natural bacteria levels in the stomach. This helps to stop the build up of excess acid (which causes the sickness). Hope this helps and you find something that works.

See more...

Thank you went and spoke to the owner of my local pet shop and he says James Well beloved is very popular.
We couldn’t quite work out how much to feed her when giving both wet and dry so I have emailed the company to see if they can help!