Puppy vomiting at night.

Dr. Marie replied:

Chronic vomiting can sometimes be a difficult problem to figure out! There are a number of things that could cause a dog to vomit every night.

The first thing I would do in a young dog that is otherwise healthy and eating well is a fecal exam for parasites. I would do this even if the dog has been dewormed because there are some parasites that need special medications to eradicate.

My next concern in a young dog, especially a lab is the possibility of a foreign object in the stomach. I have seen animals that vomit off and on that have something that is sitting in the stomach and occasionally blocking off the outflow of the stomach. One case I had was a cat that ate hair elastics. The owner had not used hair elastics for almost a year, and the cat had been vomiting for a long time. These elastics were sitting in the stomach and causing the cat to vomit every now and then.

There are some dogs who vomit at night time because of a buildup of stomach acid. It may be helpful to give him a small meal just before bedtime to see if this makes a difference.

Another possibility is to give some pepcid (famotidine) at a dose of 1mg per pound in the evenings to help cut down stomach acid.

If it continues though, then a vet visit is the best idea.


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