Vomiting pug

[Tiny's Mum]

Our Tiny is 5 years old and periodically will vomit her food - fed at lunch time and this usually occurs overnight. When I go to her in the morning, there will be a large pile and maybe 1 or 2 smaller blobs. It appears to be undigested dried food and occassionally meat and vegies. On Wednesday night, she didn't eat the teaspoon of icecream we always give her as a treat after our dinner, which has never happened before. We checked her area and sure enough, she had been sick. This has happened for the last 3 mornings but she seems to be fine, dancing around for her morning biscuit and lunch (and anything in between). She appears a bit less active than normal but it is winter here and Tiny does love her warm bed in the sun. She still runs around chasing birds or planes but will then go back to bed. If she has been sick tonight, I think it is time for the vet. My husband blames it on the dry dog food - one specially formulated for pugs. I only give her a small amount as her main meal is fresh meat and cooked vegetables. Today I gave her chicken, lightly steamed and nothing else. She is pooping OK, weeing and drinking. Does anyone have any idea what might cause this?

[Tinker's mom]

Sounds like the food IMO but so many other things can cause vomiting. A vet visit is needed.I'd stick with boiled chicken and rice with nothing else until you get her checked out.Good luck and let us know what happens.

[Tiny's Mum]

Thanks for that. I had the rice out ready to cook but my husband said she doesn't need it, only the chicken. He has a real set against anything other than meat which causes a few disagreements as I believe even dogs need a more balanced diet. Tiny was fine this morning, jumping up out of her skin for her biscuit. She even came upstairs to wait for me when she knew it was lunch time. I felt bad giving her only chicken but I did add about 1 teaspoon of cooked, mashed pumpkin. I thought I would gradually add an extra vegie and work up to dried food and just see what happens. It is so hard not knowing what the problem might be when they can't tell you. With meat or chicken, what is a suitable serving? The chicken I gave her was breast, probably a little less than 100gm raw and no fat.

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

Really dogs need no carbs to speak of. They are carnivores, however a homemade diet needs to be properly balanced, especially the calcium/phosphorus ratio. I would suggest putting Tiny on Ziwipeak, which is made in New Zealand or a complete raw diet. I'm not sure what brands are available there. Feed her twice a day. It would not hurt her to get 1/4 of a human cimetidine (an antacid, here in the states it is sold under the brand name Tagamet) tablet before bed and in the morning.

If she continues to be off and the above suggestions don't help I would take her to the vet.

Take care,
Lisa

[Snifter]

Dogs are scavengers and as such I don't think a 100% meat only diet is appropriate for them. In the wild they would eat stuff other than meat, if only the stomach contents of their prey. They don't need carbs but I think the purpose of the rice in the chicken and rice bland diet is to bulk it out a little and presumably add bulk in the gut to help any bad stuff pass out more quickly.

[Lola's Mum]

Dogs are scavengers and as such I don't think a 100% meat only diet is appropriate for them. In the wild they would eat stuff other than meat, if only the stomach contents of their prey. They don't need carbs but I think the purpose of the rice in the chicken and rice bland diet is to bulk it out a little and presumably add bulk in the gut to help any bad stuff pass out more quickly.

hehe off subject - but can you imagine a pug hunting in the wild? makes me giggle :)

[po3try]

My husband blames it on the dry dog food - one specially formulated for pugs

hmm that's interesting 'cos ours has vomited a bit lately after putting specific pug food in with his normal food. he seems fine but every now and then will just vomit un-digested food out..

[Tiny's Mum]

The food we were giving Tiny with her meat was Royal Canin for Pugs. Tiny is a bundle of energy again and wanting her biscuits for breakfast (2 small doggie ones). I am still only giving her lightly steamed chicken, too raw for me to eat, and a small amount of pumpkin. She had raw steak yesterday, also with a small amount of pumpkin and she is fine. We have noticed that her eyes aren't as sticky, which had been an almost constant problem with her so perhaps the dry food has been the problem all along. As she loves wandering through the garden, we thought a plant or grass was the problem. I will gradually add a variety of vegetables to her meat but my husband may get his way with the dry food. It must swell in the stomach as what comes up seems quite a pile, compared to what was given. As we are going away for a few weeks, Tiny will be in her Pet Motel. They feed Royal Canin and quality chicken roll so I will ask the owner to only give a small amount of dry food, or maybe none at all.

[Snifter]

The dry food does swell in the stomach. If you soak some of it in water you will see. This is why it is a good idea to flood dry food with water, so the dog is not using up all its hydration just to rehydrate the food.