Vomiting yellow foam?

[QuickSilver]

Thor has thrown up three times in the past week. The first time was last Thursday. It was late in the day, and since I thought the yellow foam indicates bile / empty stomach, I figured he hadn't eaten enough that day.

On Sunday morning, he had diarrhea and vomited again. He also seemed to have a bad tummy ache. I took him to the vet (of course, the second he entered the vet's office, he seemed fine). He's had two poops since then, both normal. He's been peeing plenty the entire time, so I don't think he's dehydrated. I just got a message this morning from the vet saying his fecal came back negative for everything.

I've been feeding him chicken with rice, a little bit of yogurt, and a few Greenie pill packs to get his Flagyl tabs down twice per day. He ate a TON last night.

This morning, as soon as he got up, he vomited some yellow foam again. He's napping now and doesn't seem to be in any distress. Why would he still be vomiting? He can't possibly have an empty stomach given what he ate last night. Is he still just sick? He's supposed to be on Flagyl for 5-7 days. I took him to the park yesterday and he was running around like he was on fire.

He seemed to be doing so well that I was planning to put him back on normal food after I got the vet's call. Then an hour later he's throwing up. Any ideas? I did not get any blood work done at the vet's. The vet said that his pancreatic area did not appear tender, so he didn't think it was pancreatis.

Should I just wait until he's finished the course of his medicine and see if he's completely better by then?

[Nancy1999]

Joey did this when he was a puppy, just an occasional yellow foaming vomit. He never seemed sick, and would eat fine, so I just figured he found something outside to eat that he shouldn't have eaten. The only time he really got sick was non-stop vomiting, and it was 3 times before I could call the vet, another 6 while I was waiting on the phone, and several more in the car ride to the emergency room. That vomit seemed very different, almost clear. They never did find out what caused it, thought perhaps he ate a spider, and gave him an IV for dehydration. I thought the yellow foamy vomit was not serious, it just meant some food didn't agree with them. Sometimes adding a different food can cause it. Perhaps keeping a food diary, and writing down every food and or treat will allow you to see if there is a correlation between certain foods and the vomiting. What are Greenie pill packs? Hope all goes well, and he recovers quickly!

By the way, I thought with pancreatitis the pain could be anywhere, not necessary at the point of pancreas. Also, does he get many fatty foods?

[Ellie May]

It's not happening enough or often enough for pancreatitis to be a major concern. If you continues the throwing up and/or diarrhea after the Flagyl and you are sure that (if it is throwing up) it is not from an empty stomach, blood work should be done. What did they test his stool for?

If possible, you may want to skip the pill pockets. Can you put his pills in mashed white or sweet potato?

[QuickSilver]

Thanks... he does try to eat stuff off the ground at parks. I am pretty sure he Dropped everything on my command, though.

Greenie pill packs are basically soft treats that you can hide medicine in. Since Thor is so small, his pills had to be broken up into sixths, so the bitter inside is exposed. He takes the medicine with a greenie just fine, though.

He also runs around my office sometimes and it's possible he picked up a little snack off the floor without me noticing.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Thanks... he does try to eat stuff off the ground at parks. I am pretty sure he Dropped everything on my command, though.

Greenie pill packs are basically soft treats that you can hide medicine in. Since Thor is so small, his pills had to be broken up into sixths, so the bitter inside is exposed. He takes the medicine with a greenie just fine, though.

He also runs around my office sometimes and it's possible he picked up a little snack off the floor without me noticing.

Oh, I hadn't heard of the pill packs, what a great idea. Thor still pretty young isn't he? They seem to eat anything and everything that first year. We had a house guest that gave Joey a piece of donut, and sure enough, yellow foamy vomit, I was kind of glad the visitor saw it because I think that helped him realize, no trash people food for Joey. The smaller the are, the smaller the amount needed to upset the tummy.

[QuickSilver]

He's two years old, and generally not a hoover. I am a little disturbed, because I just ate some chicken and rice in front of him (we're both eating it, ha ha), and he didn't move a muscle. Normally he'd be all up in my grill. He seems relaxed, though.

[Ellie May]

I wouldn't say that Pill Pockets are bad but in this case, if you are trying to stick to a bland diet, these may have a negative effect.

[QuickSilver]

Thanks. I'll try slipping his pill into a piece of chicken tonight.

[samsonsmomdana]

Samson threw up yellow this morning. I caught him with...of all things....chocolate! He had gotten up on the kitchen chair and got an easter candy out of one of the baskets that was on the table. Luckily I got it away from him before he ate a lot. It looked like he only got a nibble of a chocolate covered wafer cookie. It obviously did not agree with him!

I hid some easter candy in my closet before easter (so my kids wouldn't find it) and don't you know Samson got in there and stole a Reeses peanut butter egg! My son got it away from him just after he tore the wrapper, so he didn't eat any. Man they are sneaky and fast!!

[zoeybear]

maybe a small snack right before bed. A few bites of a cracker or something?

[amandawash]

I know you don't like this subject , but what are you feeding him? How long has he been on it? And what has he been on in the past?

[QuickSilver]

Well, he just cleaned his bowl of chicken and rice so I guess he's feeling a little better!

To be honest, Thor usually gets a pretty lavish diet. He eats maybe 1/8 a cup of Halo kibble per day. I'd say he gets at least half his calories from Solid Gold jerkey treats. I also give him soft liver treats (potty treat) and dehydrated lamb lung. I also do give him tidbits of what I eat (I KNOW), but I try to keep the tidbits super-small, usually they can fit on the tip of my pinky finger. He might get rice, scrambled eggs, green beans, peas, fat free yogurt, full fat yogurt, milk, 1/4 tsp of ice cream, or a little piece of bread very occasionally. I'll also give him most meats: turkey, low fat ham, roast beef, chicken, little bitty bits of bacon, etc. If I give him a lot of meat, I might add a couple beans to keep him regular. I guess I subscribe to the idea that both humans and dogs benefit from some variety in their diet.

I do keep pushing the kibble because his teeth are so insanely bad and I want to do anything I can to forstall his next dental cleaning.

However, the past few days I've been really careful to limit his diet. He's had as a primary staple chicken and rice, with a little milk or yogurt; a couple bits of celery; a couple greenies; and one or two liver-flavored treats, which he has tolerated in the past. He had a touch of vanilla ice cream, which was my first attempt to get his medicine down (failed). And he chewed a couple chicken bones he found in the park, though he did drop them.

He loves the chicken and rice so much, I don't know if he'll ever eat kibble again after this. That's partly why I was looking to switch him back as soon as possible. No more dog treats for the next few days!

[amandawash]

Alrightie..... well there could be your problem! So many different food types for such a tiny pup!! We went through about six months of gastrointestinal problems with Ranger last year, with symptoms starting as you have noted, and ended up with hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, which is very serious.

What actually ended up being the culprit was a food intolerance to turkey. Once that was eliminated from his diet, he has not had one problem. We actually fed him some chicken with turkey last fall (NV raw chicken) without thinking about it, and he threw up the next morning. Always yellow foamy bile.

Anyway, I (and just cuz I would do it doesn't make it right for you) would elimate everything from his diet aside from one main protein. Say chicken-based kibble, chicken-based treats, etc. It is controversial to have so much going on in the diet, becuase if something like this or allergies occur, it makes it very difficult to find the offending ingredient. But, if it works for you great. However, if you finish the flagyl and this is a persistant problem, you may want to consider an elimination diet. Also, the treats may just be too rich for him and contributing as well.

Good luck, we have had far too much experience with gastro problems and they are NO FUN!!!!

[Wylie's Mom]

He could just be fighting a little tummy bug right now - I've heard of two other folks whose yorkies have tummy bugs. Also, flagyl can cause nauseousness, so it might not help there even if it helps w/ the poo. I hope he feels better soon, it's just awful when they're sick.

[QuickSilver]

Yeah, before this happened, I thought Thor had a stomach of iron. As long as he got a decent amount of kibble, he had "Goldilocks" poops, not too hard, not too soft, and at the same time every day.

I do believe that variety is good for the diet, though Thor does get a fair amount of rich food. I guess I justify that because he is a skinny little thing. It's ironic that he was sick today given that he's had much LESS variety than usual for the past few days. Maybe he's still working something out of his system.

Oh, and thanks for the tip on Flagyl and nausea, I didn't know that.