Yorkie throwing up/Indigestion?
 

Hi Yorkie parents...
I just registered a couple of hours ago and have been trying to find answers to my situation but finally decided to ask my question.

I have a 5 year old, 5 pound female Yorkie - Lillymae. She was diagnosed with a liver shunt at about 6 months old and has been on Hills KD formula (wet and dry) every since. I never give her table food.

In the past few months, Lillymae refuses to eat in the a.m. Before that she would race me to the refrigerator and race me to her food area and inhale the food. Now, she usually goes outside and throws up (normally clear mucus) small amounts and nibbles grass. She may do this once or more each morning. Usually around 10-11 a.m. she goes to her food area and barks for food. I was feeding her canned food only in the a.m. but left her dry formula out all day. Sometimes she will lie down after she eats.

The vet says she is fine and that I should just try to give her a little of her canned food around 7-8 p.m. I think that helped in the beginning but in the past few months she has started the outside throwing up routine.

I think she may have acid/bile in the a.m. I wonder if anyone has had this experience and if they have tried some people medicine (e.g., Tums, Pepto, etc.)

I also wonder if having a liver shunt for the past five years is "catching up" with her?

I'm worried.

Welcome to YT.

It could be bile, but eating right before bed and as soon as she gets up should help. One reason that liver compromised dogs don't like to eat sometimes is the food makes them feel sick (the toxins build up in their system). But then, Yorkies are notorious for being weird/picky about food.

What supplements is she on?
Why hasn't the shunt been surgically corrected? When an operable shunt isn't closed, more shunts can occur causing an even bigger problem.

Yorkie throwing up/Indigestion?
 

Thanks for your response.

When Lillymae was diagnosed at around age 6 months, the vet recommended that she not have surgery but that we treat it with the proper foods. She has done very, very well on Hills KD formula - she is almost 5 and has never had seizures, coma, or any other of the severe symptoms that I have read about. She easily walks a mile a day with me and has walked up to 5 miles with me. She wants to play fetch every time I sit down and is generally very energetic. She does nap several times during the day but I think most dogs do that.

This a.m. she ate all of her canned meal and wanted to play - - much unlike yesterday. I think maybe she just needs some medication to settle her stomach on some days.

Thanks again.

She doesn't take any supplements since the KD formula has some vitamins/minerals. She does take valium when we travel.

One of my dogs, Vinnie has done this for years. The only way to prevent it with him is to feed him a bit right before we go to bed (around 10:00 PM). If I do that, he is fine through the morning and rarely throws up. And it's the same with him - clear or foamy bile/mucous.

Yorkie throwing up/Indigestion?
 

Thanks.

I guess that's what the vet was trying to tell me - I was just feeding Lillymae too early (around 6 p.m.). Think I will try feeding her around 10 p.m. and see what happens.

Why is she on K/D and not L/D? Just curious... my Liver Shunt dog is on L/D. I've seen many vets put them on K/D but it doesn't make sense to me.

They will throw up if their tummies are empty too long. I'd split the meal, of give her a bedtime snack (or another small meal) before retiring for the night.:D

Interesting question KD vs LD. I went to the Hill's Prescription... web site the other day and left that question for the vet.

I just said the other day that Lillymae wasn't pacing - - well all that changed yesterday afternoon. Lillymae paced for several hours. I couldn't get her to play or to sit with me. Today (it's noon here) she hasn't eaten anything and has spent most of the morning in the yard eating grass. She did walk 1/2 mile with me and seemed o.k. the whole time.

I'm not really happy with my vet's here and I'm thinking about taking her to University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Several people have written in this forum about them being "experts" in liver shunts.

I'm really worried about her.

Anyone had experience with the vets at UT?

Just wanted to throw another thought out there if recent bloodwork hasn't been done to rule out other issues....

My Angel will be 4 this October and ever since I've had her, she has vomited once or twice a month, always in the afternoon (about an hour before dinner), always just bile. I've always just atributed it to her tummy being too empty and/or not having any treats during the mid-day.

About 8 weeks ago, the vomiting escalated to 4-5 times a week. Still the same time of day, always just bile. But this continued for a month. At her annual exam I had them run a Chem 27 panel because I wanted to rule out anything else. Her WBC was very high, both for bacterial and viral issues. She is on a 3 week antiobiotic and the vet suspects she has an ulcer causing this. I consulted with Susan Davis (pet nutritionist) and she feels it may be due to the food she is on (The Honest Kitchen turkey formula).

I added Soothing Digestive Relief and ApoStom (all from Susan's website) to the supplements she already gets (probiot, vitamineral green), have changed her morning meal to Ziwi Peak (venison & fish) jerkey mixed with white jasmine rice and after 4 days of this regimen, the vomiting has stopped. She hasn't vomited in an entire week now.

Thank you LuvMySissy for Susan Davis' website. I go to a Naturopathic doctor myself so it was great to find holistic medicine for my dog. Mimi has been vomiting bile every morning and not eating in the morning. I read everyones advice and started making her food myself and I just ordered the digestive aides from Susan's website. Can't wait to get them. So far she is keeping chicken, rice and veggies down, but threw up this morning before breakfast again.
Thank you everyone for your knowledge! I love Yorkie Talk because I can find anything I need on the forums!:D