Yorkie lady throwing up yellow foam multiple times a day :( - YorkieTalk.com Forums

Gracie1008 · 09-05-2015, 12:31 PM

Hello everyone!

I am new to this forum and was wondering if you could help me out with my Yorkie health issue. My little Yorkie girl Gracie (6 yrs. old) has been throwing up yellow foam (it looks like bile, no food in it just liquid) at night for the past four days. It only happens at night (multiple times throughout the night though).

I did read it could be due to hunger but we've been on the same feeding schedule with the same food and this has never happened before. Also, I tried to feed her a little midnight snack to see if it would help but it didn't.

She's still been active and goes to the bathroom and eats just fine but then fast forward to today (Saturday), she seems to have lost her appetite.

I fed her a little bit of lunch meat for dinner so she'd have at least something in her belly but she threw it up immediately along with yellow foamy liquid. For breakfast I gave her plain rice instead of her usual dry doggy food but she refused to eat it until like noon or so because I guess she got too hungry. She's still acting energetic and happy but simply doesn't want to eat anymore.

I won't be able to take her to the vet until Monday and I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how I can make her feel better and what I should feed her that would be easy on her stomach? (she's really not a rice fan, she's never liked it)

I'm just so worried, she's had stomach bugs before but they never lasted for more than 2 days

We had a full vet check up at the end of June along with bloodwork and everything was fine and she was in great shape.

Thank you very much in advance

Maximo · 09-06-2015, 11:14 AM

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. Sorry Gracie is having trouble. Any changes in her diet recently?

What is her primary diet -- kibble or something else? I would eliminate all treats and supplement foods until you can see the vet.

One possibility is acid reflux. There seems to be a growing number of pups with that, and nighttime is often when it is worse. If it were my pup, I would want to rule out pancreatitis or digestive issues from diet too.

What kind of lunch meat do you feed her? I would be very careful with that because most processed meats are loaded with sodium (salt). This can aggravate acid reflux.

matese · 09-06-2015, 11:42 AM

When my babies are not eating I get boneless chicken cutlets, boil them, then mix with rice. There were many times I eliminated the rice just to see if they would eat the chicken, if they didn't then I knew they were sick because they would NEVER turn down chicken cutlets, then it was off to the vet. So in your case,to get her to eat, buy some boneless chicken cutlets, boil them up and offer her just the chicken. As Maximo (Kristin) suggested, it could be acid reflux so feed early in the evening.

dottiesyrky · 09-06-2015, 12:09 PM

Poor baby, feeling so bad.
Throwing up at night does tend to point to an empty stomach, and feeding a small amount of food at bedtimes could help. I also give my dog Pepcid with his last meal. That has stopped the early am foam throw up. I give a quarter of a 10 mg Pepcid. Could be worth a try until you see the vet.
But also the possibility of Pancreatitis should be considered. You mentioned blood tests etc were fine, but the test for pancreatitis is not always done unless specifically asked for.
Hoping she gets better soon.

Susan Marie · 09-07-2015, 01:02 PM

Hi, yes your yorkie has acid relflux. Keep her on the boiled chicken and rice like the lady below suggested for now, go to the store and purchase Zantac, not an endorsement of the product. It comes in the 75 mg strength. Buy a pill cutter at the pharmacy for 2 dollars. The vet will most likely put her on sulfucrate. Then type the following into Google: how many mg. can I give my Yorkshire terrier Dog who weighs X amt pounds, make sure you put dog in there and. Zantac. It will tell you. Cut the pill in half first and go from there. Good luck. Please keep me posted. Ps. If it is a little over in mg, it can't hurt her. You will see she will fell better. You don't want her to dehydrate. If you fear that, go out buy the non flavoured pedialyte, water it down, half water, half pedialyte and give it to her by a syringe. This often makes them feel better too! We send our love, Susan Marie and Roxie Rose!!!

dottiesyrky · 09-07-2015, 02:07 PM

I don't know about giving Zantac, my vet has only ever prescribed Pepcid.
For Pepcid, the usual dose is between 1/4 to 1/2 milligrams per pound of dog wright. For a 10 LB dog as mine is that means 2.5 to 5.0 mg dose and for a 5 LB dog, it would be half that dose. Pepcid lowest OTC tablets are 10 mg and they have to be split. I find anything less than a quarter tablet is not possible as the tabs get crushed. I also gave an excellent anti nausea med called Cerenia and it worked wonders.
Unless the dog has an ulcer, my vet did not prescribe Sucralfate.
Hopefully by now you have taken your baby to the vet and you will have a diagnosis and treatment. Hope she is feeling better now and that is was just a minor tummy upset.

dottiesyrky · 09-07-2015, 02:20 PM

I just looked up the dosage for dogs and it seems it is the same as for Pepcid.
So for a 10 pound dog the Max dose would be 5.0 mg. I see that Zantac comes in minimum OTC tablets of 75 mg. That would be hard to split up! Perhaps vets have smaller tablets if they are prescribed? Perhaps that is why Pepcid is used?
But again your vet will give you the right meds and doses for your baby.

Susan Marie · 09-07-2015, 03:12 PM

I am so glad that's everything is ok with your baby. I am a Family physician now and was a pharmacist before. Dogs and humans are given H2 Antaonists, (Zantac, Pepcid) for vomitting ESP. when there is evidence of acid secretion, the yellowish bile and/foam. Pepcid is a little newer but is basically the same as Zantac I.e same mode of action in the gut. If there is bile present, and you give an anti emetic, you can damage the stomach as it cannot get rid of the excess acid secretion. In this case and confirm with your vet that you should give both as the bile is so acidic it can cause bleeding of the stomach lining. I have had my little one to her vets and to 1 Specialist. I have a feeling when Roxie was intubated that perhaps her esphouphageal rings, the top 2 or 3 may have been damaged during the intubation or extubation with the steel rod that they use to get the tube into the lungs. When they pull the steel rod back to check if the tube is in the airways or not, perhaps they missed and had to re-incubate Roxie. I will get her tested with a radiographic solution to see if my gut is telling me the truth. This all started in the first week of June 2015 when I had her teeth cleaned. I don't sleep anymore because she can't breathe normally when she falls asleep. I think her trachea may be collapsing. I have had her to a Specialist and she has been to the Vets almost every other week since this started. I am not taking Roxie back to this Vet. I will take her to the one she saw when she was a baby. The only reason I changed Vets is because I moved my practise. But Roxie had such a good Vet that it is worth the hour and a half drive to St. Catharines. Thank you All the very best, Susan Marie and my little Roxie Rose

Gracie1008 · 09-08-2015, 12:45 AM

Thanks so much for all your responses - they were super helpful!

I took her to the vet and you wouldn't believe it but turns out she has tonsillitis! I didn't even know dogs could get that but apparently it's more common in small breeds.

I also found out that she has a lot of tartar accumulation on her teeth and that's a very common cause for dogs to develop a sore throat since there's so much bacteria present in their mouth. Throwing up liquid is usually not super common but he said she could have thrown up since she would constantly gag at night like something was stuck inside her and that's a symptom for swollen/painful tonsils.

The vet prescribed her antibiotics and gave her two shots to reduce inflammation and reduce the pain. She is also scheduled for a professional teeth cleaning next week once she feels better and the antibiotics have fully kicked in.

She actually seems to be doing a lot better already. No throwing up last night and she ate her food this morning - she was very happy to eat like her usual self. I boiled her some chicken for dinner tonight like you recommended and the vet told me to add water to her dry food (to make it less harsh on her throat) and she gobbled it right up.

We have to make sure that the vomiting does not reoccur (so that there's nothing else going on like pancreatitis, etc.) and her teeth stay sparkly white and clean but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Wylie's Mom · 09-08-2015, 03:35 AM

Wow, never ever would have thought of tonsillitis! So glad you have a diagnosis though...she will be on the mend soon enough

.

Susan Marie · 09-08-2015, 06:46 AM

The teeth can present so many problems if they are not clean. This bacteria usually travels to the heart..ask any Vet. It can be very dangerous. I guess in this case the bacteria went to the tonsils, a filtering organ. I'll bet the dogs lymph nodes were huge. But good to hear that she is on the mend. We worry about these little ones so much. I wonder if she had a temperature? That is the first thing I check. Have a great day Everyone Susan Marie & Roxie Rose

dottiesyrky · 09-08-2015, 08:11 AM

My oh my, that is a strange diagnosis for dogs and what a good job you took her to the vet and found out the problem. Never heard of a dog getting that before….but we learn a lot here from others' experiences.

Yes the teeth can cause health issues and I am sure she will feel so much better when the dental is done. Glad to hear she is feeling better and that it was not either pancreatitis or other GI problem. Good luck with the dental, hope she sails through that with flying colors.

Susan Marie. So sorry to hear that your little Roxie has trachea issues after the intubation. How scary that she has trouble breathing at night. Praying your vet can get to the bottom of this and make Roxie better soon. I agree that the anti emetic could prevent the release of the excess acid and cause more problems…thanks, never thought of it that way.

Maximo · 09-08-2015, 01:45 PM

I'm glad the vet was able to determine Gracie's problem and that she is on the road to wellness. Max had an inflamed throat once. Antibiotics took care of it.

Best wishes for Gracie for all to go smoothly with her dental.

Gracie1008 · 09-10-2015, 12:30 AM

Thank you everyone, you've all been so helpful! No throwing up anymore since she started her antibiotics and she officially has her appetite back.

So happy the vet found out what was wrong so quickly!

I'm definitely going to be super picky about keeping her teeth clean from now on. The vet did mention the bacteria can travel to a dog's heart like Susan Marie mentioned and that sounds super scary!

09-05-2015, 12:31 PM	#1
Gracie1008 YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: St. Louis Posts: 5	Yorkie lady throwing up yellow foam multiple times a day :( Hello everyone! I am new to this forum and was wondering if you could help me out with my Yorkie health issue. My little Yorkie girl Gracie (6 yrs. old) has been throwing up yellow foam (it looks like bile, no food in it just liquid) at night for the past four days. It only happens at night (multiple times throughout the night though). I did read it could be due to hunger but we've been on the same feeding schedule with the same food and this has never happened before. Also, I tried to feed her a little midnight snack to see if it would help but it didn't. She's still been active and goes to the bathroom and eats just fine but then fast forward to today (Saturday), she seems to have lost her appetite. I fed her a little bit of lunch meat for dinner so she'd have at least something in her belly but she threw it up immediately along with yellow foamy liquid. For breakfast I gave her plain rice instead of her usual dry doggy food but she refused to eat it until like noon or so because I guess she got too hungry. She's still acting energetic and happy but simply doesn't want to eat anymore. I won't be able to take her to the vet until Monday and I was wondering if you could give me some tips on how I can make her feel better and what I should feed her that would be easy on her stomach? (she's really not a rice fan, she's never liked it) I'm just so worried, she's had stomach bugs before but they never lasted for more than 2 days We had a full vet check up at the end of June along with bloodwork and everything was fine and she was in great shape. Thank you very much in advance

09-06-2015, 11:14 AM	#2
Maximo ♥ Maximo and Teddy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 25,041	Welcome to Yorkie Talk. Sorry Gracie is having trouble. Any changes in her diet recently? What is her primary diet -- kibble or something else? I would eliminate all treats and supplement foods until you can see the vet. One possibility is acid reflux. There seems to be a growing number of pups with that, and nighttime is often when it is worse. If it were my pup, I would want to rule out pancreatitis or digestive issues from diet too. What kind of lunch meat do you feed her? I would be very careful with that because most processed meats are loaded with sodium (salt). This can aggravate acid reflux. __________________ Kristin, Max and Teddy

09-06-2015, 11:42 AM	#3
matese Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: E.Stroudsburg, Pa. Posts: 67,956	When my babies are not eating I get boneless chicken cutlets, boil them, then mix with rice. There were many times I eliminated the rice just to see if they would eat the chicken, if they didn't then I knew they were sick because they would NEVER turn down chicken cutlets, then it was off to the vet. So in your case,to get her to eat, buy some boneless chicken cutlets, boil them up and offer her just the chicken. As Maximo (Kristin) suggested, it could be acid reflux so feed early in the evening. __________________ Joan, mom to Cody RIP Matese Schnae Kajon Kia forever in my A House Is Not A Home Without A Dog

09-06-2015, 12:09 PM	#4
dottiesyrky Donating YT Addict Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: SW USA Posts: 2,505	Gracie Poor baby, feeling so bad. Throwing up at night does tend to point to an empty stomach, and feeding a small amount of food at bedtimes could help. I also give my dog Pepcid with his last meal. That has stopped the early am foam throw up. I give a quarter of a 10 mg Pepcid. Could be worth a try until you see the vet. But also the possibility of Pancreatitis should be considered. You mentioned blood tests etc were fine, but the test for pancreatitis is not always done unless specifically asked for. Hoping she gets better soon.

09-07-2015, 01:02 PM	#5
Susan Marie Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2013 Location: Burlington, Ontario. Canada Posts: 10	Gracie 1008 Hi, yes your yorkie has acid relflux. Keep her on the boiled chicken and rice like the lady below suggested for now, go to the store and purchase Zantac, not an endorsement of the product. It comes in the 75 mg strength. Buy a pill cutter at the pharmacy for 2 dollars. The vet will most likely put her on sulfucrate. Then type the following into Google: how many mg. can I give my Yorkshire terrier Dog who weighs X amt pounds, make sure you put dog in there and. Zantac. It will tell you. Cut the pill in half first and go from there. Good luck. Please keep me posted. Ps. If it is a little over in mg, it can't hurt her. You will see she will fell better. You don't want her to dehydrate. If you fear that, go out buy the non flavoured pedialyte, water it down, half water, half pedialyte and give it to her by a syringe. This often makes them feel better too! We send our love, Susan Marie and Roxie Rose!!! Last edited by Susan Marie; 09-07-2015 at 01:04 PM. Reason: Mistake in drug name

09-07-2015, 02:07 PM	#6
dottiesyrky Donating YT Addict Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: SW USA Posts: 2,505	Reflux I don't know about giving Zantac, my vet has only ever prescribed Pepcid. For Pepcid, the usual dose is between 1/4 to 1/2 milligrams per pound of dog wright. For a 10 LB dog as mine is that means 2.5 to 5.0 mg dose and for a 5 LB dog, it would be half that dose. Pepcid lowest OTC tablets are 10 mg and they have to be split. I find anything less than a quarter tablet is not possible as the tabs get crushed. I also gave an excellent anti nausea med called Cerenia and it worked wonders. Unless the dog has an ulcer, my vet did not prescribe Sucralfate. Hopefully by now you have taken your baby to the vet and you will have a diagnosis and treatment. Hope she is feeling better now and that is was just a minor tummy upset.

09-07-2015, 02:20 PM	#7
dottiesyrky Donating YT Addict Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: SW USA Posts: 2,505	Zantac I just looked up the dosage for dogs and it seems it is the same as for Pepcid. So for a 10 pound dog the Max dose would be 5.0 mg. I see that Zantac comes in minimum OTC tablets of 75 mg. That would be hard to split up! Perhaps vets have smaller tablets if they are prescribed? Perhaps that is why Pepcid is used? But again your vet will give you the right meds and doses for your baby.

09-07-2015, 03:12 PM	#8
Susan Marie Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2013 Location: Burlington, Ontario. Canada Posts: 10	Vomiting yellow bile I am so glad that's everything is ok with your baby. I am a Family physician now and was a pharmacist before. Dogs and humans are given H2 Antaonists, (Zantac, Pepcid) for vomitting ESP. when there is evidence of acid secretion, the yellowish bile and/foam. Pepcid is a little newer but is basically the same as Zantac I.e same mode of action in the gut. If there is bile present, and you give an anti emetic, you can damage the stomach as it cannot get rid of the excess acid secretion. In this case and confirm with your vet that you should give both as the bile is so acidic it can cause bleeding of the stomach lining. I have had my little one to her vets and to 1 Specialist. I have a feeling when Roxie was intubated that perhaps her esphouphageal rings, the top 2 or 3 may have been damaged during the intubation or extubation with the steel rod that they use to get the tube into the lungs. When they pull the steel rod back to check if the tube is in the airways or not, perhaps they missed and had to re-incubate Roxie. I will get her tested with a radiographic solution to see if my gut is telling me the truth. This all started in the first week of June 2015 when I had her teeth cleaned. I don't sleep anymore because she can't breathe normally when she falls asleep. I think her trachea may be collapsing. I have had her to a Specialist and she has been to the Vets almost every other week since this started. I am not taking Roxie back to this Vet. I will take her to the one she saw when she was a baby. The only reason I changed Vets is because I moved my practise. But Roxie had such a good Vet that it is worth the hour and a half drive to St. Catharines. Thank you All the very best, Susan Marie and my little Roxie Rose

09-08-2015, 12:45 AM	#9
Gracie1008 YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: St. Louis Posts: 5	Thanks so much for all your responses - they were super helpful! I took her to the vet and you wouldn't believe it but turns out she has tonsillitis! I didn't even know dogs could get that but apparently it's more common in small breeds. I also found out that she has a lot of tartar accumulation on her teeth and that's a very common cause for dogs to develop a sore throat since there's so much bacteria present in their mouth. Throwing up liquid is usually not super common but he said she could have thrown up since she would constantly gag at night like something was stuck inside her and that's a symptom for swollen/painful tonsils. The vet prescribed her antibiotics and gave her two shots to reduce inflammation and reduce the pain. She is also scheduled for a professional teeth cleaning next week once she feels better and the antibiotics have fully kicked in. She actually seems to be doing a lot better already. No throwing up last night and she ate her food this morning - she was very happy to eat like her usual self. I boiled her some chicken for dinner tonight like you recommended and the vet told me to add water to her dry food (to make it less harsh on her throat) and she gobbled it right up. We have to make sure that the vomiting does not reoccur (so that there's nothing else going on like pancreatitis, etc.) and her teeth stay sparkly white and clean but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

09-08-2015, 03:35 AM	#10
Wylie's Mom Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 35,889 Blog Entries: 2	Wow, never ever would have thought of tonsillitis! So glad you have a diagnosis though...she will be on the mend soon enough . __________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann \| Pfeiffer \| Marcel Verdel Purcell \| Wylie \| Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨°

09-08-2015, 06:46 AM	#11
Susan Marie Yorkie Talker Join Date: May 2013 Location: Burlington, Ontario. Canada Posts: 10	Wylie's Mom The teeth can present so many problems if they are not clean. This bacteria usually travels to the heart..ask any Vet. It can be very dangerous. I guess in this case the bacteria went to the tonsils, a filtering organ. I'll bet the dogs lymph nodes were huge. But good to hear that she is on the mend. We worry about these little ones so much. I wonder if she had a temperature? That is the first thing I check. Have a great day Everyone Susan Marie & Roxie Rose

09-08-2015, 08:11 AM	#12
dottiesyrky Donating YT Addict Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: SW USA Posts: 2,505	Gracie My oh my, that is a strange diagnosis for dogs and what a good job you took her to the vet and found out the problem. Never heard of a dog getting that before….but we learn a lot here from others' experiences. Yes the teeth can cause health issues and I am sure she will feel so much better when the dental is done. Glad to hear she is feeling better and that it was not either pancreatitis or other GI problem. Good luck with the dental, hope she sails through that with flying colors. Susan Marie. So sorry to hear that your little Roxie has trachea issues after the intubation. How scary that she has trouble breathing at night. Praying your vet can get to the bottom of this and make Roxie better soon. I agree that the anti emetic could prevent the release of the excess acid and cause more problems…thanks, never thought of it that way.

09-08-2015, 01:45 PM	#13
Maximo ♥ Maximo and Teddy Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 25,041	I'm glad the vet was able to determine Gracie's problem and that she is on the road to wellness. Max had an inflamed throat once. Antibiotics took care of it. Best wishes for Gracie for all to go smoothly with her dental. __________________ Kristin, Max and Teddy

09-10-2015, 12:30 AM	#14
Gracie1008 YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: St. Louis Posts: 5	Thank you everyone, you've all been so helpful! No throwing up anymore since she started her antibiotics and she officially has her appetite back. So happy the vet found out what was wrong so quickly! I'm definitely going to be super picky about keeping her teeth clean from now on. The vet did mention the bacteria can travel to a dog's heart like Susan Marie mentioned and that sounds super scary!