I wasn't sure which other forum to put this in, because I am really lost as to why this is happening....warning - its a long post!
Our pup has started doing something I have never seen before - she is vomiting, once a day, at 6am. It has been three mornings now, and she wakes up EXACTLY at 6am, vomits, then goes back to sleep till we get up around 7:30/8am. We have also been having an odd issue with having a soft poop around dinner time, and sometimes at lunch...
I am utterly confused, and just can't figure it out! This is the ONLY time she vomits, she is perfectly happy the rest of the day. She is eating, drinking, walking, playing and sleeping normally. She has a normal poop in the morning, usually doesn't go at lunch, or has a slightly soft poop, but then at dinner time, it'll be one or two VERY soft poops. Not quite diarrhea, but definitely not the normal consistency.
She started having soft daytime bowel movements a few days earlier, and we thought that she was sensitive to something in her treats, so we stopped giving them, and they definitely started to firm up, so we thought it was fine, but then this vomiting and soft pooping started.
Here is what we think we have ruled out:
- Food intolerance. She has been on basically the same food since before we got her, so for a couple of months now. She was originally on science diet puppy, and we switched her to science diet large breed puppy about a month ago (the only difference in ingredients is that this one doesn't have rice, and does have a supplement for joint health). This has started only very recently, so I don't think its the food, unless she has developed an intolerance issue - is that possible? Although removing the treats improved it slightly, there is only one common ingredient between the treats and the food, and that is rosemary extract. She doesn't get any other food or treats at all right now.
- Anxiety. She shows no behaviour cues for anxiety - and we don't think she is vomiting for attention, because there is no whining or barking before it happens, and once we removed the now-vomit-splatterd blanket, she just goes back to sleep! She also has no more reason to be anxious on walks later in the day than in the morning, and it doesn't seem to make a difference if we are having a "good" walk (not much dragging, not many corrections) or a "bratty" walk (where she is getting a lot of corrections for pulling, picking stuff up, etc).
- Throwing up an object - there is nothing IN her vomit - it is just a little foam, because there is nothing in her stomach
- Blockage or bloat - she is eating and drinking normally, not vomiting otherwise, is happy and playful, and in no pain. Her stomach is not distended, hot or tight, and she is happy to have us manipulate her stomach without whimpering or whining. She is also having completely normal poops in the am, so I am 99% sure it isn't this issue.
- Parasitic issue - the issue isn't constant enough for this. She has been de-wormed, obviously, and is eating properly, isn't excessively thirsty, and is gaining a few pounds a week as she should be. She also isn't doing any itching or dragging her butt.
I am almost out of ideas!! The only things left that I can think of are that maybe she is getting indigestion, and that is leading to the soft stool - we already leave her for 30-40mins after eating before she walks, but today I started slow-feeding her, giving her a few kibbles at a time, then more, so that she isn't gulping the whole bowl at once.
I am also wondering if maybe she is vomiting because of hunger, or a fast metabolism and an empty stomach? She gets fed around 8am, 1:30pm, and then at 6pm, and we are feeding her according to the manufacturer guidelines for her weight. But I was thinking that maybe her stomach is working so fast as she is an active, growing puppy, that when we hit 6am (about 12 hours since her last feeding) she is reacting to having nothing in her stomach...We are going to try feeding her a little around 10:30 tonight, an hour before her bedtime pee, to see if that helps.
Any other ideas? Are softer day time stools normal for puppies? I have had plenty of experience dealing with acute vomiting & diarrhea, but I have never had it happen where she just throws up once a day, and is otherwise totally fine...
Our pup has started doing something I have never seen before - she is vomiting, once a day, at 6am. It has been three mornings now, and she wakes up EXACTLY at 6am, vomits, then goes back to sleep till we get up around 7:30/8am. We have also been having an odd issue with having a soft poop around dinner time, and sometimes at lunch...
I am utterly confused, and just can't figure it out! This is the ONLY time she vomits, she is perfectly happy the rest of the day. She is eating, drinking, walking, playing and sleeping normally. She has a normal poop in the morning, usually doesn't go at lunch, or has a slightly soft poop, but then at dinner time, it'll be one or two VERY soft poops. Not quite diarrhea, but definitely not the normal consistency.
She started having soft daytime bowel movements a few days earlier, and we thought that she was sensitive to something in her treats, so we stopped giving them, and they definitely started to firm up, so we thought it was fine, but then this vomiting and soft pooping started.
Here is what we think we have ruled out:
- Food intolerance. She has been on basically the same food since before we got her, so for a couple of months now. She was originally on science diet puppy, and we switched her to science diet large breed puppy about a month ago (the only difference in ingredients is that this one doesn't have rice, and does have a supplement for joint health). This has started only very recently, so I don't think its the food, unless she has developed an intolerance issue - is that possible? Although removing the treats improved it slightly, there is only one common ingredient between the treats and the food, and that is rosemary extract. She doesn't get any other food or treats at all right now.
- Anxiety. She shows no behaviour cues for anxiety - and we don't think she is vomiting for attention, because there is no whining or barking before it happens, and once we removed the now-vomit-splatterd blanket, she just goes back to sleep! She also has no more reason to be anxious on walks later in the day than in the morning, and it doesn't seem to make a difference if we are having a "good" walk (not much dragging, not many corrections) or a "bratty" walk (where she is getting a lot of corrections for pulling, picking stuff up, etc).
- Throwing up an object - there is nothing IN her vomit - it is just a little foam, because there is nothing in her stomach
- Blockage or bloat - she is eating and drinking normally, not vomiting otherwise, is happy and playful, and in no pain. Her stomach is not distended, hot or tight, and she is happy to have us manipulate her stomach without whimpering or whining. She is also having completely normal poops in the am, so I am 99% sure it isn't this issue.
- Parasitic issue - the issue isn't constant enough for this. She has been de-wormed, obviously, and is eating properly, isn't excessively thirsty, and is gaining a few pounds a week as she should be. She also isn't doing any itching or dragging her butt.
I am almost out of ideas!! The only things left that I can think of are that maybe she is getting indigestion, and that is leading to the soft stool - we already leave her for 30-40mins after eating before she walks, but today I started slow-feeding her, giving her a few kibbles at a time, then more, so that she isn't gulping the whole bowl at once.
I am also wondering if maybe she is vomiting because of hunger, or a fast metabolism and an empty stomach? She gets fed around 8am, 1:30pm, and then at 6pm, and we are feeding her according to the manufacturer guidelines for her weight. But I was thinking that maybe her stomach is working so fast as she is an active, growing puppy, that when we hit 6am (about 12 hours since her last feeding) she is reacting to having nothing in her stomach...We are going to try feeding her a little around 10:30 tonight, an hour before her bedtime pee, to see if that helps.
Any other ideas? Are softer day time stools normal for puppies? I have had plenty of experience dealing with acute vomiting & diarrhea, but I have never had it happen where she just throws up once a day, and is otherwise totally fine...