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We have a small terrier (either a smallish rat terrier or a toy fox terrier, unsure of his lineage as he is a rescue). He's six years old, my husband has had him since he was about 13 weeks old. His health is great, regular vet checkups, no issues.
All his life, he's been what my husband describes as "vomity." He is prone to throwing up clear, foamy liquid, but is not generally unwell. It generally seems to be preceded by vigorous activity. We take long walks, and he will usually vomit small, foamy amounts a couple of times throughout a daily walk. When we get home, he will drink water quickly, and then, 9/10 out of ten, vomit the water he just gulped up. It's a regular occurrence, and has been for his whole life. It's also more likely to happen if he gets worked up, like if somebody visits and he gets hyper about someone new being there.
Vet isn't concerned, since he is healthy, is of normal weight, the vomit isn't blood tinged, etc. I'm not especially concerned, as it's such a regular occurrence. I was just wondering WHY, what is causing it. I've read that it may be hyperacidity, that he just has a sensitive stomach, that it may be from an empty stomach...he's a very light eater, again, always has been. He will eat just a single piece of kibble or two at a time and leave most of his food, and it has to be represented throughout the day, but he never eats much. We can't free-feed, because we also have a dachshund who will eat all the food if it's left out. We did free-feed for about a month last winter when our dachshund wasn't living with us, and while it worked out well for him to be able to graze, the puking thing didn't seem affected.
Was wondering if anybody else has experienced this, if it's a breed-specific thing, etc. Mostly just curious if this is a thing, or if our pukey, but otherwise, healthy dog is an anomaly.
Last edited by TabulaRasa; 05-09-2015 at 10:23 PM..
O ... I wondering if he hurt his throat when he was pup? A friends cat did what you described When he was a Kitten some one grab him around the neck hurt it . Nothing they could do but he lived to be 20
Hmmm. I suppose it's possible, but my husband, who treats him like a human baby, adopted him shortly after birth, and he was born in a shelter to an abandoned mama dog, so it's hard to imagine that he was ever in a place where he wasn't well-cared for. No kids in the picture to grab too hard, etc., and the vet's checked him out many times, he doesn't seem to have any injuries or damage.
One of my dogs will do this after drinking a lot of water sometimes. Worse yet, our son with Down syndrome did this for the first two years of his life! They did testing on our son and nothing showed up. The doctor brought up that he may be doing it for the same reason that a dog would, feeling uncomfortable or overfilled and just vomiting it back up (on us in public a million times). Our son is now 28 years old and still can have an issue if he gulps too much water. Maybe a weak flapper, the one that keeps stuff from coming back up which I did come across when doing research in the early years. Now, with our son and the dog that does this, more solids and less liquids in the stomach was a definite plus.
Seems that if the dog isn't losing weight and the vet isn't seeing anything that it is a just quirk. Have you read on the breed guesses to see if there might be something with the particular breeds that may make up your dog's genetics?
I have no doubt that an empty stomach is key. But he simply doesn't eat much food at one time, never does. It's a nibble here, a nibble there. Always has been that way, no matter what is available to him. There is literally no way for him to eat smaller meals than he does without foregoing food entirely. Even with his smaller appetite, he is never malnourished, though. My thought is that he simply gulps too much water too quicky when exerted or excited, and it comes right back up. I suspect he simply has a sensitive stomach, and that's why he eats sparingly and pukes when he overdoes it on water.
I've read up on both rat terriers and toy fox terriers, because those are our best guesses as to his breed(s), but we really have no idea, as he was a puppy born in a shelter to an abandoned stray whose lineage was unknown. I've not found much on either breed except that on some forums, people have said their rat terriers are, indeed, pukey, but that's pretty anedcotal.
It's not a health concern, as he is healthy. It's just more my curiosity if this is weird or typical.
it might be he's nervous and worried so his appetite is lacking. Maybe you need to try and get him to relax more, have you ever tried a thundershirt? Its a bit pricey but works well, calms dogs down when they are "crazy" and settles them a bit.
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