sick at night

swbaggies

Hi everyone

Can i pick your brains

Arrow is sometimes sick, id say once or twice a week. I would say this has been the case for about a month. He is NEVER sick during day and i spend the evening with him up till about 11.30pm. I have NEVER seen him heave or be sick etc. He is fine and happy and not off his food or water etc, no changes within himself etc.

Ive taken him to the vets a couple times and they are happy with him and no issues they can see.

This cant be normal so any suggestions?

he isnt losing wight and is growing, seems happy etc so im not overly concerned just not sure why.

to summarise

. its been about a month, once or twice a week (i mention the timeframe as some of you may be aware he has just started supplements, this was hapening before so dont believe connected)

. he is only sick at night, i have NEVER seen him be sick or even heave

. he is crated at night and is the only place he is sick

. he is crated at times during the day, by his own choice, he sleeps in it (door open)

. not left alone during day other than an hour here or there

. his crate is in the living room (so he is alone in it at nights)

. he has skin issues which ive started supplements

. the "sick" is liquid with the occasional bit of mush, only thing ive made out is cucumber, which ive stopped, he eats veg in his raw diet and never leaves any in food bowl. I know it is sick and not pee as ive sniffed it and it doesnt smell lol.

. he never wees in crate and hasnt for months so dont believe its anxiety, was very easy to crate train (only thing that is easy to train lol)

dont think ive missed anything but please ask any question or suggest things

swbaggies

ps

i catch him eating leaves sometimes and atartled him and i catch him less now, ive never made any folage out in the sick

Djammy

Here's a very nice video about the reasons for dogs to eat grass.

I can't tell you what you are dealing with, but I would probably first try some things to get closer to the core of the problem.
I would move the crate into my bedroom, hoping to wake up when he vomits and be able to witness the process to see, if he only vomits once, if it really looks and sounds like vomiting etc. and to be able and take a look at the fresh mess, maybe take a photo for the vet.

Also I would think about any changes I've made ... new laundry detergent, new bedding, other foods etc. and small items that may be missing in the household in oder to get a hint of what could be the problem.

Also, if this has not been done so far, I would think about getting a x-ray done. Did the vet suggest that?I would just want to make 100% sure that his stomach is not desperately trying to get something he swallowed accidentally out when the dog is resting. It is not rare that swallowed items make their way back out through vomiting during the night. But there is never a guarantee that vomiting is sufficient to expel a possible foreign object.
The grass eating could be another hint that there is something his body tries to get rid of.

Usually - like also said in the video - it is not normal for a dog to vomit on a regular basis, even if it seems to be well in any other regard. Something IS wrong. So, it's good to dig around for causes.

philsergeant

Leaves will make him sick 75% of the time they cannot digest them easily.. I know, it's a pain in the arse stopping them munching them, especially in fall.

Djammy

@philsergeant

Funny, when younger, Djamila used to eat grass now and then during playtime.
But never for reasons of vomiting and meanwhile she has entirely stopped doing it.

I have never ever seen her eating leaves, however, which makes me happy, because I really don't trust in our Floridian flora to do her any good. Maybe I am a little paranoid.

Are your guys eating leaves?

philsergeant

There's one particular tree (don't know it's name) with big leaves that they love, we scream at them every time they pick one up, but if it's small enough they wolf them down even though they know its wrong. 95% of the time it ends up being thrown up 3 or 4 hours later. But I have seen one be sick for up to two days before they throw it up and it's still completely undigested. Sometimes they have passed out the other end, two or three days later, still whole.

Djammy

@philsergeant

The grass also looked pretty undigested when it left Djamila's body with the stools. In the past I never realized that they can draw nutrients from it.

If you get any chance to take a photo of those leaves some day, I'd be curious to see which plant it is and compare, if we have it here.

But, really, no hurry ... it's just out of curiosity.

swbaggies

Update...............

I did a bit of research and quite a few articles have been written about certain breeds, quick growers, are often sick at night if there is too much of a gap between meals. Their stomachs cannot factor in being empty and they are sick as their stomach gets irritated.

I had not changed anything apart food wise with the exception of changing his meals to two a day rather than three.

I have stuck to the two a day but have put his second meal back later, to about 6pm rather than 3/4 o'clock. I have done this for 2 weeks and he hasnt been sick once.

so this minor change has meant that he has gone from sick once or twice a week to not at all. Ive changed nothing so i believe this has been cause and remedy.

Thought it may help others if having similar issue.

swbaggies

p.s

by gaps between meals, i mean evening and following morning

Djammy

THAT's a very interesting, well, cause and solution. Thanks for sharing it!

And I am happy for you that the solution was so simple after all and that you have found it pretty quickly.

Susan

I had the same problem with Boyka, I now give him a banana before he goes to sleep and the problem has been solved.

philsergeant

Djammy,
These are the trees, get pretty big, all over our community.
There's a closeup of the leaves and what they look like when they fall off (nearly all year), make them really sick but they love the flavor I guess.

Djammy

@philsergeant

Thanks for taking the time to take some shots. Looks like we also have something like that in our yard.

Tried to identify the kind of plant/ tree. But I am really such a greenhorn in terms of landscaping and plants.

At least I don't wonder why those certainly hard and fiber rich leaves come back out again undigested and in the same shape they went in.