My dog vomits bile before meals. Is it acid reflux? What can I do?

Hello. Acid reflux can result from several things, not just the production of acid in response to food in the stomach. Esophageal disease/motility disorders, diet, over-secretion of pepsin & non-specific inflammation can all contribute to the problem. It may be as simple as switching to a sensitive skin/stomach formulation of dog food, or an actual GI diet or one geared toward allergies such as Prescription Diet z/d. Adding an acid reflux medication such as famotidine or omeprazole is often a pretty safe option to try. Talk to your vet about what might be the best option for Gemma. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

This could be due to acid reflux. You can try an ant acid medication such as omeperazole to see if it helps. If you don’t see improvement in 1 to 2 weeks, you should follow up with your veterinarian for diagnostics including bloodwork and X-rays.

A complete workup from your vet is best to rule out anything more serious such as food allergies, GI problems, etc that could be underlying and are being masked by the medication if the problems are persisting. In some cases, reflux and vomiting bile can happen if your dog has an empty stomach for too long. Feeding smaller meals more frequently, or feeding a treat right before bed/waking up first thing can help keep enough in the stomach to keep your dog from vomiting. However, I would still let your vet know the vomiting is continuing when off the meds and schedule a vet visit to rule out any issues anyway.

Honestly we rarely have to put these dogs on a special diet but if I had to pick a diet I would say high fiber which may help with GI motility. A prescription diet from your vet like Hill's w/d would be best. I would use the canned version. I am a bit worried that the diagnosis is not correct. There are many other reasons why a dog could be vomiting bile (parasites, partial GI obstruction, GI motility disorder, cancer, endocrine disorder, food intolerance/allergy, etc). Did he have any blood testing done? X-rays? I think you have already done what should be tried for simple bilious vomiting syndrome. Since he hans't improved and is actually worse, I strongly recommend you consult with your vet about more testing. I am also concerned as this is a diagnosis usually seen in older dogs; Earl is young to have this issue. In the meantime you can try giving him some over the counter antacid (famotidine) 10mg once a day but only give this until you can get him back to your vet. ( https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Maximum-Strength-Acid-Reducer-Famotidine-Tablets-20mg-200-Ct/24360533 ) Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Blood work is always a good idea. He may have gastric reflux in which case it is best to feed him multiple small meals throughout the day to keep his stomach from being empty too long. You can also try a trial of Pepcid (famotidine), 5mg once a day in the evening before bed (so 1/2 of a 10mg tablet). Do this for 7-14 days and then see what happens. If no improvement I think you and your vet should do more testing to figure out what may be going on. If this does help, I suggest you consult with your vet about what you did and see what their recommendations are from there. It is not usually a good idea to keep them on famotidine daily forever as it will shut down the stomach's ability to produce any gastric acid which is not a good idea. As a side note, ground beef and steak are really high in fat (even the lean varieties) so I would stop feeding that. High fat diets can cause pancreatitis and vomiting. Boiled chicken or turkey would be better. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Bandit. If he has not already had one, I would recommend having an ultrasound of his belly by a board certified radiologist. This will help diagnose any concurrent problems such as inflammatory bowel disease or something else that is contributing to his symptoms. Depending on his results, a prescription diet may help to improve his symptoms. I hope this information helps!

Poor Sadie. I definitely agree with the recommendation of getting off of her blue buffalo. Throwing up bile in the mornings is usually due to acid reflux or too much acid build up over night. You can resolve this by feeding her last meal of the day about 30-60 minutes before you go to bed and then give her Pepcid right before bedtime. You will need to ask you vet for the proper dose that would be safe for her and her medical history. The vomiting food in the middle of the night doesn't really follow that normal acid reflux trend. You could try to Pepcid and see if anything changes. If not, I would have your vet actually do an exam on her to ensure there isn't anything else going on like a parasite or blood work abnormalities. You could also talk to your vet about putting her on a prescription GI food like science diet I/D. I hope this helps!