Why does my dog throw up bile every morning? Is Pepcid safe long-term?

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!

Hi. Yes you can use bread to see if it helps and any type is ok. It nay help just as much to feed a small meal just before going to bed. Pepsid could be used as well, but it may take more than one try to see if it works. I would be concerned and make sure though that all causes of vomiting have been ruled out. Labwork and an ultrasound and fecal would be the best way to start. Good luck

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.

In the long term, there is a thought the chronic famotidine use may decrease some nutrient absorption and lead to excessive gastric acid production with possible esophageal acid reflux if it is discontinued. However, most internal medicine specialists still preferentially recommend famotidine over other antacids (such as omeprazole/Prilosec) for chronic use as it is a bit more "mild" in its mechanism of action. I know you mentioned changing foods, but consider discussing a diet trial with a hydrolyzed "hypoallergenic" diet with Brody's vet. If he has a degree of a food allergy or inflammatory bowel disease causing his vomiting and skipping of meals, these hydrolyzed diets fed for 2-3 months can remove a lot of antigenic stimulation in the GI tract and potentially prevent a lot of GI upset.

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.

Chronic vomiting can be frustrating especially since everything you have tried so far. I know you have been to the vet a lot but Led does not to go back tonhave radiographs or an ultrasound done to look inside his abdomen and intestines and possibly a biopsy to find the underlying cause instead of symptomatic treatment.

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.