Dog Is Vomiting?

Last night, I saw a post from my niece that her dog is vomiting, non-stop. She posted a “Please help” post on why her dog was sick. Of course, being me, I was curious why. I asked her a series of questions like, “What color is the vomit? Green, clear, white foamy? How long has she been vomiting? Have you changed her diet recently?”

She had mentioned in her comments she recently changed her dogs food. So, I called her instead of communicating on social media. I had more questions, and too many to ask online. Asking questions often leads to the answer on why a dog is vomiting. It can be several factors. However, it’s important to know the full story first.

Why Dogs Vomit.

Dogs, like humans, can vomit for several reasons. Stomachs are designed to reject anything that it doesn’t like. Foods, liquids, random objects, etc. Dogs though, unlike humans, will eat grass to induce vomiting. For us dog owners, we know our dogs will randomly go into the corner of the yard.   Then we see them munching away on grass.  Why? Something’s in their stomach they don’t like.  This is a way for them to induce vomiting.

I’m sure it’s happened to you at times. You’ve eaten something, and it doesn’t sit well. Next thing you know, you’re feeling ill. Now, not all of us can vomit, or like to. Most people hate vomiting. But, it’s a natural thing. Our bodies just reject certain foods or other things. There have been times when I’ve made myself vomit because my stomach hurt. It would make me feel better after.

If your dog is usually healthy, and only vomits on occasion, there’s no need to worry. However, if they’re vomiting constantly, even for 24 hours, than a vet visit should be your next step. Dogs can have underlying medical issues that is causing them to vomit.

Dogs vomit just like we do. It’s not always on purpose though, for them. So when a dog vomits, what does it mean when it’s colored?

The Color Means What?

Vomit can come in many forms. Green, white, clear, red, foamy, etc. Let’s start with the natural colors, shall we? Green is the color of bile. It’s what our bodies produce to break food down. The liver is the organ that produces bile and is stored in the gallbladder. So, when vomit comes up and it’s that weird yellow-green color, it’s just bile. It will also have a slimy consistency to it.

Dogs, when they haven’t eaten in a while can vomit up bile. I’ve noticed that if my dogs don’t eat for some reason the night before, they’ll vomit up bile the next day. Their stomachs are simply getting rid of extra bile when they do this.

If it’s clear, it usually means it’s just water. If your dog has an empty stomach and drinks too much water, their stomachs can reject the amount, and they’ll puke it up.

Foamy, same thing. Though with foam, it’s usually just old remnants in their stomachs. This can happen after they’ve eaten something their stomachs don’t like, but it can be old.

Red vomit is different from the other colors. I mentioned that green bile is natural. Clear is usually water. Foam is usually older stuff and can just be an upset stomach. Red on the other hand – no good. This is usually blood in their stomachs. This warrants a vet visit immediately. Don’t hesitate on any odd color of vomit.

So, now that we’ve covered some colors, what can make dogs vomit?

Changing Diets.

One big factor that can cause dogs to vomit is a sudden change of diet. See, as humans, we change our diets all the time. Dogs though, they shouldn’t. They get used to one brand of dog food. Or, their bodies get used to specific foods on a consistent basis. When we change their food, it should be a gradual change.

If you’re attempting to change food, do so slowly. Maybe you don’t like the brand you’re giving your dog anymore. It could be too expensive. The pet store near you doesn’t sell it anymore. Possibly, you heard it was a bad brand of food. Whatever the reason, go-slow.

To change their diet appropriately, you add small amounts of the new food to the old. Let’s say, I’m switching Atlas from Purina Pro to Wellness. I would buy Wellness when I still have Purina left. I would add 1/4 cup of Wellness to 1 cup of Purina. As the days pass, I would increase the Wellness and decrease the Purina. Until I finally have a small amount of Purina and mainly Wellness for her.

Changing a diet this way slowly introduces it to your dogs stomach. Their stomachs are more sensitive than ours to sudden changes. So it’s important to change things slowly for them.

It’s also important that your dog is eating a healthy brand of dog food as well. Which foods are good, and which ones are bad?

Good Food VS Bad Food.

I’m going to paraphrase a long series of articles I did on this topic. I started looking into this when a social media post came across my feed. Dogs were vomiting up blood and mucus from eating a specific brand of dog food. This led me down a path that took me weeks of research. In fact, I still research this topic to this day.

What I found out, was that 99.9% of dog foods contain chemicals. Chemicals that are bad for ingestion. I’m going to list these out for you with their simple definitions.

• Propylene Glycol – closely resembles anti-freeze. This is a chemical that absorbs liquids so that dry dog food stays dry. However, the FDA has stated that this chemical should be used very sparingly for consumption. I copied this from Google so that you can see – it is used in anti freeze. This is in dog food. 99.9% of them.

• Ethoxquin – in the 1950s, this was used as a pesticide. Now, it’s used as a food preserver. How is this good? Also in most dog foods.

• Butylated Hydroxyanisole or BHA – is used in pharmaceuticals, mainly in creams, gels and capsules. Also found in many dog foods because it’s used as a food preserver. It prevents food from becoming rancid. Well, it’s used in creams for medications, so of course it keeps the food preserved. But in food we eat? No, thank you. I’m good.

• Butylated Hydroxytoluene or BHT – also listed on Google as a medication that is often used to treat Genital Herpes. However, it’s also been used in the past as a disinfectant. Many companies claim that it’s an organic product and safe to use as a food preserver. I’m sorry though, anything that was used as a disinfectant is safe for consumption? Also found in most dog foods.

What Does This Mean?

This is why I researched hundreds of dog foods. Literally hundreds. I wanted to know what I was feeding my dogs and why there were so many chemicals in them. This isn’t all the chemicals by the way. There’s many more. And what’s so sad about this, is that they deny it when dogs get sick. I saw 144K people show pictures. List their dogs names as having died by certain brands. There’s class action lawsuits against some companies for killing peoples dogs. Their response? “It wasn’t their dog food. The dog must’ve been sick.”

Please, look into the food you buy them. Many companies will list out their ingredients online and show the chemicals they put in there. Out of all the brands, I went so far as to look into the recalls each company had. Why? The recalls told me what each situation was. Why did they have to have people send these foods back?

The FDA even came out with a list a while back of dog foods that were causing dogs to die from heart conditions. Many of these brands are listed on personal blogs as being the best foods.

Just to name a few:

• Acana
• Taste of the Wild
• Natural Balance
• Nutro
• Rachel Ray’s Nutrish
• Orijen
• Merrick
• Blue Buffalo

But if you look up the FDA’s top dog foods that are causing death and illness, all these brands are listed on there. Amazing. Just shows, do your research! If you want to know which one I found: Wellness RawRev. That’s all I buy now. Not the grain-free either. Just like with our diets, that’s a fad diet for dogs.

Many claim that dogs are allergic to grains. Some, yes, they are. However, it’s like people thinking they’re allergic to Gluten. 75% of people aren’t. So, I feed Atlas healthy grains like brown rice, oatmeal, etc. I look at the ingredients. If I can’t pronounce it, I don’t know what it is.

Final Thoughts on Dog is Vomiting.

I’ve listed out so many things for you to consider. I know I went off on a tangent about dog food. However, this is a touchy subject for me. Especially because, one of the foods that my niece was feeding her dog was the one brand responsible for killing thousands of dogs. Even with a massive class action lawsuit against them, they still don’t take responsibility.

Let me just say, if I was doing something to kill thousands, I would want to own up to it. Not just for clarification, but for my own moral code. How can you put all these chemicals in dog food, kill thousands, and throw your hands in the air? “It couldn’t have been us. Your dog was already sick.”

Oh man, really? Healthy dogs, just vomiting blood after eating your food? No, something’s wrong. Even the other companies, causing heart problems. And they still claim they’re good for dogs? No way!

If you can’t decide on a good food, than make your own. Brown rice, chicken, vegetables, minerals. Dogs can eat a lot of the healthy foods we eat. Except grapes, onions, garlic, cherry stems, etc. For a more complete list, click here.

At the end of the day, our dogs are our furry little children. Take care of them. If your dog is vomiting, call your vet if it’s becoming consistent.