# Retching at night



## Butchcass (Jan 25, 2012)

Hi all

The past 4 nights now Dex has been retching during the night/early morning and brining up just bile.

I have recently cut down how much food he is getting to see if it will help his stools as they were very very loose constantly (he is on skinners).

I started cutting his food down 2 weeks ago and it instantly gave results in the poo department but the past week he has been eating lots of grass/sticks and then retching at night.

I dont think its a major problem but would appreicate some ideas as to what it may be?? Am I feeding him too little now? He gets 2 cups in the morning (0700) and 1 in the evening (1600).


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## Howl (Apr 10, 2012)

Bassets get this problem and I have heard of others getting the same thing as puppies. 
It happens when they eat too little or too early eg. 5pm and then don't eat until the morning. The stomach acid builds up. It is consistant wether we feed biscuits, dry or turkey. 
The way around it for us is feeding later and early in the morning. Puppies burn off their food quickly and although you don't want them gaining too much try splitting the meals into 4. 
We have a strict rule that the dogs have to have eaten something in the evening even if they are being picky. So if they have left a lot of their dinner we bring it out again before we go to bed, sometimes a treat or incentive to get them going. 
Doris is particaularly bad for not eating much and then the nausea puts her off her appetite so sometimes won't even eat meat the next day. In these cases the vet suggested a quater dose of an antacid but my dogs are big (20-24kg) so check with your vet first. This helps her not feel sick and within a short time she eats her breakfast. 
If I were you I would not be reducing the food but looking at giving a meal at supper instead of 2 in the morning. The toilet trouble may be a reaction to the food so it might be worth switching to chicken for awhile. I saw the vet with this problem and they gave me a probiotic and recommended chicken to help get her stomach back to normal.I believe it was the food she was on, now we are on one that doesn't upset her (it might take awhile for you to find one) she has had nothing but solid poos. It is worth investigating, reactions to commercial food is common and Doris sadly spent a lot of her puppyhood with the runs or bad gas.


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## SixStar (Dec 8, 2009)

All my dogs will bring up bile overnight if they don't have a snack before bed - it's caused by an empty stomach - so I just give them a couple of biscuits or a small handful of kibble before I settle them down for the night, this does the trick.

I also have to give them a small snack at lunchtime otherwise they bring up bile before their tea (mine are raw fed, so their breakfasts don't stay with them all the way to dinner).

You could try keeping back a small amount of his dinner that he can have just before he goes to bed, or just feeding a small treat/few biscuits &#8211; I&#8217;m sure this will help


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## Butchcass (Jan 25, 2012)

Thanks, that's what I thought, too empty stomach. 

Cheers for the quick response.


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## Guest (Apr 21, 2012)

Kenzie does this too, solved by a treat before bed as the others say.


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## Dogless (Feb 26, 2010)

SixStar said:


> All my dogs will bring up bile overnight if they don't have a snack before bed - it's caused by an empty stomach - so I just give them a couple of biscuits or a small handful of kibble before I settle them down for the night, this does the trick.
> 
> I also have to give them a small snack at lunchtime otherwise they bring up bile before their tea (mine are raw fed, so their breakfasts don't stay with them all the way to dinner).
> 
> You could try keeping back a small amount of his dinner that he can have just before he goes to bed, or just feeding a small treat/few biscuits  Im sure this will help


Kilo is exactly the same. Snack at lunch and snack at bed time. Not that he complains .


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## Mama Sass (Sep 8, 2009)

I know everyone who has replied has said the same thing but we had this issue with Basil for ages and we were at our wits end with him - he was having to get up in the middle of the night to be sick and eat grass, and we were getting exhausted.

Then we saw a new vet who mentioned that when dogs tummies get empty they produce too much bile and have to get rid of it. Since then he's had his breakfast and tea as usual (just smaller amounts) and then a stuffed kong at about 9pm - problem solved! He's not been sick since and it has become such a part of his routine that he now asks for his kong and always takes himself off to bed straight afterwards!


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## Guest (Apr 22, 2012)

Can I jump in on this thread actually? Like I said above Kenzie gets a biscuit at bedtime and doesn't bring up bile as long as she gets the biscuit. I do find though in the early morning (e.g. 6am) she does quite a lot of lip-licking and swallowing (usually right in my ear). Do you think, even though she's not bringing up the bile, she's still got a too-empty tummy? Would more of a 'meal' at bedtime be better than just a biscuit?


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## Butchcass (Jan 25, 2012)

I like the idea of turning a stuffed kong into a supper routine. Think I'm gonna pinch that 1 if you don't mind.


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## sianrees1979 (Feb 27, 2009)

dai use to have a bile problem, has a biscuit or 10g of dried food before bed and it has now stopped.


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## toryb (Jul 11, 2011)

Yep we get the same if she gets an empty tummy so we do the treat at lunch and bedtime and it solved it for us :thumbsup:


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## Mama Sass (Sep 8, 2009)

Butchcass said:


> I like the idea of turning a stuffed kong into a supper routine. Think I'm gonna pinch that 1 if you don't mind.


Be our guest! Would love to hear how you get on. :thumbsup:



McKenzie said:


> Can I jump in on this thread actually? Like I said above Kenzie gets a biscuit at bedtime and doesn't bring up bile as long as she gets the biscuit. I do find though in the early morning (e.g. 6am) she does quite a lot of lip-licking and swallowing (usually right in my ear). Do you think, even though she's not bringing up the bile, she's still got a too-empty tummy? Would more of a 'meal' at bedtime be better than just a biscuit?


Yeah, forgot to say last night that Basil also has a charcoal bonio in the evening at some point as well as his stuffed kong and we have not had any problems with retching since. Give it a go and see what happens. 

Basil now has three small meals a day (he weighs 8kg so I guess being small it stands to reason that his tummy can't take too much at once). So it's breakfast about 8am, tea at 5pm, bonio about 7pm and his kong about 9pm.

We have adjusted his food accordingly so he hasn't gained any weight. We had so many problems just getting him to eat when he was a puppy this is the first time his weight has stabilised really. (Just finding a food that he would eat and that didn't upset his tummy has also been a challenge but we got there eventually!).

He's so active anyway that I am sure he was needing a little extra to keep him going - seems obvious now but at the time we were at a loss as to what could be wrong!


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## Mama Sass (Sep 8, 2009)

Howl said:


> If I were you I would not be reducing the food but looking at giving a meal at supper instead of 2 in the morning. The toilet trouble may be a reaction to the food so it might be worth switching to chicken for awhile. I saw the vet with this problem and they gave me a probiotic and recommended chicken to help get her stomach back to normal.I believe it was the food she was on, now we are on one that doesn't upset her (it might take awhile for you to find one) she has had nothing but solid poos. It is worth investigating, reactions to commercial food is common and Doris sadly spent a lot of her puppyhood with the runs or bad gas.


Totally agree with the above! We had all sorts of trouble finding food that suited Basil and he also spent much of his time as a puppy with the runs. He is on Wainwright's trays now and we've never looked back.

It is worth asking the vet for a probiotic though, we took Basil to the vet in the end and I think he had something called Prokolin? It definitely helped him get back to normal; after being upset for so long all the goodness had been stripped from his tummy. The Prokolin coupled with eating the food that suited him sorted him out in no time.


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## H0lly (Jan 31, 2010)

Well well well, Was going to Ask about this, Otis has been bringing up bile in the mornings and was wondering why etc.

You learn something new everyday  , I love this place


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## Mama Sass (Sep 8, 2009)

H0lly said:


> Well well well, Was going to Ask about this, Otis has been bringing up bile in the mornings and was wondering why etc.
> 
> You learn something new everyday  , I love this place


I know! I have been dipping in and out of Pet Forums since 2009 and every problem/query/worry I have had has been sorted by the ace people on here. Long may it continue! 

Let us know how you get on with Otis.


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## Howl (Apr 10, 2012)

It is such a good place because people say oh that's normal its caused by XYZ try this. Other place you get "go to the vets" or "Your pet is sick it needs treatment!!!" etc. 
Although we did go to the vets because the runs was getting ridiculous and I didn't know about the bile thing. 
Don't get me wrong if you're go worried for goodness sake !! But there is often an easy solution. 
:thumbsup:


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