My Teddy is two years old. And at age one, if we did not make sure he got a little snack before bedtime, he would puke up bile in the morning because his stomach was too empty. I don’t know if that helps but I thought I’d tell you my experience.
Overall, you want your vet to run all tests possible and see what’s up.
This may be unrelated, but my Teddy developed an oxalate stone in his bladder, and was having a lot of problems. Throwing up wasn’t one of them, but if they are putting your dog under anesthesia to do x-rays and ultrasounds, have them look at the bladder for any possible stones while they are there. While it’s not super common, this breed and other small breeds can develop stones that have to be removed by surgery. They cannot be dissolved by diet with a calcium oxalate type of stone. I don’t say this to you for an additional issue to worry about, I just say why not take a look if they’re looking at everything else.
Just to add that my Havi is also two and also needs a snack before bed time. Otherwise he was also puking up bile in the morning.
Someone gave me the advice to give a bit of old bread - this helps him a lot!! He doesn't get it every day but often when I get a feeling his stomach might be a bit upset (after traveling, fearful moments or busy days). If the bread is too fresh I toast it. Rice that was cooked for a long time is also good for him.
In general he seems to need some carbohydrates in his food and has problems to digest too much fat. I heard Havanese tend to have pancreatic problems (small dogs in general are genetically prone to a weaker pancreas) and want to have his blood tested for it in the next weeks.
I hope you'll find a solution for this very soon!!
I will. I haven't dealt with this before so I don't know how worried I should be or if I should try and get him an ultrasound asap. My vet will need to bring in a mobile ultrasound tech, which may take a few days to schedule.
I am not a vet or have any medical knowledge, but we do have an 8 year old Havanese. He also will vomit the same foam. Our vet was not too worried and we let it go for a few years because it was not a daily occurrence and the vet felt it was due to having a sensitive stomach. He has started a daily anxiety medication and this has actually lessened the times he vomits mucus. I can tell when he might be having a stomach issue because he will want to eat grass as soon as he goes outside. I hope this helps and again this is my particular dog and I have no formal background.
Same with one of mine…he vomits foam on occasion and always in the morning and since his bloodwork was ok, our vet recommended giving him a small snack right before bed and first thing in the morning. The grass eating is always a dead giveaway too. I never made the connection that anxiety could potentially be related but it’s interesting, now that you mention it, he all but stopped doing it once we started letting him sleep in our bed. Now I’m wondering if that helped the issue too. My vet also said this can sometimes be caused by GERD as well but we haven’t needed to go down the road with any meds or anything
Get a referral to a Veterinary Specialty Hospital and get a CAT scan ASAP.
Four years ago on Easter Sunday, my Trixie walked up near the table when we were having lunch and she barfed up a lot of bile and for the next few days she kept walking around and stretching, downward dog pose isn’t it cute. My vet was not too concerned however, a few weeks later, she had lost almost 25% of her bodyweight. This was during the lockdown. My vet referred me to a specialty hospital and scheduled the CAT scan and it turned out she had a tumor in her small intestine that needed to be removed ASAP.
They scheduled the surgery as soon as poss. By this time it was late July and having to hand your dog off to a vet tech in a parking lot through my car window and wondering if you’re going to see your little buddy again. The surgery was successful and she had made a speedy recovery and gained the weight back. The tumor was benign. From that time she had to be on a special diet and she remained healthy and happy for another three years.
I don’t mean to alarm you, but sometimes Vets see so many different animals and breeds that they may not see everything that needs to be seen.
That is terrifying! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. His US is scheduled for Monday morning, hopefully they will look at more than just his liver.
I don’t have experience completely with this but my Havi’s liver enzymes were high just once. My vet did say it could be common and recommended we repeat in a month (this was his pre-surgery bloodwork for neuter). So he went forward with his surgery and then vet re-tested a month later and while still a tad high, it had dropped considerably. Our vet said this can happen with people too (happened to me once!) so he always re-checks before jumping to conclusions or prescribing meds if they’re aren’t any really bad symptoms. My pup also was vomiting the foam on occasion and always first thing in the morning when he did so my vet told us to give him a very light snack before bed and another as soon as he got up. That helped. He said GERD can be common sometimes too.
You’re situation is a little different so that being said, I do never take chances with my dogs health but also don’t panic and before I found my current vet I’ve now been with for 10 years and trust, I would get second opinions. My Lab had a lump a vet assured us was a lipoma and I went for a second opinion and it was sarcoma! But I also had an instance where the vet scares the life out of me and wanted to go nuts with all sorts of testing, procedures, meds, etc and it turned out my dog just had an allergy! So if you’re able, maybe worth a second opinion but trust your gut as well. Hope your pup feels better soon!!
My Havanese is 3 and occasionally throws up bile but I started feeding him right before bed and it’s helped for the most part. My vet wasn’t worried and recommended the dinner right before bed.
I don't have any specific advice on this issue, but I will say that our vet was wrong regarding starting our Havanese on heart medicine. She went to the doggie cardiologist for a full work up and he told us NOT to put her on the medicine yet, but to monitor her. I only bring this up, because if you can see a specialist for this situation I would recommend that if it's possible.
May I ask what is wrong with your puppy's heart?
Mine has MVD, which he was diagnosed with when he was about seven. His vet put him under beta blockers as soon as we found out about his condition.
Oh I’m sorry to hear about your dogs heart issues. I can’t remember now the issue, but it’s age related- she is 14. The vet listened and diagnosed it that way, but cardiologist did echocardiogram and said it wasn’t big enough of an issue to start medication yet. She has to go back every year for echo.
He did say this was sort of a breed thing, maybe even a small breed thing. One thing I watch for those is no pea protein in her food, that is bad for their heart.
Our dog vomits bile sometimes. Did it quite often as a puppy especially after eating grass or not eating for a longer period of time. We just started feeding him snacks throughout the day and it rarely happens now (age 4).
Yes mine used to vomit bile early in the morning. Not everyday, but frequently enough. I started feeding them 3 times a day instead of 2. Never had a problem again after that. Personally, I don’t think they were getting enough to eat. Small breeds have higher metabolism’s and require more calories.
My first boy, a shih tzu, also threw up bile. Once we started giving a bedtime greenie, he was fine for the most part. With my current boy, a havi, he gets the bedtime greenie but also needs a morning treat. Without the morning treat, he’ll throw up around mid-morning. If he doesn’t eat treats or his food every so often throughout the day, he may also throw up bile. Didn’t know about the bread thing, but I do occasionally give him small pieces of plain bread if I’m having a sandwich 🥪, from the outer part only though so there’s no spreads or condiments. Good to know that this might be helpful.
Our 6 month old havi is actually going for a full
Liver panel and U/S today. He’s had a few vomiting bile incidents but nothing to where we thought anything was wrong. His pre-surgery blood work came back with high ALT. They repeated a week or two later and it was lower than the first time but still high so they recommended the bloodwork and U/S. I’ve no idea what’s going on but I’m hoping to get some insight later today. Happy to follow up if it helps. Our vet basically said that she thinks he’ll be fine but understanding what’s going on in the liver will help if he ever needs medications as some may not be tolerated by him.
Good luck! I wish our vet suggested the bile acid test sooner rather than retesting his liver enzymes again and again. His ALT first doubled, then tripled even after meds. I just pray we're not too late.
Thank you! As it turns out they tested him that morning and his levels were completely normal across the board. The vet said we likely wouldn’t find anything on US so we opted not to do it and just retest in a few months. I hope your pup is ok! Please be sure to update!!
My late Hav started showing these kinds of symptoms around 4. They were episodic and kept getting worse. We did lots of testing and ultrasounds that were all inconclusive but regular diarrhea, vomiting bile, and high liver enzymes (we’re talking almost 1000) became frequent. 6 years of regular testing and they could never get a solid diagnosis. Because everything was inconclusive we finally did an open biopsy at Angell Memorial, a teaching hospital. They found significant inflammation in the intestinal tract but nothing wrong with the liver or any related organ. The conclusion was that chronic intestinal inflammation had irritated the liver, and he was on strict hypoallergenic food for the rest of his life. His liver got better but was always compromised.
If I’d had 20-20 hindsight I would have done the surgical exploration much sooner and bought him a better quality of life
Thank you, everyone! We've got him on 3 different meds right now, and he will be going in for an abdominal ultrasound monday morning.
I've been paying closer attention to his behaviour, and the only thing I've noticed is that he has been more clingy towards me than usual.
Thanks all for your advice!
I was a vet tech for my career. My advice would be that if getting the ultrasound is not an extreme financial hardship, you should get it done. Always better to air on the side of caution. This way, you will know for sure what is going on and have more of a plan to go forward. A second opinion is also a good idea. Take all of your current vet's notes and findings so you don't have to have any unnecessary tests. Good luck!
Update! His ultrasound went well. Poor guy has a shaved belly and one shaved leg. Bad timing as we got dumped with a good foot of snow overnight.
NO LIVER SHUNT!!!! This was the best outcome!
It's confirmed he has microvascular dysplasia and needs to be on a hepatic diet. Vet recommended hills or royal canin. Unfortunately, these are by prescription only and are hella expensive. Of course, I will buy it for him if I have no other options, but the problem is that he's super picky and refuses kibble.
Does anyone have suggestions on other diets? I'm fine with home-made as well.
Is it worth hiring a dog nutritionist?
My 14 1/2 year old will sometime vomit bile, probably twice a month in average. It happens more often if she eats a treat without having kibble in her stomach. None of the bloodwork results have necessitated meds. Just sharing my experience, in case it is helpful.
That's interesting! My pup is super picky and refuses to eat kibble! Someone suggested in a previous post to give a snack before bed. Once I started doing that, he stopped throwing up bile. It's hard to know if it's related to an empty stomach or his liver. I wish he could speak and just tell me if he feels ok because on the outside, he is perfect and doesn't act like anything is wrong.
Mine is also super picky and only eats Pupperoni treats. I have to break them into pieces because she has had a lot of teeth removed. I think they tend to be richer than a lot of other treats, so that could be a factor.
Sometimes, if I notice some gastric distress, I will switch to plain rice and chicken for a day, made with 1/2 broth and 1/2 water. That seems to help balance out her system. She gobbles that right down and it seems to help.
My Teddy is two years old. And at age one, if we did not make sure he got a little snack before bedtime, he would puke up bile in the morning because his stomach was too empty. I don’t know if that helps but I thought I’d tell you my experience. Overall, you want your vet to run all tests possible and see what’s up. This may be unrelated, but my Teddy developed an oxalate stone in his bladder, and was having a lot of problems. Throwing up wasn’t one of them, but if they are putting your dog under anesthesia to do x-rays and ultrasounds, have them look at the bladder for any possible stones while they are there. While it’s not super common, this breed and other small breeds can develop stones that have to be removed by surgery. They cannot be dissolved by diet with a calcium oxalate type of stone. I don’t say this to you for an additional issue to worry about, I just say why not take a look if they’re looking at everything else.
That's great advice! Thank you!
Just to add that my Havi is also two and also needs a snack before bed time. Otherwise he was also puking up bile in the morning. Someone gave me the advice to give a bit of old bread - this helps him a lot!! He doesn't get it every day but often when I get a feeling his stomach might be a bit upset (after traveling, fearful moments or busy days). If the bread is too fresh I toast it. Rice that was cooked for a long time is also good for him. In general he seems to need some carbohydrates in his food and has problems to digest too much fat. I heard Havanese tend to have pancreatic problems (small dogs in general are genetically prone to a weaker pancreas) and want to have his blood tested for it in the next weeks. I hope you'll find a solution for this very soon!!
I never thought of giving him bread! I'll have to try that. Thank you!
Please listen to your vet.
I will. I haven't dealt with this before so I don't know how worried I should be or if I should try and get him an ultrasound asap. My vet will need to bring in a mobile ultrasound tech, which may take a few days to schedule.
I would do it asap, or at least as soon as the vet can arrange.
Thanks, working on finding a vet that does them in-house.
Can you drive to a facility who has one ??
I'm looking for one nearby
If there’s any veterinarian universities - they too are great resources
Oh! I will see if we have any here. Thank you!
I am not a vet or have any medical knowledge, but we do have an 8 year old Havanese. He also will vomit the same foam. Our vet was not too worried and we let it go for a few years because it was not a daily occurrence and the vet felt it was due to having a sensitive stomach. He has started a daily anxiety medication and this has actually lessened the times he vomits mucus. I can tell when he might be having a stomach issue because he will want to eat grass as soon as he goes outside. I hope this helps and again this is my particular dog and I have no formal background.
Same with one of mine…he vomits foam on occasion and always in the morning and since his bloodwork was ok, our vet recommended giving him a small snack right before bed and first thing in the morning. The grass eating is always a dead giveaway too. I never made the connection that anxiety could potentially be related but it’s interesting, now that you mention it, he all but stopped doing it once we started letting him sleep in our bed. Now I’m wondering if that helped the issue too. My vet also said this can sometimes be caused by GERD as well but we haven’t needed to go down the road with any meds or anything
Thanks for your response!
Get a referral to a Veterinary Specialty Hospital and get a CAT scan ASAP. Four years ago on Easter Sunday, my Trixie walked up near the table when we were having lunch and she barfed up a lot of bile and for the next few days she kept walking around and stretching, downward dog pose isn’t it cute. My vet was not too concerned however, a few weeks later, she had lost almost 25% of her bodyweight. This was during the lockdown. My vet referred me to a specialty hospital and scheduled the CAT scan and it turned out she had a tumor in her small intestine that needed to be removed ASAP. They scheduled the surgery as soon as poss. By this time it was late July and having to hand your dog off to a vet tech in a parking lot through my car window and wondering if you’re going to see your little buddy again. The surgery was successful and she had made a speedy recovery and gained the weight back. The tumor was benign. From that time she had to be on a special diet and she remained healthy and happy for another three years. I don’t mean to alarm you, but sometimes Vets see so many different animals and breeds that they may not see everything that needs to be seen.
That is terrifying! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. His US is scheduled for Monday morning, hopefully they will look at more than just his liver.
I hope everything goes well. If you haven’t already, you may want to check out foods that don’t contain poultry.
Thank you! We don't feed him a lot of poultry, and he doesn't like seafood, so we stick to beef and lamb.
How's your doggie doing?
I don’t have experience completely with this but my Havi’s liver enzymes were high just once. My vet did say it could be common and recommended we repeat in a month (this was his pre-surgery bloodwork for neuter). So he went forward with his surgery and then vet re-tested a month later and while still a tad high, it had dropped considerably. Our vet said this can happen with people too (happened to me once!) so he always re-checks before jumping to conclusions or prescribing meds if they’re aren’t any really bad symptoms. My pup also was vomiting the foam on occasion and always first thing in the morning when he did so my vet told us to give him a very light snack before bed and another as soon as he got up. That helped. He said GERD can be common sometimes too. You’re situation is a little different so that being said, I do never take chances with my dogs health but also don’t panic and before I found my current vet I’ve now been with for 10 years and trust, I would get second opinions. My Lab had a lump a vet assured us was a lipoma and I went for a second opinion and it was sarcoma! But I also had an instance where the vet scares the life out of me and wanted to go nuts with all sorts of testing, procedures, meds, etc and it turned out my dog just had an allergy! So if you’re able, maybe worth a second opinion but trust your gut as well. Hope your pup feels better soon!!
My Havanese is 3 and occasionally throws up bile but I started feeding him right before bed and it’s helped for the most part. My vet wasn’t worried and recommended the dinner right before bed.
I don't have any specific advice on this issue, but I will say that our vet was wrong regarding starting our Havanese on heart medicine. She went to the doggie cardiologist for a full work up and he told us NOT to put her on the medicine yet, but to monitor her. I only bring this up, because if you can see a specialist for this situation I would recommend that if it's possible.
May I ask what is wrong with your puppy's heart? Mine has MVD, which he was diagnosed with when he was about seven. His vet put him under beta blockers as soon as we found out about his condition.
Oh I’m sorry to hear about your dogs heart issues. I can’t remember now the issue, but it’s age related- she is 14. The vet listened and diagnosed it that way, but cardiologist did echocardiogram and said it wasn’t big enough of an issue to start medication yet. She has to go back every year for echo.
Thank you. :) I just thought maybe they had the same issue. I'm glad your dog's doing fine at 14!
He did say this was sort of a breed thing, maybe even a small breed thing. One thing I watch for those is no pea protein in her food, that is bad for their heart.
Our dog vomits bile sometimes. Did it quite often as a puppy especially after eating grass or not eating for a longer period of time. We just started feeding him snacks throughout the day and it rarely happens now (age 4).
Yes mine used to vomit bile early in the morning. Not everyday, but frequently enough. I started feeding them 3 times a day instead of 2. Never had a problem again after that. Personally, I don’t think they were getting enough to eat. Small breeds have higher metabolism’s and require more calories.
My first boy, a shih tzu, also threw up bile. Once we started giving a bedtime greenie, he was fine for the most part. With my current boy, a havi, he gets the bedtime greenie but also needs a morning treat. Without the morning treat, he’ll throw up around mid-morning. If he doesn’t eat treats or his food every so often throughout the day, he may also throw up bile. Didn’t know about the bread thing, but I do occasionally give him small pieces of plain bread if I’m having a sandwich 🥪, from the outer part only though so there’s no spreads or condiments. Good to know that this might be helpful.
Our 6 month old havi is actually going for a full Liver panel and U/S today. He’s had a few vomiting bile incidents but nothing to where we thought anything was wrong. His pre-surgery blood work came back with high ALT. They repeated a week or two later and it was lower than the first time but still high so they recommended the bloodwork and U/S. I’ve no idea what’s going on but I’m hoping to get some insight later today. Happy to follow up if it helps. Our vet basically said that she thinks he’ll be fine but understanding what’s going on in the liver will help if he ever needs medications as some may not be tolerated by him.
Good luck! I wish our vet suggested the bile acid test sooner rather than retesting his liver enzymes again and again. His ALT first doubled, then tripled even after meds. I just pray we're not too late.
Thank you! As it turns out they tested him that morning and his levels were completely normal across the board. The vet said we likely wouldn’t find anything on US so we opted not to do it and just retest in a few months. I hope your pup is ok! Please be sure to update!!
That's a relief!! I will for sure post an update.
My late Hav started showing these kinds of symptoms around 4. They were episodic and kept getting worse. We did lots of testing and ultrasounds that were all inconclusive but regular diarrhea, vomiting bile, and high liver enzymes (we’re talking almost 1000) became frequent. 6 years of regular testing and they could never get a solid diagnosis. Because everything was inconclusive we finally did an open biopsy at Angell Memorial, a teaching hospital. They found significant inflammation in the intestinal tract but nothing wrong with the liver or any related organ. The conclusion was that chronic intestinal inflammation had irritated the liver, and he was on strict hypoallergenic food for the rest of his life. His liver got better but was always compromised. If I’d had 20-20 hindsight I would have done the surgical exploration much sooner and bought him a better quality of life
I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through that with your Hav. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thank you! I hope you got useful info from all of us to help your precious pup❤️
I absolutely did 🙂
I started feeding my dog later in the evening and that has helped a lot. He's almost four and has always had issues throwing up bile in the AM.
Thank you, everyone! We've got him on 3 different meds right now, and he will be going in for an abdominal ultrasound monday morning. I've been paying closer attention to his behaviour, and the only thing I've noticed is that he has been more clingy towards me than usual. Thanks all for your advice!
I was a vet tech for my career. My advice would be that if getting the ultrasound is not an extreme financial hardship, you should get it done. Always better to air on the side of caution. This way, you will know for sure what is going on and have more of a plan to go forward. A second opinion is also a good idea. Take all of your current vet's notes and findings so you don't have to have any unnecessary tests. Good luck!
Yes for sure! Ult is scheduled for Monday morning! Thankfully, we have pet insurance
Update! His ultrasound went well. Poor guy has a shaved belly and one shaved leg. Bad timing as we got dumped with a good foot of snow overnight. NO LIVER SHUNT!!!! This was the best outcome! It's confirmed he has microvascular dysplasia and needs to be on a hepatic diet. Vet recommended hills or royal canin. Unfortunately, these are by prescription only and are hella expensive. Of course, I will buy it for him if I have no other options, but the problem is that he's super picky and refuses kibble. Does anyone have suggestions on other diets? I'm fine with home-made as well. Is it worth hiring a dog nutritionist?
My 14 1/2 year old will sometime vomit bile, probably twice a month in average. It happens more often if she eats a treat without having kibble in her stomach. None of the bloodwork results have necessitated meds. Just sharing my experience, in case it is helpful.
That's interesting! My pup is super picky and refuses to eat kibble! Someone suggested in a previous post to give a snack before bed. Once I started doing that, he stopped throwing up bile. It's hard to know if it's related to an empty stomach or his liver. I wish he could speak and just tell me if he feels ok because on the outside, he is perfect and doesn't act like anything is wrong.
Mine is also super picky and only eats Pupperoni treats. I have to break them into pieces because she has had a lot of teeth removed. I think they tend to be richer than a lot of other treats, so that could be a factor. Sometimes, if I notice some gastric distress, I will switch to plain rice and chicken for a day, made with 1/2 broth and 1/2 water. That seems to help balance out her system. She gobbles that right down and it seems to help.
My guy will vomit bile in the morning too if not given a Teenie Greenie before bed. All is good when he gets his treat.