Regurgitation vs vomiting

[starrlamia]

how do you tell the difference?
in the past week brie has projectile vomited, or so i assumed but she has had undigested food 8+ hours after eating in it. So how can I tell? She vomits on and off, not regularily but every couple of weeks will vomit once or twice. She never goes off her food, loses weight, is tired and she poops normally. Im mostly concerned because of the undigested food in it. Any insight? Our vet wasnt overly concerned about it because it is so irregular and not accompanied with any other symptoms.

[Curly_07]

Do you think maybe she could have a blockage somewhere? I'm no help...I'd be worried

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[starrlamia]

Do you think maybe she could have a blockage somewhere? I'm no help...I'd be worried

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she is still pooping fine, she has gone several times today with no issues, but i have been keeping an eye on her, gotta love being on poop watch.

[Curly_07]

Yay for poops!!! Does she eat fast?

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[starrlamia]

Yay for poops!!! Does she eat fast?

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sometimes but she gets frozen raw which cuts down on the fast eating, plus she isnt throwing up until hours later, otherwise i would suspect that too.

[pblove]

in the holistic world it can happen sometimes spring and fall and is related to environmental allergies at those times of the year. I do not know enough about it but a competent holisitic vet would.(Zoe- a regulator that has not been on here for a couple years had a dog with this issue). My dog gets it later in the fall and occasionally mid winter or VERY early spring.

[Misskiwi67]

Vomiting requires abdominal effort in the form of retching prior to expulsion of gastric contents.

Regurgitation is much simpler, dogs often just tip their heads down, gag, and esophageal (stomach if gastro-esophageal sphincter function is decreased) contents are expelled.

Can you explain, or better yet photograph, the "undigested food" you are finding?

[starrlamia]

it sounds like regurg, as she just sort of opened her mouth and out it spewed... afterward she was retching abit it sounded like but not beforehand.
misskiwi- if she throws up again i can picture it. The first time she vomited there were a few chunks of chicken in it and yellow which i assume would be bile. Later she threw up and it was just a few chunks of chicken and another time just some kibble, no liquids at all.

[Misskiwi67]

What are the chances of you getting video of the episodes?

The difference is critical in determining possible underlying causes. If its regurgitation, I would recommend getting some chest x-rays to look for megaesophagus.

[starrlamia]

What are the chances of you getting video of the episodes?

The difference is critical in determining possible underlying causes. If its regurgitation, I would recommend getting some chest x-rays to look for megaesophagus.

yah i was reading up on that, it's a possibility seeing as she is a mix of breeds with bad health issues :S my only question is wouldnt it happen more often? its so random, today she is fine so far, when it happens she is usually just walking and it just comes like a cough and spew. lovely conversation, we should talk more often misskiwi :P

[Cherry]

Cherry's been doing this the past month. Twice, completely randomly, she has puked up a HUGE puddle of brownish, mucousy liquid. Projectile, just like your girl. Didn't seem to take much effort, she gagged twice and out it came.

Also, about once a week, maybe once every 2 weeks she throws up a little bit of the brown stuff, bile and undigested foods. In a small, dollar coin size spot.

I think it is allergy related, she has horrible environmental allergies. Her vet didn't seem concerned.

[starrlamia]

allergies may be why, she has been having yeast issues mostly on her feets. Poor cherry!

[Misskiwi67]

allergies may be why, she has been having yeast issues mostly on her feets. Poor cherry!

I very much doubt it... but if its only occasional then it would be OK to monitor to see if it goes away with winter weather.

The biggest concern with regurgitation is the risk of aspiration pneumonia. This is an extremely common complication, and most dogs with chronic regurgitation will get secondary pneumonia at least once during their lifetime.