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Shih Tzu throwing up bile

My 8 month shih tzu has been throwing up bright yellow bile every other day. Sometimes he throws up in the middle of the night, but most of the time it is between 10 and 3 in the afternoon. We have recently switched his food from beneful (which his old owners had him on) to Innova Evo with chicken. I have read that this is caused by an empty stomach. He eats twice a day, and most times when he throws up he has food down, he just isnt eating it. But he seems to enjoy the food when he eats it.

Is there something else that could cause his throwing up bile other than an empty stomach?
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Avatar universal
I have 2 shi tzu's brother and sister and mine throw up bile if i don't give them treats between meals, bearing in mind they get meals every 4 - 5 hrs. I find using  PLAIN LIVE YOGURT through out the day and Dr Mercola Digestive Enzymes (powder with every meal helps) plus they have "AFFINITY ADVANCE HYPOALLERGENIC SNACKS CHICKEN BONES" there not bones just the shape of them - from Pet Supermarket and "Wainwrights Charcoal Bones from Pets at Home, through the night....YES THROUGH THE NIGHT.
YES they have seen vets and had blood work done which all came back normal, to other procedures done it s £1000 plus and that's a lot of money when you have 2.
So my friends either do what i do feed them little and often, through the night too and 97% of the time it works, it only don't work when i forget to wake up.
As soon as you see or hear them licking there lips, its a sign......
GOOD LUCK EVERY ONE.
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1 Comments
Glad it worked for your pups!  
Avatar universal
Shih-tzus are prone to this because when their stomachs are empty, they produce a large amount of bile. I think that feeding your shih-tzu small meals and healthy treats every so often will help to keep him or her from vomiting bile. Mine does it too and I notice that if I give her healthy treats at bedtime and throughout the day, she does not throw up at all.
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Avatar universal
i have a three year old shih-tzu who is throwing up .yellow she been doing this for awhile now but lately i notice she doing it more .she is small about nine pound had to the vet everything was fine.she had her shots.does not seem to bother her she does not eat all day only in the evening so she throws up on a empty stomach should i be worried
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Avatar universal
i have a three year old shih-tzu who is throwing up .yellow she been doing this for awhile now but lately i notice she doing it more .she is small about nine pound had to the vet everything was fine.she had her shots.does not seem to bother her she does not eat all day only in the evening so she throws up on a empty stomach should i be worried
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Avatar universal
Seriously u would allow ur father to put down a dog cause u smells trying bathing him and  loving him. How would u like if someone killed u cause u smell.  
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Avatar universal
my puppy did this very thing around the same age. I was beside myself trying to get answers and before i spent hundreds of dollars to find out, a very wonderful lady told me about this dog food  from the website 'Healthy Pet Net" developed by a Vet Jane Bicks. she said try it.   so I did  and my dog never threw up again and it has been tens years. this is the only food she can tolerate and it is healthy too!!  Let me know how you make out. i was just a normal fur mommy like you and worried sick.   good luck  Life's Abundance is the food
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Avatar universal
Our vet put our dog on Hills W/d canned food and it seemed to help our Shih Tzu.
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1448838 tn?1284735252
I have a 10 year old Shih-tzu, Copper, who constantly vomits yellow bile in the morning. We feed him 3 times a day, early morning, noon and at 6:30 pm, everyday. We make his food with Dr. Pitcarin's Book: The Complete Guide to Natural Health in Dogs and Cats, and he still vomits every morning. We have been using these recipes for about 3 years. We also have a 5 year old Shih-tzu/Jack Russell mix who is very dominant. So we are thinking maybe it is stress related as well? But we have had her for 5 years now. We realize that Shih-tzu's are very sensitive especially in the tummy area. We have tried fasting him for 24 hours, Manuka Honey, feeding him once a day, treats right before bedtime. I have been on an infinite number of forums and nothing is working. He smells so bad because of the constant vomiting and he is making our house smell rancid (people notice when they come in, very embarrassing.) My father has said that if we don't find anything that works by Nov. 30th 2010, that Copper will be put down on that date. And he is only 10! He is completely healthy otherwise and should not have to be put down as such an early age. Please please please help. You would literally be saving his life. Thank you!
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1394123 tn?1280201895
I havea 2 year old shih tzu and I also have a cat. My dog use to get into the cat food and she would vomit yellow bile. The vet said that it was from ger eating the cat food. The cat food is very high in fat and isn't good for the dog. The vet suggested I get some chicken and rice wet food and feed it to her if she pukes again or I catch her in the cat food. It helped and she doesn't puke anymore.
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419126 tn?1242412170
My shih tzu does the same thing. she is 5 years old... and has always done it. she's been to the vet for regular check ups and it a very healthy dog. the vet said the yellow bile was normal... and that she has a very sensitive stomach. we have had her on special dog food from the vet for senstive tummies and she still occasionally throws up the yellow bile.
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Avatar universal
He was just at the vet a couple of weeks ago, he needed to get his booster and rabies shot. The vet did a health exam and said he was healthy. Could it be the food change? I did just switch his food. I did it gradually, it took me about a week to switch his food, but since he's been on it he has been vomitting. The food he is on right now is a high protien diet. I am going to change his food again and see if it stops, and if not he will be going back into the vet.

Thanks for all your suggestions.
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82861 tn?1333453911
It's definitely time for a trip to the vet.  Since your dog is now a senior, he needs to have some basic blood work done to see how all his organs are functioning.  As a general rule, when a dog vomits after eating, you're looking at a simple upset tummy and it's not really a problem.  When a dog vomits on an empty stomach, there's something more going on.  It could be anything from a viral or bacterial infection, to a problem with his liver, pancreas or kidneys.  

Until you get the root cause of the vomiting properly diagnosed, there are things you can do to help with the symptoms.  Tums, zantac or pepcid can help knock down the acid tummy, and even benadryl is a good medication for nausea at 1 mg per pound of body weight.  (Early on, benadryl was used as an anti-nausea med before it was used as an allegery med.)  If those meds help, that's a good thing, but don't think that you've cured the problem.  You'll still need to get to the bottom of what's causing the vomiting.  Is he taking any other medications that might be causing it?
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469901 tn?1276563623
Being a small dog, there are a number of things this could indicate from the normal to the dangerous.  Please take you pet to the vet for an evaluation.  Throwing up with this frequency is not normal.  Wishing your baby well.
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212161 tn?1599427282
humm, you know i had a shihtzu and he threw up the yellow bile to , not everyother day but some times ofton than go weeks or months not, never knew why he did it , but he was on lots meds for allergies so dr said it could cause a up-set stomack. my vet also told me to give him heartburn pills that it would not hurt him it would help his tummy, so i gave him zantac once a day and when his tummy settle down i stop that and would give him a tums twice a day it helped to. ask your vet what they think about the tums its for acid in tummy and thats what the bile is. wishing you and your baby good luck.Barbara
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