Why does my dog wake up almost every night choking and hacking, often throwing up?

Question

My dog, a retriever/corgi mix wakes up almost every night making choking and hacking sounds. She roams the house, looking for house plants to eat, then usually throws up at the end of each bout.
The vet doesn't seem concerned and recommended giving the dog antacids! This happens way too often for it to be a stomachache!
Anyone have any tips or suggestions?
Thanks!

Answer 1

My tip is get a new vet.

Answer 2

If you aren't happy with what your vet is saying, find a new vet. Often people think cause a vet has been to school, he has all the answers.. If they don't stay up to date on new developments, or they don't really care, sometimes they just jump to conclusions.

Do you feed once a day? Is the dog getting something to eat at night before bed? Some dogs need their meals spread out thru the day or their stomach bothers them. If she is going out of her way chewing your plants ( does she eat grass outside??)
then it sounds like it is really bothering her.

I would get a new vet, and rule out obvious stomach issues and test for heart problems and even heartworms.. There are all sorts of things that could
be a problem, or it could be nothing at all.. You should find out tho. Keep a diary, of the things she eats thru the day, when she throws up.. Whether she ate her dinner, or anything else you notice..

Answer 3

Some dogs do not sleep well on an empty stomach. Try saving some of the feeding amount and feed at bed time. My dogs get some frozen veggies, nuked, just before bed. No more vomiting in the bed. If the dog is vomiting up yellow foamy stuff then this is the mucus that lines the stomach and indicates the stomach is empty.

Answer 4

If she has done that more than a couple nights I'd get her to the vet right away. A dog can go from seeming fine to their death bed in no time. Of course it could be something as simple as the food or something as serious as Parvo. I took my Eskie to the vet 3 weeks for what I thought was a urinary infection and found out he had bladder cancer. Better safe than sorry.

Answer 5

My dog had similar issues. It was so scary. She wanted to eat grass constantly to make herself throw up.
It turned out that she had Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome and Gastroenteritis. It was AWFUL, but what ended up helping her was taking antacids and eating ZD food from Hills brand.

I prefer more organic food but for this food did the trick. It's very easy on the stomach. Oh and I stopped giving her treats. Also you we put her on some anti-anxiety meds to soothe stress which was also upsetting her stomach.

Hope this helps!
Betsy & Bella

Answer 6

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Answer 7

You can try giving you dog pepto bismol. If it is an upset tummy, that will help. You may also want to have you dog tested for heart worms. Coughing is one of the symptoms of the disease. I would make an appt. with your vet asap.

Answer 8

She may be getting sick from the house plants. Is it possible for you to put them in a place she can't reach or replace them with inedible plants like cactus, etc.?

If none of this works, I would take her to another vet for a 2nd opinion.

Answer 9

lol. i know this can be a scary sound. but my dog does it too. all the time. it almost sounds like a wheezing, and they look like they are spazzing, but really theyre just hackin stuff up. i dont know why they do it. try changing the food...that helped our dog. sometimes they tolerate only certain foods.

Answer 10

go to a different vet- ur dog should not be puking like this. she may have a stomach virus, who knows. but u should definantly get a second opinion.