Hi Aly! Researched Reece's problem, and on one of my fav. vet info. sites, found many inquiries from guardians with pups having just the problem you described. Seems that "gastric reflux" is the most common cause! As with humans, it is often treated with meds (such as pepcid, zantac, and tagamet) that prevent the reflux of gastric contents, including bile, from "coming up!" The reflux is due to a lack of motility in the stomach' that is, moving the contents DOWN! Upon arising, motion, with excitement, up it comes! I think Reece's problem is probably nothing more serious than this. I've included the question and answer session for you to read! We'll be thinking of you guys until your diagnosis is confirmed. But, try not to worry dear Aly! And hugs and kisses to Reeece, Lolly and Shiloh! Sandra, Cody and Star

also see Vomiting with diarrhea


Vomiting in the morning (mostly)

Question: Dear Dr. Richards..... We rescued a 3 year old rat terrier from the
Humane Society... Truly God's gift. She is so sweet. I am concerned about
one problem she has though. In the morning and
not every morning....she will vomit.....sometimes a yellow bile and
sometimes a white frothy liquid. She also does this sometimes late in the
day when it has been awhile since she has eaten. After she retches she is
fine. Her vet thought perhaps if we gave her food before she went to bed.
Another vet asked if she was excited in the AM and YES she can get very
excited. So we have tired to limited her excitability. Both helps
sometimes...but she continues to have the problem more than I would like.
We have been feeding her Nutro lamb and rice...and Mrs Hubbard treats
along with Nutro dental biquits. Perhaps we should change her food. Also
we had her teeth cleaned as soon as we got her and within a matter of
weeks she had a brown scum on her teeth and now she has plaque. I try
brushing her teeth...she hates it soooo much and to use a dental rinse
which she really hates. So my questions are..... what do you think is
causes her vomiting? Should we be concerned and have have some tests
run???? Change her food? Give Pecid AC or similar product??? and ????her
teeth? Any information or your thoughts on the subject would be
appreciated. THANK YOU AGAIN SO VERY MUCH for your kindness regarding Our
Beloved Zedty. Nancy

Answer: Nancy-

I have researched this question in the past without finding a really good answer
for what causes vomiting in the morning (mostly) in some dogs or for what
to do about it.

The prevailing opinion is that many of the dogs that exhibit this clinical
sign have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)or some other condition that
causes a decrease in gastric mobility. This may lead to gastric reflux when
the dog first gets up or when there is excitement, as your vets have
suggested. The gastric reflux causes some dogs to vomit. It is highly
likely that there are a number of causes of this behavior but this theory
does account for a big portion of the affected dogs, I suspect.

When possible, confirming or ruling our a diagnosis of IBD through food
trials, intestinal biopsy, ultrasonagraphy or other means can be helpful in
pointing out a direction for treatment efforts. In many instances, it is
not possible for clients to pursue the diagnostic testing right at the time
of the visit to their vet, though. Because of this, there is a tendency to
try treatment to see if it is possible to aid the pet without having a
specific diagnosis. The most common treatments are histamine (H2) blockers
like cimetidine (Tagamet Rx) or famotidine (Pepcid AC tm), feeding small
meals just before bed and using motility modifying medications like
metoclopramide (Reglan Rx). These things sometimes work to control the
problem and if no futher signs develop it is reasonable to continue
treatment prophylactically without a firm diagnosis, at least in my opinion.

[ December 05, 2001: Message edited by: tatsxxx11 ]