I have a 8 month old boston terrier pup. About 4-6 weeks ago, I came home from work and let him out of his kennel. He went outside to use the bathroom then came back in like normal. 15 minutes later, he started heaving. I took him outside and he was heaving so hard that every muscle in his body contracted. He heaved for several minutes and finally threw up a small amount of whitish-yellow foam. THe puddle was about the size of a half dollar. As soon as he threw it up, he fell over. I grabbed him and he was tense and unresponsive. It took him about 2 minutes to come around, but then he jumped up and ran inside and came back with his ball. He acted like nothing had happened. I thought it was just a freak incident and maybe he was just exhausted from heaving. I left it at that, but then 4 or 5 days later he did the same thing. This time it took him 2-3 minutes to come around after he fell over. I thought maybe it was siezures. I took him to the vet the next day and the vet ruled out siezures. He did a blood test, x-rays, and a cardio stress test. He said the dog was perfectly healthy as far as those tests showed. We discussed several things and the final ruling was that he was heaving so hard he was exhausted and the lack of oxygen while throwing up was making him pass out. He stays in a kennel during the day while I am at work, and previously I always kept water in the kennel for him but no food (he ate in the mornings before I went to work and again in the evenings when I got home). The vet thought that maybe he was getting a little acid buildup in his stomach from being hungry and that made him throw up when he got out of the kennel and ran around. So I started leaving food in his kennel. A few days passed and I thought maybe that is all it was, then it happened again. Every time this has happened, it has been 15-20 minutes after I get home. I talked to the vet again and he thought maybe the dog was just getting extremely wild when I let him out, so I tried putting him on a leash when I got home instead of letting him run wild outside. No difference, several days later he did it again. I got home from work, let him out, then came back in. I flipped on the TV and he had been laying on the couch beside me for 15 minutes before it kicked in. I also noticed another trend....he starts licking his lips a lot every time before he starts heaving. THe vet said this indicates that he is getting nauseated from something, but we still cannot figure out why. I took away all his pig ears, raw hides, and treats....so the only thing he is eating now is his dog food (Eukanuba). THe last few times he has done it, it has been less severe. He still heaves incredibly hard for 3-4 minutes and throws up, but he hasn't fell over the last couple times, just staggered like he was weak in the knees. But then he rebounds and is fine the rest of the evening. He gets much more excited when I throw a ball or wrestle around with him than he does when I let him out of the kennel, so I dont' think he is over-exerting himself with excitement when I come home. This has happened I believe 8 or 9 times now. We'll go about a week with no occurrances, then it'll happen a couple days in a row. He never throws up on days that I'm home all day or days when I only leave him in the kennel for a couple hours at a time. I removed the blanket from his kennel, thinking maybe he was eating strings off it or something. Still happened again. I'm out of ideas and I think my vet is just throwing out wild guesses at this point....he wants me to have the dog in next week for an EKG. But due to the fact that it is so predictable, occurring 15-20 minutes after I come home, I'm thinking it may be separation disorder. He stays in his kennel all night and never whimpers or whines, but he knows I'm in the next room. I'm wondering if he is just freaking out during the day while he is there by himself? I'm almost out of ideas, but I put a TV in there with him to break the silence this morning. We'll see how that works. I know people who worry a lot can get an upset stomach from worrying.....can this happen to dogs? If it continues, I'm going to set up a video camera and see how he behaves during the day, but as far as I know he has never had a problem being in his kennel. He goes in there on his own some nights when he is tired and doesn't seem to mind being locked up in there, but then again these symptoms only show after I've been gone for some time, like an 8 hr work day. If I put him in his kennel and go out and mow the yard or something and only leave him for a few hours, he is fine when I let him out. I've been off work for 3-4 days in a row and he's stayed out and ran around and never had a problem, but then I'll go back to work the next day and come home and he'll puke and pass out. I've also tried leaving him out of his kennel and he is kind of leary about being home by himself. He has stayed out 5-6 hrs while I was gone and when I come home he will be hiding under my bed, in my bed, or in his kennel. I can call him and call him, but he won't come out until he sees me (usually he is peaking out from under the bed). That kind of makes me wonder if he is just really nervous being there by himself in his kennel and builds up a little stomach acid. He had an episode friday when I got home from work, so saturday when I left for about 5 hrs I left him loose in the house. When I came back, like clockwork 15 or 20 minutes after I got home we were sitting on the couch and he started heaving. So it is not seems to be more about being alone than being in the kennel. And he snaps out of it so quick, I have a hard time believing anything is seriously wrong with him. But I'm about out of ideas. If the TV doesn't help, I am going to borrow my brothers Pug and let the two of them run around together in the house for a few days while I'm at work. Maybe with another dog there, he won't get so worked up (if that is what is causing this).

I've also thought about changing his dog food, but I've always fed my dogs Eukanuba and thought that was really good food. I've had some recommendations to try Innova.

Anybody have any thoughts or ideas? I've never seen anything like this. And while I don't want to NOT take him to the vet if something is seriously wrong, the tests and guesses are getting extremely expensive.

Thanks


Neal

WOW...I have no idea...I'm just a new puppy owner but I sure hope you find out whats wrong with him...

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Chantal = Ozzy's Mom

You may want to change his food and see if that makes a difference. I know my parents have used the same dog food, but one of their dogs gets sick on it.

Also, you may want to research the dog food you are using to see if it is one of the dog foods that is being recalled. I know there are alot out there being recalled and dogs are getting very sick.

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Danielle

So sorry to hear that your little guy is struggling with this.

I know it must be frustrating for you to have spent so much time and energy trying to find the cause of his problems and seemingly not making any progress.

It could be something like Irritable Bowel Syndrome - the symptoms of that can be brought on by diet, stress, etc.

I would second momof3bostons recommendation of maybe trying a new food. Maybe a different food might help to settle his stomach.

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Boston Terrier Forums

My 6 month boston did that this morning. She was licking her lips then dry heaved some little foam but she did not pass out she just licked her lips and smelt around after like nothing happened. Then she had dinner and has been normall all day.

My boston has never puked up until last tuesday when she was spayed. Later that night she puked. Today was the first time since then. Hopefully it will subside.

Maybe it could be the ventilation near her crate? My pup usually sleeps under the blankets and sometimes it gets stuffy, that plus increased temperatures of spring maybe made her a little nauseous from the heat.

Maybe try keeping the crate away any sort of sun/heat source and add a little breeze from a fan if it's hot?

Not sure if this is the same thing but when Mack was a puppy, he would snort a lot when he got excited (mainly when I got home from work and took him out of his crate) - and a handful of times, he threw up some foam. I have read that it may be due to their short snouts - sort of the breathing problems that pugs have. I try and calm him down during his snorting fit and once he has calmed down, the snorting no longer occurs. Not sure if Mack's snorting is the same as the heaving you are describing. He doesn't do the snorting as often now since he's older but when he is super-excited, he does still snort.
Oh! And after Mack was neutered, he did throw up that night. It was because of the anesthesia he had for the procedure. This is also common for humans as well.
Hope that helps,
~Steph & Mack

I don't know about the passing out but Eukenuba made Jackson soo soo soo soo sick! When he was on it he would through up 5 times a day at least. Try a sensitive stomach wet food.

I have been having a similar problem with my boston (Brasco). At first he would start dry heaving whenever he got really excited, like when I would take him out of his crate or a new person would come over, or when he was playing with my roommates dog. He did the heaving for a while and eventually thew up whatever was in his stomach. Now he doesn't do the heaving he just throws up unexpectedly. His food still seems to be fully intact when he does, and he eats really fast. I'm not sure how to get him to slow down and chew it all the way. The doctor said not to worry about the heaving because he would most likely just grow out of it, and only to worry if he started acting sick. So far he acts perfectly normal after he's been sick, but he does do the lick his lips thing too right before and after. Hopefully I can find a way to get him to eat slower and calm down. I think it will help a ton when my roommate moves out in December. She has a boxer and they play aggressivley constatnly. Oh well. It'll work out. Hang in there. Maybe he'll grow out of it too!