Calm this dog and his stomach
June 2, 2024 7:19 PM   Subscribe

What tips or strategies can I try to prevent my dog from eating grass after a nervous night?

We have a family dog. I am top dog and whenever I am gone for more than 24 hours, my dog does not eat - if it’s longer he eats a little but never his normal amount until I get home. He’s always done this for the 13 years we’ve had him. For the past year (he’s now 14), when I get home after being gone, he eats grass until he pukes. It doesn’t matter if I withhold food, feed him a little or feed him his normal amount. I’m really tired of cleaning vomit after every trip. The first few times I took him to the vet and there was no underlying cause. I guess just nervous stomach. I try to stop him and only take him for leashed walks but he eats every green thing he can on his walks - and will spin in circles if I don’t take him outside. Is there a food/medicine to preempt the grass eating?
posted by turtlefu to Pets & Animals (10 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Not at all a vet, but: it could be nausea resulting from emotional upset. Would your vet be willing to prescribe something like Cerenia to give him when/right before you come home?
posted by praemunire at 7:44 PM on June 2, 2024 [2 favorites]


My vet has suggested that my dog sometimes eats grass and then pukes because their tummy is upset, and not that the grass causes the tummy upset. It's possibly your dog would puke anyway and the grass eating just gives something to go with the stomach juices.
posted by Rumple at 9:02 PM on June 2, 2024 [11 favorites]


Probiotics has mostly stopped my dog from eating grass. She used to wake me up in a panic at 3 am to RUN outside and I assumed she had to poop but instead she would just eat grass and want to go home.

Recently I started giving her this with her food and she's now stopped. She'll still occasionally eat grass on a regular walk but no longer NEEDS IT NOW!

And yes, Rumple has it right. Dogs eat grass in order to puke.
posted by dobbs at 1:08 AM on June 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Anxiety meds?
posted by amtho at 2:26 AM on June 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


My dogs will occasionally eat grass, and they're pretty selective about what they will eat. I don't understand the rhyme or reason - and they don't always vomit. Maybe they're just in the mood for salad? Have you tried feeding your buddy small amounts of that first shared meal a little at a time when you return, so that he has time to digest it? You can try giving small portions of the regular amount over an hour or so, or you can just use his regular amount but hand-feed it. I'm sure he would be thrilled to get rewards and pets from you just by sitting and shaking paw.

One of my boys snarfs his food down and has done so since he was a tiny baby. I finally started putting his food on a quarter sheet pan so he has to kind of chase it to get it. I know of a lot of people who use slow feeder bowls, but I don't want my dogs eating out of plastic. A lot of other people just toss dry kibble on a towel and the dog eats from there so you don't have to constantly wash the floor.

Harvey was getting too good at mastering his tray and dry food, so now I wet it and it starts to swell. It slows him a little more but he's not barfing anywhere *near* the way he used to. Additionally, he gets a Pepcid with every meal (it's a Frenchie thing), along with a 24-hr Prevacid in the morning.

He hadn't needed the Prevacid at all until maybe two or three months ago. It got to the point where could hear his reflux, and he would spontaneously projectile vomit at night. In bed. That wasn't pleasant. I stopped the Prevacid and the reflux came back within two days. Prevacid it is!
posted by dancinglamb at 3:16 AM on June 3, 2024


My vet has suggested that my dog sometimes eats grass and then pukes because their tummy is upset, and not that the grass causes the tummy upset.

Same here - the dog is eating grass to get relief from what's making them sick.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:34 AM on June 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


Eating grass is a symptom, not the cause, of an upset stomach. If he weren't eating grass, he'd still be feeling awful and he'd still barf. Just pure stomach acid instead of grass + stomach acid.

Many older dogs have stomach trouble. It can be abated by slight changes to their diet. If your dog is eating a cheap dog food, change that and try a human-grade version. If he's already getting a high quality kibble or canned food, you can try making it easier on his stomach by

- feeding three times a day instead of twice
- feeding twice, but providing a dry snack (like a slice of bread) right before bed and first thing in the morning
- mixing in some babyfood like blended carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, possibly mixed with meat. Just be sure to read the ingredients list: no onions. Meals intended for young babies (< six months) are almost always safe
- feeding an antacid. Obviously, one for dogs. Human antacids can be highly toxic.
- feeding a stomach-friendly pet food, available at any pet store
- feeding the home-cooked version, rice and cooked chicken/turkey, possibly with blended (cooked!) carrots

You could do these things in general, or just in the week leading up to your departure, plus a couple days after your return. Don't cut it too close, or he'll associate yummy food with his person leaving, and then he'll refuse it.

You can also try things that calm dogs, such as

- music by "Through a Dog's Ear"
- frozen Kongs, licking mats, and chews (chewing and licking calms dogs very efficiently)
- Adaptil
- a Thundershirt
- play, especially wild play with no cues and few expectations
- cuddles
- a vet-prescribed anxiety medication

I'm curious why you said you're "top dog". What does that mean? Are others in the household not seen as reliable caretakers by your dog?
posted by toucan at 4:44 AM on June 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: To respond to Toucan - I am "top dog" only in that I think I am the alpha not that turtledog gets less care when I am not around. Thanks for the suggestions so far. I know that he is eating grass in order to puke, but I don't think he needs to puke as there is no underlying cause other than nerves. Here is the order of events.

1. TurtleFu leaves for an overnight
2. TurtleDog reduces food intake voluntarily (has for 13 years we've known him)
3. TurtleDog is 14 and likes to sleep all day even when I am there
4. TurtleDog realizes I am gone and has existential dread about the meaning of life and his dreams are rife with upset, but he doesn't show it to anyone in the house because it appears that he is sleeping. All the while is stomach acids are a gurgling geyser of discontent but he does nothing because he doesn't know if his master will ever return so what is the point of it all. (this of course is speculation).
5. I come home, TurtleDog is happy
6. TurtleDog regains his will to live and eats grass to calm his tummy, so much so, and uncontrollably so that he throws up as a gift to his master to clean.

I don't think it is his food, but I like the other ideas (antacid, anxiety meds, etc). I am getting ideas to talk to my vet about.

Thanks!
posted by turtlefu at 5:42 AM on June 3, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Definitely talk to the vet. My dog is prone to throwing up bile if he goes too long without eating. I feed him 3 meals a day (obviously not viable for anyone). And he gets omeprazole (proton pump inhibitor, reduces stomach acid) when things get bad. But the dose is different in dogs than humans, so it's something you need to talk to the vet about.

There are also appetite stimulants - when my dog got a bad stomach bug and wouldn't eat even after a few days of antibiotics, he was given cerenia (for nausea) and mirtazapine (appetite stimulant). Gabapentin and trazadone are most commonly prescribed for anxiety if you want meds to be taken as needed - but test those out before you go on a trip. For my dog, they made him flip out more when I tried to leave him.

Is he drinking water even when he's not eating? He might be getting dehydrated too - that can happen quite quickly. A vet can give sub-q fluids. But I also find taking some boneless skinless chicken breast, putting enough water over it to cover it in a microwave safe dish, then cooking it in the microwave is a good solution when my dog doesn't want to eat b/c of upset stomach.

The boiled chicken is super enticing and easy on the stomach, and then the water from cooking the chicken (once cooled) can be offered to try to get your dog to drink. Offering a bit of wet food is another possibility. (Chicken and rice for dogs is the classic - unfortunately, my dog is always picky and won't touch rice.)

Your dog may be using the grass to get the bile thrown up. My dog throws up bile without needing the grass, but I have found that if too much bile builds up in his stomach, he needs to get the bile out before he's willing to eat.

I am "top dog" only in that I think I am the alpha not that turtledog gets less care when I am not around

This is not the main point of the question, but it is worth knowing that the whole "alpha" and dominance theory of dog/human interactions has been completely debunked by all modern science. it sounds like TurtleDog is very attached to you - not because you are his "alpha" but because you're his person. (And avoid anything that comes from cesar millan)
posted by litera scripta manet at 6:43 AM on June 4, 2024 [3 favorites]


Sorry, one other thing: Royal canin makes a low fat, high fiber dry food (prescription only, have to get it through your vet). That might be helpful to give him leading up to you being gone for 24 hours. It's designed to slow down digestion b/c of all the fiber. So it might keep food in his stomach for longer (if he'll eat it - my dog has been hit or miss with that food).
posted by litera scripta manet at 6:44 AM on June 4, 2024


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