Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 1/21/2012

Question
Hi Louis,

My dog is 5 years old and she is a Brittany Spaniel. For the past few months she has been vomiting this yellow bile. Last night she vomited a yellow bile and today she did it twice. I have been feeding her Science Diet sensitive stomach dog food and I pour water over it to make it easier to digest. She hasn't ate at all today and she only ate once yesterday. She also will gag and act like she is going to vomit but nothing comes out. I am very worried about her. She also hates to eat her dog food. I have asked my parents to take her to the vet but they refuse. My parents think that the problem is that she needs to exercise more. It's very cold here and she doesn't get out much. What do you think the problem is? If it is something serious I will talk to my parents and hopefully get her to the vet.

Thanks!

Answer
Yellow in the vomit is bile.  Bile should not be in the stomach!!  It should be in the intestines. When it gets into the stomach it can cause vomiting. So this is probably bile reflux disease, where the muscles of the intestine are contracting in the wrong direction pushing the bile up into the stomach.  This can be treated with a drug called Reglan (metoclopramide), which regulates the stomach and intestinal contractions. It is given twice daily and it is relatively inexpensive.