Getting up in the night to eat grass and/or vomit

Hi, owner of a 2 year old cockapoo. At the end of last year and early this year, she had a spell of a few months where, about once every two or three nights, she would wake up either in the middle of the night or early in the morning to go in the garden and eat grass. She'd go outside a few more times throughout the morning to eat grass and would have no appetite. After a walk around lunchtime and after (often messily) emptying herself at least a couple of times, she would be back to normal for the rest of the day and eat as usual. Once or twice a week or so during these months she would also throw up during the night/early in the morning, usually just stomach bile. The vets weren't able to pinpoint a cause. We provided feces samples and they did some blood tests, but this didn't reveal anything. Other things we tried included feeding her three meals instead of two, giving her her tea later at night, but there was never any pattern or trends for the grass eating/vomiting. Eventually they suggested putting her on hypoallergenic food (Purina dry food and Wainwrights meat) and this worked a treat. For about five months there was no grass eating or throwing up, and no uninterrupted nights. We thought we'd seen the back of it but the exact same problem has come back in the last two or three weeks. Bit of a blow as we assumed the hypoallergenic food had solved it. It's happening at roughly the same frequency although her vomit has been more like proper vomit this time rather than bile. I've spoke to the vet that helped us out last time and she advised to see how it goes for a week or two more before booking her in for an appointment. Nothing's improved since then though. They said they could do more specific blood tests if needed but surely she doesn't have something that'd be so hidden? She's completely herself otherwise, so it's a real head scratcher. We can live with it, but it'd be nice to go to bed not fearing that we're going to be woken up, and it's not nice for her either. This has turned into a bit of an essay but I wanted to give as much detail as possible as I think it's more than just 'my dog likes to eat grass'. Any ideas? Thanks!

Hello!  Bland dog-food can settle many kinds of stomach problems, particularly if they are caused or exacerbated by allergy or relatively rich food.  However, in this case, vomiting has occurred again and I can hear how frustrated you are.  It would be nice if this were caused by a one-off mild dietary indescretion you are unaware of, which would usually pass / settle down again.  Even dogs that don't have chronic vomiting problems, vomit occasionally. But there are other possibilities, even in such a young dog;  even in your dog.  Vomiting may be an obvious symptom, but if the cause isn't obvious on the outside, then it clearly is more hidden.  We would like to know the answers just by looking, but life isn't always so easy. You ask whether it is worth doing blood tests:  it can be.  Pancreatitis, for example, is a common cause of vomiting in dogs, and actually needs a specialist blood test (this often needs to be sent away to a lab) to pick it up.  Liver enzymes, kidney levels, blood sugars etc. can all provide clues at times.  Bloods also help to assess hydration (yes, we know she's vomiting but is she keeping enough fluid down or would a drip help?) and if a foreign body is suspected, radiography or ultrasound may help rule this in or out. Sometimes, the vomiting is not actually vomit, but regurgitation, which has a whole different set of causes so most vets start by double-checking the symptoms to ensure that they're not missing regurgitation.  Your vet may ask questions about retching and the build-up to the expulsion of stomach contents, in order to decide which it is. People find that it helps to ask vets for a list of possibilities ('differentials'), and how they can rule each possibility in or out.  Meanwhile, regardless of the cause, your vet needs to look after your dog while they suffer the symptoms (e.g. finding the best food to minimise the symptom and treating underlying dehydration / electrolyte imbalance etc if necessary).  Best of luck and please let us know how you get on from here.