My Dog Threw Up Hard White Chunks – Should I Be Worried?

Taking care of dogs every time in every situation is always the dog’s owner’s responsibility. However, we always treat dogs like our family members, and we tend to panic if we notice any disturbance in our dog’s health conditions.

There could be serious conditions with symptoms you’ve never seen before and about which you have no idea that makes you panic. For example, many dog owners panicked when they noticed their dog throwing up hard white chunks.

Vomit that contains hard white chunks from your dog’s body can be a symptom of many underlying conditions. For example, if your dog vomits the hard white chunk once, it can be due to some bone, chewy object, candle, or any such object getting stuck in their alimentary canal. However, if your dog vomits hard white chunks frequently, the reason can be indigestible food. Not only this, there can be acid buildup in your dog’s body that causes your dog to vomit out hard white chunks.

If you notice white hard chunks in your dog’s vomit, immediately contact your veterinarian. Ask him my dog threw up hard white chunks. What to do? An immediate and thorough examination of the dog’s body will be able to determine the exact reason behind the hard white chunks. Let’s look at the article to know more about these hard white chunks your dog is vomiting and the possible reasons and symptoms behind the same.

Why Does My Dog Throw up White Hard Chunks?

If dog owners notice anything bad happening with their pets, they panic, and it is normal for them to do so. The throwing up of hard white chunks from vomiting is one of them. However, there can be numerous reasons behind the same, and we can’t rely on one basic reason.

Every dog has different body types and different requirements. Thus, they face different conditions that result in throwing up hard white chunks, whether indigestion, wrong food consumption, choking on bones, etc. Let’s briefly look at the main and most common reasons for white vomiting in dogs.

1. Indigestion

It isn’t that only humans go through indigestion; dogs also face this issue of indigestion. We often accept that dogs have a strong digestive system, but domestication and selective breeding are two such factors that have made the digestive systems of dogs a lot weaker than we assume.

There can be many reasons for this, but indigestion in dogs has mainly three stages: acid reflux, heartburn, and nausea.

Symptoms

The most common cause of indigestion is the dog’s habit of gobbling its food fastly. Here are some of the symptoms you will notice in your dog if your dog is facing indigestion.

• Weight loss
• Bad breath
• Lethargic
• The smacking of lips continuously
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Bloating
• Flatulence

Treatment

As stated earlier, eating fast is one of the reasons for indigestion in dogs. But if we say in the case of puppies, then it could be due to consuming food that is solid and hard to digest for them.

Your dog should have proper and healthy food habits so that he can be healthy and free from indigestion, but also, as an owner, you can shift your dog’s large meals into small yet frequent meals. Not only this, you can use slow feeder bowls or shuffle mats to ensure the proper feeding of your dog.

Inflammation of the intestine and stomach inflammation is one of the most common causes of indigestion noticed in dogs. The same treatment involves some medications as your dog’s veterinarian will suggest after diagnosis.

2. The Dog Chokes up on a Bone or Some Toys

Dogs often love to chew on bones or certain chewable toys. It is good until it turns out to be brittle. Because breakable objects, as we say, brittle bones are more likely to get stuck in their mouths or throats.

Rawhide, bones, bully sticks, and chewable toys are examples of items that become extremely brittle when chewed by your dog continuously. If not brittle, some parts of these toys or bones may become lodged in your dog’s mouth or throat, causing him to vomit hard white chunks.

You should remove these pieces of breakable objects from your dog’s mouth immediately; otherwise, you have to take them to the veterinarian immediately. A vet can treat the dog properly if any bone part or chewy toy gets stuck in their throat, as vets have specialized tools.

It would be best to prevent such brittle things from entering your dog’s mouth. So, if you notice your dog’s bone or chewy toy getting brittle, immediately replace it with a new one and try to minimize the risk of vomiting hard white chunks by following this.

3. Feeding the Wrong Dog Food to Your Pet

Getting your dog the right food is very tricky. You sometimes need to try out various foods and choose one that suits your dog best.

Sometimes when you choose food for your dog, it does not come what you want it to be. For example, some packed dog foods contain many ingredients that are not suitable for some dogs. If your dog proves to be one of them, try changing the dog food brand.

Some pet food or dog food contains soy, legumes, and grains. These ingredients are mostly harmful to dogs. So whenever you buy pet food for your dog, buy only soy-free and grain-free food for them.

Certain dogs are food sensitive to certain food items, and repeatedly being given the same food can cause chronic inflammation in the stomach and the intestine. Inflammation of the intestine and stomach can result in the release of hard white chunks from your dog’s body through vomiting.

Sometimes, to increase the digestive power of your dog, you have to add some probiotics( catalysts), kefir, and other such digestive enzymes. These enzymes will aid your dog in the digestion process and lower the risk of visibility of hard white chunks in your dog’s vomit.

4. Chokes Upon Any Foreign Object

We know dogs tend to chew on anything they find interesting; it includes various things. It can be chalk, jewelry, airpods, and what-not. Your dog tends to chew on such things, and they get stuck in their throat, setting up food digestion problems.

In other words, the foreign item your dog consumes is not getting digested, and your dog will poop it out after a day or two like it, but in worst cases, it may vomit it out along with hard white chunks.

Your dog may poop normally for a day or two, but after that, he will throw everything along with hard white chunks in the form of vomit. Therefore, to prevent any such situation, you should keep every foreign item away from your dog ( that they tend to chew) and check your dog’s mouth frequently for traces of any such materials.

5. Feeding Your Dog Human Food

Many people believe that if some food is tasty and healthy for humans, the same goes for dogs, but dogs have different nutritional needs for their bodies compared to humans.

If your dog has sneaked out some of your food or you have intentionally fed him some, there are high chances that he will vomit it out as the food will not get digested in his body.

Dog’s bodies don’t accept Foods such as sugary candy, pizza, chips, chocolate, pies, and other food items like these, and they vomit them out in the form of hard white chunks.

To prevent this from happening, you have to keep a close eye on your dog so that he doesn’t eat some unhealthy human food, and at the same time, you should not encourage giving them human food.

6. Dogs Sometimes do not Have a Proper Diet

Sometimes, if your dog has an empty stomach for a long time and hasn’t eaten much, it vomits out all the stomach content, which may contain white chunks. The reason could be the stomach acid buildup due to not eating for a long time.

This vomiting condition that occurs due to not having proper food is known as bilious vomiting syndrome or empty tummy syndrome. This condition causes your dog to vomit white foam in the morning, especially if dogs haven’t eaten anything for long hours.

To prevent such conditions in your dog, give your dog food frequently in small meals and don’t give your dog heavy dog meals. Giving small portions of food will help with stomach acid buildup and digestion.

7. Acid Builds up in the Stomach

One of the most common reasons dogs throw up hard white chunks is an acid buildup in their stomach.

When they vomit due to stomach acid, their vomit comes out white and foamy because the acid gets mixed up with the dog’s saliva, and then it gets thrown out of the dog’s body. The most common cause is an empty stomach for an extended period. You need to check that the white substance covered with white foam is white chunks only and not any other material or substance.

The symptoms of acid reflux in your dog can be vomiting of white foam, and then symptoms include licking the floor, swallowing, hiccupping, and coughing continuously by your dog.

You have to feed your dog enough food, neither much nor less, and this can prevent acid reflux or stomach acid buildup in your dog’s stomach. However, if acid buildup and white foam vomiting happen constantly, you should consider seeing the vet immediately.

What Should a Person Do If a Dog Pukes Out Hard White Chunks?

If you notice your dog vomiting and spitting up hard white chunks once or twice, you should not be too concerned, but if the same happens within a short period, say it be 24 hours, you should get connected with your vet immediately.

Suppose your dog is vomiting hard chunks and is showing symptoms like lethargy, diarrhea, loss of appetite, weakness, blood in vomit, or other such symptoms.

In such a case of these symptoms, the most advisable thing is to get an immediate appointment for your dog with a veterinarian, especially one specialized to treat your dog’s breed.

You can call up and get it clear with your dog’s vet whether your dog is showing any signs of some serious underlying illness or not.

However, it becomes dangerous if you are not closely monitoring your dog and confirming his health conditions with your dog’s vet. Therefore, it is always advisable to consider a vet, especially an ET vet, if he is available near you for your dog’s vomiting issues.

Why do I Need to be Concerned if My Dog Vomits Hard, Solid White Masses?

For example, if you notice your dog vomiting once or twice, even if it contains hard white solid masses, you should not be concerned; however, if it occurs repeatedly, you should be concerned.

Here, you have to notice that if your dog is vomiting often and its vomit gets accompanied by many things such as coughing, loss of appetite, lethargy, and other such symptoms.

If the symptoms are these, you should consult your dog’s veterinarian immediately, as these signs and symptoms can indicate some serious underlying disease.

Treatment Methods for Your Dog Vomiting Hard White Chunks

The first and most advisable step for the owner is to take their dog to the veterinarian. Your dog’s veterinarian knows about the illness and the measures to treat the same, so taking your dog to the vet is the best option and most rational decision you can make for your dog at such times.

Make sure you give your dog’s vet all the pertinent details about the conditions, signs, and symptoms you have noticed in your dog. Dogs can’t speak, but you can be their voice and inform the vet about your dog’s conditions, signs, and symptoms so that the vet can properly diagnose and treat the dog.

Sometimes you may not want to visit a vet as you do not consider the dog’s condition that serious. For that time being, here are a few of the treatment measures you can follow at home only to help your dog to recover.

• Keep your dog fasting for 6 to 8 hours: You don’t have to give your dog food during this time, but you can provide your dog with water or some ice chips so that the dog may not get dehydrated.
• Next, give your dog some medication: Medicines such as Pepcid AC provide relief to dogs with gastrointestinal diseases. Every 8 hours, give your dog 8 MG of Pepcid AC. This medicine helps your dog by providing relief from inflammation, minimizing digestive tract problems, and minimizing stomach acid production.
• To soothe stomach inflammation or digestive problems in dogs: You can provide your dog with canned pumpkin or bone broth.
• Give bland food to your dog: If he has no problem with drinking water. A bland diet of chicken and rice in small amounts can help your dog recover quickly from diarrhea, and it is most advisable for the vet to treat your dog quickly.
• After a course of bland diet as suggested by the vet: You can move on to providing simple pet food to your dog.

These methods, as mentioned above, are some ways you can treat your dog at home, but if, after applying these methods also, the condition persists, it is highly advisable to take your dog to the vet urgently.

If your dog’s vomiting of hard chunks is due to toxins, your dog’s vet will use some established medical methods to remove the toxins from the dog’s body.

Treatment given by the vet begins with giving anti-nauseous or gastric protectant medications to your dog. If a dog recovers after this treatment, you must follow it with regular observation and complete the course first. Otherwise, the veterinarian will move on to the next steps of treatment.

If a veterinarian suspects any obstruction in the dog’s gastrointestinal tract, surgery or endoscopy is required. The dog will have to stay under the doctor’s observation for approximately a week for post-operative care.

Suppose a veterinarian suspects bloating in the dog’s stomach. In that case, it calls for an emergency, and the treatment requires decompression of gasses from the dog’s stomach using the gastric lavage method, i.e., pumping the dog’s stomach to remove games. The gastric lavage method gets followed by surgery, after which the dog needs to be under the doctor’s observation in the hospital.

Your dog gets all these treatments after making a proper diagnosis, and to make a proper diagnosis, doing blood tests, urine tests, proper radiographs, and ultrasounds is necessary.

How to Prevent Vomiting of Hard White Chunks from the Dog’s Body?

The best way to keep your dog from vomiting hard white chunks and the white foam is to keep them away from substances that will cause them to vomit the white foam and hard white chunks, such as bones, soft toys, chewable toys, and others. Here are a few things you should keep in mind if you want to prevent your dog from vomiting out hard white chunks frequently.

• Prevent dogs from eating or chewing grass or sticks, as they are likely to get stuck in their throats. 
• Keep toxins such as human food plants, medications, and chemicals away from your dog. 
• Organize a regular health checkup for your dog with a veterinarian once every few weeks. A regular health checkup will prevent them from acquiring any illness or disease.
• Keep objects away from your dogs that they are likely to chew, as they might swallow them, and this could enter as foreign bodies inside the dog’s body, leading them further into various diseases. 
• Please keep your dog’s diet healthy and keep your dog’s tummy full, but with small portions of food, and avoid giving him a heavy meal all at once.

At the first sign of illness only, contact the veterinarian. He knows the best about your dog and will help you treat him and make him healthy.

Final Words

Even if your dog throws up hard white chunks, it is not necessary for you to panic. Instead, you should go ahead with finding the solution rather than panicking and making the situation worse. The symptoms you may notice in your dog can be due to numerous factors that may or may not be life-threatening, and consulting your dog at this time can be the most rational decision you will make.

Whatever the case may be, it is important that you monitor your dog properly and then inform the vet about his health condition so that he can prepare a proper diagnosis and treat your dog quickly.