Admittedly, when a dog is vomiting yellow foam and mucus, it looks worrisome. In most cases, however, the vomiting of the four-legged friend is largely harmless and can be treated quite easily.
In the following, we explain what causes yellow foam and mucus to be thrown up and what you can do about it.
Key facts at a glance
- If a dog vomits yellow foam and mucus, it is a mixture of bile and gastric fluid.
- Too much acid in the stomach due to too long feeding intervals is often responsible for the vomiting of yellow liquid.
- In some cases, gastritis and other health problems can also be responsible for the yellowish vomit.
- If in doubt, dog owners should have the exact cause clarified by a veterinarian.
Vomiting in dogs can have a variety of causes
Just like humans, dogs occasionally vomit. This can have very different causes. For example, vomiting can simply be a sign of an upset stomach, a sign of excessive stress, or a symptom of a parasitic infestation or disease. In the same way, vomiting or attempting to vomit can also indicate poisoning, gastric torsion or a foreign body in the digestive tract.
If your dog vomits only once or very rarely and there are no other symptoms, you usually don’t have to worry. In this case, it is usually completely sufficient to temporarily feed the four-legged friend bland food.
What does vomiting yellow foam and phlegm mean?
When your dog vomits yellow foam and mucus, it is most often a mixture of bile and stomach fluid. As a rule, this is a sure sign that your four-legged friend’s stomach is largely empty at the time of vomiting.
In many cases, vomiting is caused by acid in the dog’s stomach due to a lack of food. Hyperacidity can be counteracted quite easily with simple home remedies if necessary.
Make changes to feeding times
If your dog has an increased tendency to vomit yellow foam and mucus on an empty stomach, making changes to feeding times may help.
Instead of one or two large meals, you can divide the amount of food your four-legged friend eats into three portions and thus ensure that the dog’s stomach cannot acidify so easily. That being said, small meals help relieve stress on the digestive system. For many dogs, this is enough to stop the vomiting of yellow foam and mucus. If your dog vomits mainly in the morning, the night may be too long as a feeding-free time. You can then give the dog’s evening meal a little later or give your dog a little something to eat before going to bed.
Loops as a trigger for vomiting in dogs
Many dogs tend to wolf down their food at a tremendous rate, emptying their bowl completely in a matter of moments. This can sometimes cause digestive problems and also overwhelm the stomach of the four-legged friend.
It can therefore sometimes happen that the dog has to vomit after wolfing down its meal and yellow foam and mucus comes out in addition to the food.
In order to avoid this and not put undue strain on your four-legged friend’s digestion, it is important that you stop it from swallowing. In addition to feeding in small portions, the purchase of a so-called anti-sling bowl can be useful for this purpose.
When dog vomiting is a case for the vet
Unfortunately, it’s not always harmless when a dog throws up. In some cases, very serious illnesses or even poisoning can be responsible. Especially in the case of an inflammation of the gastric mucosa, which the vet calls gastritis, dogs usually vomit yellow liquid.
If you notice any other symptoms in your dog, a timely visit to the veterinarian is therefore strongly recommended. Depending on the trigger, this can be, for example, tremors, seizures, diarrhea, restlessness or even apathy.
Be sure to take the relevant symptoms seriously and have your four-legged friend examined by a specialist so that the necessary treatment measures can be initiated if necessary. In this context, also keep in mind that frequent vomiting is not only uncomfortable, but can also have serious consequences, such as dehydration.
Of course, it is not possible to say in general terms how your dog needs to be treated. But if the veterinarian can eliminate the cause, your four-legged friend’s vomiting will quickly stop again.
Dog vomits yellow foam and mucus – our verdict
As you can see, vomiting yellow foam and phlegm can have a variety of causes. The yellowish coloring is usually caused by the bile and is a sign that the dog’s stomach is largely empty at the time of vomiting.
Simple measures such as changing the feeding times and portion sizes are usually sufficient to counteract the dog’s vomiting of yellow foam and mucus. In some cases, however, a visit to the veterinarian may be necessary because the symptoms are caused by a health problem.