Lala gave us a scare 2 weeks ago...

oscarmayer · Jun 18, 2026

I woke up to Lala having labored breathing. We called Vet right away and sent them a video of her struggling. Vet advised to get her to E-Vet right away...she needed oxygen. Before we could get her to the car she puked up a small amount of bile. She had eaten her dinner several hours earlier than normal the day before. This exact same scenario played out with Waggles 6 or so months ago...but Waggles is 4 years old and Lala is 12.5 years old. Lala spent a day at E-vet in an O2 kennel. She was given antibiotics and fluids. Scans showed bilateral pneumonia(from aspiration). FF...a week later and 7 days of 2 different antibiotics and she's as good as new.
I'm confident that this was caused by her vomiting and aspiration of bile due to an empty stomach. We now give her a late night or a very early AM snack as a means to prevent the bile puking. So far, so good. I think that all dogs can have this issue. Stomach empty & expecting food, it produces bile in anticipation. Stomach empty of food and only bile is a sour stomach. Sour stomach causes nausea and pup pukes. Bile puke gets inhaled(especially if this happens while sleeping) and causes aspiration pneumonia. Lots of $$$$ later, dog recovers...or in some cases, not. Those of you that have had a bout of reflux in the middle of the night should know exactly what I'm talking about.
We have seen this(puking up bile) most often in older dogs.
Hug those bullies tight!

2BullyMama · Jun 18, 2026

Yikes… that is so scary… so happy you caught it quickly and she is back to normal! Love Miss Lala… big hugs to her

Lennie. U.K. · Jun 18, 2026

Great to hear Lala made a full recovery. I've always fed Jeffo three times a day, we have never had an episode that poor Lala had, just as well you got her to the Vet, quickly. Well done for that!

helsonwheels · Jun 19, 2026

Glad to hear Lala‘s back on track.

Hate them scary moments!

Lennie. U.K. · Jun 19, 2026

Slightly off the main post. I've always maintained, if a dog is healthy and all of a sudden something unusually happens, such as laboured breathing, for no reason its Vet intervention, blinking eye or rubbing the eye, its Vet intervention, because you really don't want an ulcerated eye, because it will cost you money if left, I've always started with eye lube at 4-5yrs, and Jeffo is no exception. If the dog is a good eater and not picky, but all of a sudden goes off their food, its Vet intervention. They are the three things I go by, and yes there are certainly a lot more, symptoms a dog can throw at you, at the end of the day its about knowing the dog, and observation.

oscarmayer · Jun 19, 2026

Lennie. U.K. said:
Slightly off the main post. I've always maintained, if a dog is healthy and all of a sudden something unusually happens, such as laboured breathing, for no reason its Vet intervention, blinking eye or rubbing the eye, its Vet intervention, because you really don't want an ulcerated eye, because it will cost you money if left, I've always started with eye lube at 4-5yrs, and Jeffo is no exception. If the dog is a good eater and not picky, but all of a sudden goes off their food, its Vet intervention. They are the three things I go by, and yes there are certainly a lot more, symptoms a dog can throw at you, at the end of the day its about knowing the dog, and observation.

Indeed, when you know your pups, you know…