Growling stomachs

My son's two male pugs periodically get growling tummies early in the morning and then will not eat their breakfast. They sleep with my son and the growling will usually wake him up!





They get their breakfast about 5:45 AM. They get their evening meal anywhere from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM usually about 5:00 PM. The pug who did not eat his breakfast always seems very ready to eat his supper!



These two pugs are littermates and have always been together. I know they do get a treat before bedtime, around 10:30-1100 PM.



It used to happen only to one of the pugs but in the last year the other one has started not eating breakfast at times. Probably happens to each pug no more than twice a month. The food dish cannot be left down or the other pug or the black female would polish of the food in no time flat. Sometimes my son will give the pug who has not eaten another chance to eat breakfast just before he leaves for work. Sometimes then they eat but most times not.......oh yes if the other two pugs come near the dish there is pug growling that is not the tummy!



Has anyone else had anything like this happen to them?

Growling tummies usually mean they need food, but it seems to be well-covered! I wonder fi the food they ARE eating is giving them a bit of gas? Maybe someone else has some clues or ideas.

We had a similar situation with stitch when he was three month's, he always seemed to have an upset tummy, his tummy sounded like a chainsaw. We determined that a change of food was in order and switch him from science diet to nutro( ungodly painstaking process to research dog food, we chose nutro because they tracked all their ingrediants). After the switch no more upset tummy, no bed breath, no stinky poop.
I wont say this is the situation but if both pugs are having the same issue i would venture to guess the source is outside, and food would be the first thing i would try.

This has happened to Duke twice in the past week (and used to happen to Buster periodically too). No idea what's caused it since he hasn't had anything out of the ordinary to eat. He did throw up a treat one time & was eating a lot of grass while it went on. The gurgling was so loud that I told him that he sounded like he had an alien trying to escape from his belly!

My last pug, Rhoda, had this throughout her life. At least a few times a month, she'd have a noisy tummy in the morning and not want her breakfast. It often followed a day when she ate something unusual -- like when my niece gave her Doritos.

Rhoda would often tremble when she had an upset/noisy tummy, which of course I had checked out more than once. The vet's official diagnosis of my pug was "drama queen," since the horrible pain would stop the moment we got in the car or arrived at the vet or went for a walk, etc.

This happens to my Emmet once in awhile; when it does, he'll usually eat an hour or so later.

While it's not the same thing, I wonder if it may be related--my Wally is a 3 or 4 a.m. vomiter. Not all the time; just once in awhile, and it has happened on days that I was with him every second, so it's not necessary (always) related to his eating something forbidden.

I asked the vet about it once, and he mentioned that maybe, since my guys often get their dinner around 4 p.m. or even a little earlier on weekends when I'm home, as they are relentless, Wally has an empty stomach and too much acid rumbling around.

So, I now give him 5 mg (1/2 a 10 mg tablet) generic loratidine before bed (same thing as Pepcid AC) per the vet's suggestion, and I also give him a "snack" before bed, which is usually 2 TD bites (which are about 1/2 inch square--it's a type of Science Diet food that is supposed to help w/ tartar, and I use it for treats).

That has helped more often than not, but I do wonder if when Emmet's stomach rumbles again, I should try giving him the same pill I give Wally.

Thanks for all of the imput. At least my son and I know that his pugs are not the only ones who have growling stomachs.



I did forget to mention, that Toby and Zeke both will go outside and eat grass (summer of course) on mornings they do not want their breakfast. Is that a sign of an upset tummy? Guess the pugs do not know that sometimes a growling tummy could be just a hungry tummy!

Very late to this thread but have some additional info that may help. The grumbling noises mean the stomach is acidic (because its empty) and the dogs then feel nauseous, though they might be hungry too (its a catch-22). FYI in older animals this is usually a sign that thyroid or kidneys should be checked (had it happen in an older cat so when it happened with older dog we knew how to handle).

I generally offer a bland snack, Doug-Doug usually won't eat his regular food or cookies when his stomach is 'talking', so I offer him a few spoonfuls of canned food (Newman's Own chicken or turkey with rice is nice and bland) or baby food (straight up chicken or turkey in a jar). It will coat the stomach, stop the grumbling, and is soft and bland which is what he wants when his belly is fighting. He also gets some extra snacks before bedtime but still gets up sometimes (usually around 4) with belly issues.

Interesting about the thyroid possibly as cause for the growling tummys. I will have to have my son ask the vet about it.