excessive licking of the air

[shells]

Tyler has been occassionally doing something that's downright scary when it happens, and I don't know what to do...right now, he looks like he's licking the air - just continuously licking (like there was peanut butter or something on his mouth), and he acts like he can't stop (usually for about 30 min.) I tried to see if there was something in his mouth, but the only thing I've noticed is that he seems to be drooling a lot while doing his licking. If i hold his head and jaw, he'll stop for a lil bit, but then he starts right up again and the drool continues. is this something i should be worried about? he's done this maybe 3 or 4 times now in the past couple months, and if anything, he looks like he wants to stop but can't help it. I ruled out bloat (stools are always fine, good bowel sounds, good appetite, no swelling) every time, but can't seem to find info anywhere on what could be causing this. his tongue is also pretty red when he does this...any ideas? the vet always tells me they have to see it, but he only does this on rare occasions!

 

[shells]

well, he threw up - alot. not too much of an unusual event for him, but it was a pretty harsh vomiting. turns out my husband switched his food up completely instead of the gradual change i usually do. (we've been working on this food switch without any problem for awhile now) i refed him some of his usual food with some rice, gave him some water, and assumed all was well. the problem is, he's right back to licking again! i feel so bad for him, any suggestions would be welcome!

 

[GoCougs]

Yep. The "air licking" thing is a clear sign of upset tummy.

The best thing to do for that is nothing. Just let it pass. Give him the opportunity to be outside and eat some grass if he wants. Otherwise, make sure he has plenty of fresh water available as vomiting can lead to dehydration and complex the problem.

And lastly, no more food. Skip his next regular feeding, and then the feeding after that give a low impact meal of boiled chicken and rice. Nothing else. After that you can return him to his regular diet.

Good luck.

 

[Roscoesmommy]

Blayne does this every once in awhile and it scared the crap out of us the first time she did it because Roscoe doesnt do that when his tummy is upset. I usually give her a Pepcid tablet and within about 20 minutes she is fine. It's a tummy upset and the Pepcid calms it down and makes her feel so much better. If it is a constant problem I wouldnt try to "cure" it with the Pepcid, but if it is only occasional, the Pepcid should be ok.

 

[tasham]

My 9-year-old has always been a "puker." I think he's had a sensitive stomach his whole life, so I'm very aware of the "just about to puke" signs, which air licking is the biggest indicator. Once he starts doing this, I just let him outside to graze on grass and hopefully puke out there instead of inside. However, he never seems to grasp the concept that while he's outside he might as well puke if he needs to. No, he insists on being outside for 5, 10, sometimes 20 minutes at a time and then waits until just after I shut the door when he comes back inside to puke all over my floor! LOL!

I've never thought of giving him a stomach medicine like Pepcid. Is this actually safe to do? If so, I might try it from time to time when he's really not feeling well.

 

[buffylvangel]

Pepcid

my vet actually instructed me to give Belle 10 mgs of Pepcid once per day.