Hunger pangs & vomiting

Question
My 5 year old Maltese will have hunger pangs from not eating, then his stomach begins growling, which seems to startle him. Because of the constant growling (very loud, can hear it from 5 feet away), he becomes anxious and his tail will tuck under his body. He refuses to eat once he reaches this point.

Recently (the past 2 weeks), this has been occurring nearly everyday. He also began to vomit (yellow bile) and has diarrhea...this will continue periodically over several hours.

As I mentioned, he refuses to eat in this state. I will usually add some pieces of chicken (which I've done periodially over his lifetime, so it's normal) to his dog food...which although is his favorite, will not coax him to eat until a few hours and the stomach growling settles a little. He will eventually eat some food, then his behavior will slowly return to normal.

His stomach pangs used to happen occasionally but has now become more frequent. The regular occurrence of vomiting/diarrhea is also unusual.

My possible suspicions?

1) I've been coming home from work late nearly every night. Although he is home with my roommates, I think he may be waiting for me to come home before he eats. We've been living here for nearly a year though.

2) Not being on a regular eating schedule? On a regular week night, I'll come home at 9:00 pm. Some weekends, I may come home after midnight.

Sorry so long, wanted to be sure I included all of the info. I'm wondering if other dogs have the problem with their stomach growling? No one I know has had it happen. I would think if he were hungry, he would eat.

Help...please!  Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Hi Amber!
I think you probably are right about him not wanting to eat until you come home.  Problems such as this are usually found in the smaller breeds.  They tend to be a bit more fussy.  Try giving him a bit of cottage cheese to help soothe the stomach.  I don't know what to tell you about him waiting to long to eat.  If he won't eat if you're not there, then there's not much anyone can do.  See if he will eat some of the cottage cheese if your roommates offer it.  The reason he is vomiting the yellow bile is probably because his stomach cavity is empty. If this continues, you may want to check with your Vet about giving him some type of med for anxiety. I wish you the best!

God Bless,
Becky