This entry was posted on 2014-07-04 by Schalk.

Vomiting is a common dog health problem and there are numerous possible causes for the vomiting, including overeating, infection to patristic infestations, pancreatitis, kidney failure or poisoning.

Symptoms and Types

In addition to the vomiting, your dog may have abdominal discomfort, drooling and possibly diarrhoea.  The vomit may also range in appearance from recently eaten food, bile stained vomit (yellowy-green in colour) to blood.  Continued vomiting with your dog unable to keep any food or liquids down can lead to dehydration which may be life-threatening.

Causes

Dogs have a well-developed vomiting centre in their brains, meaning that they do vomit a lot. This has developed partially as a defence mechanism due to dog’s scavenger nature, allowing them to eat something to find out if it is edible and to throw it up if it is not.

The common causes of vomiting in dogs include eating undigestible substances, overeating or eating too fast, exercising immediately after eating, motion sickness, stress and worms.  Other more serious illnesses may also present with vomiting such as ulcers, kidney or liver failure, enterocolitis, parvovirus, pancreatitis and more.

If your dog throws up occasionally it is probably not a problem.  The signs that you should look out for which suggest you should take your dog to the veterinarian immediately include:

•    Vomiting more than once per day or continuing to vomit the next day
•    Vomit which has bright red blood or what appears like coffee grounds (partially digested blood)
•    Projectile vomiting
•    Accompanying diarrhoea
•    Vomiting despite not eating for several hours
•    Lethargy
•    Abdominal bloating

Treatment

As there are numerous causes of vomiting, it will be very helpful to your veterinarian if you are able to give a good history of the vomiting in terms of how many times your dog has vomited, the colour and the relationship to eating.  Also important to mention is any associated diarrhoea, whether there was blood in the vomit, weight loss, a change in appetite and lethargy.  From this your veterinarian may do several investigations to aid in the diagnosis if necessary.

From there, your veterinarian will be able to guide the treatment of your dog depending on what is causing the vomiting.  Some possible treatment options may include:

•    Dietary changes
•    Medication to control the vomiting
•    Antibiotics for bacterial infections or ulcers
•    Corticosteroids to treat inflammatory bowel disease
•    Surgery if it is tumour related vomiting

Living and Management

You should always follow the recommended treatment plan of your veterinarian and ask about dietary advice and reintroducing food slowly as it is not recommended to experiment with medications or food.  Pay close attention to your pet and their recovery and return for follow up if they do not improve.