How Your Dog Vomits Is Important – Review of Typical Symptoms1) Acute Vomiting If your dog vomits occasionally, it need not be concerning. It may be just that — occasional and self-limited. Many things can cause an episode like this. Perhaps your dog ingested a toxin from the yard. Maybe there has been a change in his diet — table scraps, new treats, change in type of food.
Also if your dog eats his food too fast (my friend would say his dog “inhales” his food!!), this can happen. Further, certain infections like parasites, roundworms, coccidia, giardia can cause vomiting. The key is that aside from the isolated mild vomiting episode, your dog should feel fine otherwise (he should have normal energy, no other symptoms such as diarrhea, fever or lethargy). If he shows any of these signs or the vomiting is repeated, you should see the veterinarian right away.
This can be a medical emergency. Since dogs by nature are curious, they are very good at exploring their surroundings and often end up getting into thing they shouldn't. Not only are they naturally curious, but they also love to eat! This combination often gets them into trouble. You would be surprised by what all dogs have been known to ingest! Sometimes, what they get in their stomachs does not readily pass forward to their intestine. This leads to a blockage that can be life-threatening. Partial blockages cause vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea while complete blockages can cause severe abdominal pain, bloating and repeat successive vomiting episodes. You can see how this would be an emergency situation the needs quick resolution to save the dog's life.
Chronic vomiting is when an otherwise healthy dog vomits more than once weekly. It is much less common that acute vomiting and should be a reason to visit the veterinarian. Chronic vomiting often leads to poor digestion and the necessary nutrients are not readily absorbed from food. This causes fatigue, low energy, poor coat quality and an overall poorer quality of life. Some causes of chronic vomiting include: inflammation of the pancreas, inflammation of the bowels, food allergies. The vet can use several tests to get to the bottom of what is causing this symptom in your dog. Please see the next section to understand these diagnostic tests further.
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