Vomiting in Dogs (Causes, Recognizing Urgent Cases)

How to recognize dog vomiting from regurgitation and coughing ?

Vomiting should not be confused with regurgitation or the coughing up of food. Vomiting is the forceful expulsion of contents of the stomach and upper intestine, while regurgitation is the ejection of contents of the oesophagus and coughting is the expulsion of food from the airways.

Regurgitation is the fairly effortless expulsion of undigested food, without retching. The animal lowers its head and food is passively expelled. The food brought up by regurgitation is usually undigested and often covered with a slimy mucus. Regurgitation occurs because the esophagus is physically blocked or because it lacks peristaltic activity, the contracting of the muscles behind the chewed material to make it move downward and prevent it from moving back into the mouth. In either case, the food accumulates until the esophagus is overloaded, after which the food is expelled without effort.

Vomiting is the forceful and active expulsion of stomach contents, preceded by constant drooling and heaving, the forceful contraction of your dog's abdominal muscles. The expelled material can be fluid, froth or partially digested food, usually sour smelling, and stained with yellow bile. Vomiting may be preceeded by a stage of nausea, in which your dog appears restless and apprehensive.

Coughing is a reflex initiated by an irritation in the airway. Expulsion of food through coughing will typically occur when food is inhaled into the airways. Dogs will usually crouch down on all four legs when coughing with the neck stretched out.

Causes

Causes of vomiting can be gastric (primary) and non-gastric (secondary). Gastric means due to conditions of the stomach and upper intestinal tract. Secondary or non-gastric causes are all other causes, such as those caused by diseases of other organs.

Some of the causes include:

your dog has eaten too much or too quickly
sudden change in type of food
worms
food that is too rich or too fatty
colitis (if bloody, mucus diarrhea is also present)
foreign body blocking the intestinal tract
gastritis (often accompanied by diarrhea)
Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter infections (can be passed to humans!)
Liver, kidney and pancreatic diseases
metabolic imbalances
disease of the central nervous system,
congestive heart failure
cancer
dog was exposed to poisonous substance
gastric ulcer

When to call the veterinarian ?

If any of the following signs is present it may be wise to seek veterinary advice:

dog is lethargic or collapsed (consult your vet immediately!)
vomit contains blood (possible sign of stomach ulcers, stomach cancer or uremia)
vomiting accompanied by diarrhea (often a sign of a bacterial or viral infection)
dog lacks appetite

vomit looks and smells like stool
presence of fever
vomiting is projectile
vomiting happens independently from the meals
frequent bouts of vomiting
dog was exposed to something poisonous or dangerous (like a household chemical or fertilizer)
vomiting persists more than a couple of days
frequent attempts to vomit without producing anything (twisted stomach, gastric dilation-torsion)
there is weight loss
dog has difficulties to breath
dog shows signs of pain
other pets in the household are affected

If your dog shows any of the above signs there is a need to seek (urgent) veterinary attention.

However, if your dog vomits only once, is not showing any of these signs and is otherwise alert and active, you can probably save yourself a trip to the vet on condition that you monitor your dog closely for 12 hours. Do not feed your dog during this time and allow him to drink only very small amounts of water at the time. Examine the stool and vomit. Collect samples if you believe you will need to take your dog in.

If you bring your dog to the veterinarian, bring a sample of the 'vomit'. The PH of the sample can help determine if it was produced by vomiting or regurgitation. The veterinarian may ask you to describe the appearance of the vomit, as well as how your pet behaves when it vomits and the relation ship of vomiting to eating. If your pet vomits just sporadically and has a specific series of actions associated with vomiting, you may consider video taping an episode of vomiting to help describe the episodes to the veterinarian.