Vomiting is a fairly common problem in puppies, in dogs that eat too much or too fast and in which they tend to eat things off the ground. Normally, vomiting that is not worrisome usually stops between 24 hours and 3 days and, especially, if you know the reason and know that it has been for something that will not cause more damage (such as a sudden change in diet or excess meal at one time). However, if you notice that your dog is listless, does not want to eat and vomits frequently, you may find yourself facing a more serious problem.
If you ask yourself: my dog does not want to eat and vomits, why and what do I do?, keep reading this oneHOWTO article in which we answer these questions, as it is essential to recognize the signs of disease in order to detect it as soon as possible and prevent it from causing serious damage to the health of your faithful canine companion.
Why my dog does not want to eat and vomits – main causes
Vomiting is a common symptom in many conditions in dogs, and although it should not be overlooked, in most cases it is not usually serious and the vomiting disappears within a few hours or a few days. You have to worry more in cases where your dog vomits frequently and vomiting persists for more than three days and if you also find your furry down and not wanting to eat, or if other symptoms appear. These are the most frequent causes for that a dog vomits, does not want to eat and is sad:
- Intestinal parasites.
- Poisoning.
- Gastric torsion.
- Infectious diseases.
- Stomach flu.
- Pancreatitis
- Ingestion of foreign bodies.
- Other internal organ problems: liver or kidney problems and stomach ulcer.
All these problems must be dealt with by a veterinarian, since, in most cases, by themselves they will not be solved and, therefore, the dog will continue to vomit, worsen and will have more problems, until it puts its health at serious risk, for example, some infectious diseases and gastric torsion are very dangerous if left unattended and can lead to the death of the dog in a short time.
In addition, if you continue reading, we recommend that you consult these other unCOMO articles on these symptoms in dogs for more information:
Intestinal parasites
One of the possible causes that a dog does not want to eat and vomits and is sad they are intestinal parasites, commonly called worms, although not all are.
Carry out the deworming guideline that your vet tells you is very important, since otherwise your dog will be unprotected against parasite pests. If your dog has intestinal parasites It will show, in addition to the aforementioned vomiting, also diarrhea, abdominal bloating, loss of appetite, listlessness and pain in the gut. Also, in some cases you will be able to observe the parasites as worms in the stool.
If you suspect that your dog could have intestinal parasites, it is better that you go quickly to the vet so that he can give the diagnosis, which will be based on an analysis of your dog’s feces to find out what type of parasite is causing these problems and can apply the antiparasitic and appropriate doses depending on the type of parasite to be eliminated. To prevent this problem, it is recommended to deworm your dog internally every 3 months and externally every four or eight months, depending on the brand of product used.
We recommend that you also read this other post on How to eliminate intestinal worms in dogs.
Poisoning
Another reason why your dog could be vomiting, down and without wanting to eat anything is poisoning or intoxication. In this situation, continuous vomiting is observed, especially as the poisoning progresses, this happens because your dog has ingested some type of substance that is harmful or toxic to him. In addition to vomiting, you will be able to observe diarrhea repeatedly, which may be vomiting and diarrhea without or with blood. Others symptoms of poisoning in dogs are as follows:
- Weakness and apathy
- Fever
- Excessive salivation
- Dilated pupils
- Dizziness
- Respiratory problems
Faced with this situation, it is of special importance go quickly to your vet, since the life of your dog can be in serious danger, depending on the type of poisoning or poisoning. If you observe that your dog has some of these symptoms and you suspect or know for sure that he has been poisoned, since you have seen or know the substance that has been put into his mouth, you can make him vomit if no more than 2 hours have passed since has ingested this substance. The first thing you can do if you cannot go to the vet before those two hours is to induce vomiting yourself in order to prevent the substance from being absorbed, as long as you are sure that the ingested substance is not corrosive.
For make a dog vomit you can use hydrogen peroxide, giving it the right and necessary dose that is usually 1 ml per kg of the dogThus, a 10 kg dog will need 10 ml. Make sure the dog is conscious, otherwise you can cause further damage, and administer the hydrogen peroxide diluted with water in equal parts and give it orally. After this, the dog should walk so that it finally vomits and expels much of the toxic substance. However, if your dog is already vomiting as much as not, you should take him to the vet to examine him and he can eliminate all the toxic through a stomach lavage and the treatment that he deems appropriate.
In this other post you can learn more about How to know if my dog is poisoned.
Stomach twisting in dogs
The stomach or gastric torsion, means that the stomach turns on itself and strangles the input and output part of the food, causing a series of very serious problems that urgently require veterinary attention.
It is quite common in large adult dogs, usually after heavy meals and followed by exercise, play, running, or jumping. The stomach full of food produces few muscle movements for proper digestion due to its excessive filling, it weighs a lot and hangs more in the abdomen and more gas is generated by the fermentation of the food. At one point, favored by the movement of the dog, it turns on itself. At this time the vessels that irrigated it are strangled and the stomach stops receiving blood or receives much less. However, the amount of gases inside continues to increase. This problem is diagnosed with a ultrasound or x-ray and it must be taken into account that this situation ends with the life of the animal if it is not carried out a surgery quickly.
Faced with this situation you will see your dog trying to vomit and surely stomach content will only come out during the first phase of twisting, as it progresses you will see that the dog retches without success, since this problem causes the vomit to not be able to go outside. In addition, you will see that he has abdominal pain, a swollen abdomen, drooling and nervousness. Of course, stop eating and be sad or down with pain. We leave you here more information on How to know if my dog has stomach or gastric torsion.
My dog does not want to eat and vomits: infectious diseases
There are various infectious diseases that can cause vomiting, that the dog stops eating and that it is sad or down and that must be treated urgently by your veterinarian. These diseases include distemper, parvovirus, and coronavirus.
Canine distemper
Is a viral disease to which they are more susceptible to puppies and old dogs. This virus affects the epithelia and the nervous system, which is why it can produce a wide variety of symptoms: fever, diarrhea (frequently hemorrhagic), vomiting, dehydration, apathy, loss of appetite, cough, dyspnea, conjunctivitis …
It is important to go to the vet as soon as possible so that he can perform tests and apply an appropriate treatment. Although there is no specific treatment, support can be given with fluid therapy and symptomatic treatment, in addition to antibiotics to avoid secondary infections. To avoid this there is a specific vaccine. We recommend this other oneHOWTO article to learn more about the topic How to know if my dog has distemper.
Canine parvovirus
Canine parvovirus is A virus which causes hemorrhagic diarrhea with a strong foul odor in dogs. It also has fever, vomiting and apathy. Faced with this, it is important to go to the vet as soon as possible, since without support treatment they tend to die quickly. Learn more about this disease here: How to cure canine parvovirus.
Canine coronavirus
Canine coronavirus is another viral disease Symptoms similar to parvovirus (not as hemorrhagic), but its prognosis is better. There are combined parvovirus and coronavirus diagnostic tests, useful to provide a prognosis. Treatment, as in the previous case, is supportive, symptomatic and antibiotic. There are also vaccines to prevent these two diseases. We advise you to also read these other articles on What are the symptoms of canine coronavirus and