View Full Version : Dog - throwing up a lot - emergency?
Hey guys, my excellent vet doesn't open up for another 2 hours and I have a dog who's been throwing up for the last few hours. He threw up this morning so I put him out while I went to school and when I came back he was still throwing up. It's mainly water at this point and he's beginning to look distressed - he seemed fine this morning.
I'm trying to decide if I should take him to the emergency hospital 15 miles away - where he's never been. Or wait for the vet whom he loves and I trust.
:help:
Will he drink anay water? Does he have any other symptoms/medical conditions?
Has he gotten into the garbage or eaten something in your yard?
He doesn't seem to be drinking water. He's a 14-yr old large dog - 95 lbs. He has arthritis on his back leg and I've been giving him ProMotion, a joint supplement that the vet recommended.
He might have eaten a dead bird or something in the yard - hard to tell. He keep coughing and wanting to throw up even if nothing comes out. We noticed he hasn't been eating as well the last couple of days. But he eventually eats his food.
I'm sorry, WG, but it doesn't sound good to me.... I'd give the regular vet's office a call - sometimes there is someone there anyway who can advise, or the vet may be in early for some reason. Otherwise, I'd go to the emergency vet.
I think you'd be safe waiting for your vet's office to open. I know this might not be the case........but some people get alot of GI irritation with joint supplements, so maybe that's what's bothering him?
Let us know what the vet says! good luck!
Tussiemussies
10-23-13, 3:15pm
Think you should take him to the emergency vet since he is trying to bring something up and it's not coming out...poor thing. Hope you find out what the problem is soon. How long has he been on this med.?
He's been on the meds for about 2-3 months. It did help his arthritis a LOT, but maybe it's damaged his stomach. We'll see.
I decided to wait for the vet because that would give dh time to come home and help me with him - sometimes he has a really hard time getting out of the car. Plus, in case hard decisions have to be made, emotional support will be good. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks.
But her regular vet opens in 1 hour (from her first posting). The emergency clinic could take a half hour to get there. I think she should just wait. Hopefully the regular vet can take her right in.
We were writing at the same time watergoddess. I'll keep my fingers crossed that its something easy to fix! Let us know.
catherine
10-23-13, 3:31pm
Wishing you the best, watergoddess. Hope all goes well.
try2bfrugal
10-23-13, 4:47pm
Hope all turns out well, Watergoddess. Keep us posted.
Our little guy is under the weather too, and yesterday even refused his walks which he usually lives for. It is tough knowing what to do when they can't tell you what is wrong.
I hope it all turns out OK . We had to take our 12 year old cat to the vet for a bladder infection. The sad crying at 1 am just makes me cry. I gave her a quick little syringe in her mouth of a little vinegar in water...then some glucosamene. By 5 am she seemed better and after one dose of the amoxicillin at the vets she seems normal. Now 14 days of twice a day meds to hope it stays away. She had it in March and I just worry this is the beginning of the end for her.
Tussiemussies
10-23-13, 7:45pm
Hope everything is going well...
Blackdog Lin
10-23-13, 7:54pm
Joining in with my prayers and good thoughts for your dog's recovery.
It reminds me of one of the many benefits of living in a very small town. Our "baby" was hit by a car 8 years ago, we found her around 6:00 am. Her "doctor" was a new associate vet that the owner vet (whom we had been going to for years and, you know, everyone in town knew) had taken in a year before, and who had taken over the care of most of the small animals. In my panic and upset and grief I could not for the life of me remember our new vet's name, only the name of the owner vet - so I called him at home and he said "keep her warm and covered and I'll meet you at the clinic in 10 minutes".
He did, his immediate care saved her life (she was in the "hospital" for 6 days), and I am forever grateful for the kind of caring and service you get living in a small town.
She's laying on her pillow in the next room right now looking adorable, as usual, and 13 years old now.
Once again watergoddess, hoping for a good outcome for you.
Thank you for the prayers and good wishes. The vet found an enlarged liver and high temp. He feels my dog will not survive surgery, so gave him a shot of penicillin and some antibiotics. He's also on a chicken & rice soup diet. Unfortunately, he has been unable to keep anything down, including fluids. He's hungry and thirsty, but gets violently ill if he tries to take anything in.
I forgot to ask how long it would take for any improvement in symptoms. The vet did say if he doesn't improve to take him back for blood work. I wish I had insisted on blood work yesterday, but when we finally got him to the vet he seemed to be feeling much better. But the improvement was only because he had nothing in his system. When we got him home and gave him water he immediately became sick again.
I guess at this point, we will might need to put him down if he doesn't improve. I hate seeing him in pain. And I just don't know what else the vet can do if surgery is out. He's always been a pretty healthy dog, and he is quite old for his size. I don't want his last days to be painful ones.
try2bfrugal
10-24-13, 12:26pm
So sorry to hear that Watergoddess. This is a long shot but our go to home remedy for upset stomachs is beef broth. I just mince beef and cook it in water and then the sick family member drinks the liquid. I found that idea in an old medical book. We have had a couple of immediate recoveries from that broth, one from an upset stomach that was going on for days.
Another home remedy that sometimes helps that I found in a Chinese medicine book is when all else fails, is to make a broth from every different kind of vegetable you can find. Mince the vegetables, simmer in water and then drink the broth. I think the logic behind that is many disorders are nutrition related, and by putting in all different vegetables the broth has a wide variety of nutrients - some that may help.
Good luck with your dog.
Sorry to hear this watergoddess! Did the Vet have any explanation for the enlarged liver? I think drawing labs would be really important, in understanding what's going on.
How old is your dog? Did he develop this all of a sudden?
(I was just thinking about the chicken jerky for dogs from China that is killing them).
No offense, but it seems like your vet didn't do much, if the liver really was enlarged.
Would a second opinion be in order?
Darn, you are giving me flashbacks to the end of my Lab's time here. Boss had not eaten in about 5 days - hard for us to determine, as we were a family of four and each thought the other had been filling his bowl. He was drinking until the end, but since he had access to outdoors we did not realize the vomiting was happening. The good thing is he went rather quickly. It's heartbreaking! I will remain hopeful that you caught yours soon enough, and that the meds help get your furry baby back to health.
sweetana3
10-24-13, 2:39pm
Call the vet and ask if he has a shot or something he can give for throwing up. Don't wait.
Did they hydrate your dog? Give him subcutaneous fluids? If he can't hold water down, one choice is to hydrate him that way (in the hopes that this will resolve itself with some fasting) Our biggest, oldest dog (a 14-year-old shepherd) had an attack of pancreatitis this year, very similar symptoms to yours, and with fluids given by IV we were able to help him "wait it out" until his system calmed down.
An enlarged liver is never a good thing, though - liver disease is not uncommon in dogs, and the symptoms will sound familiar to you: http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/liver-disease-liver-failure-dogs
Sending you hugs and good luck, watergoddess. May he not suffer.
Tussiemussies
10-24-13, 8:26pm
Thank you for the prayers and good wishes. The vet found an enlarged liver and high temp. He feels my dog will not survive surgery, so gave him a shot of penicillin and some antibiotics. He's also on a chicken & rice soup diet. Unfortunately, he has been unable to keep anything down, including fluids. He's hungry and thirsty, but gets violently ill if he tries to take anything in.
I forgot to ask how long it would take for any improvement in symptoms. The vet did say if he doesn't improve to take him back for blood work. I wish I had insisted on blood work yesterday, but when we finally got him to the vet he seemed to be feeling much better. But the improvement was only because he had nothing in his system. When we got him home and gave him water he immediately became sick again.
I guess at this point, we will might need to put him down if he doesn't improve. I hate seeing him in pain. And I just don't know what else the vet can do if surgery is out. He's always been a pretty healthy dog, and he is quite old for his size. I don't want his last days to be painful ones.
So sorry to hear this Watergoddess. Did they take an x-ray of his stomach? Both my brother and sister's dogs had similar issues but each had eaten something they should not have, one a piece of corn cob and one a piece of a tennis ball and they were lodged in their stomachs. They both had to have surgery to get it out and they were fine... It doesn't make sense to me that an enlarged liver would cause this? Maybe another really good vet for a second opinion? So sorry that your dog is suffering like this. Chris
iris lily
10-24-13, 10:03pm
14 is a good age for a big dog.
If it were me, I 'd be thinking more about not prolonging his life in pain rather than finding alternative vets or treatments.
try2bfrugal
10-25-13, 2:49am
So sorry to hear this Watergoddess. Did they take an x-ray of his stomach? Both my brother and sister's dogs had similar issues but each had eaten something they should not have, one a piece of corn cob and one a piece of a tennis ball and they were lodged in their stomachs. They both had to have surgery to get it out and they were fine... It doesn't make sense to me that an enlarged liver would cause this? Maybe another really good vet for a second opinion? So sorry that your dog is suffering like this. Chris
We had a dog eat a sock and need surgery to have it removed. I don't think the vet would have known how to treat him if he hadn't taken an X-ray.
puglogic
10-25-13, 11:16am
We had a dog eat a sock and need surgery to have it removed. I don't think the vet would have known how to treat him if he hadn't taken an X-ray.
So true. We had a friend's dog last week eat a tampon. Now THERE'S something guaranteed to cause problems. He had to have surgery to remove it, and now is just fine.
I think a second opinion is a good idea. I am not a vet but your vet's treatment of this issue as you describe it raises some red flags. And if they did not IV hydrate a dog that hasn't been able to keep water down for two days, that's just not right.
Its sometimes easy to confuse kindness/friendliness/convenience with competency in a vet. I've been in a similar position where we liked the vet.......but discovered he didn't have the same interest/knowledge in troubleshooting skills as we should have demanded of him. Twice now (different vets), we lost a dog and a cat because of that. Its sometimes really hard to find a good vet.
try2bfrugal
10-25-13, 1:29pm
So true. We had a friend's dog last week eat a tampon. Now THERE'S something guaranteed to cause problems. He had to have surgery to remove it, and now is just fine.
I think a second opinion is a good idea. I am not a vet but your vet's treatment of this issue as you describe it raises some red flags. And if they did not IV hydrate a dog that hasn't been able to keep water down for two days, that's just not right.
Our dog had some liquid pumped in him and you could see on the X-ray the liquid stopped at where the sock was lodged. There was no way he could eat or drink anything as nothing could pass through the sock.
There would have been no way to know about the sock or where to even open him up to operate without the X-ray.
I agree with the second opinion. Our vet even did X-rays on a guinea pig that wasn't eating, and it showed a kidney stone.
Thanks for the continued good wishes. Sadly, our guy is no longer with us. I took him back to vet on Thursday morning and the xray revealed no obstruction. He seemed to be getting better Thurs afternoon and friday. But Saturday morning he took a turn for the worse, and when we took him back to the vet we knew it was time to let him go. He was a wonderful, loving companion and I keep forgetting he's not here anymore. I keep looking for him. We miss him terribly. But he had a good life - and a long and healthy one (at 14, this was the first time he was ever sick, other than his arthritis.) And he was much loved - and he knew it.
iris lilies
10-28-13, 11:10am
Thanks for the continued good wishes. Sadly, our guy is no longer with us...
Oh I AM sorry to hear it. But here's to his long and happy life!
catherine
10-28-13, 11:16am
I'm so sorry, watergoddess. It is so painful to lose a canine companion. I hope your memories of those 14 years with him will be a great comfort for you.
Float On
10-28-13, 11:39am
I'm so sorry.
Oh so sorry Watergoddess! Its so hard to lose a friend. I'm sure you have wonderful memories. It won't always hurt this much.
((((hugs))))
So sorry for the loss of a much loved member of the family. My condolences.
try2bfrugal
10-28-13, 2:33pm
So sorry to hear that watergoddess. Fourteen is nice, long life for a dog.
And he was much loved - and he knew it.
This is the most beautiful thing I've read all morning. {{Hugs}} to you, watergoddess, and blessings on you for having earned the love of an old dog. It's a huge honor in my book.
frugal-one
10-28-13, 4:02pm
So sorry....
Tussiemussies
10-28-13, 4:49pm
So sorry Watergoddess....
Gardenarian
10-28-13, 5:56pm
This is so sad. I hope you are doing okay.
I am so sorry. My cat and I went through something similar recently and at age 14, I had to let him go, too. I still think that I hear him or feel him walking on my bed at night. All my best to you.
Simpler at Fifty
10-28-13, 7:36pm
I am so sorry for your loss. Bless you for letting your pal go.
Watergoddess, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. :(
Blackdog Lin
10-29-13, 6:06pm
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your loving and loyal friend. It's so hard to let them go.....
I am very sorry to hear that. I am unable to have pets because of allergies, and can only say that at least you had the joy of a good companion for a while
I keep hearing more about the tainted dog treats from China. I hope this wasn't the dog's problem. :(
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