24 Reasons Why Your Dog is Throwing Up in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

In the course of your dog’s life, there are bound to be some times where they puke (hopefully outside or on tile but most dog owners know they aren’t that lucky). So, when the time comes to grab the carpet cleaner and paper towels, it’s important to know the reasons why your dog is throwing up in Ft. Lauderdale, FL so that you can make the best decision for your pet.

1. Regurgitation vs Throwing Up

When you notice that your dog has thrown up, take a moment to confirm that is actually throw up and not regurgitation. Regurgitation is a non-sickness related action where your dog purges their stomach of undigested food or fluid.

Before your dog regurgitates you may notice that they seem to be having a hard time breathing or they are coughing. One way to identify if its regurgitation vs. vomit for sure is to inspect the pile.

The entire mess should be comprised of undigested food, and in that case, you should be able to easily identify food or even note that the throw up has retained the shape of their esophagus.

2. One-Time Incident

Vomiting is an unavoidable aspect of every pet owner’s life. Your dog may get sick once and then continue on about their day as if nothing happened. In this case, it’s likely that your dog simply ate too quickly, played too soon after eating, ate something they didn’t like, or ate too much grass.

In these cases, where your dog is behaving normally, it’s a safe bet that there isn’t a more sinister reason behind their vomit. You can check the throw up for undigested food, or grass, to try and confirm the issue.

3. A Sickness Causing Your Dog to Throw Up

If your dog has been continuously vomiting it is time to consider that they are likely battling a sickness and take steps to get them some medical attention. If your dog is throwing up, they could be suffering from acute vomiting, which is sudden and severe bouts of vomiting.

Below are some of the reasons that could cause acute vomiting in your pet.

4. Kidney Failure

If your dog comes into contact with poison, anti-freeze, or becomes dehydrated they can start to go into kidney failure. Kidney failure can result in vomiting because when the kidneys aren’t working properly the waste levels in your pet’s body can grow rapidly in a short amount of time, causing them to try and purge some of the excess by puking.

5. Liver Failure and Vomiting in Dogs

The normal function of the liver is to rid the body of toxins help metabolize proteins. In liver failure, the toxins will build up in your animal’s body and begin to leak into their other organs, causing inflammation and discomfort. Vomiting frequently, or vomiting up bile, is one of the first signs of liver failure as it’s a warning that your animal is experiencing nausea or discomfort from the inflammation in their body.

6. Viral Infections

Viral infections can often attack the immune system of the dog causing them to have runny eyes and nose, a cough and even an upset stomach—which can cause them to vomit. Or, a viral illness can infect their intestines.

This type of viral issue would cause them to become sick enough that they are unable to keep their food down, puking it up due to feelings of nausea and pain.

7. Intestinal Parasites

If your dog has an intestinal parasite, such as a roundworm, that has progressed to an incredibly advanced stage they could show signs of the infection by puking.

8. Bacterial Infection

Gastroenteritis, or an infection in the gastrointestinal tract (which is comprised of the stomach and surrounding intestines) is often caused by a bacterial infection that can result in the inflammation, irritation, or pain in your dog’s stomach and intestines, resulting in them vomiting.

9. Toxins or Poisons

If your animal ingests something that is either toxic or poisonous to them, one of the body’s main lines of defense is to try and purge the toxin from their system by puking it up.

10. Ingestions of Irritating Substances

A dog could also puke when they eat something that isn’t necessarily poison, but certainly isn’t good for them, like garbage.

11. Diet Changes Can Cause Your Dog to Throw Up

Animals are creatures of habit and a dog can be so used to their normal food that a sudden change can cause an upset stomach and vomiting. In order to avoid shocking their system in this way, try introducing the new food by mixing it into the old food — in ever increasing amounts — over time.

12. Reaction to Medication

Just like with humans, some medications can have side effects. Your dog could be puking because it has been prescribed a medication that it has an adverse reaction to. This reaction could either be an allergic one, or just a negative side effect of what the medication is working on inside your animal’s body.

13. Heat Stroke

If your dog has been in an extremely hot or humid environment, they could experience a heat stroke. Vomiting is one of the more severe signs of a heat stroke so if their heat stroke has advanced to that stage it is time to seek medical attention.

14. Bloat

This is a very severe and life-threatening issue for your dog to face. It involves their stomach filling with gas and twisting in such a way that neither gas nor food can escape. Often a dog will resort to throwing up in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain and discomfort.

You need to contact your vet immediately if you think they might be experiencing bloat.

Watch Out for Chronic Vomiting in Dogs

If your dog is throwing up frequently, over extended periods of time as opposed to in sudden sever bursts, then your dog may be suffering from chronic vomiting.

Some of the reasons for chronic vomiting are found below.

15. Intestinal Obstruction or Foreign Bodies

In the case of obstruction, or a foreign body being stuck in your dog’s intestinal tract, there is going to be a heavy amount of vomiting. Since the dog’s body is attempting to purge to a foreign object, in addition to not having the ability or room to move food through their digestive tract normally, their stomach will be undergoing high amounts of strain and pressure, resulting in throw up.

16. Parvovirus

A dog with parvovirus, or parvo, may vomit a clear, yellow or brown liquid due to abdominal pain and bloating.

17. Liver Disease

Liver disease can cause your dog to vomit bile because of the stomach ulceration and discomfort caused by the liver not being able to keep up with all the toxins in your animal’s body.

18. Kidney or Liver Failure

If your dog comes into contact with poison, anti-freeze, or becomes dehydrated they can start to go into kidney failure. Kidney failure can result in vomiting because when the kidneys aren’t working properly the waste levels in your pet’s body can grow rapidly in a short amount of time, causing them to try and purge some of the excess by puking.

The normal function of the liver is to rid the body of toxins help metabolize proteins. In liver failure, the toxins will build up on your animal’s body and begin to leak into their other organs, causing inflammation and discomforting. Vomiting frequently, or vomiting up bile, is one of the first signs of liver failure as it’s a warning that your animal is experiencing nausea or discomfort from the inflammation in their body.

19. Pancreatitis

This is an extremely painful and even a life-threating issue. In the case of pancreatitis your dog is likely throwing up because of severe abdominal pain.

20. Uterine Infection

Also called Pyometra, this infection can induce vomiting because of pain from abdominal dissention as well as the issues of potential sepsis.

21. Intestinal Inflammation

Intestinal inflammation would be very irritating and even painful for your pet to experience, and they would likely throw up because of pain, nausea, or an upset stomach.

22. Cancer

Cancer cells can line the stomach and intestines, resulting in pain, nausea, and vomiting.

23. Colitis

Colitis, or the inflammation of the large intestine, can cause your pet to suffer from chronic throwing up as a result of the pain and discomfort in their intestines.

24. Constipation

If your dog is struggling with constipation, it may get to such a level where their body no longer has the space to process new food, resulting in your dog throwing up to help alleviate some of the pressure and bloating from their backed-up system.

Contact Your Vet If Your Dog Keeps Throwing Up

There are numerous reasons your dog could be vomiting, some of them might be easily identifiable; did they get into the trash? Have they gone poop in the last several days? But other reasons could be harder to discern and could even be life threatening.

So, when facing a puking pup, never be afraid to pay attention to the signs, and take them to the vet as needed.