Our cocker spaniel (a bit over one year old) has always been very healthy. Last Saturday afternoon, while we were walking through town, he suddenly started throwing up. When we got home, he did not want food (a first) and just lay in the corner. We think it was some left-overs we gave him for lunch that might not have agreed with him (it contained a sauce with ginger and white roots). Sunday he was OK again, no problem. We just gave him bread to eat Sunday to ease his stomach, and he loved it.
Monday we went to the pet to have a blood sample taken (for a holiday in the UK next year) - did not mention the Saturday thing, as we thought it was a once off, and my French is not that good. When he got home, he ate his food (regular tinned dog food). No problem. Lively as always. Tuesday the same - until Tuesday night, a few hours after his diner, he started to throw up again. Apart from that, he looked OK (not at all like Saturday). Now (Wednesday here) I just got home, and discovered he had thrown up again - be it just a little bit. Again, he is lively, and he just ate a bowl of bread with gusto.
Dog owners (maybe even vets) under the dopers: any idea? Should I take him to the vet, or would that be overreacting?
PS: he had an anti-rabies shot 3 weeks ago - could that play a role?
Have you considered asking your vet if you should bring your dog in? At least in my experience in the states, vets don’t have a problem doing over-the-phone triage if you’re a regular customer.
Then (if you can’t get a French friend to help with the call) I second NoGoodNamesLeft: take him in. Dogs occaisonally vomit, and usually it’s not a big deal at all–but maybe it is, and you seem to be agonizing over it enough that the peace of mind would be worth it. And bring a translator in case he delivers the French version of the “dogs just vomit sometimes, don’t sweat it” speech.
Thanks for your advice guys. I have summoned enough courage to call and explain in my best French. Her answer was not to worry, unless it keeps happening for two more days.
And to take his temperature. Which we will do as soon as my wife gets here.
There are a couple of good rules of thumb about this sort of thing. One is “If you have to ask whether you should see a vet, the answer is probably yes.” What I usually tell people is that if you’d take your infant to the pediatrician for the same symptoms, you need to see a vet. If you’d take your infant to the ER for the same symptoms, you need to see a vet right now.
Are you positive your dog isn’t eating anything strange? He might have an allergy. I found out the my puppy was allergic to bananas. It took me a few months of feeding her the occasional bananna to figure this out.
But yeah, just keep up with the vet. Your pet is like your child, it seems, because you’re so worried. You wouldn’t let your kid just throw up and not worry about it too much.
AND
“A problem that can be confused with vomiting is regurgitation. Vomiting is the ejection of contents of the stomach and upper intestine; regurgitation is the ejection of contents of the esophagus.”
Heh - my wife also says I treat the dog too much like a kid. Thanks for the link, interesting stuff.
Saturday might have been an allergic reaction to the left-overs, but after no problems on Sunday and Monday, and nothing special in his food on Tuesday and Wednesday I do not expect an allergy.
