# Sick Dog- Need Help Fast **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189 "2013-05-24T02:43:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/1 "2013-05-24T02:43:13Z")
Hi Everyone Today, about mid-afternoon, my dog threw up several times. Having had many dogs, this didn’t concern me too much, until he couldn’t keep water down. I called the vet, who made some time to see him. She decided that since he was acting OK we should monitor the situation, no food til morning, the usual. Well, now it’s 11pm, and the poor guy is heaving bile. At the vet’s suggestion, I gave just a little water and that came up about 90 minutes later, looking medium brown (color of coffee ice cream) and smelling horrible, not unlike the stuff that usually comes out the other end Naturally, I will be calling the vet in the morning, but in the meantime I am wondering what the best course is through the night, and if anyone has any thoughts on what it could be. I like my vet, but I sometimes think she approaches everything like money is no object. He’s a standard schnauzer, 5 years old, no history of GI issues. He does have a history of eating socks when he was younger, so of course I fear a blockage (the vet saw no signs, but just did a visual poke n prod). However, back in his sock-eating days he always passed them. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/2 "2013-05-24T02:55:38Z")
Emergency vet. NOW ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/3 "2013-05-24T03:03:10Z")
Since the OP is looking for advice, let’s move this to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/4 "2013-05-24T03:03:49Z")
Yeah I say emergency vet. He’s going to need IV fluids. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/5 "2013-05-24T03:29:20Z")
Yup. It’s emergency vet time, really. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/6 "2013-05-24T03:34:36Z")
Agreed with above advice, with emphasis. I had a dog who presented a lot like that while going into kidney failure. There are many possible causes for those symptoms, few of them appropriate to a wait-and-see approach. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/7 "2013-05-24T04:21:57Z")
Ditto on ER Vet. Don’t feed your dog at all. Offer water in small amounts or not at all. If they offer to do x-rays ,do it. My money is on ate a sock or something. That kind of “things can go in but won’t stay there” sounds like a foreign body issue to me. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/8 "2013-05-24T05:04:39Z")
Yup. He needs xrays and fluids, and hopefully not surgery. It does sound like a foreign body though, especially when there’s regurgitating and when it starts to smell like anything other than vomit. It was cool your vet saw him earlier on short notice, not cool to skip the rads, though that’s more often declined by the client. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/9 "2013-05-24T13:55:25Z")
Hoping for a positive update. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/10 "2013-05-24T14:33:48Z")
Very likely pancreatitis. It need not be fatal but it does need attention from a vet. Hope you are reading this after getting home with good news… ---
**Author:** ![cougar58](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@cougar58](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cougar58)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/11 "2013-05-24T15:49:12Z")
any chance he ate a grape or a raisin? > **[Grape and raisin toxicity in dogs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape_and_raisin_toxicity_in_dogs)** > > The consumption of grapes and raisins presents a potential health threat to dogs. Their toxicity to dogs can cause the animal to develop acute kidney injury (the sudden development of kidney failure) with anuria (a lack of urine production). The phenomenon was first identified by the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Approximately 140 cases were seen by the APCC in the one year from April 2003 to April 2004, with ... ---
**Author:** ![FrillyNettles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7ea924/32.png) [@FrillyNettles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrillyNettles)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/12 "2013-05-25T21:05:52Z")
I’m a vet. If I have a Schnauzer presenting as yours did, it is pancreatitis until proven otherwise. This does require hospitalization for IV fluids, anti-nausea injections, and just as importantly–pain meds. It can be very expensive to treat, and sometimes it becomes a very nasty battle, so I hope your poor guy got to the vet last night. Best wishes for a good outcome. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/13 "2013-05-25T22:55:04Z")
Coffee brown and bad smelling puke can also be a sign of ulcers (bleeding). I also hope the animal went to the ER vet. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sick-dog-need-help-fast/659189/14 "2013-05-26T20:17:19Z")
Any news on your dog? Hope all worked out okay. ☹