Why is my dog vomiting?

Dog’s can vomit for all sorts of reasons, and it can take a lot of leg-work to get to the bottom of it – xrays, ultrasound, blood tests and biopsies, to name a few. Sometimes, all that’s needed is a prescription for pain relief and patience. Sometimes, it’s a window into something more insidious. And then, there’s everything in between.

More commonly than not, your dog has vomited because they’ve eaten gross and nasty. An old lemon that fell off the tree two weeks ago. Some fresh possum poop. For the most part some pain relief, diet therapy and TLC is the extent of treatment. Rarely, we will reach for an antibiotic.

Dog’s can vomit for all sorts of reasons, and it can take a lot of leg-work to get to the bottom of it

Sometimes, where vomiting has been happening very occasionally, but for a long time – think months to years, our minds start ticking over about cancers, inflammatory bowel disease and organ problems.

Where vomiting is happening all of a sudden, we get very worried about severe gastro, obstructions and twisted stomachs. We are unapologetic about aggressively pursuing diagnostics in these pets. These cases are common, and are very much be a matter of life or death.

So, you’ve just come home from work. You find that Rocky’s vomited on your new bed-spread, the one you got from last week’s Special Buys at Aldi, so you’re particularly annoyed. What do you do? Well, better yet, what do I want you to do? Pick up that phone of yours, it’s not just for selfies – take a picture of it. This is the kind of thing that gets us vets really excited – if your pet’s coming in to see us for vomiting, we want to see that vomit. If you can film you dog in the act of vomiting, even better! No, we’re not weird – just looking at the vomit, or how your pet ‘vomits’, actually tells us a lot about what’s going on, and let’s us cut to the chase a lot quicker.

If your pet’s coming in to see us for vomiting, we want to see that vomit. If you can film you dog in the act of vomiting, even better!

Never dismiss vomiting as normal. Even if your pet seems well, and is only vomiting, once or twice a month, this can be a huge red flag. I want to see you. Not necessarily as an emergency, but there’s clearly something going on there, and it’s worth addressing.

Never dismiss vomiting as normal.

You absolutely must come and see us, no exceptions, if your dog fits into any of these categories;

• Gagging, trying to vomit, bloated appearance
• Sudden onset, persistent vomiting
• Dull, lethargic, flat, just not himself
• Not eating
• Very old, or very young
• You are worried!

Book an Appointment with Us

Booking an appointment with your veterinarian has never been easier. Use the form below to search for our available practitioners at a time that best suits you.

If you have an emergency, we urge you not to book a vet appointment using this booking form and instead contact us at (03) 8595 6655 so that we can organise to see you as soon as possible.

Dr. Vicky Wade

Veterinarian