Dogs vomit. A lot. But even more than the number of times your dogs has vomited, so is the long list of causes of vomiting in dogs.

This seemingly endless list is broken down into two relatively simple categories.

Regurgitation and actual vomiting.

Sometimes after a dog eats, the food stays in the esophagus and doesn’t make it all the way to the stomach. This can happen for a number of reasons, from a mass to a hernia or even an enlarged heart. Any cause results in the same thing though: food accumulates in the esophagus until it is overloaded, and the it goes right back out of the dog’s mouth, usually in tubular shape. It isn’t always immediate, and can occur up to 24 hours after the dog ate, so don’t rule it out as quickly as you might think. Also, the longer the food stays in the esophagus, the more digested it will appear.

Remember, vomiting in dogs is a cause of a disease or ailment, not the disease itself. If you would like personalized help for vomiting in your dog, or don’t know if you should be concerned, you can ask a vet for help in the question box to the right.

If your dog did however go through the full vomiting experience (nausea, lip licking, retching, and abdominal contractions, it is likely that this is true vomiting. The most common causes of vomiting are eating inedible food objects or food that just doesn’t agree with a dog’s stomach, eating too quickly, eating too soon after exercise, motion sickness, parasites, and stress. Yes, dogs do experience stress even without a daunting mortgage payment hanging over their fuzzy heads.

Vomiting can indicate a number of other illnesses, from food allergies, to kidney or liver disease, pancreatitis, diabetes, hypoadrenocorticism, or even cancer. If your dog exhibits chronic vomiting or acute vomiting repeatedly, there is likely a cause that needs to be investigated.

Common causes of regurgitation in dogs:

• Esophageal obstruction (vascular ring anamoly, foreign body, stricture, neoplasia, esophageal compression

• Esophagitis

• Megaesophagus

• Metabolic causes

• Pharyngeal disorders

Common causes of vomiting in dogs:

• Motion sickness

• Overeating

• Drugs (almost any kind)

• Toxins

• Systemic disease

• Infectious diseases (viral, bacterial/rickettsial, parasitic)

• Abdominal inflammation

• GI obstruction

• Nervous system diseases

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Tags: dogs, health, Informative Pet Posts, Interesting Facts

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 1st, 2011 at 07:14 and is filed under About pets, Infomative lists.
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