Is it normal for puppies to throw up

Is your pup vomiting? Is it normal for puppies to throw up? Whether you have a case of a pup throwing up after eating or the puppy vomiting and not eating, throwing up should be taken seriously. To learn more, read on!

Table of Contents Show

Should I be worried if my puppy throws up?
Why would my puppy be throwing up?
What do you do when your puppy throws up?

Cases of vomiting in puppies are more serious than in adult dogs. Vomiting in puppies can cause dehydration and a loss of critical electrolytes. If you see your pup throwing up, take it to the vet as soon as you can. Delaying the visit might worsen the condition of your puppy.

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Some of the main reasons that cause puppies to throw up are:

Gastrointestinal Upsets

Many cases of puppy throwing up are caused by primary gastrointestinal upsets. It happens when your pup eats inedible objects(leading to obstruction), overly rich/fatty food, or spoiled food.

Eating Too Quickly

Another potential reason behind a puppy throwing up food is when it eats food too quickly.

Parasites

Furthermore, intestinal parasites may also lead to vomiting among puppies.

Signs of Medical Conditions

Vomiting can occur due to infectious diseases such as canine distemper virus or canine parvovirus. Your dog may experience throw-ups due to an allergic reaction too. It can also indicate that the pup has a bacterial infection, heat stress, or tumors in the GI tract.

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Treatments

Visit Your Vet

Vomiting in pups should be taken seriously. It can be a sign of some dangerous diseases that might cause the death of the puppy. If you are observing constant vomiting, inability to eat, and lethargy in your puppy, take it to the vet.

Keep the Diet Mild

Keep your puppy well-hydrated and try feeling small bland/mild diets a few hours after it throws up. Ensure the healthy eating habits of your puppy. You can ask your vet for recommendations for an easily digestible diet.

Slow Down Eating

Train your puppy to eat slowly and not too quickly. Give it small portions of meals in a day. Nevertheless, if you are unsure about anything, visit your pup's veterinarian for a check-up.

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Conclusion

Take your to the vet as quickly as you can if your pup is throwing up. Though it's not common, a pup could have serious complications due to some serious diseases that symptoms include throwing up. If you want to give your pup any medication, consult your vet first. Only proceed with the medications if you get the green light from your vet.

So suddenly I’m getting e-mail topic suggestions from Purely Puppy readers. This is nice, because I can use all the help I can get thinking up puppy-related things to talk about that are interesting to you guys.

Several of the e-mails I got involved vomiting puppies. This apparently is an issue on a lot of new puppy owner’s minds. First a little background on the topic of vomiting in general. There are three basic things that make you vomit:

Things in the GI tract that directly irritate/obstruct or otherwise damage it.
Anything going on in the body that stimulates the area in your brain known as the chemoreceptor trigger zone (yay me for remembering that bad boy), AKA the "vomit center." This can be instigated by poisons, drugs (chemotherapy drugs are big triggers), toxins in the body, etc.
Things that affect your vestibular system (sea/car sickness, vertigo, etc.)

There are probably other vomiting triggers, I just can’t think of them at this moment.

Vomiting is a common symptom of many, many pet maladies that result in vet visits. Nobody likes to clean the stuff up and their pets look pretty pitiful when they do it. I see it so much that I have this cool shorthand for the word vomit that is a "V" with a circle around it. (Diarrhea is a "D" with a circle around it, but we’re not talking about that right now.)

Most puppies vomit because of reason 1. We all know that puppies love to explore the world with their mouths. They consume any and all things that come into their paths. Sometimes these objects are irritating, like mulch and sticks, for example (or cell phones, or whatever). These items scritch and scratch their way down the pup’s GI tract, causing inflammation and subsequent vomiting and diarrhea. Sometimes these things cause an obstruction, then you end up with a really sick puppy who may need surgery to save his life.

Sometimes they eat something "bad," like a dead bird in the back yard, the wrong pile of random poop while out on their walk, a piece of rotten food some construction guys maybe tossed in your yard or out on the street (My dog Mia once engulfed a squashed sandwich off the middle of the street before I even realized what she was doing). This stuff could actually cause a bacterial overgrowth or just a buildup of toxins that can cause the pups GI upset (usually due to a mix of vomit triggers 1 and 2).

Parasites and viral infections, Parvo being the big one, can also manifest with varying degrees of vomiting.

Very rarely, but it does happen, the puppy has some kind of congenital organ dysfunction or infectious disease that affects organ function, like Infectious Hepatitis, AKA Adenovirus. One of the saddest cases I ever saw was a puppy born with a bad set of kidneys. A pup that keeps vomiting despite adequate symptomatic care will need some blood work just to check things.

So, as a GENERAL RULE OF THUMB (for God’s sake, call your vet if you ever have a concern, don’t take my word for it) … if your puppy vomits once but is eating, drinking, happy and acting totally normal, it’s PROBABLY OK to watch it for a day. Maybe don’t feed him or her for a couple hours. Maybe keep the next meal bland; just some white rice. It’s always better to err on the side of caution though and run it by your vet.

If that’s the end of it, then that’s OK; bullet dodged.

If the puppy continues to vomit, has vomiting and diarrhea (especially if it’s bloody, which is very consistent with Parvo), feels bad (lethargic, off food, etc.) then absolutely contact your vet and get your puppy checked out. Puppies dehydrate quickly, especially when the output (via vomiting/diarrhea) is more than the intake (via water consumption). They need medical intervention — fluids, blood work, x-rays — to keep them stable and comfortable while your vet figures out what’s happening.

Should I be worried if my puppy throws up?

If your dog vomits more than once, or has recurring bouts of vomiting, you need to call your vet immediately. Vomiting is a symptom of many serious diseases, illnesses, and complications, and as owners we owe it to our dogs to take it seriously. Ignoring your dog's vomiting could have serious, even fatal consequences.

Why would my puppy be throwing up?

Puppies are subject to a range of condition and experiences that trigger vomiting such as eating too much, too often, eating foreign objects or intolerance to human foods, consuming toxic or poisonous substances, or as a reaction to conditions of stress or anxiety.

What do you do when your puppy throws up?

Other than water, avoid food until their stomach calms down. Once a few hours have passed and your puppy is well-hydrated with little sign of vomiting, you may reintroduce food. It is advised to start with bland, easily-digestible food such as rice and boiled chicken.