What to do if a dog is vomiting with bile Causes of vomiting with bile Diagnosis of vomiting with bile in dogs Treatment for vomiting with bile in a dog Prevention of vomiting with bile in dogs Vomiting is a reflex act that leads to the release of stomach contents through the mouth, accompanied by active contraction abdominal muscles. The process of vomiting is triggered by stimulation of the vomiting center located in the brain.
The vomiting center can be stimulated by diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, abdominal organs, peritoneum, brain, and substances (toxins, drugs) carried by the blood and affecting chemoreceptors.
Any vomiting is not an independent disease, but a symptom that can only be gotten rid of by eliminating the cause that causes it.
Bile is secreted by liver cells (hepatocytes), collected in the hepatic tubules, and then into the common bile duct, which exits into the duodenum a few centimeters from the pyloric sphincter of the stomach. Bile is stored in the gallbladder, which communicates with the common bile duct, and is released into the intestine periodically, as needed.
Vomit mixed with bile indicates that bile from the intestines is being thrown into the stomach. This occurs when the motility of the gastrointestinal tract is impaired, when masses from the duodenum enter back into the stomach, irritate it, which causes vomiting. This also occurs with prolonged vomiting caused by any reason, when the stomach has been empty for a long time, and the urge to vomit continues. Bile entering the stomach irritates the gastric mucosa and, if this process continues for a long time, inflammation develops - gastritis.
What to do if your dog is vomiting bile
First of all, you should limit your water and food intake. You should not feed a dog that is vomiting until it stops: food and water will provoke vomiting attacks. Water can be given in small portions and often if it does not provoke vomiting.
A single episode of vomiting with bile, if there is grass or fur in the vomit, is not a reason to panic. But the dog requires careful observation: if vomiting recurs, you should immediately show the dog to a doctor.
If vomiting with bile is accompanied by a noticeable deterioration in the dog’s condition (refusal of food, diarrhea, weight loss, lethargy, increased body temperature, shortness of breath, yellowing of mucous membranes, increased thirst, etc.), the animal must be urgently taken to a veterinary clinic! Under no circumstances should you give any medications to your dog unless prescribed by a doctor and before being examined by a veterinarian!
Causes of yellow vomiting
Poisoning
A dog can be poisoned by something picked up on the street, chemicals, or various medications. In addition, dogs have a special interest in spoiled foods. A pet can find them on the street, in the trash, sometimes food can lie in a bowl for a long time and spoil. Dry food can become a victim of fungi and bacteria.
Symptoms depend on what the dog was poisoned with, the most common: vomiting and diarrhea, lethargy, shortness of breath, trembling, loss of coordination.
In the first 40 minutes from the moment of eating, you can drink enterosorbents. If there is a veterinary clinic nearby, then in the first hour after eating, the veterinarian may induce vomiting in the pet. If you know what exactly the dog was poisoned with, tell your doctor about it; perhaps there is a specific antidote. In addition, symptomatic therapy is used: antiemetics, painkillers, anticonvulsants, etc., as well as drip infusions to remove toxins from the blood.
Gastrointestinal obstruction
Dogs often vomit yellow foam due to intussusception, gastric volvulus, and swallowing stones, toys, rags, and other objects.
Intussusception is a condition in which the intestines curl in on themselves. This happens more often in young animals because their intestinal wall is still thin.
Gastric volvulus is a dangerous condition; large dogs are prone to it when they overeat.
If there is an obstruction, the dog vomits food, water, bile, and yellow foam. All this is accompanied by drooling, acute pain, and sometimes bloating. The pet may try to eat and drink, but everything he swallows will be vomited after some time.
Treatment is almost always surgical; in rare cases, it is possible to remove the foreign object using laxatives and enemas.
Infections
Bacteria and viruses can also cause vomiting. Diarrhea, loss of appetite, lethargy, and high body temperature also occur. Treatment depends on the specific disease. Antibiotics, antiemetics, drip infusions, diet, etc. are used.
Infestations
This is a group of diseases caused by parasites entering the body. When infested, the dog periodically vomits bile; diarrhea, mucus, blood and helminths may also appear in the feces. Animals lose weight despite normal appetite. In case of acute damage, there may be refusal to eat, lethargy, pain, and bloating. For treatment, drugs are used to destroy parasites in combination with symptomatic therapy.
Diet violation
When eating too fatty foods, smoked foods, excess spices, or when regularly feeding them from the table, vomiting occurs quite often in dogs.
Diarrhea also occurs, and if untreated, the dog vomits bile even without food; there may be refusal to eat, lethargy, and abdominal pain.
If vomiting occurs once, then symptomatic therapy (antiemetics, antispasmodics, diet correction) is sufficient. But if the diet is violated regularly, this leads to serious consequences. The groups of drugs will depend on what kind of disease caused the dog's diet.
Non-infectious diseases of the stomach and intestines
Inflammation of the stomach and small intestine can occur due to stress, genetics, autoimmune processes, and intolerance to certain foods.
The disease can be complicated by the occurrence of ulcers and erosions on the mucous membranes. In addition to vomiting, pain, diarrhea, and refusal to eat often occur.
For treatment, antiemetics, antacids (drugs that reduce stomach acidity), a low-fat diet, and antibiotics are used. Autoimmune processes require the use of immunosuppressive therapy.
Liver and gallbladder diseases
Hepatitis, cholangitis, cholecystitis and other diseases of the hepatobiliary system are also manifested by vomiting.
As a rule, with these diseases, the dog vomits a yellow liquid with foam in the morning. The color of the stool also changes, it becomes lighter or completely white. There may be diarrhea, mucus in the stool, loss of appetite and pain in the right hypochondrium. In severe cases, the mucous membranes and skin take on an icteric (icteric) tint.
Treatment includes diet, hepatoprotectors, antispasmodics, antiemetics, and antibiotics.
Tumors
Sometimes tumors affect the gastrointestinal tract or neighboring tissues. In addition to vomiting, weight loss occurs with preserved appetite, diarrhea, perversion of appetite (licking walls, eating inedible objects). Treatment is almost always surgical. Radiation or chemotherapy may also be required.
Pancreatic diseases
Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) or its necrosis (death) is accompanied by periodic vomiting, acute abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and possible diarrhea. A common symptom is a strange dog posture, which is called the “praying dog pose.” In the early stages, antiemetics, diet, painkillers, and drip infusions are used to help the pet. Necrosis may require surgery.
Endocrine pathologies
Vomiting can be a secondary symptom of hyperadrenocorticism (adrenal gland disease) and diabetes. In addition to vomiting, thirst and appetite increase, the pet’s activity level changes, the skin becomes thinner, and skin damage does not heal for a long time. Treatment includes symptomatic and hormonal (replacement) therapy.
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Kidney diseases
Kidney damage (nephritis, renal failure) is accompanied by general intoxication (azotemia) and often leads to uremic gastritis.
The first symptoms of kidney damage are lethargy, changes in thirst, increased volume of urine, decreased appetite, and weight loss. During treatment, it is important to adjust the level of electrolytes and the pet’s drinking regimen (diet, drips). Drugs that relieve symptoms affecting renal blood flow and blood pressure, as well as a diet low in phosphorus, are used.
Heatstroke
Dogs have always had problems with heat transfer. Unlike humans, they do not sweat. Their fur protects them from the sun and heat; thermoregulation occurs through breathing. At high temperatures this may not be enough, which can lead to heat stroke. In addition to vomiting, diarrhea, unsteadiness of gait or even fainting, rapid breathing, and redness of the mucous membranes often occur. Treatment consists of cooling the pet to its normal temperature and replenishing fluid deficiency.
Motion sickness in transport
Pets can also get motion sickness in transport. Prepare for the trip in advance: do not feed your pet 4 hours before travel, make stops every 1-2 hours. What to do if your dog vomits bile on the road? It is enough to give her a break, and before the trip you should use anti-motion sickness medications.
Taking certain medications
You should not use anti-inflammatory drugs (steroidal and non-steroidal) without a doctor’s prescription; drugs from the human pharmacy, such as paracetamol, diclofenac, ibuprofen, ketorol and others, are especially dangerous. In addition to vomiting, they can cause diarrhea, blood in vomit and stool, lethargy, and severe abdominal pain. Sometimes bleeding develops, which will be complicated by signs of blood loss and shock.
Treatment is symptomatic, gastroprotectors, enveloping agents, antiemetics, droppers, and a special diet are prescribed. Acute blood loss may require a transfusion.
Causes of vomiting with bile
Possible causes of bilious vomiting in dogs:
- gastritis
- gastro-duodenal reflux (reflux of bile into the stomach due to disruption of the sphincter)
- acute and chronic liver diseases
- severe helminthic infestation
- foreign body in the stomach and small intestine
- infectious diseases
- pancreatitis
- renal failure
- brain diseases
- poisoning
- motion sickness in transport
- vestibular syndrome
- sudden change in diet
- metabolic diseases (diabetes mellitus, hypoadrenocorticism, etc.)
Causes of frequent pathological vomiting in dogs
When an animal is sick, it behaves restlessly and cannot find a place. The main signs of nausea are excessive drooling, frequent licking, and smacking.
When vomiting, the dog lowers its head down, stretching its neck. At the same time, the abdominal muscles and diaphragm contract rhythmically, pushing out the contents of the stomach. If the stomach is empty, the dog may vomit foam, most often yellow in color. Vomit may vary in color, volume, consistency, and vomiting may be frequent or repeated at regular intervals. All this, with careful observation, helps to make a diagnosis faster.
The main causes of vomiting in dogs are:
- Almost all pathologies of the digestive system are gastrointestinal vomiting. Occurs as a result of frequent eating of poor quality feed. It is also one of the indicative symptoms of gastritis, gastric/duodenal ulcers, pancreatitis, hepatitis, foreign bodies, liver lipidosis, etc.
- Brain lesions (central vomiting) in which the vomiting center is constantly in a state of excitation - intracranial hypertension due to neoplasms and hydrocephalus, traumatic brain injury, meningitis, circulatory disorders, heat/sunstroke, peripheral vestibular syndrome.
- Intoxication of various origins - infectious viral or bacterial pathologies (canine distemper, parvovirus/coronavirus enteritis, pyometra, sepsis, abscesses, etc.), dysfunction of the liver, gallbladder, kidneys, parasitic infestations (worms, protozoa), drug overdose .
Severe frequent vomiting in dogs is in most cases accompanied by diarrhea, dehydration, loss of appetite, lethargy, and in severe cases, coma.
Prevention of bilious vomiting in dogs
First of all, to prevent the occurrence of diseases manifested by vomiting, it is necessary to provide the dog with high-quality food and fresh drinking water, follow a feeding regime, avoid eating foreign objects and toxic substances (especially household chemicals), regularly vaccinate and treat against parasites, and also medical examination of the animal. Timely diagnosis will allow you to detect the disease at an early stage, before it causes irreparable harm to the dog’s health.
If a dog is vomiting bile, self-medication is unacceptable!
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Color, consistency and contents of vomit
Vomiting is not always associated with food intake. It can be observed on an empty stomach, and several hours after eating.
On an empty stomach, a dog vomits due to inflammatory pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract or renal failure. Vomiting immediately after eating may indicate a foreign body, stomach/esophageal tumors, esophageal diverticulum, or reflux esophagitis. Vomiting of undigested food a few hours after eating most often indicates gastric atony.
If your dog's vomit is yellow (or green), it means there is a problem with the liver or the animal is suffering from an intestinal obstruction below the junction of the bile duct. Vomiting of bile is often observed after the stomach has already been completely emptied, and its antiperistaltic contractions do not stop, and bile from the duodenum is thrown into the stomach. Debilitating frequent vomiting of yellow foam in a dog is one of the indicative symptoms of such a dangerous disease as viral enteritis.
Vomiting blood is an extremely dangerous condition, indicating the development of gastrointestinal bleeding; immediate veterinary attention is required.
Treatment of vomiting is treatment of the pathology that causes it. In this case, it is important to quickly determine the cause, which will help prescribe effective therapy, which directly affects the fastest recovery.
Reasons why a dog vomits bile:
Feeding dry food
Feed absorbs moisture in the digestive tract, so it can dry out the digestive tract and increase inflammation. This causes the stomach to enlarge and overproduce stomach acids.
What should I do?
If you need to feed your dog food, divide the daily dose into 3 or 4 small meals and feed throughout the day. Water must be freely available.
Pancreatitis in dogs
Pancreatitis in dogs is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas that can lead to abdominal pain, lack of appetite and vomiting. It occurs under the influence of a number of reasons (fatty foods, transfer from one type of diet to another, etc.), and is expressed in the activation of enzymes in the pancreatic parenchyma and its ducts, followed by the digestion of gland tissue.
An attack of pancreatitis with vomiting of bile can occur 24 hours after a food error.
Intestinal obstruction
If they enter the gastrointestinal tract, some foreign bodies (rubber band, foam plastic, bottle caps) may remain in the stomach and periodically block the entrance to the duodenum, causing periodic deterioration of the condition and vomiting. Regular vomiting turns into a dog vomiting yellow bile after its stomach is emptied. Severe loss of energy and severe abdominal pain may indicate an intestinal obstruction.
When a diagnosis of gastrointestinal obstruction is made, urgent surgical intervention is required.
Allergy
Food allergies are a very serious challenge for dogs. While it often appears soon after switching to a new food, in many cases a dog may be allergic to something it has been eating regularly for years.
- Beef
- dairy
- wheat
- eggs
- chicken
- mutton
- soybeans
Do not forget that almost any food ingredient can cause an allergy, regardless of its absence from the proposed list.
Causes
The most common reasons for a dog not eating and vomiting bile are:
- the presence of diseases of the gallbladder, liver, stomach;
- helminthic infestations;
- poor quality or too fatty food;
- poisoning;
- intestinal obstruction;
- stress;
- allergic reactions.
Often, a dog vomits bile due to overeating, as well as when changing its diet. This happens especially often when switching from natural food to dry food. Tailed animals that like to eat grass, especially weeds, also suffer from this problem. Vomiting is possible in service dogs who receive fatty foods after finishing their work day. At the same time, they release an excessive amount of bile, the excess of which is released along with vomit.
Signs of nausea in a dog
A dog experiencing a feeling of nausea may look guilty from the outside. The animal trembles, hides in a secluded place, where it behaves restlessly, and may constantly lick, whine or swallow saliva.
Sometimes the feeling of nausea is accompanied in dogs by smacking their lips and profuse drooling, which she cannot cope with. If after these signs the dog vomits undigested food, you should consult a specialist.
Sometimes a dog may feel sick without vomiting. This may be due to helminthiases, general intoxication of the body and some other pathological conditions.
Symptoms
When your dog vomits bile in the morning, there are also accompanying symptoms:
- refusal to eat;
- salivation;
- discharge of yellow foam from the mouth;
- howling in pain;
- tense posture;
- the appearance of signs of exhaustion.
Naturally, when a dog vomits bile, it refuses to eat. There is no need to force feed. Before vomiting, she licks her muzzle and often burps. A loud rumbling is heard in the stomach, and an unpleasant odor emanates from the mouth. If it resembles urine or ammonia, then the animal is suffering from kidney failure.
The dog is vomiting bile: what to do?
If the attacks do not stop, the appetite has disappeared and playfulness has disappeared, then the animal must be taken to the veterinarian. It is recommended to keep him hungry for several hours. Owners are confused when their dog vomits bile and don’t know what to give before visiting the veterinarian. It is best for her to take Smecta at the first stage. Further treatment will be prescribed by a specialist.
Usually, when a dog vomits bile, it is recommended to treat it with intramuscular injections of Cerucal or No-shpa. These drugs eliminate the urge to vomit. During this period, the shaggy patient is given only water. To avoid dehydration of the body, Regidron solution is added to the treatment. Nutrition is resumed gradually, in small portions. If vomiting does not recur within a few days, return to normal feeding.
Urgent help
If a dog's diarrhea and vomiting are short-lived and limited to a few episodes, and the animal does not look lethargic or weakened, the animal's diet should be limited during the first 24 hours. To avoid dehydration, it is necessary to feed the animal often and in small portions: a few tablespoons of water every half hour.
The next day after fasting, feed your dog rice water or low-fat chicken broth. Later, boiled rice porridge and finely chopped white chicken meat are added to the diet. To restore intestinal microflora, veterinarians recommend giving fermented milk products or medications containing lactic acid bacteria. Gradually move on to familiar foods in small portions. Be sure to give your dog sorbents - activated carbon, enterosgel or smecta.
If the described symptoms appear in a puppy, you should not self-medicate. The high likelihood of an infectious disease requires the intervention of a qualified physician. If the temperature rises, blood and mucus appear in the diarrhea, or continuous vomiting for more than a day, it is advisable to immediately contact a veterinary clinic.
