Dalmation dog vomits water - Answered by Dr. Lee
 

First timer with an 11 year old dalmation that can eat, pee, and poop normally but has been vomiting a clear "mucusy" water mixture 5-10 times per day. She never seems uncomfortable and can eat normally and keep that food down. Her activity level and perky personality never seem to be affected. In other words, she seems so fine except for this wierd daily occurance. Any ideas of what we may be dealing with??

Does she gulp her water and drink alot at a time ? Is the water too cold ? Both things could cause reflux and vomiting.

Hmmmm - good thought but --
 

She doesn't seem to gulp any more than she ever has -- and it was never an issue in her 10+ years before. The water is room temp as it has always been. If she has reflux, wouldn't she vomit after eating too?

I was thinking that if the water is too cold her stomach is spasming which can also happen when they over-drink or gulp their water after heavy exercise.

Congestive Heart Failure??
 

It was suggested to me that she may be suffering from congestive heart failure and the fluid being "coughed up" is from the lungs. (There is fluid build up due to the heart not able to pump right...) Does this sound familiar to anyone????

Sorry to hear that your pet is vomiting. In your post you stated that your pet vomits up mucousy-watery fluid 5-10 times per day. I am assuming this is not always immediately after drinking?

Recommendation:
Make an appointment with your veterinarian. A physical examination, discussing the history and and routine senior dog blood/urine testing may answer a lot of questions for you. Has yearly blood or urine tests been done?

Causes:
There can be a long list of causes. Some are simple and not a big deal. Stomach upset can be an early sign of problems because it is a large surface of a mucous membrane. As such it is blood rich, and any problems that might be altering blood chemistry may show up as stomach upset/vomiting.

You may want to ask your vet if Pepcid (famotidine) could be helpful. I will often use 20mg of famotidine by mouth every 24 hours for a 50-60 pound pooch to help with upset tummies! (Ask your vet first!)


Congestive heart failure (CHF) ?
In general the most common sign will be coughing which may lead to a pet even coughing up fluid and foam. Typically CHF will be more coughing than vomiting. A physical examination by a veterinarian can often determine if CHF is of a concern.


GOOD LUCK!

Diagnosis...
 

I just got back from the vet and our sweet dog has a parasite (coccidia) but she, the vet, is not convinced that it caused the vomiting soooo we are watching her closely and giving her albon and metoclopramide (for parasites and vomiting, respectively)

Thanks for the advice! I love this thread...this entire forum!!!! So very helpful.

Sad response to "Dalmation dog vomits water - Answered by Dr. Lee"
 

I am soooo sad writing this response to my original post from June 7. Our beautiful dalmation had to be put down this week due to her condition suddenly plummeting. She lost a lot of weight and continued to vomit -- now just about everything she ate/drank. The food/drink was never digested -- just moistened. The vomiting never seemed quite like vomiting -- more like coughing up. We took her back to the vet for bloodwork and x-rays. The x-rays revealed she had an extremely enlarged esophagus. The food/water she was eating was simply pooling before it ever made it to the stomach. The enlarged esophogus pressed against her heart and lungs making it harder to breath etc. She was forced to cough up everything that pooled so that she could breath easier. Not very much food made it to her stomach and she was becoming increasingly frail. The diagnosis was some sort of connective tissue disorder. We chose to put her down after a hard and thoughtful discussion with the vet and our family. She will be greatly missed!

I'm so sorry for the loss of your beloved dalmation! That is so sad :sad: At least she is no longer suffering :rip: :candle:

I am so sorry to hear of your loss!

:sad: :grouphug:

I feel so sad for you:sad: :grouphug: It sounds like you provided a very good life for her. Take care.

:sad: Sorry to hear she had to be p.t.s.i know it was a hard decision but she's not suffering.:rip:

It is always hard to lose a family member. I am sorry for your loss.