There might be a time when your dog suddenly starts to gag and heave on the floor, and the end results might have been yellowish bile or digested food particles. In addition, your dog’s stool might have changed from the firm, solid structure to a watery, mushy pile that let off a foul odor.
Whatever the case, you want to know the potential causes behind your dog vomiting and diarrhea, and what you can do to fix it. In our section down below, we have listed most of the potential causes behind this condition, but as always, visit your veterinarian if the situation actually worsens instead of getting better.
What Do I Do for Dogs That Are Vomiting?
If your dog is gagging / vomiting on the floor, refrain from feeding your dog for at least 12 hours or at most 24 hours, but make sure to give water to your dog to keep him hydrated. Before you shout animal cruelty, listen to what I have to say before making any hasty decisions.
If your dog starts to vomit, this means that her intestines are in an irritated state, and if you keep on feeding your dog during this condition, she will throw it right back up. For vomiting dogs, it is highly recommended that you withhold food for a day to allow her intestines to rest a while.
What Do I Do For Dogs With Diarrhea?
If your dog is letting out loose, watery stools and even blood-stained, mucus-wrapped ones, you don’t need to withhold any food from your dog at all. However, for dogs with loose, watery stools, you need to change your dog’s diet to a bland one, which primarily consists of white rice with boiled chicken breasts.
For dogs with mushy and soft stools, the diet should be similar to the ones above but should also contain high amounts of fiber in order to help with digestion. As always, if the condition continues to not improve and actually gets worse, you need to seek professional help before the situation deteriorates even further.
General Causes Behind Dog Vomiting & Diarrhea
After covering the foundational questions regarding vomiting & diarrhea, you should have the basic tools to work with whenever your dog starts to vomit or suffer from diarrhea. In the section down below, we will deal with the general causes that have either symptoms or even both at the same time!
1. Inflammation of the Digestive Tract
Medically coined as gastroenteritis, the inflammation along the gastrointestinal tract can cause both diarrhea and induced vomiting. The gastrointestinal tract involves the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, and the inflammation of the digestive tract can be caused by parasites, bacterial infections, and even certain types of foods.
After the stomach has been emptied due to the frequent vomiting, your dog will then vomit yellowish bile that is of a foamy texture, and even go through dry heaving & gagging after eating & drinking. Diarrhea caused by gastroenteritis will cause stools that are mushy and soft, very similar to the texture of ice cream.
In addition, the inflammation along the internal tract will lead to abdominal pain, which can lead to dogs shying away from your touch especially near the stomach and the rear end. Due to the decreased appetite, your dog will be very low in energy and can suffer from dehydration due to the increased number of vomiting and diarrhea.
In order to improve gut health and strengthen the digestive system, many supplements have been formulated to help dogs fight against vomiting & diarrhea. If you do ever want to implement these chews for your dog, make sure to read the product description and customer reviews very thoroughly!
2. Allergic Reactions to Certain Foods
Introduction of new foods can cause adverse reactions such as an upset stomach, which can lead to your dog vomiting and undergoing diarrhea. This is an easier cause to differentiate than most since you know the diet that your dog is currently in. If the adverse reaction was caused by a diet change, you will be the first one to know.
Since you determine the brand of dog food that your dog eats, you might have bought from a brand that you might not have bought before, and even prepared some new treats for your dog. If your pet reacts adversely to certain foods, he will definitely let you know through his consistent actions.
3. Ingestion of Toxic Substances
This is probably the section that makes the most logical sense to us since our body is programmed to reject any harmful substances that get into our system. The same safeguard is active on your dog too since ingestion of toxic substances will lead to incessant vomiting that can go on for quite some time.
Due to their toxicity, the vomiting may be accompanied by blood, and there might be additional blood-stained in their stools if your pet is undergoing diarrhea. In their haste to remove the harmful substances, your pet’s immune system will react violently, which can result in bloodstains among the vomit and also in the stools.
4. Virus & External Infections
In addition, diarrhea can be caused by a viral infection that has targeted the intestines. If that is the case, vomiting may follow after early signs of diarrhea, but this case can be easily solved through annual physical examinations and well-timed vaccines.
Even though this is not as common among dogs as before, internal parasites and parasitic worms such as tapeworms, roundworms, and whipworms can cause vomiting and make your dog undergo diarrhea.
While viruses can go away naturally, parasites usually don’t. In order to remove the parasite’s hold over your pet, dewormer treatment is actually recommended for dogs to prevent parasitic worms from staying inside your pet’s digestive system.
5. Organ Failures & Internal Disorder
Even though this is probably the most serious section among them all, organ failures such as the kidney and liver are often associated with frequent vomiting and diarrhea. This is one of the reasons why that you need to consider going to the vet if the situation starts to head south.
Not only that, internal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal obstruction cannot be treated with over-the-counter products. Since these severe cases require professional assistance, it is best to go to a nearby animal hospital or to your vet’s office for quality results!
Conclusion: Stress & Anxiety
Even though this might be a less serious case when compared to other causes in this list, we still have to look at all the possible avenues that might be causing your dog to vomit or to undergo diarrhea. If your dog is under great stress for prolonged periods of time, it is definitely not good for his health and for his overall well-being.
The causes of extreme stress and prolonged anxiety can come from an unsafe environment and also from an unhappy home. If you decide to discipline your dog for his misbehavior, don’t do it when the action has been done a few hours ago, but do it when he is in the process of carrying out the action.
Also, don’t hit your dog directly, but let him know through your tone of voice and just lightly tap his nose to get his attention. If you ever have to discipline your dog for misbehavior, spank his rear end, and after carrying out the sentence, make sure that you have forgiven your dog through lots of hugging and patting.
As always, thank you for reading through our post, and I hope that you have found this post called Dog Vomiting and Diarrhea (Causes & Symptoms) helpful. If you ever want to sign up for a pet plan, please do so using this link, and come back to our website anytime if you have questions regarding your dog’s actions or behavior.
