Persistent Vomiting in Dogs: Stacey’s Persistent Vomiting

When your dog throws up once, you may or may not need to be concerned, depending on how your dog is feeling. If it keeps happening, though, you need to take action.

Goldens are known for their hearty appetite. They are predisposed to serious health issues as a breed, but a weak stomach isn’t one of them.

Persistent Vomiting in Dogs: Stacey's Persistent Vomiting

Stacey started regularly puking two times a day.

Consistent vomiting like that signals a problem. Stacey’s mom took her to a vet. They checked Stacey’s blood but saw nothing alarming except elevated white blood cells.

What does that mean? Many things can cause a high white blood cell count.

  • inflammation
  • infection
  • tissue destruction
  • even some cancers can cause high white blood cell count.

Infections are usually the first suspect to consider.

However, Stacey’s elevation was minimal, and her vomiting was chalked up to an upset stomach, with everything else looking normal.

For two days, Stacey’s vomiting stopped.

Stacey stopped throwing up, but she also stopped eating. Then, she vomited again, this time with some blood and her stool looked black and tarry.

Stacey also looked very ill and moved slowly and with difficulty.

This landed Stacey at an emergency clinic.

They kept her overnight for monitoring, IV fluids, and diagnostics. Along with the obvious signs, Stacey was also running a high fever. Preliminary ideas included an obstruction, ulcer, or tumor.

X-rays didn’t reveal any obstruction, and as Stacey stabilized, she was able to go home with several meds–antibiotics and meds for a stomach ulcer.

Stacey was very thirsty but still not interested in eating. She did not vomit, but her stools were still black and now loose.

Stacey ended up at an emergency clinic again.

This time she received a new diagnosis–pancreatitis. Finally Stacey got the treatment to address her real problem.

Related articles:
Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog: Vomiting
Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog: Loss of Appetite

Further reading:
Pancreatitis in Dogs

Categories: Conditions • Pancreatitis • Real-life Stories • Symptoms • Vomiting

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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