Frequent Vomiting and your Dog and what you can do to prevent it.
By Tippy


Dogs vomit easily, which is a natural safety factor in
animals that are natural scavengers and may eat spoiled
food.

Your dog might be vomiting for a number of reasons. One of
the major causes of frequent vomiting in pet dogs is that
they have swallowed something (usually nonfood such as hair
from scratching or pieces of something they have chewed up)
that doesn't agree with their stomach. But some dogs with
persistent vomiting are genuinely ill and need to see a
veterinarian. And some dogs have a genetic defect that
causes the condition.

Here are the major reasons why your dog may be vomiting:

- Something is stuck in the dog's throat and is triggering
its gag reflex.

- A Vascular Ring anomaly or VRA, which is a blood vessel
that constricts the esophagus.

- Esophageal Stenosis - This causes a narrowing of the
esophagus and prevents food from going into the stomach
quickly.

- A Hiatus Hernia - This is caused by an opening or tear in
the diaphragm, which separates the chest cavity from the
abdomen. This makes it possible for part of the stomach to
move up into the chest cavity and interfere with the
esophagus and stomach.

- Megaesophagus - usually this is due to poor muscle tone in
the walls of the esophagus and causes the esophagus to
enlarge. The coordinated movements that move food through
the body no longer work properly, which makes food take
longer to get to the stomach and sometimes it can come back
up.

- A birth defect - most often this affects the muscles and
nerves of the adult dog. One such genetic disease that
occurs in some breeds is called myasthenia gravis.

If your dog has a birth defect then there is no way that
this can be cured. But there are some things that you can do
for your dog if it has this problem, such as raising the dog
food and water bowl up off of the ground so that the dog's
neck is straighter when eating or drinking. That plus
gravity make it is easier for the dog to swallow its food.

You can also feed your dog more frequent and smaller
portions throughout the day. Some dogs have a problem with
eating a lot at one time and an over-full stomach can cause
vomiting. When you give the dog a meal, make sure that is a
low calorie dog food recommended by your veterinarian. This
will ensure that your dog will be getting the food and
vitamins and nutrients that it needs to grow.

Megaesophagus is a very dangerous disorder and can cause
pneumonia in your dog if the food doesn't get down to its
stomach quickly enough. Because of this there is a greater
possibility that it can inhale some food, causing the
pneumonia. Be careful to raise the food and water bowl off
of the floor and to not let your dog lay down for ten
minutes after eating to help prevent this from happening.



     Dog & Pet Care Products