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dry heaving...

aleethomas

Well-known member
For the past few hours Padden has been dry heaving. At first I thought that maybe she needed water or food but she's ate and drank and its still going on. Clear liquid came out the last time (on my stomach!!! YUCK!) but that's all.

Anyone ever had this happen? Is it something that I should worry about?

I guess we'll see how tonight goes and if it doesn't stop by tomorrow I'll call the vet. Maybe she has a hang over...
 
Is the dry heaving constant or intermittant? If she is doing a lot of dry heaving I would take her to the emergency vet. She may have gotten something in her lungs or something stuck in her esophagus.

Are her tongue and gums pink? If not, take her right in.

It may be helpful to call the emergency vet and describe what is happening; they will tell you if you should bring her in.
 
Yeah, what Cathy said! (Although when I worked at an ER Vet we were told to not give any medical advice over the phone and encourage the people to bring in the pet - just FYI - not sure what others do.)

ALSO, be sure and let us know what's going on when you find out!
 
it was intermettiant yesterday evening. She did it maybe 6x. I kept her by my side last night and she didn't do it again. I checked her gums and tongue and they are still pink. I'll have her with me all day today so if she does it again I'll take her in.

I'll keep you guys posted! Thanks for the advice.
 
You might want to give your regular vet a call today. Much more likely to get phone advice from him/her I think and it's a good idea to let them know what's going on so that they can make a note on the file about it for future reference if needed.

(Sorry - vet nurse shoes are on right now!)
 
Crittercall, I'm so glad you're a vet nurse and a member! Feel free to jump in anytime - I'm sure you've seen more than most of us!! :)
 
I'm a really big believer in calling your vet immediately when you want to find out if you should be worried about any unusual behaviour. Any good vets is not going to have you come in and waste your time (and theirs) for something they don't think is a real worry -- they will give advice on what to watch for, or will set your mind at ease. :)

The problem with asking a forum for advice on serious rather than generl medical issues is that members have no idea of the real expertise of anyone who answers -- and to my knowledge we only have *three* people here at most who have some vet medical training as nurses, techs or doctors, and a lot of amateur advisers. :) On a serious note: if you get someone advising to do nothing, and the reality is that person really knows very little about dogs or vet medicine but just likes to be 'helpful' and happens to be online at the time you post, and you take their advice, you could end up with a very sick or dead animal.

This is serious enough for me and many other animal board owners that many of us have legal disclaimers on the site about taking advice from anyone, and I mean ANYONE including me :), on medical issues.

I would consider any situation in which your dog :

appears hurt
bloated
lethargic
has ingested anything that MAY BE of concern
is vomiting or heaving
has an eye that looks hurt or cut or in any way damaged
is having any breathing problems
has had a fit or has frozen or collapsed
is in pain having a bowel movement

to be an URGENT situation in which to ring your vet FIRST and then, if you'd like, post here to see what people think or to get a sense of whether advice given seems right or if anyone can share a similar experience. (y)

Sometimes you may have only minutes or an hour in which to act to prevent serious complications or death and this is just not a risk worth taking. If anyone fears their vet will just have them come in and spend money uselessly, then there are two things to consider:

1) if this is really true, time to change vets right away to one you trust!
2) consider whether the finances are there to manage a dog over its lifetime especially if an emergency arose, and consider insurance if you don't have it 8)
 
If I may just add one thing to Karlin's excellent list, I think that everyone should be aware that a lot of times when you think that your dog is "walking like he/she is constipated" or having trouble with a bowel movement it is actually back trouble - which can be a serious problem. (Think of how you feel when you pull a muscle in your back!)

I only add that to emphasize the importance of getting in touch with your vet if something of this nature comes up - or anything else that Karlin has on her list.
 
Just wanted to give you all on update on Padden. I gave the vet a call & took her in. She has a slight respiratory infection. Apparently not too uncommon for a pup and the time of year. So antibiotics for 7 days and she should be back to normal. So glad it wasn't something more serious. I was convinced she had something stuck in her throat like fuzz and other stuff she picks up and swallows before I can get it out.

Thank you all so much for your concerns & advice. After this experience I won't be hesitant to take her in first thing in the future. She is my first dog & growing up my parents never took our pets into the vet unless it was a major emergency which happened rarely. So I wasn't really programed that she needed to go in. But I'm over that now. I need the vet's number on speed dial!

Again, THANK YOU!
 
Funny you should mention speed dial. I asked one of the women at the vet clinic I use if I was the only one who had them on speed dial. (Actually I have their number memorized and Bubba has it programmed into his cell phone.)

I'm glad that you took Padden in and got things checked out. My parents were the same way when I was a kid. I think they take better care of their birds now than they ever did of any of our pets. But that's good - I've been able to influence them!!

It's good to hear that it was not anything major. I know what you mean about them picking up something and swallowing it before you can get to them - my shihtzu loves paper napkins, packing peanuts, etc.
 
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