What To Do When Your Pet Vomits | Vet Tips

hey everyone I'm Dr Kirsten vet here at many pets and today we are going to talk about one of the most common problems that I see in clinical practice and that is vomiting so we'll talk about what are some things that you can do at home for their gut and when it's time to call the vet firstly it's important to note that one episode of vomiting at home when your pet is otherwise happy and not showing other clinical signs as well as still wants to eat their food is usually not going to be a big deal it may be safe to monitor at home we all know as pet owners that vomit happens but here are some things you can do to support their gut so typically I don't recommend withholding food for extended periods of time after one single episode of vomiting and this is especially true for puppies and small dogs as it can affect their sugar levels for otherwise healthy animals you can wait a tiny bit of time and offer a small amount of their regular food or a small amount of something easily digestible like boiled chicken and white rice I get a lot of pet parents asking me if it's safe or if they should feed canned pumpkin or canned squash to their pets with GI upset it is safe and it is a good option for something Bland but I tend to get that question a lot more when it comes to cases of diarrhea which we're going to talk a little bit more in our video about what to do with my pets having diarrhea instead in these cases I'm typically going to recommend that we start by feeding our pets smaller more frequent meals after an episode of tummy upset if they can keep down another small meal soon after it's okay to wait a few hours and then try and offer a little bit more just remember that if you're feeding something Bland like chicken or rice in cases of GI upset that's totally fine in the short term but in the long term it's not going to be nutritionally balanced if you think your pet is going to do better on something that is more easily digestible it's best to talk to your vet or a boarded Veterinary nutritionist to help pick something that is going to be feasible long term so when should you call your vet about your pets vomiting call if you see any of the following signs if your pet has vomited more than once in a short period of time if your pet has recurrent episodes of vomiting over multiple days if your pet seems agitated or in pain if your pet has a history of chronic disease or is on any chronic or long-term medications if your pet has had a known toxin exposure for example things like chocolate raisins or human medication if you spot any blood in the vomit this can be something like bright red blood but it can also be something dark that looks more like coffee grounds if you notice that your pet is showing any other signs of illness such as lethargy diarrhea lack of appetite or general changes in their behavior vomiting is such a common issue and there is a long list of causes some of our most common gut-based conditions that cause vomiting will include things like allergies parasites bacterial and viral infections inflammatory conditions of the gut or even something as simple as a gut obstruction pets eating things that they shouldn't be that are causing a blockage finally keep calm and Vigilant one episode of vomiting in an otherwise Happy Healthy Pet might not be anything to worry about but if you do notice repeated episodes or other clinical signs it's best to call your vet sooner rather than later foreign