Question:
Sydney, our 14 month old Lab has started to vomit regularly in the past few days - specifically after she drinks water. She vomits the water plus whatever happens to be in her stomach cavity at the time. Has anyone heard of this before? We are starting to be concerned.

A little over a week ago she had a severe case of diarrhea (watery) that lasted 3-4 days. We fasted her for 24hrs however it continued and she became quite lethargic - our vet was concerned that she may have a repeat bout of girardia (she had this parasite when we took her home from the breeder and it kept re-ocurring). He prescribed metrodiazanole(to start if the diarrhea didn't stop) and vet food (in smaller, more frequent portions) and requested a stool sample.

The diarrhea cleared up by day 5 and we weaned her back to her regular food (Eukanuba) - we never did use the med's and her stool sample came back clear however shortly after she started to drink large amounts of water and then vomit right after. This occurred about once a day and has escalated to about 4 times in the last 24hrs. She is otherwise acting normally (peeing, pooping regular times)and will not vomit if we limit her water intake to smaller more frequent portions. One other observation is that about 1/day her stool is very light in colour (cream/grey).

We have informed our vet and are waiting to hear back from him however would like to know if anyone has heard of this kind of thing happening before?

Please advise.

Answer:
I would have the lab taken into the vet as soon as possible. This is not normal for a lab and you should be concerned.

Is the dog drinking excessively? Is he running too much and hot?

Please ask the vet to see him.

Heather and her 3 Golden Girls

Answer:
When you go into the vet again ask him about Parvo. I know that older dogs are not as likely to catch it but that is how my dog started out. Is he UTD on all of his shots? I hope your baby starts to feel better soon. Let us know.

Answer:
Hi, thanks for the info will take her back to the vet ASAP.

She is p to date on her vaccinations but will ask about parvo.

She does not seem to be drinking excessively however the drink then vomit thing does seem to happen mostly after exercise (walks or play).

Answer:
In the meantime, limit the dogs exercise. I don't know where you live, but here in Ontario it has been very hot recently. This can bother a lot of dogs.

We have 3 goldens, however, we are also a foster home for Lab Rescue of Ontario. A suggestion.... do you have a kiddy pool in your backyard? This really helps these dogs cool off and feel good in this weather. Because they are usually water dogs, they love it.

Please keep us posted, I would like to know the problem.

Heather

Answer:
We live in the GTA and do have a kiddie pool - will try it. Thanks

We see the vet again this evening. Could she have a blockage in her GI track?

Answer:
It could be a few things. Was she eating something that was not normal. I know Labs and Goldens can get into all kinds of things. This would cause the problems you are experiencing.

Heather

Answer:
Saw the vet last night and he advised us to remove all food until morning, and give only small amounts of water to thwart the vomiting. He also ordered a blood test and gave her a dose of zantac to calm her stomach.

As soon as we arrived home she had a very small amount of water and was behaving normally wanting to play. Within minutes she again vomitted - this time the vomit was water (foammy) and there was also bile present...thats when I got really scared as she lost her balance, stumbled forward then went back on her hind legs and fell over on her side - she got up instantly continued vomitting and then seemed fine again. Really worried

Tried to call the vet back but he had left for the evening - rushed her to an emergency after hours clinic. They took her vitals, gave her fluids (under the skin type) and gravol and suggested waiting for the blood results with regular vet today.

Regular Vet reports the blood tests came back normal however they are keeping her for the day for X-rays and monitoring....he suspects she may have a GI blockage or partial blockage...however I am confused because right up to this morning she has been able to move her bowels??

Has anyone been through a blockage or partial blockage before? Does this sound familiar??? Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
Sherwood, I have no experience with this.

Join this yahoo email group and explain your situation. They are all owners, breeders and lovers of Labs. You have to sign up etc., but believe me, you won't be sorry. I am sure someone there has had this experience and can help you. Good luck, I am sorry your pup is going through this.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/labrador_retrievers2/



Heather and her 3 Golden Girls.

Answer: