Have you noticed that your dog vomits up undigested food? Many of the diseases that affect our dogs are those related to the gastrointestinal tract and, therefore, we must take care of their digestive he alth and pay attention to the symptoms to report them to our veterinarian.
In this article on our site we will learn about the different causes of vomiting, focusing on what happens immediately after eating. So keep reading and discover with us why your dog vomits after eating.
Differences between vomiting and regurgitation
Vomiting is one of the symptoms in the dog that indicates a gastrointestinal disorderand consists of the sudden expulsion of food content from the stomach through the mouth, preceded by nausea and retching. We have to differentiate it from regurgitation , which is a passive process and the content that is expelled has not reached the stomach and is without acids or bile, being the affected organ the esophagus. Thus, if you notice that your dog has vomited the undigested food or vomits the entire feed , it is probably regurgitation. Likewise, this process is not accompanied by retching, nausea or contractions of the stomach because, as we say, the food has not yet reached this organ.
Regardless of the process that your dog presents, the most common causes that explain why the dog vomits or regurgitates after eating are the ones shown below.
The dog eats too fast
The main cause of a dog vomiting after eating is ingestion of food at high speed.
When our dog is very voracious, either due to anxiety problems or due to breed characteristics, special feeders are a very useful tool to use. They usually have prominences in the center and the feed balls remain between the grooves, slowing down the food pressing time. In addition, they force them to chew, which improves digestion, thus preventing vomiting and other very serious pathologies such as stomach dilation and/or torsion.
There are also Kong toys, in which food is inserted and our dogs have to learn to take it out. This causes a mental stimulus and at the same time eat more slowly. Likewise, we must give a size of feed croquette appropriate to the size of our dog, because if we give small croquettes to a large breed, they will eat them without barely chewing and they will cake in their stomach.
Another common cause is overload of the stomach, regardless of the speed with which the food is eaten. Very gluttonous dogs or dogs that drink a lot of water are candidates for vomiting after eating. Meals should be rationed in more than one serving to prevent binge eating.
Other causes of vomiting in dogs after eating
The following causes can cause vomiting after eating or fasting, so we must take them into account as well.
- Ingestion of an irritating substance (poor food, grass, poisons, medications, etc.) or drastic changes in your diet(change of feed brand, for example).
- Food allergy: Although the highest percentage of symptoms are dermatological, allergies to dietary proteins can cause vomiting and other digestive symptoms.
- Autoimmune diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease.
- Systemic diseases: kidney failure, pancreatitis, pyometra, urinary obstruction, etc.
- Alterations in the central nervous system at the level of the vestibular system.
- Foreign body obstruction (common in puppies) or neoplastic mass in the stomach.
- Inflammation or obstruction in the small or large intestine.
- Gastritis or irritation of the stomach lining.
- Psychogenic causes: fear, stress or pain.
- Gastrointestinal parasitic or viral infections.
If you suspect that any of these pathologies may be the cause that explains why your dog vomits after eating, don't hesitate and Go to the vetas soon as possible.
