My dog keeps gagging, licking, and won't eat. What's the problem?

It sounds like Biggy (love his name!) is nauseous and may be dry heaving. This sounds most like an intestinal issue to me, but take a quick look in the roof of his mouth to make sure there isn't a toy or stick stuck there. He could have a foreign body, a functional or mechanical blockage, irritation from intestinal worms or eating some different/bad, stress, toxin, or other issue. If he looks like he's trying to throw up and nothing happens, I would recommend taking him an emergency clinic for an exam and x-rays. If he's not retching and he's eating, it may not be an emergency, but I would want him to be evaluated first thing on Tuesday. Any change in appetite, vomiting or trying to vomit, diarrhea, or lethargy means he needs to go sooner. I hope Biggy is back to normal soon!

It sounds like she experiencing nausea so she may need an anti-nausea medication, like Cerenia, an antacid, and/or a gastrointestinal protectant to help treat. It might also help to put her on a hypoallergenic diet, like z/d or d/d. You could also add a probiotic to her diet and see if that helps. If it continues than you could take her to an internal medicine specialist for an endoscopy and intestinal biopsies to get a definitive diagnosis.

Excessive salivary production and licking of the lips sounds like some pretty significant nausea too me. Daisy would likely benefit from some anti-nausea medication. The best drugs for this include Cerenia and metoclopramide, both of which will require a prescription from your vet. Over the counter options which do not tend to work as effectively include things like pepsid and prilosec. I would encourage you to take Daisy in to be examined to see if there is an underlying problem that can be determined. Common causes of nausea in dogs include gastroenteritis, pancreatitis, vertigo / neurologic diseases, inner ear infections, GI foreign bodies, and several different infectious diseases. If you visit the vet, they may want to obtain some images / lab work to rule certain things in and out. Hope this helps!

Acute pancreatitis and gastrointestinal inflammation/infections are still possible as well as foreign body ingestion with material not visible on X rays (ultrasound in these cases might be more sensitive). Given the lack of improvement, I would suggest to have her checked again and have a test for pancreatitis (it is a blood test called cPLI) performed. If not eating and probably in a sort of abdominal discomfort, nutritional support and pain relief meds are needed.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Roxxi. I do recommend that she sees a veterinarian if her symptoms do not resolve soon. What you described can be consistent with an upper respiratory tract infection. The dog will commonly cough, gag and may bring up a white foamy material. If she is not getting better, the veterinarian may need to prescribe an antibiotic. If she is not eating/drinking or acting sick, then I recommend that she be seen today. In the meantime, keep her at home as she may be contagious to other dogs. I hope this information helps!

I am sorry that Daisy is so sick,. It sounds like you have a good vet working hard to make Daisy feel better. I know you said her barium study came back normal however if she is still vomiting it might be time for her to have additional testing. I would recommend if they have not done already blood work to look at the liver , kidney and white/red blood cell function. Also could she have gotten into a toxin or have a foreign object in her abdomen that the barium did not see. Unfortunately medicine is very frustrating because it can take a while to determine the cause of illness. Also I would make sure Daisy does not have a virus like parvo or parasites. I would recommend continuing to discuss options with your vet who is taking care of daisy and I hope she starts feeling better soon!!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Lilo. Some dogs with an upper respiratory tract infection can cough and gag which can look like they are trying to vomit. They can even bring up a white foamy material. Some will have eye and nose discharge as well. On the other hand, if she is retching and having abdominal contractions, but not vomiting this is worrisome, especially if her abdomen appears bloated. In this case, she would need to see her veterinarian right away. I hope this information helps!