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My dog is vomiting and has a distended stomach. What should I do?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mastiff | Female | unspayed | 4 years and 7 months old | 50 lbs

Hello. My dog vomited this morning undigested food and water. Then, his stomach swollen and she kept vomited a few times during the day. I didn't feed her today and took the water from her because her stomach is too distended. I heard about bloat but it has gone almost 12 hours and she´s acting normal besides the vomit and distended abdomen. What should I do? Thank you.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 16th, 2018

Hi there. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Sorry that Nexa is having this issue. What you have done so far was perfect! Good job!

A distended abdomen can be due to many things. Here is a list of some possibilites:

1. constipation
2. bloat - I agree that after 12 hours this is unlikely
3. abdominal mass/tumor
4. abdominal fluid (ascites)
5. pyometra - infected uterus; common since she is not spayed I would be worried about this even though she seems to be "normal". If it is an "open" pyometra she may not be feeling as ill as if it were "closed".
6. internal parasites (ie: roundworms, hookworms, etc)

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. I suggest you get Nexa to your vet for an exam. Some simple blood testing and a couple x-rays could rule in/out most of the things I have listed above.

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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