My dog is vomiting, sluggish, and has hypothyroidism. What can I do?

I am sorry to hear about Chewie. If his energy levels appear normal and he has stopped vomiting you can continue to observe him. We normally recommend nothing orally for 6 to 8 hours (no food or water) after vomiting to give the stomach a rest and then slowly reintroduce water then food http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=353. If he continues to vomit then a vet exam is needed. Other reasons to seek veterinary care include lethargy/weakness, pale gums, painful or swollen abdomen, or vomiting blood.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While some dogs are allergic to eggplant, most dogs tolerate it just fine and I suspect this is not necessarily the cause of his symptoms. Vomiting can be observed with conditions such as gastroenteritis, pancreatitis, dietary indiscretion, gastrointestinal foreign body ingestion and obstruction, among other possibilities. For this reason, I highly recommend that you have Voldemort evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment as soon as possible as I am afraid he is likely becoming dehydrated. They would be able to check for these possibilities and also check his hydration status and give him medications to make him feel better. There is not much you can do in the meantime other than keeping water available at all times and not feeding him anything else until then. Good luck! I hope you find this information helpful.

Poor Chewy. He's such a handsome boy. Yes Akitas can get bloat, but if he had it, he would be unable to throw up. It could be a GI illness or he may have eaten something rotten. Puppies are notorious for eating things they shouldn't. You can keep him on the same food as the Collie, and I can give you a home remedy for Chewy to see if that helps. Withhold food for 12 hours, then feed a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) and white rice in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in his normal diet. If the vomiting continues in the absence of food, he vomits the bland diet, develops diarrhea, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, he will need to see a vet right away. Best of luck.

If your dog is lethargic and vomiting these two things in combination are reason to seek veterinary care, as your dog is likely dehydrated and may need fluid therapy via an IV catheter or subcutaneous fluids. If he has just started vomiting or has only vomited a couple times, you can try fasting him (nothing orally, no food or water) to let his stomach settle and then slowly reintroducing fluids and then a bland diet such as plain cooked white rice and boiled chicken breast. You can read more about this at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=353. If despite this he continues to vomit, he becomes weak, he has blood in his vomit or stool, or is painful in his abdomen then seek veterinary care. Drooling can be due to nausea, or irritation/inflammation in the mouth, or ingestion of a toxin. If you think a toxin ingestion is possible, seek veterinary care.

With regurgitation secondary to megaesophagus dogs usually can’t keep any solid food down and continually regurgitate shortly after eating. I would guess that the episode is unrelated to hypothyroidism or the medications- although I’m not entirely sure why cimetidine was prescribed. It is also very rare for hypothyroidism to cause megaesophagus. The good news is that if megaesophagus does occur secondary to hypothyroidism supplementation with thyroid hormone should reverse the disease.

Hi there! Thanks for letting us take care of you today! This is unlikely to be due to the thyroid medication. When there is evidence of blood in the vomit, that raises concern for things like a gastrointestinal ulcer, gastrointestinal tumor, severe gastroenteritis, foreign body ingestion, among other possibilities. Some tests that are usually run include bloodwork (CBC and chemistry panel +/- coagulation profile) and abdominal ultrasound. Thoracic/cervical/ abdominal adiographs may follow. Further diagnostics will be based on the findings up to that point. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be fine with Tiekie!

This could be related to hypothyroidism but it could be caused as well to a completely unrelated gastrointestinal inflammation/infection. I would recommend to have Rooney rechecked by your local veterinarian to control thyroid hormone levels first of all. Antibiotics and possibly further investigations (like abdominal imaging as ultrasound or radiographs) may be needed as well.