When Your Dog Has an Upset Stomach

Stomach troubles are among the most common problems dogs experience. Today, we’ll cover the different types of stomach distress, signs to watch for, important factors to consider, and home care tips.

Types of Stomach Issues

• Inappetence: A reduced appetite, but your dog will still eat. This may look like eating less, only eating high-value food, or needing encouragement to eat.

• Anorexia: A complete refusal to eat. Veterinarians typically consider this anorexia if a dog misses a full day’s worth of meals.

• Vomiting: The active emptying of the stomach, often with posturing, retching, and abdominal effort.

• Regurgitation: A passive process where stomach or esophageal contents come back up without retching.

Being able to describe what you’re seeing helps your veterinarian narrow down possible causes much faster.

Other signs of stomach upset include excessive drooling, a dog holding a “bowing” position for long periods, or restlessness.

Why Dogs Get Stomach Upset

There are many causes, but most fall into three categories:

• Structural: foreign body, twist, or mass

• Metabolic: kidney, liver or other systemic disease

• Infectious: parvovirus, parasites, etc.

If your dog has pre-existing conditions (especially diabetes), any appetite changes or vomiting should be taken seriously. Ask your veterinarian what “red flags” to watch for in your individual dog.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• If your dog is showing signs of stomach distress, start here:

  • Do I know or suspect a cause?

    • Ate too fast?

    • Got into something they shouldn’t?

    • Was it toxic? (see: Human Food Toxic to Dogs)

    • Could it cause a blockage (ingest something large, sharp, string-like)?

  • When did symptoms start?

  • How often are they happening?

  • Has my dog been around other dogs or out in nature recently?