It is common that when you have a dog and it gets sick, one as an owner worries and tries to treat or cure it with some drug. That is why in this article we will deal with this specific topic, which refers to the fact that a dog vomits white foam. What can it mean? Next, we will explain the possible causes why you vomit white foam and what this means. 
My Dog Vomits White Foam
A common symptom that can be noticed when a dog is sick is vomiting, since this symptom is normal to notice in many diseases that attack dogs. Vomiting can be seen in dogs and even so this is not synonymous with the dog having any pathology or serious illness. The causes that lead a dog to vomit white foam vary, which is why it is necessary to be aware of the other symptoms that the dog presents so that you can take it to a veterinarian. In this way you will be able to find out why he is vomiting white foam and the veterinarian will indicate the treatments that are necessary for the dog to improve.
In this article we explain what are the most frequent causes that can lead your dog to vomit white foam. We will also indicate the treatments for each case which will be determined by a veterinarian, in addition to a few basic home remedies to treat vomiting in dogs, apart from helping them to calm the symptoms and reduce the discomfort that overwhelms these dogs that vomit white foam.
Why is my dog vomiting white foam?
The reason why a dog vomits white foam, foamy or with phlegm is due to different reasons. There are pathologies which produce this symptom very frequently. Among these pathologies we can name gastritis, heart problems, kennel cough or tracheal collapse. However, if you want a professional opinion, we recommend that you visit a veterinarian. Since this is the only one that can diagnose your dog with certainty and also determine which treatment is the most indicated and the most effective with your beloved pet.
It is necessary to remember that this article is for informational purposes. Which only serves as a guide so that you are prepared in case your dog suffers from vomiting with white foam. However, we essentially recommend that you take him to a trusted veterinarian so that he can carry out the necessary tests to reach an accurate diagnosis. It should be noted that the sooner you start treatment to deal with this problem, the better the chances that your dog will get better.
Breeds of Dogs with a Tendency to Vomit
In dogs there are breeds which are more susceptible to vomiting white and foamy, this may be because they have morphological characteristics that make them more likely to vomit white and foamy. Among the breeds that have more tendencies for this symptom to occur, we can name the Shih tzu, the Yorkshire terrier, the Poodle or poodle, the Maltese Bichon, the Pug or carlino, the English Bulldog, the French Bulldog and the Boxer.
The morphological characteristics that produce this symptom in these breeds is having a trachea with a reduced diameter, as well as having a more globular heart. Apart from having a high probability that the heart valves end up being damaged, taking this into account we can deduce that this mixture is perfect so that these breeds are more likely to vomit white foam. The breed that stands out for being more likely to vomit white foam is undoubtedly the bulldog.
Something usual that veterinarians recommend to avoid these symptoms is not to give them food at the same time that they are drinking water, nor that their feeder is in a high place or that we take them to situations that make them suffer a high level of anxiety. stress right after eating. Although only the fact that they see you arrive with food is the necessary cause to cause vomiting of food or white foam if the dog did not have food in his stomach.
Vomiting with White Foam and Others Symptom
Vomiting can be called as the expulsion of matter that accumulates in the stomach. Vomiting can occur for different reasons, but the most common is when there is an inflammation of the gastric mucosa or also known as gastritis. Gastritis is caused by some virus that is affecting the dog, inducing it to vomit, the first times that the canine vomits, it expels the remains of food that it has consumed during the day. Then, if you keep vomiting continuously instead of expelling food remains, you will expel a liquid with a bilious appearance or whitish appearance.
don't want to eat
When the dog does not have any type of food in its stomach and continues to vomit without stopping, it ends up expelling a mixture of churned gastric juices, which would reveal why my dog vomits white foam. Gastritis produces this effect of constant vomiting and this in turn with loss of appetite, which also with weight loss, common signs that your dog has gastritis.
cough a lot
In general and in most cases, the first symptoms that the dog presents when he is going to suffer from heart disease is to present a hoarse and dry cough. After the discomfort of a dry and violent cough passes, he begins to expel through vomiting a white foam very similar to the white that the egg has when it is beaten. Also, the dog ends up losing its appetite.
It is common due to the symptoms that they present to confuse it with kennel cough or it is also usual to think that they ate something and that it is stuck in their throat. However, the symptoms may represent an inflamed heart due to so much accumulation of blood in its chambers as it cannot fulfill its mission. Which is to pump it throughout the body and as a result of this is that dilations arise. It is at this time that the dog can be visualized when he vomits phlegm.
There is a pathology which is called "Kennel Cough", this is another type of condition that causes irritation in the trachea. This will lead to a dry cough and foamy-type vomit by the end. This problem will also be known as "choking bone disease" and it is thanks to this name that we have an idea why this problem begins with a cough and ends with vomiting with white foam at the end.
Kennel Cough Vomiting
It is vitally important to gather all the information regarding this health problem in order to be able to differentiate this type of vomiting from the one related to heart failure. These data will also help the veterinarian to rule out that our canine has swallowed something and is choking. That is why we must be aware of everything, if by chance a piece of something is missing in our house, we can already draw conclusions. An examination will also confirm whether this information is true or not.
We must bear in mind that our dog may have swallowed something really small. Something that maybe we didn't even know we had, that maybe it was in the kitchen or in one of the rooms. This is one of the many responsibilities that there are when owning a pet, special care must be taken with what is at home so that it cannot affect it.
Prevention and Treatment of Kennel Cough
As explained before, special care must be taken with what our dog swallows. As for the treatment, to make the vomit of white foam disappear, it will depend on each one of the cases. A variety of factors must be taken into account, such as age, previous illnesses, weight, among others. The veterinarian is the one who has the power to prescribe an anti-inflammatory together with an antitussive. But if it were to happen that the problem got worse and worsened, he might prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic.
It's hard to breathe
We must take into account that tracheal collapse will generate vomiting with white foam, on multiple occasions, due to difficulty breathing. It is even related to uncontrolled coughing attacks. It is important to know if our dog is of a breed that is susceptible to this problem. Or it is also associated with age, since it reaches a certain age where it gets complicated. First of all, all the causative factors that can lead to vomiting white foam should be ruled out. If a foreign problem cannot be located, then it is possible that the dog vomits white foam due to tracheal alteration.
Vomiting Due to Tracheal Collapse in Dogs
When talking about tracheal collapse, it is related more than anything to the breed of dogs. Since this will depend on the cartilaginous rings of the trachea of these dogs. In addition to other things that are not in our hands. However, it can be prevented or controlled by using a harness instead of a collar. Make our dog eat a balanced diet so that in this way it has an ideal weight. Also, and something very important to keep in mind, we should not subject our dog to intense exercise, as this can aggravate the situation of our pets.
When the problem gets out of control, it is recommended that the veterinarian see it urgently, since in these serious cases it is necessary to administer drugs. Among them we can find bronchodilators, this will allow the little air that passes through the trachea.
He has a lot of tremors
Many times we ask ourselves why does my dog vomit white foam? And even more so when he relates to tremors. This scares us a lot because it could be that something very serious is happening to your dog. We must know that tremors can be related to various diseases or conditions in the dog. Some of these may be cold, stress, fear, among others may be the cause of tremors.
But tremors can also indicate abdominal pain, this could be linked to intoxication or even poisoning. If we see that these symptoms do not subside, we must urgently go to our dog's veterinarian, especially if we have a puppy in our care. Those who are much weaker and their immune system is still immature.
have diarrhea
There are several factors that cause white and foamy vomiting, and can even cause diarrhea in our dogs. This does not necessarily mean that it is a serious matter, this may be due to poor digestion due to overeating, it is also possible that it is due to stress. However, this can be due to poisoning, an obstruction or even an infection. If the dog vomits white foam and this is accompanied by diarrhea, you should take it to the vet immediately.
If it is the case where we observe that the dog vomits white foam and apart from this has bloody diarrhea, you must attend to it urgently. Many diseases are related to these two symptoms and most of these can be fatal for our dog. One of the diseases related to these symptoms is canine parvovirus. Which is common in the most puppies and in those adult dogs that are not vaccinated or that are immunosuppressed.
Vomiting with White and Yellow Foam
Yellow vomit is an indication that our dog has already vomited multiple times and for this reason, he no longer has anything in his stomach to vomit. The color of the vomit will indicate that it is vomiting bile, which is a substance that is released by the gallbladder. Another color you may find in vomit is green or brown, which can also be caused by bile. The causes behind these symptoms are very diverse, but it is very dangerous in puppies. This can be caused by stress, illness, allergies to certain foods or because you eat food that you cannot digest.
Vomiting due to Gastritis in Dogs
When you think that your dog has gastritis, it is essential to investigate the reasons why the dog vomits. Regardless of the reasons for irritation and inflammation of the gastric mucosa are many. When this case occurs, the most common thing the veterinarian does is induce the dog to a temporary fast. This varies according to the breed and age of the canine, it also gives them a stomach protector that decreases acidity and usually an antiemetic. In short, a drug that can stop vomiting.
In these cases, oral administration is ruled out for the obvious reason that it would vomit. That is why it is undoubtedly administered via the bloodstream to begin with. Then when the vomiting decreases, administer it orally, until the cause is located and with this you can deal with gastritis. It is necessary to clarify that the gastroenteritis virus is not the only cause of your dog vomiting white foam. Since if the canine accidentally consumes a product that irritates it, it can cause vomiting. An example of this are plants that are considered toxic to dogs.
For this reason, a thorough investigation is necessary, with tests and the opinion of a dog health professional to reach an accurate diagnosis. It is dangerous for the dog to be in a state of constant vomiting because he ends up losing substances that are essential for the body to function properly, such as electrolytes (chlorine and potassium). The loss of these substances leads the dog to dehydration that turns out to be more rapid in small dogs or when puppies are found.
Irritation of the Gastric Mucosa Due to Gastritis
When one or both mechanisms of expulsion of waste belonging to the body fail (the liver and the kidneys), an accumulation of waste is produced which ends up irritating the gastric mucosa and affecting various components of the body at the same time.
When this type of failure occurs in which the kidney or liver is involved, the most common symptoms that occur due to these failures is vomiting without the animal having any type of food and what it expels turns whitish and yellowish. In addition to the fact that, if he presents other symptoms such as urinating much more frequently, being thirstier than usual, you notice that he is not eating as before, he is down or has bad breath, then there is a great possibility that the dog has faults of the renal or hepatic system.
Treatment of White Vomit in Dogs due to Gastritis
Depending on the case, white vomit is treated in different ways. If the animal has symptoms of being sick with viral gastritis, it is best to wait for the virus to disappear from the body. This virus usually appears suddenly and ends up disappearing usually in a few hours. However, when this happens, it is necessary to be aware of the dog so that it does not become dehydrated and to administer the arithmetic products that our trusted veterinarian prescribes, among these products we can name metoclopramide and maropitant. Besides, it is necessary to administer the proper stomach protectors such as omeprazole, ranitidine and famotidine.
Another case that can occur is when the dog vomits due to irritation, which is usually caused when the animal accidentally ingests a plant that is toxic, so one of the main solutions is to identify the plant and keep her away from the dog. After doing this, the ideal is to use a gastric protector that stops the production of gastric acids.
And finally, there is the case in which what is producing the white vomit is due to the fact that the dog has kidney or liver failure. In this case there is not much we can do to prevent it from appearing. Therefore, it is advisable to follow the instructions and treatments prescribed by a veterinarian. What can be done is to get ahead of ourselves and try to detect the problem when it is forming, that is, detect it at the right time to treat the problem and prevent it from reaching a greater age, depending on the disease with which it is being treated.
An effective way to detect when a disease like this is developing is to take your dog to annual consultations and check-ups after seven or eight years of being born, also depending a lot on the breed, initial cases of kidney failure can be shown.
When the heart becomes inflamed due to the accumulation of blood, it can press on the trachea, causing it to become irritated. As a consequence of this, it makes the dog vomit white foam and at the same time has respiratory problems. However, this is not the only cause that your dog vomits white foam since what can cause it to expel that white foam varies and turns out to be more complex.
Vomiting for Heart Disease in Dogs
Many times this type of situation where the dog vomits white foam usually occurs when the canine is already an older adult. However, there are also exceptions where it not only affects the elderly, but it is possible that the dog has a genetic tendency to heart disease. These types of problems arise in the following breeds: shih tzu, maltese bichon, king charles cavalier, among others. Many times, without us realizing it, at the exact moment that our canine friend begins to suffer from these problems.
We overlook some of the symptoms that we can easily observe on a routine walk. One of these symptoms is when the walk ends and the dog begins to pant excessively. While his mouth is shown with a scowl very much like a smile. All these signs can help your dog's veterinarian a lot, together with the appropriate tests. Among these tests we find a thorough auscultation, echocardiography and even plates, so that in this way a correct diagnosis can be made.
As for the treatment, it will be diverse, as well as possible heart failure. There are also insufficiencies, valve stenosis, with this we refer to the opening or closing of said valves in an erroneous way, thickening of the walls of the heart muscle can also occur. These problems come from the same organ, which is a common symptom, but from various possible diseases.
Generally, both cough and vomiting are closely linked, that is, one appears with the other. But these symptoms will subside for a few days once the treatment indicated for these cases has been started. Especially if the problems of these symptoms are linked to cardiac processes. Some of these treatments may be antihypertensive, including mild diuretics so as not to overstrain the heart. Another fact to keep in mind is that these medications will be accompanied by special diets for each case of heart patients.
It is important to remember that when a dog, whether it is a puppy, an adult or an old dog, begins with these conditions, it must always remain hydrated. Since by constantly presenting vomiting, it will produce a hydrolytic decompensation and can cause greater damage and may even worsen your situation.
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