Causes of Diarrhea & Vomiting in Dogs

Video Transcript

"Let's talk about causes of diarrhea and vomiting in dogs. There are lots of causes, and the important thing to know is there are so many causes that you need a diagnosis first to understand how to deal with a dog with vomiting and diarrhea. Obviously, vomiting and diarrhea can lead a dog to dehydration, and they can get very, very sick, because they can't take any fluids in and fluids are all coming out. There are multiple causes. You can see viral causes like parvovirus in puppies that can cause diarrhea and vomiting. You can see things from dogs getting into the trash, you know. Bacterial contamination can cause diarrhea and vomiting. You can also see foreign bodies, things that they ate that they weren't supposed to like bones or toys. Things like that can cause that as well. We see lots of vomiting and diarrhea from pancreatitis. Pancreatitis most commonly comes from a dog eating people food, especially food that is higher in fat, and so that can also be a very common source of it as well. So, the important thing to know is, you know, it could be bacterial; it could be viral. It could be something that they ate off the ground or outside, or a dead animal or something like that. All of those causes generally end up causing the same thing with vomiting and diarrhea, and that is the risk of dehydration. And so, you don't want to give anything to try to stop vomiting or diarrhea at home. What you want to do is seek a your veterinary clinic, or an emergency clinic if it's at night, over a weekend, to try to get the vomiting and diarrhea to stop, and also to make sure they do, they, your animal doesn't get more dehydrated than it already is."