If you find your dog is vomiting and you're unsure of the reason, there can be several food-related causes. Anything from excess bile and stomach acid to certain types of foods can cause a dog to become ill and begin vomiting. New food, unfamiliar food and table scraps can all make your dog sick. Gaining a general understanding of the primary causes and effects, including what to do to make your dog vomit if it swallows harmful substances, will help ensure the safety and ideal health for your beloved pet.
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New Food
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A dog's digestive system becomes accustomed to his food, if there's a sudden change in diet or a new food is introduced, he mayl vomit partially digested food within a few hours. If you still need to make a change, to prevent your dog's digestive system from rejecting the new food, you must gradually introduce it to him over a few weeks.
Fast Eating
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Dogs who eat too quickly can also run into digestive problems. A few tactics may prevent this. Try feeding your dog several small meals over the day instead of two large meals. This will control the dog's hunger and usually will slow her eating. Eating with other dogs may also cause your dog to eat too quickly, especially if she is territorial and very protective of her food. Try separating the dogs and feed them hydrated kibble to cut down on the amount of expansion that happens within the stomach during digestion.
Table Scraps
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Many people feed their dogs from their own dinner table, whether it's a few leftover scraps of "people-food" or entire meals. Although some may be aware of the dangers, most people don't realize that this seemingly harmless feeding can cause their dog to become ill. Dogs can develop digestive disorders from eating table scraps or develop unpleasant symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting. It's generally OK to toss your dog some leftover chicken or steak, but keep the amount small and the event infrequent.
Inducing Vomiting
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Sometimes you may need to actually induce vomiting to clear your dog's digestive system of a harmful food or product they may have swallowed. Make sure you only induce vomiting if instructed by your vet. Using 3 percent hydrogen peroxide placed on the back of the tongue is very effective in this manner. The appropriate dose is one teaspoon for ever 10 pounds of body weight. Ipecac syrup is also effective but should only be administered by a vet to prevent misuse or complications. Do not induce vomiting if the dog has lost consciousness, has swallowed bleach or drain cleaner (household products can burn the esophagus on the way back up), and if the material has been swallowed more than 2 hours previously. The reason for this is that the food has already been digested and inducing vomiting may only make the dog feel worse.
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