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Occasional vomiting and/or diarrhea can be common in canines. Severe and/or frequent vomiting and diarrhea is not normal and can be attributed to a life threatening illness or disease. Gastroenteritis is the inflammation of the stomach and intestinal linings. When a dog has diarrhea or vomiting that contains blood, this could be a sign of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis or HGE.

Vomiting can serve as a protective role in the canine's digestive system. They are able to reject foods and even objects that do not agree with their system. When vomiting and diarrhea become severe they can lead to dehydration and shock if left untreated.

Veterinarian care should be consulted if your dog has a continuation of vomiting and/or diarrhea that worsens and last more than several days, if the dog becomes dehydrated or there is the presence of blood in the stool or vomit. Gastroenteritis can affect any breed of dog and can affect dogs of all ages but it is not contagious to other pets or humans.

The most common cause of gastroenteritis is consuming spoiled foods. Other causes of gastroenteritis include:

*Diet: Eating an inappropriate food or non-food materials.

*Dietary Intolerance: Eating foods that do not agree with the stomach or an allergy to certain foods. Caffeine, especially chocolate and high-fat dairy foods should be a special concern.

*Infectious Agents

*Drugs and toxins: Medications, poisons or household chemicals.

*Obstructions

*Metabo lic disorders that include kidney or liver disease, diabetes, hypoadrencocorticism.

*Abdomina l disorders that include pancreatitis, peritonitis, pyometra, prostatitis, sepsis

*Inflammatory bowel disease

*Stress

*Ulcers or Cancer

*Types of worms

Treatments for gastroenteritis can include intravenous fluid therapy to prevent dehydration. Antibiotics may also be administered for infections. Food and water may be withheld for up to four days during intravenous fluid therapy and reintroduced slowly. Dogs usually recover within several days but can have repeated episodes. Your veterinarian may require further testing to find underlying problems that may have lead to the illness.

There are also some preventative measures that should be taken to avoid some types of gastroenteritis. The best advice is to pet-proof your home and your dog's environment just as you would child-proof your home for a young child.

*Minimize or prevent exposure to trash cans and garbage.

*Prevent your pet from eating anything on the ground during walks and outings.

*Keep anything small enough for your pet to swallow out of reach.

*Keep household chemicals out of reach.

*Withhold or limit the amount of table scraps fed to your dog especially rich and fatty foods. Do not give your dog meat bones. They can be chewed into sharp splinters that can lodge in the body causing lacerations or cause obstructions. If your pet has chewed and swallowed a bone, do not induce vomiting. The splinters can cause lacerations as they come up the esophagus.

Our pets are important parts of our life. By taking a few preventative steps, we can prevent most stomach ailments that cause gastroenteritis which keeps our pets happy and healthy.

Learn more about this author, Angela Pollock.
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