Our 2-year old bernese mountain dog has not eaten for a day and half and has been throwing up. He had some diarrhea yesterday - i think - it might have been throw up. He drank a bunch of water this morning and threw it up with green bial and is very lethargic. He is new to us so i am not sure if this is normal. We are very worried about him. Please help.
Optional Information: Pet's Sex: MalePet's Age: 2 Already Tried: nothing. Just trying to get him to drink water.
No this is not normal for a dog to be ill like this.
This may be due to intestinal upset from a change in food, intestinal parasites such as worms, coccidia, or giardia, or he could have a viral infection starting too if he is not up to date on shots. This could also be due to a swallowed non food item, ingestion of something toxic including plants, mushrooms, chemicals etc. Another issue, particularly if the dog had very fatty treats before this started, may be pancreatic inflammation which you can read about herehttp://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1580&articleid=335 So seeing the vet to find out what is going on should be a priority. An over the counter med you might try would be Pepcid or Tagamet or Zantac. Be sure to tell the vet when you see them if you use any of these. You can read about dose amounts (and cautions) scrolling down on the pages here http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/cimetidine-hcl-tagamet/page1.aspx http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/famotidine-pepcid/page1.aspx http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/ranitidine-hcl-zantac/page1.aspx If that helps then you can see if some bland food and plain pedialyte added to the water bowl will help. I would suggest trying boiled chicken meat or hamburger with the fat drained off, mixed with really well cooked rice in a ratio of 1/3 meat to 2/3 rice to see if that works. It's not a balanced diet but OK to use for a few meals while working on controlling digestive upset. But if he is being ill a lot, then if you can see your vet with him today you should try to do so.
If your dog might have gotten into anything toxic (including toxic plants), appears dehydrated (see if a pinch of skin over the shoulder blade stays stuck in a tent form or flows back down normally when released), has a rectal temp over 103.5F (normal is 100.5-102.5 Fahrenheit or 38 - 39.2 Celsius ), has gums or tongue that look white, blue, gray or yellow tinted where they are normally pink, has a slow color refill if you press on a pink area of gum or tongue, is having difficulty breathing, or is becoming more lethargic and non responsive to you as time goes on then you may want to get the dog in to see an emergency vet if one is available in your area.
This site may help you locate an emergency vet if you need one
http://www.vetlocator.com/hotline.php
Otherwise you may want to see your vet first thing when they open.
Hope this helps you!
Experience: 30+ yrs dog home vet care & nursing, rescue, behavior&training, responsible show breeding, genetics