Laborador retriever, female, 10 years old, has been vomiting

Thanks for the follow up XXXXXXXXXXXXXX,

I have a few ideas about what could be causing the vomiting and decreased appetite.

1) If she is regularly dewormed, this may not be as likely but intestinal parasites can cause chronic vomiting. Even if your dog has a negative fecal test, a deworming treatment of Panacur (fenbendazole) is very safe. During my internship I had a case of a vomiting German Shepherd. He had a complete diagnostic work-up, except deworming. During his endoscopy (where you use a small camera to look at the stomach) we found stomach worms. How embarrassing. He improved after treatment with Panacur. Now, every vomiting dog I see that can keep the medication down I will treat. I have had a few cases where this fixed the problem within days.

Having said all that. Deworming your dog is a good idea. However, in a 10 year old dog I would not postpone other tests while you are waiting for results. There are too many possiblities of more serious problems.

2) Inflammatory bowel disease. This is similar to irritable bowel syndrome in people. It causes inflammation of the intestines and or stomach. It can decrease appetite and cause persistant vomiting. It can only be diagsnosed with biopsies of the intestines. This can be done without surgery if you can find a vet that does endoscopy.

2) Pancreatitis. It is inflammation of the organ that helps digest food by releasing enzymers. This is less likely since the bloodwork was normal. But, some dogs can have it without abnormal bloodwork.

3) I hate to use the "C" word, but cancer is another concern. In a 10 year old Lab that has most likely devoured her meals her whole life I recommend finding out sooner than later with whatever diagnostics your vet recommends. I have seen stomach masses or intestinal masses cause these symptoms. I have also seen cancer of the intestinal tract successfully treated with surgery and or chemotherapy.

4) I have to let you know about the dog of one of the techs I worked with. He was 11 years old, vomiting and losing weight. X-rays showed a foreign body in the stomach. It was a super ball. He had surgery, the stomach looked very irritated but otherwise normal. Once the ball was out, he was back to normal and is approaching 12. Just because your pet is a senior doesn't mean it has to be something untreatable. The only way to know is to continue looking.

So, to sum up, I would recommend abdominal x-rays to start. X-rays are a good screening test. They let you look at the size of organs, evaluate for foreign bodies, obstructions, and masses. It does have some limitations though. If this is normal, an abdominal ultrasound would be able to more specifically look at each organ, including the pancreas, stomach and intestinal walls, and lymph nodes. If the concern is still the stomach and intestines, endoscopy or exploratory surgery would be the next step.

I would talk to your vet about the different options. They know the details of her case and have examined her. They may even offer a referral to an internal medicine specialist if they don't have the equipment for the more advanced diagnostics.

Also, I wanted to answer your question about a sore mouth. Your vet can let you know the severity of dental disease. I can tell you that painful teeth do not usually lead to vomiting. Also, many dogs, especially labs, will eat in spite of a painful mouth. They will just swallow the food whole. I usually rule out all other causes before blaming it on the teeth. Again your vet can help you make that determination.

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. I am here to help.