Accepted Answer

Chronic vomiting can be a symptom of many different diseases. On the list would be:

Kidney disease
Liver disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Gastrointestinal Obstruction (foreign body, pyloric hypertrophy, intussusception)
Parasites
Endocrine diseases (Addison's disease, diabetes, hypercalcemia)
Central Nervous System Disease (brain tumors, infection, inflammation, head trauma)
Pyometra (female dogs)
GI Ulcers
Neoplasia (Cancer)


As you can see, the list is really quite long. Chronic vomiting (2-3 weeks of regular vomiting) with or without other systemic signs usually requires a systematic and extensive diagnostic plan including a CBC, chemistry panel, heartworm test, urinalysis and abdominal radiographs. Some diseases can be diagnosed directly from the baseline bloodwork like diabetes, liver disease or kidney disease. Other problmes require further blood tests for diagnosis (like Addison's disease). Depending on what the findings are from there, abdominal ultrasound and/or endoscopy (use of a long camera put inside the GI tract) can be used to further define what the problem is. Prognosis and treatment is really going to depend on what the ultimate definitive diagnosis is.
I am also attaching a client information handout that I use in my practice that discusses chronic vomiting in more detail. I hope that you find it useful.

Click Here

It is good that your dog has now not vomited in awhile. Maybe that is a sign that whatever this was is passing. However, if this continues to be a problem, then I strongly recommend that you return to the vet for a thorough work-up to see what might be the problem.


I hope that this information is of some help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your dog. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Dr. K

Expert:	Dr. K
Pos. Feedback:	99.6 %
Accepts:	2972
Answered:	12/9/2008

Veterinarian

9 years experience as Veterinarian