Dog vomiting - Problem with lungs????

4036 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by peiris, Jul 3, 2008

peiris

Discussion Starter · Jun 29, 2008

I have a 5 month old German Sheppherd. She started vomitting some white stuff (like flem - Not food). I took her to the Vet and after examining for few days, several x-rays were taken. The Vet found out that part of the lung may have been collapsed. Blood tests were done too. The x-rays were sent to a specialist on June 18th. I am waiting for the results. The puppy was given two weeks dosage of Antibiotics. She was okay since that day until this morning. She vomitted again. The puppy does not each much. The Vet mentioned that this could be a long-term disability for the puppy.

Any one has any suggestions please.

Thanks
Londondude, London, Ontario, Canada.

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raysmom

· #2 · Jun 29, 2008

If, when your puppy vomited, she accidentally inhaled (aspirated) some of the vomit into her lungs, that could block one of the air passages (bronchi), causing a portion of the lung to collapse, which is called "atelectasis". Inhaling/aspirating some of the vomit could also cause pneumonia, which is probably why the vet put her on antibiotics.

As far as a long-term disability, I know that dogs with a condition called "Mega Esophagus" are more likely to vomit and aspirate while they're eating, but I don't know much more about the condition - but there are a lot of people on this forum who do.

Good luck with your pup - hopefully it's nothing serious.

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Spiritsmam

· #3 · Jun 29, 2008

I have a dog who does a similar thing to your pup, although my girl is 21 years old (Lab mix). The cause of her problem is esophagitis, secondary to regurgitating and vomiting. Esophagitis is very painful and affects eating and drinking. My girl currently has a PEG tube plpaced to allow me to feed her while her esophagus heals.

As raysmom mentioned it may be that your pup aspirated some of the fluid she coughed up - hopefully the antibiotics will help if she did.

If your pup keeps vomiting I would ask your vet for a referral to an internal medicine specialist who can evaluate her lungs and upper GI tract.

Wishing you the best - let us knoe how she does.

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MaggieRoseLee

· #4 · Jun 30, 2008

It does sound like aspiration pneumonia and can be serious.

Did they check your GSD for mega-esophagus? VERY common in GSD's, it's genetic so make sure there is no repeat breeding for your breeder.

And it CAN be managed. My Elsa is 9 years old and doing just fine.

Here's some sites with info:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/megaesophagus.html

http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00133.htm

http://www.thepetcenter.com/xra/xraycases.htm#Hip%20Dysplasia

http://www.videxgsd.co.uk/gastrointestinal.htm

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peiris

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 3, 2008

Vomiting versus Regurgitation

Most people do not realize that there is a difference between these two actions. Vomiting is an active process. There is gagging, heaving, and retching as the body actively expels stomach contents. Regurgitation is passive. For whatever reason, food is swallowed from the mouth but never really goes anywhere beyond that point. Food sits in the esophagus until it simply falls back out the mouth at some point. In the dog, megaesophagus is the most common cause of regurgitation.

What is Megaesophagus?

The esophagus is the tube connecting the throat to the stomach. When food is perceived in the esophagus, neurologic reflex causing muscle contraction and relaxation lead to rapid transport of the food into the stomach, like an elevator going down. Other reflexes prevent breathing during this swallowing process to protect the lungs from aspiration.

When these reflexes are interrupted such as by disease in the esophageal tissue or nerve disease, the esophagus loses its ability to transport food. Instead the esophagus loses all tone and dilates. Also, the reflex protecting the lung is disrupted and aspiration pneumonia commonly follows.

Correct me if I am wrong please. My puppy does not vomit food. According to the Vet part of the lung has increased density due to a previous lung disease. About two months ago my puppy had a cough and the Vet gave her antibiotics. The vet ruled out mega-esophagus. Still my Vet and the specialist could not come to a concrete opinion. My Vet and the specialist is meeting again tomorrow (Thursday-July 3rd). The puppy normally does not eat her meal may be 3 times a week. She is 5 months old and her weight is only 30 lbs. I don't know what to do.

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