Vomiting and diarrhea in maltese puppy.

Dr. Marie replied:

Sorry to hear that your puppy is not feeling well. There are a good number of things that can cause a puppy to have some loose stools and occasional vomiting. The real question though is whether you need to worry or whether she should be seen by the vet.

Puppies don't have as many reserves as adult dogs to fight dehydration. As such, I don't like to wait too long before seeing the vet.

Here are some criteria that would make me want to take her to the vet right now:

-If she loses her appetite
-if she continues vomiting for 48 hours. Or, if she has more than 5 vomiting incidences in one day.
-if she seems to be really lethargic
-if the diarrhea doesn't clear up in 48 hours

It's possible that she just has some stomach upset from either something she ate or some type of stress such as a new routine. It's also possible that she is having a mild reaction to her vaccines although these symptoms are not really typical of a vaccine reaction.

A parasite of some type is possible as well. If this is the case it will show up on her stool test.

There are of course more serious possibilities such as a foreign object stuck in her stomach or intestines or ingestion of a toxic substance. A virus like parvo virus is less likely given that she is vaccinated, but still a possibility.

If it is something mild then she should be mostly recovered within 24-48 hours. But if she is not, or if she is getting worse then I would definitely have your vet see her.

Hope things look up soon!

Dr. Marie

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