Why Does my Dog Throw up After Drinking Water?

The question, “Why Does my Dog Throw up After Drinking Water?” comes up quite often in Dr. Saba Afzal’s vet practice. We asked her to shed some light on this annoying, but potentially dangerous, problem.

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Dr. Saba, Why Does my Dog Throw up After Drinking Water?

Dr. Saba – Pet parents have often encountered a scenario in which they come home with their pet after a long walk, get into the home and let their dog head straight to the water bowl. If you are a pet owner, you may have encountered it yourself that your dog slurps up the water until the bowl is nearly empty. Along with drinking, they drool and drip water from the corners of their mouth.

Finally, they stop drinking it to catch some breath and panting. After a few moments, you watch your dog throw up, and the vomitus contains the water that your dog has just drunk.

It is not much of a concern until it starts to happen more frequently. Throwing up is a common behavior, but frequent throwing up means there is something disturbing your dog. Read on to know some basic understandings about throwing up and the possible causes of it.

Is Your Dog Vomiting Water? Or are They Regurgitating Water?

Vomiting and regurgitating are two different things. Vomit happens automatically without voluntary control, whereas regurgitating happens voluntarily. Dogs have voluntary muscles in their esophagus that they use to empty the esophagus when they don’t swallow properly.

On the contrary, vomit happens when dogs emit out the undigested contents of the stomach. Unlike other animals, dogs can decide when to regurgitate, thanks to the voluntary muscle of the esophagus.

In order to properly diagnose your pup, you should know the difference between vomiting and regurgitating. Vomiting happens automatically, and it contains the stomach contents, while regurgitation contains the contents of the esophagus, in this case, water. 

Why do Dogs Throw up so Often?

Domesticated dogs have evolved from scavengers in the wild. As such, they have developed the habit of eating very quickly. This also includes water. Dogs, when thirsty, drink water very fast to fill their stomach.

Cold water tends to contract the stomach, and the stomach needs to decide whether the water should remain or be emitted out. Dogs commonly throw up, so it is not to worry about their throwing up. However, you need to eliminate the causes of throwing up to prevent your dog from a difficult situation.

Is your dog one of the breeds that’s prone to digestive issues?

Some dog breeds, such as schnauzers, pugs, Frenchies, and other smushed-faced wrinkly breeds, have sensitive stomachs. If you see your smushed-faced dog throwing up yellow color vomitus, and not just water, you need to be a little worried about that. It is a sign of a digestive problem.

In addition, if your dog is not a breed with a sensitive stomach, and still its vomitus is yellow colored, then there is something wrong with its kidney or thyroid gland. As a result, your dog will increase its consumption of water and most likely throw it up.

Are There any Medications That Help a Dog that Throws up after Drinking Water?

If you are unable to take your dog to a veterinarian, there are over-the-counter drugs that can help your dog. You can purchase an anti-emetic drug that helps stop vomiting. A drug called famotidine sold under the name Pepcid can help stop vomiting. Call your vet to ask for the right dosage.

Are you Keeping your Dog Hydrated?

Once you have made sure that your dog is throwing up only water, you need to make the next step and ensure that your dog is properly hydrated. You should understand that after your dog throws up water, there is very little left in its system.

Eventually, this leads to dehydration, which can become a serious problem if you ignore it. Always pay attention to your pet’s drinking habits to ensure your dog is drinking the right amount of water.

Why Does my Dog Throw up After Drinking Water? What are the Reasons?

There are a number of reasons your dog is throwing up after drinking water. Some of them are not that big of a deal. Others could be potentially fatal. The only way to determine the reasons your dog is throwing water up so often is to pay attention to when they’re throwing up, and what proceeded the incident.

Below are four common reasons your pup may be throwing up water. This should give you an idea of what to look for in the future.

#1 Drinking Water Too Quickly

One of the most common reasons for throwing up is that your dog drinks water too quickly. Your dog may experience acute regurgitation if you see him throwing up water right after he finishes drinking.

However, if your dog throws up a clear, viscous liquid, the vomit may have been triggered by stomach secretions. Either way, the stomach is not holding its contents, properly. You need to consult your vet to make sure that it does in the future.

#2 Drinking Contaminated Fresh Water

Dogs have a habit of drinking water from everywhere and anywhere they can. You may experience your dog drinking water from a pond, lake, or river. Most of the time, this water doesn’t do any harm. However, sometimes these waters are contaminated and contain bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other chemical sources that can make your dog vomit water.

Whenever you take your dog out, you need to keep an eye on them to make sure they’re not drinking from a potentially contaminated water source. Always offer fresh, clean water to your dog on their walks to ensure they’re not finding their own water while out and about.

#3 Drinking Contaminated Water at Home

Water from an outside source isn’t the only contaminated source of water. Sometimes water from your home can get contaminated. For example, the water from your toilet is treated with chemicals and can make your pet sick. This is one of the main causes for the question, “Why does my dog throw up after drinking water?”.

You should make sure that you keep your toilet seats down to prevent your dog from drinking from it. Also, make sure that your dog’s bowl is full of fresh, clean water so they’re not tempted to find water elsewhere in the home.

#4 Bloat

Bloat is one of the serious conditions that needs to be immediately evaluated by your veterinarian. If your dog is experiencing bloat, it may feel pain caused by stretching of the stomach due to food and water. Bloat leads to vomiting because something is blocking the regular path of food in the digestive tract, and the food or water has no other direction to go.

Symptoms of bloat include:

• dry heaving
• abdominal distension
• vomiting
• increased heartbeat, &
• anxiety.

If you’re asking, “Why does my dog throw up after drinking water?”, and you notice any of the above symptoms of bloat, you need to get your dog to immediately see a veterinarian. Early diagnosis and treatment of bloat can have a good prognosis.

Hopefully, this Answers your Question, “Why Does my Dog Throw up After Drinking Water?”

Throwing up is a very difficult situation for the dog as well as the owner. Your pup throwing up water can be caused by many reasons, including:

• drinking contaminated water
• overactivity
• drinking more than required water
• internal physical deformity, or
• disease.

In most cases, the onset of your dog vomiting water is not a concern. If your pup experiences vomiting water more often, especially if there are signs of bloat, you need to take immediate steps to find out the cause and cure for your dog. A trip to the vet may be in order.