Hello Jana,
Thanks for this very important question!
There are many tolls that overweight/obese dogs pay.
To name some of them; joint disease, heart disease, endocrine disease (diabetes), cancer, dermatologic complications, the list goes on and on.
But the single biggest toll that I see obese dogs pay is their lack of a happy healthy life. Fat dogs are not happy dogs. They may wag their tail, they may beg for food, but when you see an overweight dog that has lost their excess weight and regained their vigor and love for life it is magic! I have seen dogs who act and behave like they are years younger. They play, they interact, they are curious, and just happy. Their parents always tell me how they cannot believe how different their dog acts and how they never knew how much that excess weight was weighing them down.
Being healthy is the biggest key to happiness, ask any sick or fat dog. Our health is the greatest gift we have, cherish it, foster it, and promote it.
Medicine can’t change our gentics but diet and lifestyle can change and improve almost everything else.
There are many products, diagnostics, diets, supplements, tricks, and perhaps even a few lifestyle changes available to help you and your pup be on their way to a more youthful vibrant and longer life, and maybe/hopefully, you both can make a whole lot less visits to my veterinary office!
Krista Magnifico, DVM
Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
Jarrettsville, MD
http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com
Hello Brenda,
Thanks for your question.
There are a few things to discuss.
I would like to know how long you have had your puppy, and if she has been to the vet yet? I would also like to know if she has had a fecal check, she might need more than one? I always worry about intestinal worms with puppies, especially if they are vomiting or having diarrhea. (I tell my clients that "most puppies come with worms, it is very common, and worms come with the puppy package. So expect them, check for them, and treat for them.").
I am unclear as to whether the vomiting is related to the car trip? Or, if she is vomiting without it being related to the car? Many pets, especially puppies get car sick due to anxiety about being in the car, and the motion of the car. I always recommend taking your puppy with you in the car as often as you can so they get used to the car, used to the motion of a car, and over come their anxiety associated with the car.
Getting car sick and vomiting because of being in the car, but then stopping vomiting after you get home or to your destination is fairly common. But, if your puppy is still vomiting after the car ride stops then I am concerned that we have a puppy who is nauseous.
There are many things that can make a puppy nauseous. The best way to try to determine the triggers for nausea are to visit your veterinarian and start talking.
I am also concerned about your last statement; "Will eating the grass hurt her or will it help her to vomit?" Eating grass can cause a few things. Pets can pick up the eggs of the worms that evolve into the intestinal parasites that can be dangerous to the health of your puppy. Also, I have seen dogs that have eaten so much grass that the stomach becomes a vat of fermenting green discomfort. This grass becomes a stomach full of un-passable, un-movable, obstruction. It can get stuck in the stomach like cement, except this cement is fermenting. So their belly gets stretched to the point that the grass is stuck and may eventually cause the stomach to rupture. These dogs are miserable. They are trying to burp to expel the fermenting stomach gas, trying to vomit, to relieve the pressure in the stomach and feeling terrible. I have actually had to do surgery to remove grass from dogs because their stomach is bloating. Bloat is incredibly painful and can be fatal.
So, I don’t want you to think that she should be eating grass. A small amount of grass eating is likely to be safe and may be normal for a curious puppy who investigates the world by tasting it, but I am concerned that she is eating grass because she doesn’t feel good.
I hope that I have encouraged you to try to identify why she is vomiting, why she is eating grass, and that you will have a meeting with your vet soon to help your puppy feel better.
If you would like to discuss any of this, or see a veterinarian and you live close to us at Jarrettsville Vet we would love to help.
I also have other puppy tips available on our Pawbly blog.
Best of Luck, and here’s to wishing you and your puppy a long, happy, safe life together!
Krista
Sincerely,
Krista
Krista Magnifico, DVM
Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
Jarrettsville, MD
http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com