Dog Vomiting Foam – What Does it Mean?

by admin | March 4th, 2010

When we first got Bailey from Dachshund Rescue, we noticed that occasionally she would foam at the mouth or throw up this yucky yellow foam. I had never seen a dog vomiting foam and wasn’t sure what it was, or if it was serious.

We talked with our veterinarian and learned about different things that make dogs vomit. Sometimes dogs drool a alot when they get nervous or anxious. They can drool and lick a lot and this causes them to throw up. This usually happens when the dog is in a new situation, like when company comes over or if you take your dog on a long car trip and he isn’t used to it.

Another cause of a dog vomiting foam can be a change in the dog’s food or diet. For example, if you adopt a dog that has never had table scraps or “human food,” he many not be used to it and it will cause him to throw up – or even worse, have diarrhea.

Some dogs can have real digestive problems that cause regurgitation. Some of these conditions are esophagitis, megaesophagus, or a hiatal hernia. Other dogs might have muscular problems that cause the vomiting. Some respiratory conditions, like Kennel cough or pneumonis, can cause a foamy mucous that is actually coming from the lungs and not the stomach. Chronic vomiting can also be caused by eating too fast, or eating too much at one time.

We found out that our dog vomiting foam issue was caused by seizures. She would throw up this yellow foam and then go into convulsions. (See the post on dogs and seizures.) So it wasn’t a digestive or lung issue at all. Just something that we have to live with.