Dog Threw Up a lot, any ideas?

[Pollux]

Hi everyone,

I usually post in the cat forum, because I have a cat! But my parents have a dog, and here is what has been happening:
Every 8-10 days, he throws up. He doesn't eat grass and throw up, or eat then throw up, he just throws up yellowish bile looking stuff. Today we came home and there were large puddles on the tile floor, and one large wet spot in the living room, where we assume he threw up. It's about 10 times as much as he normally does. Now he is hanging his head down and his tail is down and he doesn't seem to want to settle in and go to sleep anywhere, he keeps getting up. He also is drinking a lot of water.
I figured, he's probably weak and dehydrated from throwing up so much. But then we were petting him and we're not sure if we are just being paranoid, but it seems like his sides are distended, or pushing out, sort of. It could be that he is always like that and we're just zeroing in on it now out of concern, though.
Does any of this sound like anything anyone has seen before? He has a vet appointment for tomorrow, but I figured, if I could find anything to ease our minds a little tonight, it'd be neat.
Thanks!

[k9Karen]

Not to worry you too much, but this sounds like it could be a bowel obstruction, which is an emergency situation. Any chance he could have swallowed a toy (or sock - something like that) or has he had any rawhide chews or bones?

Traci - you out there?

Does your vet have an emergency number so you can at least call and ask for his opinion? If not, is there an emergency vet you can call or go to? If not, please call your vet as soon has the office opens in the morning. In the meantime, don't feed him anything until you at least speak to a vet.

[Traci]

It could be anything from inappropriate food, to GI tract problems to disease process. You didn't say how old the dog is, but vet exam is imperative...if the dog is over the age of 6 or 7, get full bloodwork done, urinalysis and possibly add an xray.

Any time a pet displays sudden signs of lethargy and discomfort or pain (as evidenced by your description of his not being able to get comfortable), demands an emergency vet vist, Karen could be right about an obstruction, but it could be nearly anything else entirely.