Why a Dog Keeps Vomiting After a Fall
📝 Summary
Vomiting after a fall points to gut blockage (intussusception, torsion) or, more likely here, a head injury — concussion or brain contusion from the impact. Signs are coma, weak pulse, incontinence, and vomiting; cool the head, give mannitol and dexamethasone for brain swelling, and see a vet.
1 Vomiting After a Fall: What It Means
Why a dog keeps vomiting after a fall
Sudden vomiting, belly pain, lost appetite, weakness, constipation, repeated vomiting — think intestinal blockage, volvulus, or intussusception.
Neurologic vomiting from neurologic distemper: the virus damages the brain, and the dog shows falling, unsteady standing, vomiting, seizures, circling, odd posture, wobbly gait, and twitching of the chewing muscles and limbs.
Concussion and brain contusion are acute brain disease from rough force on the skull — usually visible change is called brain injury, lack of structural change is concussion. Causes: a car hitting the head, someone beating the head, or a high-speed fall onto the head from a building.
Right after injury the animal falls into coma, loses consciousness, reflexes fade or vanish, pulse turns thin and uneven, breathing weakens or turns irregular, it loses bowel and bladder control, and often vomits; the head shows trauma or force marks.
Early care: ice the head, inject ethamsylate or carbazochrome to stop bleeding. IV 20% mannitol with high-dose dexamethasone at 1 mg/kg for 2–3 days prevents and treats brain edema. For nerve signs, chlorpromazine 1 mg/kg IM. Nursing care aids recovery.
In this case the fall-then-vomit pattern makes neurologic distemper (a late stage) unlikely; concussion from the fall is the stronger suspect.
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