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My unspayed dog vomited once and is now shaking. What's wrong?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 7 years and 10 months old | 8 lbs

My dog woke up vomiting this morning. Since then there hasn't been anymore vomiting but she has bouts of shaking

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on September 23rd, 2017

Poor Lilly sounds like she isn't feeling well! The shaking can be due to pain and feeling unwell. There are a couple of things this could be including a GI illness, eating something rotten, a foreign body, or a pyometra. Dogs who aren't spayed are prone to developing these infections of the uterus which are fatal without treatment. I can give you a home remedy to try to see if that helps. Withhold food for 12-24 hours, then feed a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) and white rice in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in her normal diet. If the vomiting continues in the absence of food, she vomits the bland diet, develops diarrhea, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, her abdomen becomes enlarged, you notice a smelly discharge from her vulva, or becomes very lethargic, she will need to see a vet right away. If she does have a pyometra, that is a medical emergency and spaying her is part of the recommended treatment. Leaving it untreated is fatal. If you do have concerns that she could have a pyometra, I'd recommend taking her into a vet to be safe. I hope this helps!

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