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My Maltese is sick: not eating, throwing up, and breathing fast. Help!

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Hi, I have a maltese dog 2 years old and i noticed that she is behaving like she's sick lately. So she is clam, quite, licikng her paws, she doesn't want to eat a lot...i give her food (crackers and chicken meat for dogs) three times at day and she is refusing it so she eats it once a day if she is in mood if not she doesn't even smell the food for days...i even tried to cange her food couple of times but nothing. Lately she is breathing fast (usually at night) and she throw up two days ago.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on January 19th, 2017

It does sound like your pup is sick, and there are a lot of different things going on with her at the moment. The breathing hard can be a sign of pain, and throwing up is a sign of GI illness, eating something rotten, a foreign body, or pancreatitis, which all can also cause pain. These would make her not want to eat as well. Licking her paws can be a sign of allergies. Your dog has to see a vet as soon as possible for a physical exam, blood tests, and urinalysis. Doing all these tests will help diagnose what is causing her symptoms so she can be treated. I would bring her into a vet now.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 7th, 2017

    It sounds like poor Sophie isn't feeling well at all! She could be suffering from a GI illness, may have eaten something rotten, could have a foreign body, or may be suffering from pancreatitis. I can give you a home remedy to try to see if that helps her feel better. 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, or becomes very lethargic, she will need to see a vet right away.

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