Expert: Charlotte Sherrell, DVM - 7/15/2008

Question
hello i was hoping you could help me find out what's wrong woth my puppy... he is three months old approx. and we just adaopted him from a shelter five days ago. he was nuetered the next day and then we brought him home. he has been very energetic and happy since then until today i came home from work ( he had been crated for about three hours) to find vomit in his crate. at first i wasnt alarmed i thought that it was just normal puppy stuff but after taking him out to go potty he drank some water and almost immediatly vommited again. a little bit later i was worried because he was a little lethargic. he drank water and vommited again this time the vomit had some hard white things in it. he has no diarehea or any other symptoms... what do you think this could be im hoping to rule put parvo but am getting really worried. any advice would be appreciated. thank you

Answer
Kayla -

Bravo for adopting a puppy from your local shelter!!! Shelter pets make great pets and  you are lucky enough to have one. It is difficult for me to diagnose your pet's illness, but the white things you saw in your puppy's vomit are most likely intestinal parasites.  The fact that he has vomited so often does concern me;  contact the shelter to let them know what is going on and ask the shelter personnel when the puppy was treated for "worms".  It is extremely common for puppies and kittens to have intestinal parasites and it it not a problem to treat or prevent them.  You are right to be concerned about parvo virus as it can be a devastating disease to certain breeds of puppies. Most shelters test puppies showing symptoms of that disease.  

Puppies, like babies, can become dehydrated quickly from vomiting.  Seek veterinary care as soon as possible to avoid problems that dehydration from vomiting can cause.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM