My dog stopped eating 3 days ago and has been throwing up Yellow Foam. The vet wants 350 to do blood work and x rays. Look she's 16 and has had a good life, I don't want to put her down if she's just sick but I also don't want to spend 350 I don't have on a dog that will have to be put down after the vet reviews the results. Any ideas on what this yellow foam is from? Or what I can force feed her? She refuses to even eat her favorite treats and human food. She is a mixed Breed that weighs about 45 lbs.

When to put a dog down is the toughest decisions a pet owner ever makes. I am afraid it is time.

The yellow foam is caused from her stomach being empty. I would be straight up with the vet and tell him exactly what you said here. It is possible that her not eating could be due to her liver or kidneys failing. If so, they might be able to extend her life for a year or so, but you really have to decide what's best for her. Sixteen years is a good life. I think if she was my dog I would ask for a simple urine and blood test to check her liver function, and then make a decision... but that's me. I made the decision with my gal that I was not going to put her through the wringer just so I could hang on another year or so. It was a difficult decision, but I knew it was the right one for her.

My vet had us try something to settle the stomach, then he suggested feeding her anything she would eat - baby food, canned food, whatever she might try. She still wouldn't so I said enough. She was ready to go. Who was I to mess with that?

I'm sorry that you are going through this. The latter senior years are so very hard.

Love, Didi

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Originally Posted by visionvictory

My dog stoped eating 3 days ago and has been throwing up Yellow Foam. The vet wants 350 to do blood work and x rays. Look shes 16 and has had a good life, I don't want to put her down if shes just sick but I also dont want to spend 350 I don't have on a dog that will have to be put down after the vet reviews the results. Any ideas on what this yellow foam is from? Or what I can force feed her? She refuses to even eat her favorite treats and human food. She is a mixed Breed that weighs about 45 lbs.

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Hello,

Just going through a similar thing with our 2 dogs... well, actually 1 now. Our 17 year old was vomitting, refusing to eat and drink. Took her to the vet, she had lost weight and the vet told us about all the tests, x-rays they could do, but in the end, she is still 17 and had lived a good life, so we opted to tearfully say good bye. The indications were quite probably that she had something serious going on. It was sad, but she did not suffer.

Now, we have an 11 year old who isn't well. He stopped eating. We started to wonder about the food which we had changed recently to Nutro Max. Anyhow, we have just paid for x-rays, senior blood screen, but the telltale thing was the dog's temperature which was up quite significantly. By any chance does your dog have a fever? You can check it yourself... yes, it's a rectal temp that you take. You just need a digital thermometer (about $10.00 or cheaper), wrap some plastic around the end, maybe saran wrap or a lunch baggy or some thin piece of plastic wrap, dip about 2 inches of the end of it in a jar of vaseline and then gently insert it (turn it on before inserting) into the dog's rectum appox. 1.5 to 2 inches in (our dog is medium sized, not so far if you've got a chihuahua or something... :-) . Your dog's temperature should be somewhere between 38 - 39 degrees. That will tell you and your vet whether an infection is likely. Our dog got an injection of antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory (Metacam). His temp. this a.m. is 39. It was 40 yesterday... so it seems to be working. It's been expensive, about $450.00 Canadian, but at 11 we knew we couldn't just walk in to the vet's and say "put him down, he's not feeling well". At 16, your decision might be different. Have you tried some cooked ground beef and some noodles (vet recommended diet for a sick dog). Small meals throughout the day. You are probably going to have to do some blood work at least, you might get away without the x-rays. Blood work runs somewhere between $60-$100 Cdn. but be prepared that you might fight out things that prompt other tests, checks etc.. It's tough when they are sick and the vet is so expensive, but you just love the darn things so much! Hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by visionvictory

My dog stoped eating 3 days ago and has been throwing up Yellow Foam. The vet wants 350 to do blood work and x rays. Look shes 16 and has had a good life, I don't want to put her down if shes just sick but I also dont want to spend 350 I don't have on a dog that will have to be put down after the vet reviews the results. Any ideas on what this yellow foam is from? Or what I can force feed her? She refuses to even eat her favorite treats and human food. She is a mixed Breed that weighs about 45 lbs.

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Oh and the other thing is, you can give your dog a chewable Pepto Bismol to settle his/her stomach... might help, but still think you want to get a few checks done, like others have suggested... blood and urine.