So Your Dog Puked Up Your Homework – Why?

Instructional Guide

Learners will explore what different types of vomit can mean and why vomiting occurs, so that they can recognize when their vomiting dog might need veterinary care.

Intended Grade Level

This lesson is intended for students grade 6th- 8th grade. Students should be familiar with general anatomy of the GI system, such as the esophagus, stomach, intestines.

Learning objectives

• Students will be able to describe what vomiting is
• Students will be able to explain the difference between vomiting and regurgitation
• Students will be able to describe reasons why vomiting occurs
• Students will be able to identify contents of vomit by color
• Students will be able to describe how vomiting is treated

Lesson Format

Student Page

This can be done in any size group. Activities require either just a laptop, or a craft tools to make slime, details of which can be found within the “activities” section below

• First students will follow along with a presentation to learn about vomit, its’ causes, what its’ colors mean, diagnostics and some treatments (30 minutes)
• Next, students will play a game that connects colors of vomit to causes (8 minutes)
• Optionally, students can do one of two, or both, crafts that mimic dog vomit, and can be found in more detail in the “activities” section (15 minutes)
• Lastly, students will take a short quiz that is reflective of the learning objectives (5 minutes)

Lesson Background

Vomiting is the evacuation of food from the stomach via stomach, abdominal muscle, and diaphragm contraction. Dogs do so readily and may be related to disease or a single occurrence in a healthy dog.  This is different than regurgitation which is composed of undigested food that never reached the stomach. Vomiting (acute or chronic) can occur for a wide list of reasons. It can be due to the gastrointestinal tract not working properly or because of a secondary issue like toxins or abdominal pain. Vomiting is not a disease in and of itself. It is a common symptom that doesn’t necessarily point to any sort of larger problem.

Sometimes we actually want to induce vomiting in dogs. For example, when a dog eats something they’re not supposed to. Inducing vomiting is something you should only attempt to do under the guidance of a veterinarian, as they can use special drugs to safely induce vomiting in your dog, or can also use drugs to prevent vomiting from occurring in dogs  These drugs include Cerenia (control nausea), Reglan (promote movement of intestinal tract), Metronidazole (relieve inflammation of intestinal tract), Sucralfate (soothing medication for stomach and intestines)  or Antibiotics.

The contents of dog vomit are variable. Looking at color and consistency alone are not great indicators of cause. For example, red vomit could indicate blood, but it could also be red because the dogs eat red food. The contents of vomit can also tell you if the animal is vomiting or regurgitating. If the vomit has whole food that looks completely undigested, then the dog has actually regurgitated which is a sign of an esophageal problem not a GI problem. Besides telling between vomiting and regurgitation, looking at your dog’s vomit can confidently tell you if your dog’s stomach is empty or not. If the vomit is all liquid then the dog likely has vomited on an empty stomach. As mentioned before, color cannot confidently tell you whether a dog needs medical service immediately, but if the color is very dark, red, or black you should contact your veterinarian as soon as possible.

Vomiting can be resolved by discovering the cause of vomiting at the vet. This can be done by blood tests which look for changes levels of red blood cells and white blood cells as well as electrolyte and kidney function. Urine tests are also run to look for the presence of WBC, high levels of glucose and ketones, bilirubin.  Radiography with or without contrast to find obstructions, gas, or inflammation in GI system are also performed. Biopsies are used primarily in chronic conditions (allergies, infections, autoimmune skin disease, tumors). Lastly, exploratory surgery may be done to evaluate the organs involved in GI tract and identify/remove foreign materials. Other treatments include changing the diet, fluid therapy for treating dehydration, withhold food for 24 hrs and then slowly reincorporate, or giving a bland diet (chicken, rice etc.).

Activities

There is one embedded activity option, and two non-embedded, optional activites.

The first, embedded, option gives students pictures of dog vomit and asks them to diagnose the cause of the vomit based off of its color. This can be found within the slideshow.

The second option, a non-embedded, optional activity is making a “dog vomit cup”

• • Draw a dog on a plastic white cup. Make a hole in the mouth.
  • Add 2 to 3 tbsp baking soda to the cup
  • Add food coloring and different objects (like cheerios, strips of paper, etc.)
  • Place the cup on a plate to catch the “vomit” 
  • Pour around half a cup of vinegar into the cup in the end to watch your dog vomit!
    • Pour slowly for a better effect.

The third option, a non-embedded, optional activity is making slime, and coloring it to represent different causes of vomit.

• • Slime recipe
    • Ingredients: 2 tsp borax, 2 cups of water (separate into 1 cup each), ½ cup white glue, ziploc bags, food coloring, weird objects
    • Directions: Mix 1/2 cup of white glue and 1 cup of water in a ziploc bag. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of Borax with a separate 1 cup of water. Pour the Borax-water solution into the zipper bag containing the glue-water solution. Mix well. Add in your chosen vomit contents and food coloring.

Common misconceptions and challenge points

Students may have difficulty understanding the difference between vomiting and regurgitation, especially if the end result is still vomit.

• Explain that vomiting requires more effort from the rest of the body compared to regurgitation. When an animal vomits, the contents that come out of the mouth are typically digested food with phlegm. Pets who vomit also make loud retching sounds, as they’re actively pushing the material out. Regurgitation often happens immediately after an animal eats, where the pile of regurgitation contains full pieces of kibble and mucous. This is because the food has not been digested by the stomach or GI tract, and it comes right back up. Animals who regurgitate do not make any noise, as it’s often spontaneous and doesn’t require much effort from abdominal muscles, stomach, or esophagus.

Assessment

Students will take a short, 4 question quiz independently to assess what they have learned through the unit.

Further exploration

Other chapters within this textbook may be interesting for learners:

Gag or Barf? Decoding regurgitation and vomiting in dogs

Ew! What did I just step in??: Instructor Guide