My dog is licking like crazy, like he's eating peanut butter. He's trying to eat carpet fibers, blanket fibers, end of his tail. He's thrown up a few times and sometimes, bops around like he's being bit on the butt. Very restless?

Question

My dog is licking like crazy, like he's eating peanut butter. He's trying to eat carpet fibers, blanket fibers, end of his tail. He's thrown up a few times and sometimes, bops around like he's being bit on the butt. Very restless?

2 Answers

Answer Question

Answer 1

Your dog may have an allergy to something, take your dog to the vet to be sure, your dog is obviously uncomfortable, please take the dog to the vet!

Answer 2

This sounds a little worrying as Bloat can start like this. Bloat is a
life threatening condition, so your dog really does need to be seen by a
vet as soon as possible.

Bloat occurs when food is not properly digested. Gas builds up in the stomach very quickly causing the stomach to blows up literally like a balloon. This stretches the stomach to such an extent that the blood supply to and from the heart is cut off. The gas trapped inside the stomach is unable to escape.

Dogs displaying symptoms of Bloat will
usually lick their lips/the air, but I have heard cases of them licking
everything in sight. The fact that he's behaving in an unusual way is another symptom, so it's not worth leaving this to chance.

You don't say what breed your dog is, but Bloat is most common in the following breeds:

Afghan Hound
Airedale Terrier
Akita
Alaskan Malamute
Basset Hound
Bernese Mountain Dog
Borzoi
Bouvier des Flandres
Boxer
Bullmastiff
Chesapeake Bay Retriever
Collie
Dachshund
Doberman Pinscher
English Springer Spaniel
Fila Brasileiro
Golden Retriever
Gordon Setter
Great Dane
German Shepherd
German Shorthaired Pointer
Great Pyrenees
Irish Setter
Irish Wolfhound
King Shepherd
Labrador Retriever
Miniature Poodle
Newfoundland
Old English Sheepdog
Pekinese
Rottweiler
Samoyed
Shiloh Shepherd
St. Bernard
Standard Poodle
Weimaraner
Wolfhound
Sighthounds
Bloodhounds

Regardless
of whether he is in the above list though, there is no point in risking
his life. I know how precious pets are, and I also know how much vets
cost (I had a HUGE vet bill earlier this year that I could ill afford,
but luckily my dog is now fine) so I know there is no point visiting the
vet for every little thing. However, this is one of the times when
needs must.

Let me know how your boy gets on, I hope he is okay.