Mary Allen
Snow gastritis: The irritation of the gastric mucosa leads to vomiting.
When the first snow falls, the cat and dog can hardly hide their curiosity: they smell and lick the snow. Some snow seems to taste particularly good. Just as many animals prefer to take water from ponds and ponds rather than fresh from the tap, they also prefer snow. The liquid is more interesting due to the salts and suspended matter dissolved in it, tastes more aromatic, and is therefore consumed with preference.
But snow is mostly cold. Depending on the amount ingested and the speed of eating, this results in irritation of the gastric mucosa. Cats seem to sense this because they rarely ingest large amounts. But dogs often overdo it.
If irritation of the gastric mucosa occurs, vomiting occurs relatively quickly. In many cases, the vomit is without food – more or less frothy mucus, whitish, yellow, or brown. If large amounts have been ingested, diarrhea may occasionally occur. The animals do not eat for a few hours. In most cases, everything is forgotten the following day. However, if the vomiting persists, it must be taken because of the associated weakening and the sometimes high degree
Electrolyte loss should still be treated with a gastrointestinal treatment. This calms the vomiting center, protects the digestive tract from infection, and regenerates it.
Unfortunately, only in the rarest of cases does a learning effect occur. It is therefore the pet owner’s job to prevent his pet from eating snow. With dogs, this is easy to do if you put them on a leash. Cats can only be supervised indoors. Therefore, the exit of such unreasonable cats is restricted or monitored during snowfall. Luckily, interest wears off after a few days, so the snow-eating problem takes care of itself.