Rat terrier retching

Question
Over the past four hours, my 3 year-old rat terrier has been retching, but the retching is not producing vomit.  He also seems to be chewing or salivating, but he is not drinking water.  I took him out and he immediately started eating grass.  He has continued retching periodically throughout the evening, and seems uncomfortable (whining), but the vet is closed for the holiday.  Do you have any suggestions?

Answer
He definitely sounds very nauseous. The chewing, salivating and eating grass are all signs of a very irritated stomach.

He needs to drink a bit, and I'd suggest some tea to help settle his stomach. If you have it, try making a cup of peppermint tea. Add in a little ground ginger and some pedialyte to help hydrate him. Use a syringe and give him 1cc per 2 LBS of body weight (up to 10ccs, if he weighs more then 20 LBS just stick with 10ccs) every two hours until he stops retching. So if he weighs 10 LBS, give him 5 CCs of tea every two hours. Also, if you have ginger snaps or a gingerbread man (plain) lying around from the holidays, try breaking it into small pieces and feeding bits of it to him. Ginger really helps settle a stomach.

All this does is help settle his stomach and make him feel a little better, this doesn't treat whatever is CAUSING the problem. Keep a close eye on him and watch for more serious symptoms, like blood in his vomit, diarrhea, shaking, seizures, etc. Any of those symptoms and he will need to see an emergency vet immediately. Hopefully once his stomach settles, he will begin drinking again.

I hope he feels better soon!