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Diarrhea and Dogs
By: Tippy
Diarrhea is the passing of frequent, unformed stool
of increased volume. Diarrhea is a dangerous condition for
your dog but it isn't a disease itself, rather it is a
symptom that your dog's health isn't right and something is
upsetting its gastrointestinal tract.
Like humans, dogs will occasionally suffer from an acute
case of diarrhea. (Acute diarrhea means starting suddenly
and lasting a couple of days.) If you dog is showing no
other symptoms aside from diarrhea then there is no reason
to get alarmed. You can probably even treat the condition at
home if you want to.
Often diarrhea is brought on by a sudden change in diet or
because the dog has eaten something that disturbed its
digestive system. Human food will often cause diarrhea in
dogs. So can worms, food allergies, and viral or bacterial
infection of some kind.
If other symptoms like the ones listed below accompany the
diarrhea take your dog to a veterinarian:
- Any other sign of illness
- Blood in the diarrhea
- Dehydration
- Fever
- Lethargy or depression
- Loss of appetite
- Pain
- Vomiting
- Weight Loss
If you intend to treat your dog at home then you should
withhold food for twenty-four hours. For a
puppy, simply
don't allow it to eat for twelve hours. Be sure to allow the
dog to drink as much water as it will, this will help to
prevent dehydration. Withholding food allows the digestive
tract to rest for a little while and the dog's system to
combat the cause of the upset.
After the resting period feed your dog a bland diet such as
fifty percent chicken stock and fifty percent boiled rice or
fifty percent cooked hamburger and fifty percent boiled rice
for the next couple of days. If the diarrhea doesn't go
completely away by then you should take the dog to a
veterinarian.
One of the major problems with frequent bouts of diarrhea is
the threat to your dog's health from dehydration.
Dehydration is dangerous and can cause a dog to go into
cardiac arrest. Be sure to encourage your dog to drink
plenty of fluids when it is having a bout of diarrhea.
There is a rehydration therapy called Lectade for dogs and
cats that you can give your dog to replenish electrolytes
that are lost through diarrhea. You can give your dog eight
to thirty milliliters every half hour by mouth for the first
twenty-four hours. This is depending upon the size of the
dog of course; a toy dog would require eight whereas a large
mastiff would require thirty milliliters.
Of course if you determine that some food caused the
problem, don't let the dog be exposed to that food again.
Diarrhea, the Diet and your Dog
When diarrhea suddenly becomes a problem with your dog you
should consider whether there is any treat that you may have
fed your dog that might be causing the upset, or any diet
changes that you have made that may have caused the diarrhea
to occur. Diarrhea is often caused by cheap dog food with a
lot of corn in it or sudden changes in the dog's diet.
You want to feed your dog a high quality dog food. People
don't realize that feeding a dog cheap dog food usually
results in the dog having all kinds of health problems or
even to die prematurely. In the end it costs more for the
cheap dog food and the frequent veterinarian bills than if
you had just gotten the good dog food to begin with.
Cheap dog foods are usually loaded with carbohydrates and
vegetables that ultimately mean little to your dog and pass
right through its digestive system without being used. Not
only that, but cheap dog foods are usually fleshed out with
corn, to which many dogs are allergic. This causes bad
breath, gum disease, bad coat and skin, frequent smelly
stool, bad gas and contributes to a weaker immune system and
more vulnerability to disease.
See our Recommendation for a High
Quality Dog Food Here
Dogs may be lactose intolerant as well, so feeding your dog
cheese, milk or any milk byproduct can result in bouts of
diarrhea. Older puppies and dogs have no need for any milk
or milk by-product as part of their diet.
Never feed human food to a dog! Human food is especially bad
for dogs - especially spicy, sugary foods.
There is an all natural cure to constipation if your dog
happens to come down with a case of it. One hundred percent
canned natural pumpkin can help cure diarrhea and
constipation in dogs. Experienced dog owners say that
pumpkin can firm up loose stool or loosen hard stool in a
dog in a few hours.
You can give a couple of teaspoons to a small dog every day
and a couple of tablespoons to a large size dog daily until
the diarrhea or constipation stops. (Most often you will
have to mix it with their dog food or something else to make
it tasty as many dogs will not eat it straight.)
If your dog's diarrhea persists for more than a couple of
days then take it to a veterinarian because this can be a
sign of some other disease. Chronic diarrhea can kill. Here
is a list of possible dangerous causes of diarrhea:
- Worms
- Parasites such as giardia & coccidia
- Drinking Milk (Lactose Intolerance)
- Blockage (foreign object)
- Bowel Disease
- Cancer
- Bad diet
- Eating Garbage
- Hormone Imbalance
- Infection (viral or bacterial)
- Intussusception (telescoping of the bowel on itself)
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Pancreatitis
- Poisoning
