Dog Diarrhea And How To Treat It
While every dog will have diarrhea at some point, it can still be worrying. It is therefore not surprising that many pet owners are looking for ways to effectively treat diarrhea in dogs.
If your dog has abnormal bowel movements on a regular basis, veterinarians refer to it as chronic diarrhea. In this case , your veterinarian must first find out what causes it and then prescribe appropriate treatment.
When should you go to the vet if your dog has diarrhea?
- If your dog is very young, very old, or has other medical conditions, you should definitely see a veterinarian.
- Even if the diarrhea is very mild, very young or very old dogs can be extremely weakened after a short time.
- You should also see a veterinarian if your dog has frequent diarrhea. The same applies if the diarrhea is very fluid, contains blood, or is very dark and sticky.
- If the diarrhea is accompanied by frequent vomiting, or if your dog becomes lethargic, depressed, or in pain, a veterinarian will need to investigate further. All of these symptoms could indicate more serious illnesses.
Treat diarrhea in dogs yourself
If your dog is generally healthy, fully grown and has no other symptoms, you can treat the diarrhea in the following ways:
- First of all, make sure your dog has enough fresh and clean water to keep them from becoming dehydrated. Encourage your dog to drink a lot. If necessary, you can also offer your dog a bowl of diluted chicken or beef broth. However, you should make sure that it contains only a little salt. Alternatively, you can add an electrolyte supplement to the water.
- If your dog has diarrhea and vomits in the process, you shouldn’t feed him at all for 8 to 12 hours.
- Otherwise, you can feed it light food, such as a small portion of boiled chicken – boneless and skin – and some white rice. Alternatively, sweet potatoes or pumpkin are also suitable. You can also include sweet potatoes and pumpkin in your normal diet to increase your fiber intake. You should continue this diet until the consistency of the bowel movements has returned to normal. If your dog is allergic to chicken, you can replace it with another hypoallergenic source of protein.
If your dog’s health improves, you should continue this gentle diet for an additional 1 to 3 days. You should increase the amount of food a little with each meal.
However, if the diarrhea persists for more than 24 hours or if your dog’s condition deteriorates significantly, you must contact your veterinarian immediately.
In addition, you can lengthen the interval between meals for your dog until the consistency of the stool returns to normal. You should also keep in mind that the change in diet must be made gradually in order to avoid further gastrointestinal complaints.
Preventive measures
As soon as your dog can eat normally again, you can prevent the recurrence of diarrhea by continuing to give him gentle food.
In addition to the classic feed made from rice and a source of protein, a bone broth is also a very nutritious option. It provides your dog with a mixture of vitamins and various nutrients and is also easy to digest. In addition, you should supplement this food with probiotics and prebiotics. In this way you can bring your dog’s intestinal flora back into balance.
Here are a few more tips you can take to prevent diarrhea from recurring in dogs:
- Do not change your pet’s diet suddenly.
- Don’t feed him leftover food and make sure he doesn’t rummage in the trash can.
- In addition, you should always make a note of when he was last vaccinated and treated against parasites.
