Diarrhea is a very common problem in the dog. It is hard to believe, but gastrointestinal complaints are among the diseases most often encountered by veterinarians. Once the first horror is over when a dog has diarrhea, you need to know what could be the reason for the diarrhea in your dog and how you can cure dog diarrhea quickly.
First and foremost, it is important to understand the cause of the diarrhea, and then to be able to determine whether it is a chronic or acute diarrhea suffering in your dog.
First, the good news. Most diarrheal illnesses disappear by themselves within two to three days.
Symptoms of diarrhea in your dog
The main symptom of diarrhea naturally in your dog is the liquid stool.
Here, the stool can for a strong liquid or be only slightly diluted. Achievements with bright red blood or green as well as slimy diarrhea must make you sit up and take notice. Since it can then also be a more serious illness – so go quickly to the vet and get professional advice.
Another less common form of diarrhea in dogs is so-called vomiting diarrhea. In addition to watery and increased bowel movements, your dog has to vomit too. Also in this case, you should seek a timely visit to your veterinarian, so that he can find the cause of the vomiting diarrhea.
Diarrheal diarrhea is one of the main symptoms of acute poisoning.
If you are unsure about the trigger for the diarrhea in your dog, a visit to the vet can quickly give you information. However, there is a lot to note here. It is always useful to bring a faeces sample so that it can be examined in the laboratory of the veterinarian for certain pathogens. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, your vet can prepare a suitable plan for the treatment of diarrhea in your dog. If you follow the guidelines, your dog will get better very quickly.
This will tell you if your dog also suffers from abdominal pain
Our four-legged friends show some clear signs as soon as they suffer from increased abdominal pain. Your dog will then probably move much slower and may seem a bit cramped to you. This is due to the restraint, which your dog will take in abdominal pain.
In addition, he may also bend his back or is increasingly in other unusual positions. Many dogs prefer the supine position in abdominal pain to relieve their stomach.
Do you have the suspicion that your dog may already be dehydrated?
Dehydration in diarrhea in dogs is well recognized by the fact that all mucous membranes in the mouth of your dog dried out and sticky.
The eyes of your dog also appear rather dehydrated.
As a test, you can pull on skin folds – this will only slowly go back to shape, which is due to the fact that the connective tissue loses water. As a result, the skin of your four-legged friend is no longer so elastic
The possible causes
From harmless to life-threatening – the repertoire of causes for diarrhea in dogs is large. There are three major categories for diarrhea in dogs.
1. Your dog suffers from diarrhea because he has eaten something that his stomach does not get
This could be, for example, debris that your dog might have stolen from the garbage. Also thrown away food leftovers on the wayside, bones of animals or other indigestible foreign bodies, which irritate the intestine of yours in its natural function, could have taken up your four-legged friend.
But also toxic things, unsuitable medicines as well as chemicals usually lead to diarrhea in the dog and very often to vomiting diarrhea.
Your dog could also get diarrhea during a sudden change of his food. After all, many sensitive dog stomachs only tolerate a slow feed change. It also happens that dog food is biased by harmful bacteria or just superimposed on it.
Have you forgotten to change the fresh water of your four-legged friend? Especially in summer, bacteria in stagnant water can multiply very quickly, which is a common cause of diarrhea in dogs.
Cheap, carbohydrate-rich food is often rather poorly tolerated by dogs, which also manifests itself quickly in diarrhea.
2. Dog has diarrhea due to a disease of digestive apparatus
Various diseases of the digestive tract of a dog can lead to diarrhea in dogs. First and foremost, for example, the faulty colonization by many bacteria and viruses strains or parasites is a risk.
Worms and unicellular organisms such as the dreaded Giardia often cause unnoticed diarrhea in dogs. Another, but rather rare, disease is the inflammation of the pancreas of the dog, which can be determined exclusively by the veterinarian. One of the early symptoms of pancreatitis is diarrhea in dogs.
But even individual allergies and intolerances to dietary constituents or autoimmune diseases of the gastrointestinal tract may manifest themselves in diarrhea in dogs.
3. Dog has diarrhea due to problems that are outside the gastrointestinal tract
In situations where your dog is particularly anxious, in pain, or experiencing excessive stress, you may experience sudden periods of diarrhea.
Even minor infectious diseases often cause entertaining diarrhea passages. These are but very short intervals where your dog is not affected by diarrhea for more than 24 hours.
A dog has diarrhea if it suffers from kidney dysfunction. Also, hormonal diseases come into question, but can be determined quickly by your veterinarian.
The potential consequences
Young puppies and older dogs are more likely to suffer from diarrhea than healthy adult dogs.
As soon as the diarrhea in your dog is very strong or lasts longer than 24 hours threatens the dehydration of your dog. Due to the massive loss of fluid, the inside of your dog’s body can dry out.
This is a very serious illness, which in the worst case can lead to organ failure in your dog. For this reason, it is even more important to pay attention to a sufficient supply of liquid. Not only water is suitable for this. Especially during an illness, a mixture of chamomile, peppermint or fennel tea is recommended. A dog suffering from loss of appetite may take more fluid.
The rapid loss of water can quickly lead to a shortage of all the minerals and nutrients vital to the dog. Because your dog’s organism is no longer able to break down and ingest important nutrients from food during diarrhea.
Here, the walk to your veterinarian helps, which quickly creates clarity and helps him to recover by means of infusion therapy.
Your dog has diarrhea – emergency measures and when to go to the vet
Your dog has diarrhea and looks dull and tired? Is he perhaps even apathetic? Does your dog refuse to ingest liquids? Then you must go immediately to your veterinarian. Your dog has diarrhea in combination with side effects such as fever or frequent vomiting? Also in this case you should act fast and get help for your fur nose.
Small checklist before your visit to your vet
Your dog has diarrhea and that’s why the visit to your veterinarian is on. The prepared you appear there, the faster the diagnosis goes.
- Take a fresh feces sample from your dog for the vet – the vet will want to check the stool for possible worm eggs or other pathogens.
- Take with you a list, on which you note all dog food and treats of your dog. As a result, incompatibilities can be detected faster.
- Think well if your fur nose may have suffered from similar symptoms in the past.
- Did you leave your dog unobserved? Consider whether he could have eaten rubbish or had access to the medicine cabinet.
- When did you last deworm your dog? Your dog has diarrhea – a possibility would be a worm infestation.
Your dog has diarrhea and you do not want to wait until your vet has time? Even on the weekend you want to help his four-legged friend immediately. Since diarrhea is not usually a situation requiring immediate help, in most cases this is not necessary.
Nevertheless, there are extremely effective help in acute emergencies.
Your dog has diarrhea – the gift of charcoal tablets can help. But you must have previously agreed to the dosage with your veterinarian.
Activated carbon, or coal tablets, absorbs and binds all toxins from the organism of your dog. Activated carbon is the first remedy of the Wah even with poisoning. It helps to slow down the poisoning process in the dog and protect your dog’s organism until medical help is available.
Your dog has diarrhea – Popular home remedies for liquid stool
Rice mucilage
A particularly wholesome and easy food for your dog is the rice mucus. Normal long cooked rice deprives the organism of your dog in case of diarrhea even more water. Therefore, it is important that the rice for your dog is cooked very long and with twice as much water. It usually takes about an hour for the rice to start forming mucilage – then it’s perfect.
Potato mash for dogs
For the potato rump, some unpeeled potatoes – the shell is extremely rich in minerals – boiled soft enough with enough water. After you have drained the water you have to mash the potatoes with their peel to a smooth pulp. For the taste you can add some meat stock until it reaches a creamy consistency. Due to the many minerals contained in the intestine of your dog is strengthened in its natural function.
Chicken – the classic cure for diarrhea
Another small all-rounder in the diet is chicken with rice and some cottage cheese. Your dog has diarrhea – then it gives him enough energy. The cottage cheese also strengthens his gut health. Due to the extremely high digestibility, this recipe can be fed for up to three days. Longer, however, your dog should not get any diet for dogs , otherwise there is a vitamin and mineral deficiency.
Your dog has diarrhea – this is how you restore natural intestinal flora
After the conquered infection, the intestine of your dog is greatly weakened. The reason is the rapid removal of his stool and the concomitant irritation of his intestinal mucosa. If you have also given your dog an antibiotic, all bacterial strains were rinsed out of his healthy intestinal flora. Here you should be able to provide a quick remedy to support the intestine of your dog in its natural function as a digestive organ. This is done fastest by probiotic cultures
You can use probiotic yoghurt with lots of living cultures. It is simply mixed with your dog’s traditional feed. When choosing the right product, you should absolutely make sure that it is a product with no added sugar.
If your dog has recovered from his diarrhea, you can give him green rumen. Green rumen is the fresh, unwashed and undried form of the normal rumen. It also contains lots of good cow dung bacteria that are extremely useful for your dog’s intestine.
