Canine Diarrhea

According to surveys made by the American Veterinary Medical Association, the third most common problem that veterinarians treat among dogs that are brought to them is canine diarrhea. If your dog has ever had this problem, you know how much this can affect your daily routine. Canine stomach problems may results from an overgrowth of bacteria in their digestive system or intestinal tract, or they may simply be due to excessive feeding and dietary indiscretion. More serious causes include bloat and even stomach cancer.

If the dog's stomach problems are not accompanied by vomiting and a sudden lack of appetite, the problem may be mild and you can handle it yourself. We’ve got some tips you might find helpful if your dog has loose bowel movements. But if your pet has a more serious case of diarrhea involving bloody stool or vomiting, it would be a real good idea for you to bring your pet immediately to the veternarian for further check up and observation.

Causes of Canine Diarrhea

Stomach problems and loose bowel movements in dogs may just be a side effect of simple causes like a change in dog food, an allergy to a certain food, indiscriminate gobbling of table scraps, and uncontrolled raiding of the trash bin where your always hungry friend might eat something that is not acceptable to his stomach. Other causes might involve parasites such as worms that cause a bacterial overgrowth or imbalance in the stomach.

If worms are present in your dog’s tool (its gross to think about, but you have to look for these) like spaghetti-like roundworms or rice-like tapeworms, an over-the-counter dewormer can be purchased and these meds usually would be enough to do the trick. However, certain parasites like Giardia and other non-visible worms are not easily treated by dewormers. This will result in continuous stomach problems and further loose bowel movements. In such cases, you need to bring samples of fresh stool to the vet for further checking and verification so appropriate medicines can be administered.

Practical Tips in Treating Canine Diarrhea

You can probably handle mild stomach problems yourself simply by letting your dog fast without anything to eat just for one whole day. This is with the assumption that everything else with your dog except the loose bowel movement is normal and there are no unusual symptoms being exhibited.

After the 24-hour fast, feed your dog with a prepared meal of boiled chicken or hamburger with all the fat drained off in a preparation mixed with boiled white rice. Feed your dog 5 or 6 small portions a day until the bowel movements normalize and the stool turns back to normal consistency. In some cases, vets would recommend the addition of small quantities of yogurt to the diet to add beneficial bacteria into their digestive system.