For many dogs with mild diarrhea that are still eating, drinking and acting normal, home treatment may be all that is required. This can be done by providing your dog with a bland diet such as white rice and boiled, skinless, boneless chicken breast. Implementing this food in small portions every two to four hours during the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours of the onset of diarrhea will allow the intestines to resume a normal balance of enzymes. Once the diarrhea has resolved, you can then begin re-introducing their normal food in small amounts. If the diarrhea does not resolve or it returns after re-introducing the dogs regular diet, this can be an indication of something more serious and warrants an immediate visit to the veterinarian for testing and further treatment options.

There are several options for treatment of diarrhea.

Metronidazole is an antibiotic used to remove any abnormal bacteria in the intestines.

Pectin and Kaolin are medications often given in conjunction with Metronidazole as together they work to stop diarrhea and firm the stool more quickly.

Probiotics are sometimes used also. These are beneficial bacteria that help restore the balance of normal bacteria in the intestines. Some probiotics are used to treat diarrhea and others can be used to prevent diarrhea.

Another option is bland food. Giving your dog white rice and boiled chicken allows the intestines to calm down and readjust to a normal balance.

Do not give your dog over the counter medications such as Immodium, Kaopectate, or Pepto-Bismol without checking with your veterinarian first. Most cases of simple diarrhea respond to treatment within a few days. If your dog continues to have diarrhea, you may need to re-visit the veterinarian for more testing or a change in therapy. The video below discusses treatment of simple diarrhea.

Tar like stool or blood stool, additional symptoms and a dog that just doesn’t feel well must be taken to a veterinarian immediately. If gone untreated, the condition can become worse rapidly, leaving your dog vulnerable to more serious and dire consequences.

How to Prevent Diarrhea

Listed below are several ways you can prevent your dog from having diarrhea:

Keep all trash, human food and medications out of reach.

Do not feed your dog human food or table scraps.

Always supervise your dog while he/she is outside in order to make sure they are not eating something they shouldn’t.

If a change must be made to your dogs regular diet, be sure to do it gradually. This can be accomplished by simply mixing a little of the new food with the old. Gradually increase the amount of new food until that is all your dog is eating. By doing this, you allow your dogs intestines to become slowly adjusted to this new introduction. For most dogs a period of about seven days is all that is needed, however some dogs may require longer.

When boarding your dog, take your own food.

Deworming. It is important to do this every month. Most heartworm medications will also deworm your dog.

Please bear in mind that no information in this article is designed to diagnose or treat your pet nor should it replace a visit to your veterinarian for appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

Heather Fox is an an experience veterinarian who loves to share her knowledge. You can find her class about Dog Diarrhea Treatment and other lessons like Dog Parvovirus Infection Diagnosis on Clivir – the Free learning Community Site.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Technorati Tags: canine fitness, canine health, dog diarrhea, Dog Health, pet fitness, pet health, veterinarian care, veterinarians

Diarrhea, very simply, can be defined as too much water in the feces. Too much water can end up in the feces several ways. These include:

If the intestines are over full with food, they can no longer absorb them. The common factors that create this problem are over eating, stress and rapid changes in your dogs diet. In the case of over eating, the stomach and intestines may not produce enough enzymes in order to properly breakdown the food. With changes in your dogs diet, the stomach and intestines do not have sufficient time to produce enzymes that can adjust to the new food introduced. Finally, stress can create diarrhea as the stomach becomes upset, creating a fluctuation in the amount and type of enzymes produced. In all three of these situations, the intestines hold onto the food particles which then hold onto water in the intestines, which can not be absorbed.

If a dog has an infection or has eaten food from the trash, excess water can be present in the intestines which results in diarrhea. This situation can also be caused by intestinal parasites, E. coli and Salmonella.

For many dogs, diarrhea is caused by over eating, stress, eating from the trash and intestinal parasites and in many cases does not cause severe illness. However, diarrhea can be the result of a serious systemic illness and in this case should be taken to a veterinarian immediately.

The visit to the Veterinarian

Many dogs with simple diarrhea may not need a trip to the veterinarian. If a dog has mild diarrhea that is not making it uncomfortable, has no other symptoms, and does not otherwise feel bad, it is OK to wait 24-36 hours to see a veterinarian. Many cases of simple diarrhea will resolve on its own. If a dog has diarrhea and seems uncomfortable, if the diarrhea appears bloody or like tar, if the dog has other symptoms, or seems sick, then it is wise to see the veterinarian right away. Even if the diarrhea does not go away any faster after the veterinary visit, the veterinarian can evaluate the dog and make sure nothing more serious is going on and can give medication to make the dog more comfortable.

The veterinarian will require a sample of your dogs stool. This can either be done by you simply collecting a fresh sample from home no older than 30-40 minutes before your vet visit. If this is not possible, your veterinarian can collect the sample in the office. After the sample is collected, it will undergo many different tests including:

Fecal Flotation – This test searches for intestinal parasites

A direct fecal smear to check for red blood cells, white blood cells and abnormal or unusual bacteria.

A fecal smear with abnormal bacteria (the ones that look like tennis racquets)

When diarrhea, vomiting, blood stools and a very sick dog has been experiencing symptoms for several days, the veterinarian will want to perform x-rays and blood tests in order to check for other systemic illnesses that could be causing the diarrhea.

Heather Fox is an experience veterinarian and passionate teacher on Clivir.com where you can find more of her lessons about Dog Atopic Dermatitis Causes and Dog Parvovirus Treatment.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Technorati Tags: canine fitness, canine health, dog diarrhea, dog fitness, Dog Health, dog illnesses, Dogs, pets, veterinary care, vetrinarian

To most people, for over fifty years, commercially manufactured bagged kibble and canned wet food has been synonymous with kibble.

James Spratt of Cincinnati, Ohio invented first processed dog biscuit in 1860. I wasn’t until World War II that commercial dog food manufacturers began to promote the ease of kibble and canned food onto financial struggling families. No one considered the quality of the food or the ingredients. This new time saver had to be better than the table scraps that domestic animals enjoyed at the time, right?

Wrong!

In fact, early commercial dog food manufacturers agreed that feeding dogs meat, vegetables and some grains was better for the dogs than the processed kibble they were making from meat scraps, meat- by-products, and factory waste, such as saw dust and grain husk. Convenient? Absolutely! Cheap – not in the long run. Healthy? You can excuse the early adopters but, generations later, dog diseases are near epidemic levels. In spite of the evidence that something is wrong, millions of people continue to give their dogs manufactured dog food.

Between the farmers, slaughterhouses, and Madison Avenue advertising agencies, the manufactured pet food industry has been a huge moneymaker. Meat scraps and grain scraps unfit for human consumption were sold as ingredients to the manufactured pet food industry. The extrusion process was developed by Purina to fluff the wet kibble before drying, making it appear as though the consumer was getting a lot for their money. Alas, unaware pet owners are left holding the bag.

The Pet Food Institute began their massive media campaign against feeding your pets table scraps in 1964. Veterinarians throughout the world jumped on the bandwagon without having any scientific basis. By the early 1960s, the majority of pet owners were feeding their four-legged family members this wondrous, convenient and readily available food.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Technorati Tags: dog diarrhea, Dog Health, dog vomiting, gastrointestinal problems in dogs