Your furry companion is prone to illness too, especially, to loose stools or diarrhea due to their varied eating habits. It must be an excruciating thing to witness. Imagine how your pet will feel?
Dog diarrhea ranges from mild to severe. It gets caused by multiple reasons. Nevertheless, it is treatable with both home remedies and veterinarian medication. This article encapsulates the a-z things you need to know about your dog’s diarrhea.
This article aims to give solutions to get rid of your canine’s diarrhea. Moreover, it highlights the root causes of diarrhea. This will help you prevent future cases of diarrhea.
You might also be wondering how to clean up after your dog’s diarrhea, especially if you have carpeted floors. Fret not; we have got it covered too. So, read on to know more about diarrhea in canines.
What Is Dog Diarrhea?
Before you know how to get rid of your dog’s diarrhea and its causes, you need to know what it is.
Doggy diarrhea occurs when your pooch has loose stools, runny poop, or blood in their stools. More often than not, your dog’s diarrhea is not a disease in itself; rather, it’s a sign of disease. Don’t get frightened; in mild cases, merely treating diarrhea will solve all issues.
However, sometimes severe diarrhea can be a sign of fatal illness. It would be best if you checked with your veterinarian in such cases.
How Do Check The Severity Of Your Dog’s Diarrhea?
As mentioned above, your dog’s diarrhea can be a sign of disease. This, however, depends on the severity of your dog’s diarrhea.
Suppose your canine undergoes persistent diarrhea accompanied by fever, vomiting, dehydration. Then it could be cause for worry. This is chronic diarrhea and occurs too frequently and is a sign of severe illness.
But if your canine has once-in-a-blue-moon diarrhea without other symptoms, you needn’t worry. This is acute diarrhea and merely requires conservative care with a diet change or fasts.
What Are The Causes Of Diarrhea In Dogs?
Now, you know what a canine’s diarrhea is and how to determine its severity. You might be wondering what causes your dog’s diarrhea, isn’t it?
Your canine’s digestive system is usually well-balanced and functions smoothly. However, any disruption to your doggy’s gut, dog’s upset stomach, and intestinal tract can cause diarrhea or constipation.
You will find the twelve leading causes of your dog’s diarrhea enlisted below.
- Intolerance to certain food items
- Dietary indiscretion with overconsumption of food, garbage, or spoiled food
- Diet changes your doggy will take time to adapt
- Food Allergy-Allergies to certain food items or products
- Intestinal Parasites- like Roundworms, Whipworms, Coccidia, Giardia, and hookworms can weaken your dog’s immune system.
- Plants and substances that are poisonous like mushrooms
- Suppose your pooch swallow’s indigestible items. These are foreign bodies like toys, socks, paper.
- Viruses like parvovirus, coronavirus, and distemper
- Salmonella and other bacterial infection
- Cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and colitis
- Some medications and antibiotics
- Emotional upset or undue stress like traveling, abdominal pain, or an overdose of activity
These are some of the significant causes of your canine’s diarrhea.
How Do You Determine The Cause of Your Dog’s Diarrhea?
While the cause of your dog’s diarrhea is aplenty, how do you determine the cause of your doggy’s diarrhea?
The nature of your doggy’s diarrhea gets used to determine the root cause. The consistency, color, frequency, and smell of your dog’s poop matter. When you consult your veterinarian for your dog’s diarrhea, they will ask you for a sample of your pooch’s poop.
If only diarrhea presents in your furry companion, minimum tests get conducted to determine the cause. However, several tests get undertaken to determine the cause of your dog’s diarrhea if there are other symptoms.
How Can You Get Rid Of your dog Diarrhea With Home Remedies?
Depending on the cause and presentation of your dog’s diarrhea, you can use home remedies to treat your furry companion’s diarrhea. You might consult your vet for advice on the best home remedies to get rid of dog diarrhea.
Some home remedy regiments have gotten encapsulated below.
Fast
The foremost home remedy suggested to cure your dog’s diarrhea is fast. Your dog’s gastrointestinal tract will settle without the consumption of food for a day. Ensure you give them water frequently in small quantities.
However, before you put your paw pet through a fast, ensure they can endure it. Tiny pups and senior dogs might need nutrients to thrive. It would help best if you asked your vet.
Moreover, diarrhea dehydrates your doggy. So, water or unflavored Pedialyte helps restore the electrolyte balance in your canines.
Food Cures
After a day’s fast, you should gradually introduce binding food items for your dog. These ensure your dog’s stool consistency normalizes soon. You’ll find the food cures recommended enlisted below.
- Boiling high-quality rice in water and removing the grains will give your pet a creamy white soup.
- Plain canned pumpkin can prove effective in treating diarrhea
- Bland food without spice or flavoring
- Dogs that can tolerate milk and milk products in their diet can have yogurt with beneficial bacteria.
- Live bacteria digestion aiding Probiotics
- Potatoes boiled without their skin
- The cottage cheese variety if your dog can tolerate milk products
- Proteins like an egg without butter and oil, boiled chicken without its skin
- Fennel, Slipper elm, and other gut-soothing herbs
- Your vet can recommend some specially formulated dog food to get rid of dog diarrhea.
- Some human medications could prove to be a cure for your dog’s diarrhea. However, exercise due caution
- Bone broth or soup with less sodium and ingredients
It is important to note that there is no fool-proof formula to getting rid of dog diarrhea. What works for one dog may not work for your pet. It would be best to experiment with several formulae to know what works for your pet.
Moreover, it is imperative you note down what works for your dog’s diarrhea to have the perfect solution in case of repeat occurrences.
Once you find the perfect home remedy that works for your dog, you can gradually increase the quantity. After you ensure there is no relapse, you can start your dog off on their regular bland diet slowly.
When To Consult A Vet For Dog Diarrhea?
Sometimes you might need to consult a veterinarian for your dog’s diarrhea. But how do you know when to consult a vet for dog diarrhea?
Consulting your vet for dog diarrhea depends on what is normal for your dog. You need to be aware of any digestive issues your dog undergoes regularly. This will ensure you don’t get worried needlessly when your pet faces problems. Moreover, you need to take note of what is out of the ordinary before deciding to take your dog to the vet.
Some mitigating factors accompany your dog’s diarrhea that can be a cause of worry. If you notice these factors, ensure you consult the veterinarian immediately.
Suppose your dog faces lethargy, fever, weakness, vomiting, dry, tacky, or pale gums, along with diarrhea. It could be a sign of a grave illness. Moreover, if your dog’s stool doesn’t normalize with tried and tested home remedies and a change in diet, it could be a cause for worry.
Large bowel diarrhea can get difficult to handle using home remedies. Dog diarrhea treatment at a veterinarian’s place could prove better in such cases.
Moreover, if your dog’s diarrhea persists for a longer duration or they have preexisting conditions, it’s a good idea to consult a veterinarian. Also, if your dog cannot handle certain medications or gets severely dehydrated, your veterinarian would be able to help better than any home remedies.
Why Consult A Vet?
Your veterinarian is a person with a medical degree. They will run proper diagnostics and differential analysis to determine the cause of your dog’s diarrhea. Moreover, they will provide you with controlled, reliable, safe, and curing treatments for your dog’s diarrhea.
Your vet will suggest changes to your dog’s diet, run fecal analysis to check for parasites. They might also conduct x-rays and endoscopy to check the intestinal and stomach mucosa. Moreover, they might conduct exams to check for any obstruction, cancer, and organ functions. Their thorough examination will immensely benefit your dog.
How To Clean Dog Diarrhea?
Now that you know the various methods to get rid of dog diarrhea, you might be wondering how to clean your carpeted floor off diarrhea. This may seem like a yucky task, but unfortunately, it is necessary to get your floor spick and span.
Dog’s diarrhea can damage carpeted surfaces and leave lasting stains and odor. You will need gloves, enzyme cleaners, wipes, and steam cleaners to sanitize your carpeted floors. Moreover, it is advisable to take your dog outside the moment they have an episode.
You might want to use hydrogen peroxide to remove any stains. You can also use baking soda or a mix of vinegar and water to clean dog diarrhea off the carpeted floors.
Alternatively, you can hire a professional cleaner to help disinfect and sanitize your carpeted floor after you have done the basic cleaning.
It is certainly easier to clean dog diarrhea off solid surfaces. Carpeted floors require more effort to clean and disinfect.
Endnotes
Dog diarrhea is often a sign of underlying disease. Suppose your canine’s diarrhea gets accompanied by vomiting, blood in dog stool, loss of appetite, and other alarming symptoms. You might need to take them to your vet. This chronic diarrhea requires differential diagnosis and treating the underlying root cause.
Fret not; your pooch’s diarrhea can get treated easily once the cause gets determined. Acute diarrhea can get treated using home remedies like fasts and binding food. Moreover, easing and bringing balance to your dog’s Gi tract gets imperative.
So, without any worry, get rid of your dog’s diarrhea by using the remedies suggested in this article!