What to Do When Your Dog Gets Diarrhea
An Honor Puppy
I think it’s time for another discussion on how to handle the problem of doggy diarrhea.
I’ve talked about this issue in other videos and articles here at Mercola Healthy Pets, but it’s such a common problem I think a refresher every now and then is a pretty good idea.
I decided to make this video in honor of my friends and family who, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, flooded my email inbox and voicemail with dozens of calls about this issue.
These are people who are seasoned dog owners, but just wanted assurance they were doing the right thing.
Since many of you probably don’t have a vet in the family you can call, this video can serve a similar purpose.
The content is exactly what I explained to my loved ones.
And actually, now that I have a video on the subject, I’ll just refer them here when future calls come in!
If you own a dog, chances are you’ve lived through at least one bout of doggy diarrhea.
It’s not a matter of if it will happen – just when.
When will your dog get diarrhea?
Knowing ahead of time the steps to take when your dog develops diarrhea or loose, watery stools can give you peace of mind when the time comes.
And as we all know, the time will come!
Causes of Diarrhea
There are a lot of reasons dogs develop loose stools. The most common reason is dietary indiscretion, which means your dog ate something she shouldn’t have. This was the cause of all the phone calls and emails to me over the holidays.
During the holidays, when people are cooking and hosting a lot of events that involve food, a really ripe environment is created for the ingestion of new foods dogs have not consumed before.
Sometimes it’s leftovers that cause GI upset. And sometimes, owners don’t even know their dogs have gotten into food.
That was the situation in my home, actually. My dogs were tearing open the garbage bags that we had put outside by the garage. They foraged all afternoon and into the evening on a feast of leftovers and we were clueless until we came upon the mess.
Many dogs spend much of their time sniffing around the house for morsels and tidbits anywhere they can find them, including gas grill grease traps, bathroom garbage cans, bird feeders, bird baths, ornamental ponds, and certainly the garden.
Another cause of diarrhea is a sudden change in a dog’s regular food. Also allergies to certain foods and poor quality dog food in general. I see a lot of kibble-related diarrhea in dogs.
Parasites like giardia can cause intermittent diarrhea. This microscopic parasite causes a wax-and-wane type of diarrhea that just pops up out of the blue. And about the time you think you should call the vet, the stool firms up on its own. You assume all is well – until another bout of diarrhea occurs days or weeks later.
Viral and bacterial infections in the digestive tract can cause diarrhea. So can certain medications such as heartworm preventives.
Even stress can bring about an episode of diarrhea in dogs and puppies. While you may think nothing very eventful is going on in your world, your dog can experience stress over even a slight change in routine. Suddenly you’re looking at a bout of watery doggy poop that seems to have come out of the blue.
Symptoms of Diarrhea (the obvious and not-so-obvious)
The most obvious symptom of diarrhea is when your dog is standing anxiously at the door and needs to get out quickly. Once he’s out he runs urgently to a spot and often passes loose, watery stool.
Or … you’re not around when the urgency hits and you find an accident on the floor when you get home.
A less obvious and often confusing symptom of diarrhea can be when your dog strains to go. It actually looks more like constipation than diarrhea.
Diarrhea upsets the normal rhythm of the muscle contractions in your dog’s intestinal tract. This can give him the sensation that he constantly needs to poop. So even though he’s hunched over and straining, his colon could be empty from repeated bouts of loose stool.
Other symptoms that can go along with diarrhea include fever, lethargy, malaise, loss of appetite, and dehydration.
Most healthy dogs experience an occasional episode of loose stool or diarrhea and it’s done – over with. It resolves all by itself. In this instance the underlying issue is probably something she ate she shouldn’t have, or perhaps stress was the trigger.
But any dog has the potential to become very ill from chronic bouts of diarrhea. Puppies, small dogs, and seniors are at higher risk of dehydration from just one round of explosive diarrhea.
It’s important to make sure that your pet has access to clean drinking water at all times, and encourage your pet to drink if you can.