should i feed my dog after vomiting and diarrhea

What To Feed a Dog With Diarrhea

At your recent barbecue you asked everyone not to share food with your dog, but now your pup needs to go out more than usual. This last time, you see puddles of diarrhea all over the backyard. Your dog seems to be perfectly normal otherwise and is even asking to be fed.

Now what? Should you feed your dog as usual or not feed anything for a while?

Should You Feed Dogs That Have Diarrhea?

It might seem counterintuitive, but for most healthy adult dogs, the best thing you can do to help get their system back on track is to not offer any food for 24 hours.

For very young puppies (under 3 months), senior dogs, and those with other known health problems, call your veterinarian for advice before fasting. Sometimes a 24-hour fast will be appropriate, but other times, a 12-hour or even shorter fast might be advised. They may not even recommend fasting at all. When in doubt, make that phone call first.

Fasting gets all the bad stuff moving down and out of a dogs system. This gives it a short rest, like rebooting a computer.

Never withhold water, however. Put away the food bowl and do not give treats, but keep plenty of fresh water available to them.

Does a Bland Diet Work for Dogs With Diarrhea?

Yes, a bland diet can help after the fasting period, as long as your dog has had no more episodes of diarrhea and has no other symptoms. If your dog seems ill, is vomiting, or still has diarrhea, call your veterinarian. This is very important, because you dont want to upset their system all over again.

The fasting-plus-bland-diet plan is most appropriate for dogs that simply got into something that upset their system, not for longer-term concerns like chronic conditions.

If your dog seems to be OK and does not have an ongoing health condition or chronic diarrhea, offer a small amount of a bland diet. Bland food is easy for the system to digest and more likely to be tolerated. Small amounts given more frequently are also easiest for the body to process.

For most dogs, an appropriate bland diet would consist of boiled chicken or boiled hamburger plus rice, to provide both a protein and a carbohydrate. Boiling is recommended to boil out as much fat as possible. The idea is to give your dog a very low-fat, easy-to-digest meal.

Its best to start with a very small amountsometimes only a tablespoon or twoto see if your dog is up to eating and able to keep the food down. It is far better to give a small meal every two to three hours than a large one right away, even if your dog is begging for more.

Most veterinarians will recommend a bland diet for three to five days after an episode of mild diarrhea, assuming your dog otherwise seems OK. Any animal that is still sick or vomiting needs additional care beyond the bland diet.

Food for Dogs With Mild or Acute Diarrhea

In most cases, vets consider mild diarrhea to be soft or loose stool that has lasted fewer than three days, with the dog still active and eating and drinking like normal, and no other symptoms.

It is more worrisome if your dog seems to be feeling ill. You may notice that your dog is sleeping more than usual, is not eating well, is quiet, has vomited, has blood or mucus in their diarrhea, or seems sluggish.

Acute diarrhea starts suddenlyin other words, your dog was perfectly normal on their 10 p.m. walk, and at 6 a.m., the floor was covered in diarrhea. Acute diarrhea can be mild or severe depending on additional signs of illness.

If your dog has mild diarrhea, start with a 24-hour fast, but keep the water dish full. If your dog had breakfast at 8 a.m. and started having diarrhea at 9 a.m., dont give any food (including treats) until the next day at 8 a.m.

When you do offer food, use a prescription bland food from your veterinarian (not the pet store) or a home-prepared bland diet. This bland diet should be a 1:1 ratio of boiled meat to rice (for example, 1 cup boiled chicken and 1 cup rice), using the leanest possible meat. The most commonly recommended options are boiled chicken or boiled hamburger.

Begin by feeding 2 tablespoons of the mixture per 10 pounds of body weight. Offer these small meals every two to three hours during the first day. It is better to offer too little food than too much.

Over the next three days, gradually increase the portion size and decrease the meal frequency. Between days 3 and 5, start to blend in some of your dogs regular food. By day 7, most dogs should be back on their regular dog food and feeling fine.

If at any point your dog has more diarrhea, is vomiting, or is not feeling well, call your vet. After the initial fasting period, you should see steady improvement in your pets condition, and any setback is cause for concern.

What To Feed Dogs With Chronic Diarrhea

If your dog is having chronic diarrhea, with ongoing episodes over time, there is probably an underlying medical condition at play. Before you can settle on an appropriate diet, the health condition needs to be identified, diagnosed, and addressedand diet is likely only part of the treatment plan.

Prescription diets designed for dogs with diarrhea might be more appropriate if your dog has a long-term problem with diarrhea or a health problem such as inflammatory bowel disease. Prescription foods can help with long-term gastrointestinal problems because they are made to meet all nutritional needs over longer periods.

Although a homemade diet like the bland diet is useful in the short term, it is extremely deficient in many of the nutrients needed to keep a dog healthy over the long run. While using it for a few days or a week will do no harm, over long periods it is likely to do more harm than goodwhich is why prescription foods come in to play.

Many prescription foods are available through your veterinarian, with some of the most common being Hills Prescription Diet i/d (intestinal diet) and Purina EN (gastroenteric nutrition). Many other brands and formulas are available, and your veterinarian will help you sort out which is most appropriate for your dog over the long haul, depending on the underlying condition.

Dog Diarrhea Survival Guide

Its not a topic anyone likes to discuss, but if you own a dog, chances are you have found yourself cleaning up a smelly mess of dog diarrhea (or, not-quite-politely put, doggie runs) more times than youd care to think about. Diarrhea is a common dog condition and it varies in frequency, duration, and intensity from dog to dog.

You might not be able to totally prevent your dogs diarrhea, but knowing why dogs get diarrhea might help limit the number times your dog has an unpleasant episode of the runs, and reduce the duration of dog diarrhea when it happens. Luckily, there are dog diarrhea medicine treatments and anti-diarrhea supplements for dogs that you can turn to to help make it stop.

How a Dogs Digestive System Works

There are several differences between the way dogs and people digest food. First of all, your jaw shape and salivary enzymes will start breaking down food components while its still in your mouth. Dogs, on the other hand, have mouths and jaws made for tearing, crushing, and literally wolfing food down. A dogs salivary enzymes are mostly designed to kill bacteria, which is why they can tolerate things in their mouths (food or otherwise) that would send their human companions to the hospital (and just about definitely give a person diarrhea).

Food travels rapidly down the dogs esophagus and enters their stomach in chunks, where most digestion takes place. A dogs stomach acids are about three times stronger than those of people, so they can digest food that is pretty much intact. Under normal circumstances, the time it takes for food to get from a dogs mouth and through the small and large intestines should be under 10 hours, with the end result being a firm, well-formed poop.

Top Causes of Dog Diarrhea

Many things can disrupt this well-balanced canine digestive system, causing dogs to have diarrhea orless frequentlyconstipation. Some causes, like eating too much grass, are not serious at all. (Some dogs really enjoy grazing on grass.) Others causes can be life-threatening problems, such as an indigestible object (like a rock) lodged in the stomach, or a disease like cancer.

When in doubt, always consult your veterinarian. There are many reasons why a dog may develop loose stools, but most of the time, dog diarrhea is caused by:

• Dietary indiscretion: Eating too much food, eating garbage, or eating spoiled food. Theres actually a name for it in veterinary circlesgarbage toxicosis or garbage gut.
• Change in diet: It may take a few days for a dogs digestive system to adapt to digesting new proteins. Thats why many dog-food manufacturers recommend that you go slow when you switch from one brand of food to another.
• Food intolerance
• Allergies
• Parasites: Most of these will cause illness in puppies or in adults with weak immune systems:
  • Roundworms
  • Hookworms
  • Whipworms
  • Coccidia
  • Giardia
• Poisonous substances or plants
• Swallowing an indigestible foreign body, like a toy orsocks
• Infections with common viruses such as:
  • Parvovirus
  • Distemper
  • Canine coronavirus
• Bacterial infections, such as salmonella
• Illnesses, such as kidney and liver disease, colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer
• Antibiotics and other medications
• Stress or emotional upset

What Poop Says About Your Dogs Health

The consistency and color of diarrhea reveal a lot about the cause of the diarrhea and what is happening in your dogs gut. Take careful note of the color, consistency, and anything else that might help you describe your dogs symptoms to a vet. In many cases, dog diarrhea will resolve after a few days of home treatment, but its a good idea to give your vet a call if it continues any longer, or you have no hint toward an innocuous reason for why your dog has diarrhea (no knocked-over garbage can, no drinking from a puddle, etc.)

This infographic from Purina gives you an idea of what a perfect dog poop looks like, which is chocolate brown, shaped like a log, compact, and easy to scoop. Experts say it should feel like cookie dough or Play-Doh when pressed. Large volumes of poop, a pudding-like or watery consistency, signs of jelly-like mucus, or blood streaks are all not normal.

Color can also indicate a lot about what is going on inside your dogs gut. Chocolate brown dog poop is normal, while dog poop colors like orange, green, or gray may signify issues with such organs as liver, gall bladder, or pancreas. Black tarry stool in dogs is very serious, and may point to internal bleeding. If you see black tarry poop or bright red blood in your dogs poop, contact your vet as soon as possible. Purina has also provided a handy referencea color wheel of dog poop.

Knowing the normal color, shape, and consistency of your dogs poop will help you and your vet figure out what is wrong when your dog gets diarrhea. These factors will help your vet determine where the problem is originating along the dogs digestive tract.

Other Ways to Decipher Dog Poop

But it doesnt end there. Other common weird things to note about your dogs poop, in addition to color, and what each might be telling you about why your dog has the runs:

• Frequency:
  • Small amounts of poop with straining, several times in an hour, can be a sign of inflammation of your dogs large bowel.
  • Three or four dog poops with large volume suggest small bowel disorder.
• Oddly shaped or colored solid objects can tell you what your dog has gotten into. Several small white rice-like shapes, for example, may signify a tapeworm infestation. Grass, wood, or string could tell you that your dog has eaten something that they couldnt digest.
• Consistency: Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets developed this well-illustrated chart that shows how vets score canine fecal consistency on a scale of one to seven.

As gross as it may seem to look at your dogs poop while you clean up your backyard or pick up after them on your evening walk, its important that you examine your dogs poop regularly as a gauge for what their normal poop looks like. This way, when you notice something off, or if your dog has diarrhea, you can give your vet as many details as possible. (Trust us, theyve heard it all and then some.) Armed with this knowledge of whats normal and abnormal for your dogs poop, the vet will be able to tell you whether to schedule and exam or whether you can treat your dogs diarrhea at home.

Home Remedies for Dog Diarrhea

A great many cases of dog diarrhea are mild and, with your vets advice, can be treated at home without a trip to the vets office. Your dogs diarrhea may respond to a regimen of very basic treatments, including:

Over-the-Counter Dog Diarrhea Treatments

An over-the-counter dog diarrhea treatment is good to have on hand, and can be ordered online for quick delivery for those occasional bouts of loose stools or diarrhea that every dog can experience.

Fasting Your Dog for Diarrhea Relief

Withholding food from your dog for 12 to 24 hours, and frequently providing fresh, clean water in small amounts can help clear the cause of the digestive upset and allow your dogs gastrointestinal tract to settle. Its usually the first line of attack for diarrhea. Before you decide to fast your dog for diarrhea, be sure that your dog is healthy enough to handle itcall your vet if you arent sure. Puppies and elderly dogs, for example, arent candidates for fasting. Also, a fast may not be appropriate for small dogs who do not have the physical reserves of their larger cousins. Always consult your vet if you have any doubt if fasting is right for your dog.

Diarrhea in dogs can lead to dehydration, so make sure to give your dog access to fresh, clean water at all times. You may also offer diluted unflavored Pedialyte to help maintain electrolyte balance, but only under a vets advice.

Home Remedies for Dog Diarrhea

After letting your dog fast for diarrhea relief, simple foods are usually slowly introduced to your dogs diet. Many dog owners start with foods that act as binders, which can help normalize stool consistency. Some tried-and-true methods include:

• Rice water: Boil high-quality white rice in a lot of water, strain out the grains, and offer your dog the cooled-off creamy white, starchy broth thats left. A splash of unsalted chicken broth or a spoon of meat baby food can make it more palatable.
• Plain, cooked white rice
• Pumpkin: Canned 100% pumpkin puree that you already have on the shelf, pet-safe pumpkin powder, or a pet-specific canned pumpkin for dogshas the odd distinction of being effective both for diarrhea and for constipation. If you purchase canned pumpkin in a grocery store, be sure to read the label to be sure its 100% pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling which includes sugar and other ingredients in addition to pumpkin.
• Plain yogurt with active cultures can help dogs who can tolerate milk and milk products.
• Probiotics to promote live bacteria that aid digestion (these are also found in yogurt)
• Boiled potatoeswithout skin
• Plain, low-sodium, low-fat cottage cheese
• Plain protein sources such as egg (cooked with no butter or oil) or chicken (without skin)
• Herbs, such as fennel, may have gut-soothing properties
• Specially-formulated dog foods: Some manufacturers offer sensitive stomach dog foods that can soothe stomach problems. You may need to get sensitive digestion prescription dog food with a prescription from your vet.
• Medications for dog diarrhea may also be an option, but would require a prescription and should always be given under advice of your veterinarian.

Methods that work for one dogs diarrhea may not help another dog, so you might need to do a little experimentation to find the right formula when your dog gets the runs. It might also be helpful to write down what works to stop your dogs diarrhea and what doesnt, so youll know what to do if your dog gets diarrhea again.

Once you find a recovery diet that agrees with your dogs digestion and doesnt cause a diarrhea relapse, you can slowly increase the portions over a period of days, and then start to add small amounts of your dogs regular food until your dogs poop is back to normal.

When Dog Diarrhea Means a Trip to the Vet

The right time to contact a vet for dog diarrhea depends very much on whats normal for your dogs poop habits. Unfortunately, some dogs are more prone to digestive disorders than others, so it helps to be mindful of what is and isnt out of the ordinary for your individual dog.

There are a few guidelines to help you know that you should at least contact your vet:

• Other physical symptoms, such as lethargy, fever, vomiting, dry, tacky or pale gums, or weakness
• Diarrhea that does not stop despite home remedies that worked in the past
• Dehydration
• Long duration Some say a few days, others give more timeagain, it helps to know what is normal for your dog
• Use of medication (a dog on antibiotics, for example)
• Existing conditions, such as advanced age, diabetes, Cushings, cancer, or any medical issue
• When things just dont seem right with your dog You know your dog, and only you know the subtle signs that something is wrong. Trust your gut! Give your vet a call and explain what youre seeing.