What to do If Your dog or cat has a Diarrhea ?

What to do if Your dog or cat has Diarrhea 

Owners of pets are usually dealing with this condition.there are many reasons why your pet could have this problem. I will give you some tips how to deal with this issue and when you should contact your vet immediately.

Main reason for diarrhea is when your pet ate something wrong,and his stomach goes overdrive to get rid of it. Cats are more selective about their food.Dogs are more “all eating” and occurs more to get diarrhea. If your dog eats stick or chew toy or if your cat eats rubber band that can cause diarrhea 

Suddenly change diet can also cause diarrhea. I always say to my pet owners to stick with dietary variety.

It’s not good to feed your pet with same food for years because, if you ever change it he will get diarrhea for sure.

The stomach is most important for your pet’s immune system .Everything begins in gut.If you feed your pet with different food but you should start slowly,offering small amounts of food that doesn’t upset his stomach.

I recommend mixing 10% new food with 90% old food . Monitor your pet’s poo and you can slowly increase amount to 20% -80% and so on.

Also  you need to control treats. Only one or two per day ,until you see how your pet is going to take it.

More  Serious Reasons  Of your Pet’s Diarrhea 

One of them is Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) 

or simply said food allergies .

Ingredients sensitivity  

Pancreatitis ( inflammation of the pancreas)

Parasites (roundworm,hookworms ,tapeworms,coccidia,”Giardia)

Toxic plants 

Stress

What Can You Do to Deal Diarrhea at Home

Your dog is acting normal but has diarrhea,you should withhold food for 12 hours,put him to rest and give him water as much as he wants.

After 12 hours fasting i advise to give him turkey or other fat free meat ,pumpkin puree,sweet potato or even white potato .

We have recommended before rice and rice water but now the study shows that rice is very starchy and pro inflammatory,and it’s not really good give them that when their stomach is already upset .

Cooked 100%pure pumpkin is better solution.

Having diarrhea they can  lose electrolytes like potassium and dehydrate. Showing signs like cramping, fatigue,weakness and heart rate issues ,everything is connected with hypokalemia(low potassium levels )

What Food and Supplements Can You Give Them 

Mix cooked turkey or chicken and pumpkin 50/50 and give it to your pet.

 The best supplements for this condition are:

-Slippery Elm ( neutral fiber source) Fibers are good to ease episodes of diarrhea. Dose for cats and dogs are half of spoon or 1 capsule on every 4,5 kg ,with every meal

- Coconut charcoal binding watery stool 

-Probiotic 

Also the herbs that I recommend are peppermint,fennel and camomile. If your pat is having cramps ,these plants could calm down their stomach.

If after 72 hours  your pet still has loose stools , diarrhea accompanied  blood or other signs of illness ,recurring diarrhea  ,you better call your veterinarian.

 Written by Imrana Sljivo DVM 🐾

Sources and References 

Chaitman, J. et al. Front. Vet. Sci., 16 April 2020

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• ¹Veterinary Internal Medicine and Allergy Specialists, New York, NY, United States
• ²Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Centre for Clinical Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
• ³Gastrointestinal Laboratory, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States