Diarrhea is not just a small nuisance. Even when it is not a serious disease, the loose stool quickly leads to dehydration and worsens the immunity of the pet. What provokes diarrhea in a dog, how to treat diarrhea and how to feed a pet during a period of painful condition?
In most cases, the cause of diarrhea is malnutrition:
- overfeeding;
- unsuitable food;
- food allergy;
- change of diet without a smooth transition;
- fatty, smoked, salted food, sweets and other goodies in large quantities.
Diarrhea can be both chronic – an inappropriate diet, and episodic – treated with ice cream, sausage, chocolate, etc. The chair in these cases has no impurities or contains fragments of undigested food, slightly lighter than usual, without a hideous smell and is not accompanied by other symptoms of malaise.
No pills for diarrhea for dogs will not help. Rather, they will help, but only symptomatically. For example, the favorite imodium owners will reduce peristalsis: diarrhea seems to pass, but feces will poison the body with toxins, lingering in the intestines due to lack of urge to defecate. Therefore, it is better to forget about the time for medications, and try to help the pet with softer means:
- diet for a day, drink without restrictions. If diarrhea is more than 3 times a day, the dog does not drink, there are other symptoms (vomiting, changes in body temperature, convulsions, weakness) – consult a doctor without delay;
- boiling rice decoction, strong slightly sweetened tea or decoction of the bark of oak. In small amounts, 3 times a day.
This is enough to stop diarrhea in a dog whose causes are only in the wrong diet. On the second day the pet can be fed – with small portions of low-fat light food. If the “piece” of the sausage is “to blame”, take the episode to the note – do not feed the favorite of the goodies from the table. If the diet is generally questionable, contact the veterinarian or make a self-contained, gentle menu balanced for the canine, not for the human stomach.
Food poisoning
In summer, the food quickly spoils right in the bowl – left for the night, the dog ate and fell ill in the morning. A pet can pick up something on the street, steal a piece from the trash can. When poisoning, as a rule, it opens up vomiting, and then diarrhea – the feces are yellowish, without impurities or with pieces of undigested food.
In no case do not scold the pet. To restrain desires with diarrhea is almost impossible. And if the dog and cope with this task, its health will be harmed – toxins, absorbed into the blood, will poison the entire body, not to mention the liver and kidneys.
If there are no other symptoms, it is enough to give the pet enterosgel or coal (bind toxins), drink abundantly and do not feed the day. If the condition does not improve, the veterinarian will tell you what to give the dog from diarrhea to gently release toxins without delaying stool in the intestine. Remember that toxins must be removed, so any fixing means can seriously damage the health of the pet!
If weakness is associated with vomiting and diarrhea, changes in temperature and / or color of mucous membranes, convulsions, inhibition of reactions and any other symptoms – contact your veterinarian immediately.
Diarrhea with impurities
Various impregnations and impurities in the stool are not a good sign. It is highly recommended to contact the veterinarian without delay in all the cases described below. Sometimes the account goes literally on a clock, do not delay the visit to the clinic for tomorrow.
When diarrhea with blood, suspect bleeding in the thick part of the intestine. The blood is clearly visible – scarlet, liquid or clots, mostly not mixed with feces. There are many reasons, from damage to the intestines swallowed by a foreign body to a decomposed tumor. Bloody diarrhea is possible with enterocolitis and enteritis, poisoning, infections, as a side effect of certain medications. Before to be frightened, recollect, whether the dog yesterday did not eat a beet (the beet weakens, can paint both feces, and urine).
If diarrhea is black, it is also about bleeding, but in the small intestine or stomach. Black color is given to the calves by half-digested blood. The reasons are the same as those listed above, plus GI diseases. Identify the cause without examination will not work, you need an urgent visit to the doctor and a thorough diagnosis. Black designed chair should alarm as much as black diarrhea. The exception is activated charcoal, fed to the dog the day before (coal stains the chair black).
If diarrhea lasts longer than a day, and there is no way to consult a doctor, do not forget to water the dog. Do not drink? Pour water in small portions using a syringe without a needle. Dehydration is dangerous for the life of a pet!
When diarrhea green, the veterinarian suspects putrefactive / fermenting processes in the intestine (with the release of toxins and their absorption into the blood, as a consequence – apathy and weakness, poor appetite, temperature, stress on the kidneys and liver). Dysbacteriosis, bacterial infections, viruses (plague, enteritis, etc.), poisoning with stale food, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, etc. Again, without a deep diagnosis can not do. If the dog has eaten a lot of grass or green vegetables on the eve of the day, there is no reason for concern (but it is not necessary to allow the dog to eat a lot of greens in the future).
Yellow diarrhea can be a sign of all the diseases listed above – bacterial infections, chronic ailments, poisoning, viruses, etc. A light yellow color is given to the calic masses by bilirubin, which did not have time to transform because of rapid movement of the stool along the intestine (normally, bilirubin turns brown, giving the stool a familiar shade). Bright yellow or almost orange color – problems with the gall bladder, bile ducts or liver.
With diarrhea, the dog can not be fed until two days. This is better than loading the weakened body food, which the dog will not be able to absorb anyway. As a food, offer the pet a slimy rice broth with a drop of honey or a small amount of sugar.
When an animal with diarrhea with slime is suspected of having a lesion of the thick intestine. There are many reasons, from mechanical damage to rough food to tumors, inflammatory processes, chronic ailments, poisonings, infections (viruses or bacteria), etc. Sometimes mucus in stool indicates the presence of helminths. Mucus may appear after anthelmintic therapy – the next day or the day after the dog was given a pill. In this case, after a month, it is recommended to give the preparation again from worms, for reinsurance.
To help a veterinarian, remember not only the color of the feces, but also:
- consistency. A homogeneous chair, mixed with liquid in pieces, like water or as kefir, as viscous as syrup or as jam;
- smell. Putrefactive, usual, sour, sharp, rotten, unbearably sharp;
- amount in comparison with the usual volume of feces. Just a lot / little – not informative;
- number of urges and acts of defecation. Each urge ends in defecation or only a part? Twice a day a favorite went or five?
- blotches of blood / black / green or the entire stool is evenly colored. Does the mucus consist of lumps or whole stools?
In order not to waste time, in the nearest pharmacy buy a sterile jar and take with you to the clinic a little feces for analysis. After diagnosis, the veterinarian will prescribe the treatment for the cause of diarrhea, and not for diarrhea per se. A competent doctor will tell you what to feed the dog with diarrhea and how to avoid this trouble in the future. As a rule, light non-fat food is recommended – rice plus veal or white fish, or ready-made medical food. Do not forget that the pet should drink a lot.
