Dog diarrhoea.

[Abiel]

I have a new dog. 4 years old greyhound, just out of the rescue centre. He is fit and healthy, but has diarrhoea, due I expect to diet changes. Is there anything I can do to help dry him up a bit?

 

[puppy]

what are you feeding him ? no biggy just my mothers always had the same problem with her dogs and she feeds them dried dog food meat (like small dried meatballs) which you can add a little milk to, available from most supermarkets or pet food stores

i think she mixes the dried meatballs with the canned stuff sometimes too actually

 

[Abiel]

he is currently on an organic dry food that the rescue centre had him on- I'm not sure it suits him. Since he has been with us, a bit of bread and gravy for lunch.

 

[snoochface]

Have you had him checked for worms? If he was in a rescue and around a lot of other dogs, he could easily have picked up worms which will cause diarrhea. Make sure to collect a sample and have it checked by a vet so he can get on medicine if necessary.

If that's not it, it's likely the stress of a new home and new diet. You can give him one chewable pepto tablet (make sure it's the chewable kind) and that will likely dry him up. I have done this many times with my dog (with the vet's approval) and it usually does the trick. If it continues on to the next day, try giving him 1/2 of an immodium pill, but check with the vet first on that one. We've done it, but on our own - no ill effects that we've seen.

 

[Abiel]

thanks. he was de-wormed in kennels, so stress/diet is the likely answer

 

[Dagna]

Diarrhea could be caused by many things. Coccidia, Giardia, stress, diet, worms, etc. He needs to see a vet to have everything ruled out. Even though he was dewormed, de-worming usually has to be done a second time at the least. Seeing that he came from a rescue center (thanks for rescuing, by the way), he was probably exposed to a few different things that need to be ruled out. No matter how careful rescue's are, illnesses always get passed around, so have him checked out to be safe. Also, ditch the bread and gravy. Not good for dogs, there's most likely too much salt content in the gravy and neither bread nor gravy provide any benefits to him. What brand of food is he on? There's only a few organic dry foods that I'm aware of, and most of them are actually very healthy and good for dogs. Much better than what most people feed. One thing you can try is boiled hamburger, no salt or flavoring of any kind. That might help, but you really should get him checked out by a vet.

 

[Abiel]

we saw a vet today. £86 ($160)later, we still dont know if there is anything wrong. A sample is off to the lab, and he has noroclav(£46!!! for 15) though they might not work, because they might not be necessary. And deep joy! His pet insurance only starts 10 days after the date it was taken out. AH well, the pleasures of dog ownership!

vet also said rice, pasta, bread were fine

He is eating a brand called James Wellbeloved (how I hate that manipulative name!) but it is really expensive (£36 for 15kg- $68 for 65lbs), It's organic and additive free, but I don't know if it is feasible in the long run. It is 3 times the price of 'normal' dry food

I have it on reasonably good authority that UK pet food standards ensure that all pet food has a better level of nutrition than KFC. Lucky mutts!

 

[Dagna]

Better that you know there's nothing medically wrong, even though you're out some money.

I've never heard of that particular food, so i can't really comment on it. I also just noticed you were over in England, so I really can't comment on the food standards over there. Here in the States, the food standards are terrible, a company could create dog food out of cardboard and old shoes and it would pass the "requirements" for dog nutrition.

Definately try hamburger and mix it with rice. It usually helps firm things up for a little bit until you can solve the underlying problem

 

[encouraging loves animals]

Gravy may contains onions! Onions are toxic to dogs. http://www.wellvet.com/diarrheadog.html

 

[encouraging loves animals]

http://www.petalia.com.au/Templates/StoryTemplate_Process.cfm?specie=Dogs&story_no=257
Brocoli is safe for dogs according to TV vet Dr. Harry Cooper. He reckonmended it for dogs in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1661&articleid=1030 Raw bones-such as dog bones from the butcher are safe Raw Beef bone, Lamb Shank, but Cooked bones and raw or cooked chicken bones tend to splinter. so should not be feed. The TV vet Dr. Harry Cooper reckon a bone to keep there jaw active and teeth healthy.

Cows milk can cause diarrhoea, due to dogs being lacktose intolerent.

Also meatball may contain onions.

 

[christalee4]

How about cats - I didn't want to start a whole new thread on cat diarrhea!

We just adopted a 9 year old Siamese and she apparently was trying to chuck up some hairballs. I gave her a bit of hairball medicine as per the directions, but it seems to have disagreed with her. Now she has loose watery stools every time, and that's no fun cleaning up in the litterbox! I read somewhere to give her boiled rice, mixed with a bit of chicken, but I am afraid to give her a product like Pepto Bismol, like people give to dogs. Any suggestions?

 

[mom_one]

I have a new dog. 4 years old greyhound, just out of the rescue centre. He is fit and healthy, but has diarrhoea, due I expect to diet changes. Is there anything I can do to help dry him up a bit?

I have heard you can give them (pure) pumpkin for diarrhea,

 

[Worldwide Epiphany]

My guess is that stress is the culprit, and it will just be a matter of time before the problem resolves.
I'm glad you went to the vet to rule out other causes, tho.
In the meantime, PLAIN white rice (no oil or butter or anything like that) and just enough BOILED lean hamburger (with the fat skimmed off) to make the rice interesting to your dog. After a couple days of that, if the loose stool is resolving, you can gradually add a bit of its normal food to the rice mixture over several days until the diet is all its normal food.

STAY AWAY FROM DOG TREATS....they are terrible for your dog, and often give stomach upsets. I'm sure you know this, but just in case!

Anyway....hang in there, and keep us posted how things are.

 

[K9_Trainer]

Give him 1 teaspoon of Kaopectate (regular flavor) per 10 pounds of body weight 2 to 3 times a day for a couple days. Be sure to keep him hydrated. You can give him some Gatorade, powerade or pedialyte if he'll drink it. You can also mix pedialyte in with his water.

If it doesn't clear up in 2 or he starts throwing up or refusing to eat, taking him to a vet. But usually Kaopectate will do the trick.

 

[littlecoda]

Besides the advice you're getting and topic I think it's magnificent that you took in a rescue greyhound.

 

[Mayflower1]

Mostly what you feed him is going to have a difference on what comes out... You might want to try feeding him dry food and taking him to the vet if it keeps up.

 

[puppy_luvr]

when I got my cat we fed her wet food, then she started having hairballs so we gave her dry food. so try dry food.

 

[snoochface]

when I got my cat we fed her wet food, then she started having hairballs so we gave her dry food. so try dry food.

It's a bad idea to feed a cat nothing but dry food. They become addicted to it and will not eat wet food again. They need the wet food because cats do not drink anywhere near as much water as they need. They do not have that "thirsty" sensor like dogs do, and the wet food gives them the extra moisture they need in their diets. Dry foods also tend to be higher in sugars which can lead to diabetes, urinary tract disease, and obesity.

So it's always a good idea to feed a cat a combination of wet and dry foods, with the emphasis on the wet.

 

[Mayflower1]

Water is the only thing my cat would drink... they get addicted to wet food and eat nothing but that!!! Then they have diarreah and track it all over the house... My Mom gave that cat up faster then you can say Sylvester!!!

 

[mom_one]

How about cats - I didn't want to start a whole new thread on cat diarrhea!

We just adopted a 9 year old Siamese and she apparently was trying to chuck up some hairballs. I gave her a bit of hairball medicine as per the directions, but it seems to have disagreed with her. Now she has loose watery stools every time, and that's no fun cleaning up in the litterbox! I read somewhere to give her boiled rice, mixed with a bit of chicken, but I am afraid to give her a product like Pepto Bismol, like people give to dogs. Any suggestions?

you can also give pure pumpkin to cats mix with small amount of canned food ,usually clears up right away