Home Remedies for Dog Diarrhea

Diarrhea is a common issue in dogs and can be caused by various factors, from dietary indiscretion to infections. While mild cases of diarrhea can often be treated at home, it’s crucial to understand the underlying cause to ensure your pet’s health and safety. In this article, we’ll explore effective home remedies to help your dog recover quickly.

What Causes Diarrhea in Dogs ?

1. Dietary problems

• Eating something that should not be eaten: Dogs may eat spoiled, poisonous or indigestible food, which can irritate the dog's intestines and stomach, leading to diarrhea.
• Suddenly change the dog food: If you suddenly change the dog food for your dog, your dog's stomach and intestines may not be able to adapt to it, thus causing diarrhea.
• Lactose intolerance: Some dogs can't digest the lactose in milk and may experience bloating and diarrhea after drinking milk.
• Overeating or overfeeding: Dogs that eat too much or eat too fast may suffer from indigestion, which in turn causes diarrhea.

2. Environmental and temperature changes

• Cold: Dogs have sensitive bellies, so if they are exposed to cold air for a long time or sleep on a cold floor, they may catch cold and have diarrhea.
• Environmental changes: When a dog is in a new environment, or undergoes changes such as traveling or moving, it may experience diarrhea due to gastrointestinal discomfort caused by stress and anxiety.

3. Parasite infection

Dogs that are infected with parasites, such as roundworms, hookworms, coccidia, tapeworms, etc., these parasites will multiply in the dog's intestinal tract, destroying the intestinal mucosa and causing diarrhea.

4. Diseases

• Gastroenteritis: may be caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc. Dogs suffering from gastroenteritis will have symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite.
• Viral infections: such as canine poliovirus, canine distemper virus, canine coronavirus, etc. Especially puppies that are not fully vaccinated are more susceptible to infection, and these viral infections are usually accompanied by symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and depression.
• Bacterial infections: overgrowth of bacteria such as Salmonella and Clostridium difficile in the intestines can cause diarrhea.
• Other diseases: diseases such as kidney and liver diseases, pancreatitis, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal tumors, etc. are also often accompanied by diarrhea.

5. Drugs or toxins

• Drug side effects: Certain drugs may cause gastrointestinal discomfort in dogs, leading to diarrhea.
• Poisoning: If a dog ingests toxic substances or plants, it may exhibit diarrhea.

6. Stress reaction

Dogs experiencing some stressful or anxious situations, such as changes in the environment and the owner leaving, may show stress reactions that lead to diarrhea.

What are Some Home Remedies for Diarrhea in Dogs?

1. Adjust the diet

Fasting: If your dog's diarrhea symptoms are mild, you can start by fasting for 12-24 hours to allow the stomach and intestines to rest. However, be careful to provide sufficient water to prevent dehydration.
Feed easy-to-digest food: After fasting, you can gradually resume the diet and choose some easy-to-digest food, such as boiled chicken breast, rice, pumpkin and banana. Avoid feeding greasy, spicy and cold foods.
Use probiotics: Probiotics help regulate the balance of intestinal flora in dogs, you can add the right amount of probiotics to your dog's food to improve gastrointestinal function.

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2. Replenish water and electrolytes

Diarrhea will lead to the loss of water and electrolytes in the dog's body, so it needs to be replenished in time. You can provide your dog with plenty of water or use oral rehydration salts (ORS) to correct dehydration and electrolyte balance.

3. Keep warm

If your dog's diarrhea was caused by catching a cold, you need to keep your dog warm to avoid catching another cold512.

4. Isolation

If you have more than one dog at home and the diarrhea is diagnosed to be caused by germs, you need to isolate the sick dog to prevent the disease from spreading.

5. Observe the symptoms

Closely observe your dog for improvement in symptoms. If the dog's diarrhea symptoms persist for more than 24 hours, or symptoms such as depression, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever, blood in stool, etc., you should take your dog to the veterinarian for further diagnosis and treatment.

6.Avoid Stress

Reduce your dog's stress and anxiety, and avoid environmental changes, travel, and other situations that may cause stress reactions6.

7. Use medication with caution

Don't use human medication on your dog, especially prescription medication such as antibiotics. If you need to use medication, you should do so under the guidance of your veterinarian.

How to Hydrate a Dog with Diarrhea?

• Ways to rehydrate

Provide plenty of fresh water: make sure your dog has clean, fresh water to drink at all times. This is the most basic form of hydration and can help relieve symptoms of dehydration.
Use oral rehydration salts (ORS): If your dog is showing signs of dehydration, you can use oral rehydration salts to replenish water and electrolytes. Oral rehydration salts can be purchased at a pet store or veterinarian, diluted according to the instructions and given to your dog.
Homemade sugar and salt water: If oral rehydration salts are not available, you can also make your own sugar and salt water. Add 20g of sugar and 2g of fine salt to 500ml of water, stir well and give it to your dog.
Rice broth salt solution: another homemade method of rehydration is to use a rice broth salt solution. Add 2g of fine salt to 500ml of rice broth and give it to your dog.

• Methods of replenishing electrolytes

Use Pet Electrolyte Concentrate: There are electrolyte concentrates on the market specifically designed for pets, such as Puanter's Pet Electrolyte Concentrate. Diluting and feeding it as recommended by your veterinarian or the product's instructions can effectively replenish electrolytes.
Potassium Chloride Supplementation: if your dog is hypokalemic due to diarrhea, a 10% potassium chloride solution can be used for supplementation. Generally, take 0.5ml of potassium chloride solution, mix it with 60ml of water and feed 20ml per day for 3-5 days.
Use rehydration salts: rehydration salts contain other electrolytes such as calcium, magnesium and sodium in addition to potassium chloride. It can be diluted according to the ratio on the instructions and given to your dog to replenish the electrolyte disorders caused by diarrhea.

When replenishing water and electrolytes, you need to pay attention to the following points:

• Ensure that your dog is able to drink on its own; if your dog is unable to drink on its own, use a syringe or dropper to carefully feed the liquid to your dog.
• Avoid feeding your dog drinks containing caffeine or alcohol, these can exacerbate symptoms of dehydration.
• If your dog's diarrhea symptoms persist for more than 24 hours or are accompanied by vomiting, fever, or bloody stools, take your dog to the veterinarian promptly for further diagnosis and treatment.

FAQs

What human medicine can I give my dog for diarrhea?

Dogs have a different physiology than humans, and many human medications may be toxic or difficult to administer in doses for dogs. For example, quinolones such as norfloxacin, which are commonly used by humans as antidiarrheal drugs, may affect the development of cartilage in dogs, especially puppies, and are not suitable for use in dogs. If your dog has diarrhea, it is best to consult your veterinarian first, who will prescribe the right medication according to your dog's specific situation, such as age, weight, and the cause of the diarrhea (whether it is caused by an infection, dietary problems, or other illnesses), such as some probiotic preparations and veterinary anti-diarrheal medications specifically designed to address your pet's intestinal problems.

Is peanut butter good for diarrhea?

• Ingredient Problems

Peanut butter may contain a lot of fat and sugar. Dogs with diarrhea have a weak stomach and intestines, and foods high in fat and sugar can aggravate the stomach and intestines, which is not conducive to digestion and recovery.
Some peanut butter may also contain additives such as salt and xylitol. Excessive salt intake will aggravate the burden on your dog's kidneys, while xylitol is a highly toxic substance for dogs, and even a small amount of intake may lead to hypoglycemia, liver damage or even death.

• Doesn't relieve diarrhea

Peanut butter does not have the active ingredients to treat diarrhea in dogs, and cannot solve the root cause of diarrhea in dogs. For example, infectious diarrhea requires antimicrobial medications or medications to regulate the intestinal flora, and peanut butter cannot play these roles.

Is it better to let diarrhea run its course?

Conclusion

Home remedies like fasting, bland diets, and natural solutions such as pumpkin or rice water can effectively treat mild diarrhea in dogs. However, always monitor your dog closely and consult a vet if symptoms persist or worsen. With the right care, your dog will be back to their playful self in no time.