Mary Allen
Like us humans, our dogs are not immune to digestive problems. The wrong food, a treat that is not intended for the dog, or a found item in the garbage or on the street are often enough to upset digestion.
A gastrointestinal virus causes unrest in the gastrointestinal tract particularly quickly and can seriously affect your dog. Most of these causes lead to diarrhea.
Diarrhea is a condition that should not be taken lightly by a dog owner. Diarrhea can quickly become life-threatening due to dehydration.
Symptoms of a virus infection
Our Maui comes from Spain and I don’t want to know exactly what he fed on as a young dog.
One would think that he is used to some things. But exactly the opposite is the case. Sometimes a little goes a long way and Maui suffers from diarrhea. For these cases, we have a diarrhea preparation from the vet at home.
But recently everything was different. Neither the bland diet nor the remedy helped. Suddenly the stool was even quite liquid. Maui hardly wanted to eat and was very depressed.
Since the following day was a holiday, I went to my vet to be on the safe side. The investigation yielded no special result. The cause remained unclear. Blood was also drawn to rule out poison.
While I was waiting for the result of the blood test, the little guy had to go outside. The shock was great because the stool was bloody and runny. A sample was examined.
A virus caused the diarrhea
The doctor concluded that Maui had caught a virus.
Two other patients with similar symptoms were being treated at the vet clinic. Maui had to stay in the clinic for the afternoon.
He was immediately hooked up to IVs and given appropriate medication. When we picked him up, he was doing much better. However, he was not allowed to eat anything that day to empty his intestines.
We also got a lot of medication that he had to take regularly.
Among them was an antibiotic, a drug intended to calm the digestive tract. And a means to balance the mineral and nutrient balance. He has been prescribed a bland diet for a week.
Possible causes of diarrhea
The causes of diarrhea are varied and not always clearly comprehensible.
In addition to the wrong food, diarrhea can develop if the dog steals household waste or is fed from the table.
Chocolate, sweets, or special plants can cause the disease as well as a virus that is transmitted from dog to dog. Another possible cause is a worm infestation. In addition, each dog’s symptoms are different.
In addition to diarrhea, dogs can react with vomiting, can be weak and listless, or even refuse food. The stool may be mushy, soft, or runny. Sometimes the animal can no longer control its bowel movements.
What to feed when the dog has diarrhea?
In any case, you must ensure that your animal drinks enough because diarrhea always leads to dehydration and this can quickly become life-threatening.
For this reason, you should consult your vet if you have diarrhea. He can immediately initiate the necessary measures to help the animal.
Prevent gastrointestinal diseases
Make sure you are feeding your dog the right food. If you notice that your four-legged friend does not tolerate a type of food, do not change it overnight.
Keep feeding the old food and mix in a little more of the new food each day until you are ready to change the food.
Make sure your dog doesn’t pick up anything off the floor when it’s out for a walk or come into contact with any food or plants in the house that could harm it. Make sure your dog is dewormed regularly.
If you still experience digestive problems, you can try home remedies.
When do home remedies help?
A probiotic powder should not be missing in the dog pharmacy. One day of food deprivation is ideal to ensure that the digestive tract is calmed.
The next day, boil short-grain rice with lots of water so that it becomes nice and slimy. With a little chicken or low-fat fish, it forms the ideal light diet for diarrhea.
Make sure your darling always has fresh water available. If all of these remedies are unsuccessful, take your pet to the vet as soon as possible.