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My 8-year-old dog has had diarrhea for the past week -- completely liquid.
Now...I've learned through the years of being a dog-mom to assess what I call Bandit's vital signs in the case of doggy-sickness (that's not something injury-related): appetite, hydration, peeing, pooping, mood, and energy/strength. If all of that is more or less on-target, I don't rush to the vet. I gauge his vital signs and give it a little time to see what happens.
Right now, even though he has diarrhea, his appetite is good, his water-intake is normal, he's peeing a normal amount, his energy is normal, his mood is normal. He doesn't act like he feels puny. And even though he has the runs, he seems able to control it -- we haven't had any accidents in the house at all.
So I'm going to try a few things at home for a few more days, and if he's still not better -- showing at least a little solidification of his stool -- by, say, Thursday, I'll take him to the vet. I've taken him off his kibble (because it seems to me that his darrhea started roughly the same time I opened a fresh bag of kibble, the same brand/flavor he'd been on before) and I'm feeding him multiple small meals of chicken and oatmeal (or rice). Yesterday was our first day of that, but today was runny too. Then today I started him on acidophilis (sp?) to try to restore his healthy flora, and I'm adding a little bit of honey and salt to his water to try to restore his electrolytes.
Is there anything else, homeopathically, that I could be doing for him right now?
maybe check with the kibble manufacturer to see if they have changed something in their formulation......otherwise, sounds like you are doing everything that can be done for him at home.... its good that he seems to be feeling ok.....
Is there anything else, homeopathically, that I could be doing for him right now?
Slippery elm is brilliant stuff for stopping/soothing digestive upset.
Also, FWIW, I'd stay off the oatmeal and just stick to the rice for the moment. White rice is by far the easiest for the dog's digestive tract to deal with.
Please get your dog to a vet. More than two days of diarrhea is dangerous - dehydration, electrolyte depletion, etc.
If he'll eat, cook up some white rice with PLENTY (i.e. too much) chicken broth and OVERCOOK it, so that it's easier to digest. NO BROWN RICE: it has too much fiber and just makes dogs defecate MORE often. Also add some POACHED chicken WHITE meat to that (the dark meat is too greasy).
Please get your dog to a vet. More than two days of diarrhea is dangerous - dehydration, electrolyte depletion, etc.
But most important, get him to a vet. Please.
Thanks for your concern. I just wanted to reassure you that I'm watching him very carefully and I'm not being neglectful. I'm very attuned to his hydration levels, etc. He's drinking well.
There are many sites I've consulted online that clearly state that most cases of acute diarrhea can be treated at home. For instance, this one: Treating Acute Diarrhea And Chronic Diarrhea in Dogs states that dogs that can be watched at home (rather than immediately taken to the vet for a consult) will act reasonably normal the whole time: eating, drinking, playing as normal. This is the case with Bandit.
He's not vomiting or regurgitating, and his appetite is very good, and I can hear burbles in his intestines, so I do feel confident that he doesn't have a blockage. (Plus, he's not the type of dog to eat stuff off the ground, so I'm not worried that he ate a stone or piece of wood or sock or anything like that.)
I'll definitely take him to the vet if things change for the worst or if the rice and chicken doesn't seem to bind him up.
I'm sure you are a great pet parent. However, I must agree with ViralMD on this one. Take him to the vet asap. Soft stool is one thing, and can be treated accordingly, but liquid stool is very dangerous.
We just went through this. For 3 weeks, my dog had diarrhea and would randomly vomit, usually in the middle of the night. I took him to the vet multiple times, each time him telling me that there is nothing wrong and that I'm overreacting. They did a stool sample, and once thought they saw giardia, then said they couldn't find anything wrong with him. He continued to have diarrhea, and I dropped off a stool sample again. He refused to run it, saying that he already told me he's fine and there is nothing he can do. So I am looking for a new vet.
If you find out what the issue is, let me know. Mine stopped the vomiting for now, and the poop is slowly getting back to normal, but I'm afraid it will go back to being liquid again. I tried a heavy dose of probiotics, he was on Flagyl because they originaly thought he had giardia, tried the bland diet and nothing worked. My vet assured us it wasn't contagious and that he's fine, but one of his playmates just developed the same symptoms, and I really think he got it from my dog.
Giardia is VERY difficult to detect. The stool needs to be VERY FRESH and in large volumes.
But I wouldn't rely on websites for veterinary advice. Would you rely on a website to diagnose abdominal pain in a person? It could be nothing or it could be life threatening, but unless an exam is done by a doctor, it's hard to describe what makes it one or the other. Same with your dog.
Giardia is VERY difficult to detect. The stool needs to be VERY FRESH and in large volumes.
And that is why I highly doubted their diagnosis, especially given his other symptoms. He kept trying to treat the symptoms instead of looking for why he's having diarrhea. My last straw was when he prescribed Amforal, without doing any kind of diagnostic test, and I refused to give it to him. This was after being prescribed antibiotics 8 different times last year, most over the phone. I also still have almost all of them, since I'm not giving him antibiotics on a monthly basis. His diarrhea improved on his own and I hope he stays that way from now on.
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