What to Do When a Dog Eats Bad Food and Gets Diarrhea

1 Overview

I. What to Do About a Dog With Diarrhea From Bad Food?

First determine whether the diarrhea is from unhealthy food. If diet-caused diarrhea has no vomiting, normal appetite, and good mental state, give probiotics with an anti-diarrheal (bismuth carbonate or kaolin) and observe; if symptoms show continued relief, stop the anti-diarrheal promptly to avoid constipation. If no improvement or vomiting appears, take it to the hospital to check for infectious disease and blood chemistry and handle accordingly.

II. Causes of a Dog Eating Bad Food

1. If the dog ate bad food, having the vet prescribe an anti-diarrheal is basically fine.

2. If from overeating, fast for over 24 hours without medicine; usually recovers in a day.

3. If it has enteritis, besides diarrhea the dog’s mental state is affected and temperature rises, similar to distemper symptoms; medication should be given under a vet’s check, such as gentamicin or terramycin.

4. Improper diet. Especially puppies-puppies have fragile stomachs, immature digestion, and lack many digestive enzymes; if under three months old they are given canned food or pure meat, it easily causes indigestion and diarrhea. Also, too greasy a diet, eating too fast, or eating indigestible things all cause diarrhea. Adjust the diet to be light.

5. Infection. After contacting a sick dog or its belongings and excretions, if the dog shows diarrhea or vomiting, go to the hospital quickly-the dog may have caught an infectious disease such as common parvovirus.

6. Climate change, especially at season changes, because dogs are sensitive, diarrhea easily appears now, especially when humidity rises fast but temperature drops a few degrees suddenly.