Dog Diarrhea Caused by Eating Watermelon

1 Can Dogs Eat Watermelon?

Watermelon is 5.5–7.9 g of carbohydrate per 100 g, modest among sweet fruits, and is mostly water — a 10 kg melon is at least 9 kg water. So healthy dogs (except those that are sick, pregnant, or very young) can have a small piece, as long as the amount is controlled; even low sugar adds up if they eat a lot. Count the watermelon toward the dog’s daily water intake.

Remove the seeds first, since most fruit seeds contain cyanide that can cause diarrhea and vomiting. Do not feed watermelon right before or after meals, and avoid giving it more than once in 24 hours — it is cold in nature and easily upsets the stomach. Never feed chilled watermelon; room temperature only, to prevent bacterial dysentery.

2 This Case: Cold-Damp Diarrhea

In traditional medicine this falls under cold-damp diarrhea, usually from cold invasion or spleen-kidney yang deficiency. The spleen-deficient type shows dullness and weight loss with rough coat; early loose, unformed stool; later poor appetite with normal thirst, cold ears and nose, reluctance to move, loud gut sounds, and clear watery stool with undigested food; finally lethargy, profuse watery diarrhea, limb swelling, and a pale-red tongue. Over time it becomes spleen-kidney deficiency.

3 Traditional Chinese Medicine

The principle is to boost qi, strengthen the spleen, dry dampness, and stop diarrhea. Formula 1: codonopsis 6 g, white atractylodes 6 g, nutmeg 6 g, magnolia bark 6 g, poria 8 g, Chinese yam 8 g, polyporus 8 g, dried tangerine peel 5 g, dried ginger 5 g, areca peel 5 g, plantain seed 15 g, licorice 3 g; add amomum 10 g, costus root 5 g, hawthorn 15 g, and malt 15 g if appetite is poor. Decoct and give orally, one dose daily for 3–5 days.

Formula 2 (better for puppies with poor digestion and absorption): codonopsis 9 g, white atractylodes 9 g, charred hawthorn 9 g, poria 9 g, coptis 9 g, smoketree fruit 6 g, rice husk 6 g, prepared licorice 6 g. Add 500 ml water, boil, take 50 ml concentrated decoction, re-decoct for another 50 ml, mix, give 50 ml first then the rest 6 hours later, one dose daily for 3–5 days.

4 Western Medicine

Lactase 3 g and pepsin 3 g with smectite, orally twice daily for 3 days. For severe diarrhea, sulfaguanidine 1.5 g twice daily for 2 days.