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Dog
Diarrhea Medicine and
Dog Diarrhea Cures
How can you
choose the right dog diarrhea medicine when there are
countless causes? Fortunately, dog  diarrhea cures are usually
easy to come by with little to no side effects regardless of the
cause.
Before choosing treatment, you must eliminate the
causes and figure out how bad it really is.
Diagnosing
Dog Diarrhea
Dog diarrhea is simply diagnosed – your dog will have frequent, soft,
fluid and often-uncontrollable bowel movements. The feces are
“runny” either because food is moving through your dog’s system so
quickly that the colon doesn’t have time to absorb the normal amount of
fluid or because more fluids are being secreted by the
intestine.
It’s the body’s natural way of moving unwanted or
irritating contents through the system as fast as possible.
(Another great example of your body trying to heal itself, which is
what holistic medicine attempts to support!)
If your dog poops frequently but the output looks normal and healthy,
there should be nothing to worry about. By the way, on a raw,
natural diet your dog should only have one bowel movement per
day!
More aggressive dog diarrhea medicine may be required for severe cases
whose symptoms point to problems in the:
- Upper small intestines – inflammation or
bleeding
- Sometimes dark or black feces (from
digested blood)
- Belching, bloated stomach
or flatulence
from buildup of extra gas
- Inflammation in the colon
- Diarrhea “explodes” out during bowel movements
- Feces may have red areas from bleeding in the
colon
- More frequent diarrhea
- Possibly more mucus in feces
There are more serious conditions that could be causing dog diarrhea in
puppies, especially those that have not been vaccinated.
If
your puppy is experiencing severe diarrhea you should contact your
veterinarian immediately.
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Find
and Eliminate the Causes
No one says this will be easy, but you should keep your dog away from
all potential dog diarrhea causes to hone in on the culprit.
 Food is the easiest thing
identify. Have you changed your
dog’s diet recently? Could they have eaten something
indigestible such as bone fragments? Is there a chance that
you fed them spoiled food or that they have a dog
food allergy? Could
they have gotten into something around your home or in the yard?
We’ll get into altering your dog’s diet as the first and often best dog
diarrhea medicine further down the page, but in the mean time take note
of new food, chewed up plants, new lawn fertilizer, etc. so you can
keep your dog away from it in the future.
Worms
are another possibility, which can be diagnosed by a veterinarian using
a fecal test.
If you have ruled out food and worms, bacteria or a virus is the likely
problem, both of which are difficult to eliminate for the long
term. Make sure that you keep your dog’s sleep area, food and
water bowls disinfected and clean your dog’s bedding frequently.
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The Best
Dog Diarrhea Medicine & Dog Diarrhea Cures
We have categorized the best dog diarrhea medicine and cures as follows
- Mild
- Severe
- Chronic (recurring)
For
Mild Dog Diarrhea
Always change your dog’s diet as a first step towards dog diarrhea
cures. Their systems need a chance to rest, reduce
inflammation and get rid of whatever they don’t like.
How can you let their system rest without starving them?
Simple! Don’t feed them for 12 to 24 hours other than a few
ice cubes and a good
organic treat or two, then transition
to a liquid diet. It is important that they don’t eat any
solid foods for at least the first day or two.
If you are looking for quicker relief, use RuniPoo Relief
from Native Remedies. Aside from it's great name ("runny poo"
- yep, I guess that's another way to say diarrhea!), it contains
several natural ingredients that have
been proven to quickly and effectively curb the problem:
- Plantain - supports the health of the digestive
system and mucous membranes.
- Lady's
Mantle (Alchemilla vulgaris) - supports healthy firm stools and
maintains bowel functioning. Also contains tannis, which
supports the
natural production of secretions that form a soothing layer on the
lining of the digestive tract.
- Podophyllum - especially good
for those dogs who tend to drink larger than average amounts of cold
water at one time ("liverish" temperament") in addition to those who
need digestive support in hot weather.
- Sulphur - sulphur can be found in every cell in
the body. As a natural remedy it supports digestive function.
- Arsen alb. - supports both the digestive and
nervous system (so is also good for "highly strung" pets.
 Dehydration is a big danger with the resulting
loss of water, potassium
and sodium, so encourage drinking distilled water as often as possible
until the dog diarrhea subsides.
If you decide not to go for the quicker relief...
After the initial 12 to 24
hour fast, feed your dog a broth made from distilled water, rice,
vegetables and meat (the broth only – remember, no solid foods yet!) to
replenish necessary nutrients.
After the one to two-day liquid diet, start leaving the solid
vegetables in the broth (start with a little bit then slowly add more
solids with each meal). After one more day, introduce yogurt
along with white rice, switching to brown rice after a
few days.
Once your dog is on the way to recovery, feeding them a little plain
yogurt or acidophilus will reintroduce healthy bacteria to the
digestive tract.
Following a day or two of the veggies and broth, brown rice and yogurt,
you can slowly transition them back to their normal diet. You
can
also feed chicken or turkey baby food mixed with brown rice and
acidophilus.
 |
Taylor
Tips! My owners have used this approach for me countless
times, and boy am I a happy camper when my poop goes back to normal
after just a few days.
Guess that's what I get for stealing chocolate off of the coffee table! |
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For
More Severe Cases
More severe cases require more potent dog diarrhea medicine.
Give these options a try, one at a time in no particular order:
- Activated charcoal – especially good dog
diarrhea medicine for diarrhea
caused by bad food or ingestion of toxic substances
- Depending on your dog’s size, mix ½ to 1
teaspoon of powder OR 1 to 3
tablets with water and feed by mouth every 3 or 4 hours
- Use no longer than 24 hours, as longer-term
use can interfere with
digestion
- Roasted carob powder – yep, the chocolate
substitute!
- Mix powder with water
- Depending on your dog’s size, give ½ to 2
teaspoons 3 times per day for
3 days
- Slippery elm powder
- Mix 1 teaspoon (slightly rounded)
 of slippery
elm powder with 1 cup of
cold distilled water
- Stir constantly while bringing to a boil
- Reduce heat to simmer and stir for 2 to 3
minutes while mixture
partially thickens
- Remove from heat
- Add 1 tablespoon of honey and stir well
- Cool to room temperature
- Give ½ to 1 teaspoon to small dogs, 2
teaspoons to 2 tablespoons to
medium dogs and 3 to 4 tablespoons to large dogs
- Give 4 times per day or every 4 hours
- Cover the mixture and store at room
temperature
Conventional veterinarians may prescribe motility modifiers, which are
drugs that increase or decrease the movement of food through the
intestines. This dog diarrhea medicine can control the
problem for a couple of days, but like all other man-made dog diarrhea
medicine it can have
negative side effects. We recommend tying the above options
first and taking this route as a last resort. Either way,
motility modifiers should not be used longer than 48 hours.
Homeopathic treatments are also effective, such as may apple, mercury,
nux vomica, arsenic trioxide and windflower. Consult with
your local
holistic vet to determine which is best for your dog.
For
Chronic Diarrhea
Does your dog tend to get diarrhea frequently? If so, it may
be because they are just "built that way".
Try supplementing their diet with Digestive Support from PetAlive.
It will help boost digestive functioning, as it contains:
- Licorice (glycyrrhiza glabra) - an excellent
tonic for the intestines, bladder, kidney and entire digestive tract.
Also sooths the lining of the digestive tract.
- Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva) - Rich in trace
minerals that improve the health of the digestive tract.
- Marshmallow (althaea officinalis) - remedy for
digestive health and very effective in soothing the mucus membranes of
the digestive tract.
Use RuniPoo Relief (description above)
or one of the other natural treatments discussed in the "Severe
Diarrhea" section above each time your dog's diarrhea comes back.
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Tips for Preventing Dog Diarrhea
- Don’t feed them fatty, sugary or spoiled people
food. Also avoid onions, dairy, citrus, grapes, raisins and
chocolate.
- Keep them away from objects they can chew on or
swallow such as plants
or toys not specifically made for dogs
- Have puppies vaccinated
and keep them away from animals that have not
been vaccinated
- Keep them on a steady and balanced natural
diet
- Have their stool checked at least once per year
– more often if you
live in an area known to have worms
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Back to Illnesses
& Remedies from Dog Diarrhea Medicine
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