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Causes of Dog Diarrhea
Causes of Dog Diarrhea
Dog Diarrhea due to diet
If your dog suddenly begins to show signs of diarrhea you should first of all consider the diet he has taken lately. A change in the dog’s diet is always the main reason behind dog diarrhea. Feeding your canine pet cheap dog food may also result in diarrhea and often the money saved in food is doubled in form of vet bills. Always make it a point to feed your dog standard quality dog food that you can afford. Often cheap dog foods are stuffed in with large amounts of vegetables and carbohydrates which generally pass right through the dog.
Another dietary malfunctioning includes dairy products in dog’s meal. Dogs do not require to have milk and their bodies do not tolerate lactose thus resulting in diarrhea.
Dog Diarrhea due to worms
Another reason that may result in diarrhea in dogs other than diet problems are presence of worms in the dog. All kinds of worms such as tapeworm, hookworm, whip worm, and roundworm are also responsible for causing diarrhea in dogs, so to avoid them a regular de-worming procedure should be followed either through medication or any other form present.
Dog Diarrhea due to viral infections
Dogs also tend to suffer from diarrhea due to viral infections caused due to different types of viruses. Some of the common contagious viral diseases are the Parvovirus disease and the Distemper viral disease.
PARVOVIRUS DISEASE
This is a highly contagious disease in dogs and often results in fatal forms. Parvovirus enteritis symptoms include dehydration, diarrhea, vomiting, bloody or dark feces and in more severe cases dogs may even suffer from fever and low white blood cell counts.
DISTEMPER DISEASE
Canine Distemper again is a fatal and highly contagious disease in dogs and there are many symptoms evident out of which diarrhea is one.
Dog Diarrhea due to bacterial infections
Dogs may suffer from diarrhea due to bacterial infections too. These harmful bacteria include E.Coli, Salmonella bacteria and Campylobacter Jejune due to which extreme abdominal pains are often experienced along with bloody diarrhea.
Dog Diarrhea due to Parasites
COCCIDIOSIS
This parasite is a big source of diarrhea mainly in puppies and the main symptom of presence of this parasite is diarrhea. Also mucous and blood is excreted in diarrhea.
A common medication include Sulfa Antibiotics which do not wash of the organism but only hold it back until the puppy develops immunity within to fight it off.
GIARDIA
This diarrhea producing organism equally effect dogs and puppies and symptoms include blood with diarrhea, or mucus with diarrhea appearing to be pale greasy, Also the diarrhea may turn yellowish or greenish in color with a very bad odor to it. Other than diarrhea dogs amy even suffer from weight loss, vomiting or abdominal pain.
CRYPTOSPORIDIA
This is a single cell parasite responsible for causing diarrhea in puppies and dogs equally.
These are some of the reasons that cause diarrhea in dogs, others include
- Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
- Hormone Imbalance
- Intussusceptions (telescoping of the bowel on itself)
- Liver disease
- Kidney disease
- Pancreatic
- Blockage due to any foreign object
- Cancer
- Poisoning
- Bowel disease
- Parasites such as giardia and coccidia
- Worms
- Eating Garbage
- Diet
- Viral or Bacterial Infections
- Drinking Milk
- Diet
These are the several reasons causing diarrhea in dogs and puppies. If symptoms of dog diarrhea persist for a long time a vet should be consulted immediately.
Dogs Chronic Diarrhea
Like humans even our pet dogs suffer from diarrhea and concerned owners rush them to the vet at the first signs of diarrhea. This is really not recommended by vet themselves as dogs may develop a minor form of diarrhea maybe due to some wrong edibles taken and could actually adversely affect a dog’s health as unnecessary antibiotic consumption may harm the otherwise good health of the dog. Though chronic types of diarrhea are of more serious nature and may require immediate medical supervision for your dog. Firstly let’s have a look at the acute diarrhea symptoms in dog.
Acute Dog Diarrhea
Like mentioned before acute dog diarrhea can be easily taken care off at home and these types of diarrhea refers to those which persist for a couple of days or more to a couple of weeks.
The right time to pay your vet a visit is diagnosed through the behavior of your dog, how he is feeling and responding to different acts, if he is active or dull, showing energy or not and so on. Behaviors of dogs can be easily assessed from there activities all day long, of course you do not expect a dog suffering from diarrhea to be 100% active and normal but a fair amount of energy is still felt and it is fair enough for your dog to feel a bit lazy until the diarrhea resolves.
The term diarrhea does not only refer to a watery type of stool passed by dogs. Rather any abnormal type of stool is considered to be in the diarrhea criteria, for example watery or soft stool, passing of gas or straining when trying to defecate, soft stool with abnormal color or odor and stool that resembles the cow pie.
It is quite normal for dogs to consume anything that they consider as an eatable which may not always be the case. Although dogs are omnivorous by nature depending mainly on meats and related foods along with a touch of vegetables and stuff which tend to make them prone to eating things that may at times be indigestible such as stones and sticks. This behavior of dogs lead to diarrhea and in acute conditions the dog’s internal mechanism flushes the unwanted material out naturally in form of diarrhea.
The dogs when devour any harmful things they usually vomit few times and the unwanted material is excreted through the vomiting. In a way diarrhea is not a real disease.
Diarrhea is also a natural process in dogs to restore their health and acute diarrhea is a healthy practice of dogs to heal themselves, excrete unwanted materials off the body and restore former proper health, so acute dog diarrhea is more of a healthy exercise than a disease for dogs. Knowing that acute forms of diarrhea is good for the dog we need not worry about the occurrence of diarrhea and try to treat it at home and consulting a doctor is not necessary every time your dog shows signs of diarrhea.
Dog Diarrhea
We all enjoy and cherish having pets of our choices, and cats and dogs are commonly the choice of many. We want and should treat them as we would treat our babies, with utmost care. You would always want to make sure that your pet is in good health and for the purpose you have to pay attention on all there activities from feeding to cleaning and so on, but simply taking care on your part is not always enough. You require to continuously monitor there activities all day long as they might themselves engage in things which may prove harmful for their health. It is due to this reason that pets suffer ailments and a common one is dog diarrhea.
If your dog develops diarrhea the first requirement is to visit the vet immediately. Diarrhea generally leads to severe loss of fluids in the dog’s body which is extremely dangerous for its health, and you should attend your dog with proper care and supervision, especially if he has already started to show signs of the ailment. Dog diarrhea may be of a mild or serious nature.
If a dog develops severe diarrhea, the immediate solution is to visit the vet instantly, but in cases where the diarrhea is on a milder level you can treat your dog at home with vet prescribed medicines, or in some cases some natural home remedies may also be used.
If your dog excretes waste many times a day and the excretion seems to be watery, your dog is definitely suffering from diarrhea or other stomach related problems that should be attended to at the earliest.
Dog diarrhea is caused mainly due to the food they eat. Dogs have there own requirements and the food they eat should be according to there nutritional necessities. It is for this reason that owners are discouraged to feed there dogs the same food they eat as there requirements differ from ours.
As a pet owner it is your responsibility to be aware of what is good and healthy for your dog, and this information should be in accordance to your pet’s age and lifestyle that it is following.
Dogs have proven themselves to be a loyal, faithful companion. They are very loving and reliable by nature, and should be saved from all ailments to retain the liveliness and friendly relation with them.
Your dog may suffer occasional acute diarrhea, which is a sudden diarrhea condition lasting a few days, and if no other symptom is present there is nothing to worry and you can treat it at home. Diarrhea in dogs can be due to improper eating, sudden diet change, allergy to some food and infestations by worms or due to bacteria.