As a dog owner, the last thing you want to wake up to one day is your dog vomiting or having diarrhea. However, just like people, dogs sometimes get an upset stomach. Upset stomachs in dogs can occur for a variety of reasons. They could have eaten something that didn't agree with them or that was bad for dogs. They also could have picked up a virus from other dogs in the neighborhood. And even bacterial infections in the stomach or intestines could cause your dog to have an upset stomach. Learn some of the ways that you can help your dog when they have an upset stomach. Then, you can be sure to get them the best possible care to recover from their illness.
Try a Bland Diet
One of the ways that you can help your dog when their stomach is upset is to switch them over to a bland diet for a few days. This means you may need to take them off of their regular dog food and give them a combination of ground chicken (or turkey) and plain rice for a few days. You can also add a small amount of unsalted chicken broth to your dog's rice and ground meat for better flavor.
This type of diet can help to calm your dog's digestive system and allow it to recover from whatever has been irritating it. This is particularly effective if your dog ate something that didn't agree with them. It can also help in conjunction with other treatments when your dog has some kind of infection (whether viral or bacterial) that is affecting their digestive health.
Try Canned Pumpkin for Diarrhea
If your dog is not vomiting but does have diarrhea, you may want to try adding canned pumpkin to their food at mealtimes. Make sure you get plain canned pumpkin rather than pumpkin pie filling as the added spices and sugars would not be good for your dog even when they do not have an upset stomach.
Add a spoonful or two of canned pumpkin to your dog's food with each meal. The pumpkin is full of healthy fiber and for dogs with diarrhea, this can help to firm up their stools, relieving them of their diarrhea.
Take Your Dog to a Pet Hospital
When your dog has an upset stomach that does not respond to the aforementioned options, or they are throwing up and/or having diarrhea nonstop for a day or more, it is time to take them to a pet hospital or veterinary clinic. Constant vomiting or diarrhea can be very detrimental to your dog's health, causing severe dehydration, among other symptoms.
A veterinarian can help you get these symptoms under control as quickly as possible. Sometimes, a veterinarian may give your dog an anti-nausea medication injection at the office to stop vomiting. There are also anti-diarrhea medications that they can prescribe or administer in the office. If a bacterial infection is suspected, your veterinarian may also prescribe antibiotics, along with continued anti-nausea or diarrhea medications to help address both the upset stomach and its underlying causes.
Veterinarians can also rule out other, more worrisome conditions including cancer, liver failure, and kidney problems that could cause vomiting and upset stomach.
Knowing these steps you can take for your dog's upset stomach, you can better help your dog the next time they experience these issues.
Do you remember the last time you really stopped to think about how healthy your animals were? Although it might seem like a simple task, keeping your animals happy, healthy, and well-adjusted can be difficult for just about anyone. However, with the help of a trained veterinarian, things become much more straightforward. I began working hard on helping my animals a few months back, and it was neat to explore how much better they were behaving. This website centers around identifying and resolving veterinary challenges one day at a time. Check out this website for great tips that could help you every day.