How long do we wait to take dog into vet - diareah issue.

[connorlevismom]

Yesterday I came home and my dog had pooped all over in his kennel and outside of it. It continued on all night and is still happening today. The only thing that I could make out in the stool was grass or weeds of some kind. He has had diareah before but never where he did it in the house, he could always wait until we let him out.

I don't know if I should take him to the vet or not. I mean, people and animals gets diareah all the time so I don't want to over-react about it. And I don't want to spend a ton of money on tests and what-not when it could just be nothing. We don't exactly have a lot of extra money laying around right now so a vet visit really is not in our budget. But I also don't want him to get really sick either.

Should I take him in?

Kristine

 

[Disney Doll]

How's he seem otherwise? Is he lethargic and acting sick or is he OK other than the pooping?

Did you try the chicken & rice thing....boil white meat chicken and mix it with rice. Keep him on that for a couple of days.

Make sure he's drinking.

 

[dawson5]

We just went through this about 2 weeks ago, not the diarrhea but he was just lying around not doing anything or eating, drink sparingly. After three days, I took him to the vet, as soon as I got him into the car he perked up. Pulled into the vet's parking lot and he's bouncing off the walls. Walk in the door and he's straining on his leash to smell every little smell. I had to leave him there and take my youngest an hour away for a baseball game. Our vet called us and kept us up to date, they couldn't find anything wrong with him. So they gave him his shots and my neighbor picked him up.

I swore next time he did this I was just going to take him for a ride to the vets (not take him in) and see if that fixes him.

Is he still drinking water and eating? If he is, I would give him some yogurt and watch him. As long as he's not dehydrated, it might just pass.

 

[Pomlover2586]

Disney Doll makes some valid points.

Make sure he has normal activity levels- if he's lethargic or listless he needs to see a vet.

Make sure he's eating and drinking- you should boil some chicken and make some white rice and feed him that to see if you can harden up his stools.

I would recommend that if he is still having loose stools by tomorrow AM he should be seen by a doctor- dogs can dehydrate very quickly.

Hope he feels better soon

 

[Pomlover2586]

Whatever you do DO NOT give him yogurt.........................

Dairy is bad bad bad for dogs.....you will make it worse. Boiled chicken and rice ONLY.

 

[connorlevismom]

Whatever you do DO NOT give him yogurt.........................

Dairy is bad bad bad for dogs.....you will make it worse. Boiled chicken and rice ONLY.

We don't have any chicken but have rice. Can I just give him the rice?

 

[Pomlover2586]

Yes plain rice will be fine

 

[JessicaR]

I would put a call in to your Vet. I would not feed the dog any food except water for 24 hours to give the digestive system a rest. After that some rice, chicken would be great in small meals frequently. No seasoning and rinse the fat. If your dogs behavior is not the norm I would see the vet sooner rather than later. Plain natural yogurt is excellent for dogs in moderation. I would not give it to the dog when they are having digestive issues. Some use hamburger instead of chicken, either is fine.

Hope your pooch feels better quickly!

 

[jwhtewolfd]

I would have taken him in this morning, so I'd advise you to take him in first thing tomorrow morning. Diarrhea doesn't just "happen." Something causes it. If it's been going on continuously since last night, he's probably already dehydrated. That's on top of whatever is wrong in the first place. Sorry to seem harsh, but you can't be too careful. You said money was an issue, otherwise I'd advise to go to an after hours clinic now, but the emergency fees are twice the cost of a regular visit.

 

[minkydog]

It depends on what else is going on. Does he seem happy and active as usual? Or is he drooping around, uninterested in playing, whining?

If he's otherwise happy and playful, just give him a little plain rice tonight and if he still has diarrhea in the morning, take him in. If he's lethargic or crying I'd take him in tonight.

 

[connorlevismom]

He is acting totally normal otherwise. He wants to play and when I let him outside he runs around. He is eating and drinking normal but I did not feed him dinner tonight because I don't want to cause any more issues.

I have some rice cooking as we "speak" and I will give him some tomorrow morning. I just don't want to give him anything tonight.

Thanks for your advice.

Kristine

 

[cassie]

He is acting totally normal otherwise. He wants to play and when I let him outside he runs around. He is eating and drinking normal but I did not feed him dinner tonight because I don't want to cause any more issues.

I have some rice cooking as we "speak" and I will give him some tomorrow morning. I just don't want to give him anything tonight.

Thanks for your advice.

Kristine

I once had a gsd that would suddenly have diarreah and I was told no food the rest of the day, then rice with boiled chicken and low fat cottage cheese. Feed that until the poops were normal, which took usually 2 days. I felt bad when my shepard would look at me with sad eyes as if to say is this all I get?

Don't feel bad for the rice feeding. The trick is to feed until the poops are normal again. If the poops aren't normal after 2 days I would see the vet.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I would not feed the dog any food except water for 24 hours to give the digestive system a rest. After that some rice, chicken would be great in small meals frequently.

I once had a gsd that would suddenly have diarreah and I was told no food the rest of the day, then rice with boiled chicken and low fat cottage cheese. Feed that until the poops were normal, which took usually 2 days. I felt bad when my shepard would look at me with sad eyes as if to say is this all I get?

I agree with this advice as long as the dog is ok otherwise.

 

[mom2kazkids]

Both of our dogs had diarrhea earlier this summer. Called the vet and they said nothing to eat for 24 hours and no water for 12 hours. Give small amounts of water after the 12 hours, and start small amounts of hamburger and rice after 24 hours. Then if no diarrhea, start to mix their dog food with the hamburger and rice. It worked they were over the diarrhea within the 24 hours.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Give his tummy a rest and then try rice and chicken or hamburger meat that is rinsed of the grease. I also add in pumpkin, as that firms up poop. If he's drinking and active, I give diarrhea a few days before getting too concerned. Dehydration can be the issue to worry about.

Diarrhea can be caused by eating something non-edible (you know dogs!), stress, etc. Just like people.

And yogurt is great for dogs; I have no idea why the pp thinks it's not okay.

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

Pumpkin is great for firming up their stool. That's all I ever use. Just make sure you use pure canned pumpkin. Don't buy pumpkin pie filling with added stuff. Pure pumpkin only. I always freeze the leftover pumpkin in several freezer bags so I always have it on hand.

Good luck. I hope your dog feels better by tomorrow.

 

[P.I. Squirrel]

This happened to our dog a few weeks ago. Our dog got into the pizza scraps, and had diahrrea for two days. We gave food and water as normal, since if you starve a dog, you make the cravings worse, and they are more likely to look for anything to eat, including spiders, the garbage, or worse.

As long as the dog is happy otherwise, I'd let it run (no pun intended). If the dog begins to lose weight, refuse food or water, or is lethargic, it's vet time.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This happened to our dog a few weeks ago. Our dog got into the pizza scraps, and had diahrrea for two days. We gave food and water as normal, since if you starve a dog, you make the cravings worse, and they are more likely to look for anything to eat, including spiders, the garbage, or worse.

As long as the dog is happy otherwise, I'd let it run (no pun intended). If the dog begins to lose weight, refuse food or water, or is lethargic, it's vet time.

Dehydration and electrolyte disturbances can occur pretty quickly if you let it run.

Inflammation in the gut has to subside before it can absorb liquids again.

No food, then gentle foods until stools firm up is the usual course recommended by vets.

My dogs have never seemed too bothered by missing a meal or two. When they have diarrhea they seem as if they're not feeling well anyway.

 

[Goofy22]

Just an FYI worms also cause diareaha believe it or not if your dog eats off the dirt/grass in your yard it's own food or anything else they can get what they call I believe are whip worms and cause horrible diareaha. This happened to my dog last year it was nasty! He was put on meds and it went away almost in no time. This is just another thought of what it could possibly be hopefully it's not if it is you will only see it get worse.

Well I hope you figure it out or something works for you! I know what you mean about the vet bill last year it cost me near $300 with the visit, tests , meds and then of course shots that he needed.

 

[connorlevismom]

Well he had once incident in the house overnight even with no food, but he did have some water. DH said he let him out this morning and he pooped again (diarreah) but it had a good amount of blood in it. So off to the vet I go today with the big guy. I cannot let it go more than 3 days. That is just to much.

Kristine