Diarrhoea After Eating: Usually, when your dog gets an upset stomach or a “runny bum” it’s down to them eating something undesirable that they’ve managed to find on a walk, picking up a bug of some sort or it may be that they’ve eaten something new that doesn’t quite agree with them. Often, when we try to change our dogs over to a different brand of food or to a new type of diet, it may take a while for them to adapt to the new food and this might cause diarrhoea. Perhaps they’ve been in a particularly stressful situation recently which has resulted in a looser motion.
So, what do you do if this happens to your dog? Well, if you KNOW that you’ve tried a different food and it appears to have caused the problem, read on. If you HAVEN’T done anything different and yet your furry friend has developed an upset tummy, please read our blog on upset tummies, written pereviously, using the following link:
OK, so perhaps you have decided to change on to a different brand of dog food or may be you thought it might be nice to supplement your dog’s diet with something new, like some beautiful fresh sardines. The fact that she developed diarrhoea after eating the new thing doesn’t mean she cant eat it. It merely means that she probably needs to have the new foodstuff introduced to her in smaller portions over a longer period of time until she gets used to them. Certainly things like sardines (which are fabulous for your dog both from the point of view of her coat and her joints) are quite rich and oily, hence this may cause diarrhoea until they get used to them.
If this is the case and as you KNOW what the cause is, I would suggest that all you need to do is starve her for 6-9 hours allowing things to return to normal as the new food makes its way through her digestive system. If, however, you feel you would like to try to do something to help speed things up, there are a couple of things you could try:
You could try giving them a dose of Imodium – it works for us and for them too. However, just a note of caution with this medication if I may. Some dogs react very badly indeed to the active ingredient in Immodium; far worse in fact than the problem you are trying to treat. If your dog is of a herding variety such as a Border Collie, then please check with your vet before giving him this medication, just in case.
An alternative to Imodium and perhaps a safer bet is Pro-Kolin which helps to provide an immediate response to digestive upsets. It contains probiotic Enterococcus Faecium to help restore the balance of the microflora in the digestive tract, firms up the stools, soothes the gut’s lining and also contains prebiotic too.
If you didn’t want to go to the trouble of buying in a product specifically for the problem (such as the Pro-Kolin above), you could always try adding add a probiotic (like the live yoghurt type stuff) as this will help her gut to balance and recover. Probiotics are great to add into any diet as a matter of course – whether you’re a human or a dog for that matter!
Another thing you could try is to give her canned pumpkin (not the stuff that you find in a pumpkin pie filling with all the sugars and additives in it, just 100% natural pumpkin flesh). Most dogs love the flavour of pumpkin, and it is a unique fiber that regulates the bowel. It will color the stool.
Another natural approach is something called Slippery Elm which has properties that turn fluids into a gel and can be helpful in settling a runny tummy – many dog people swear by this.
If by the next meal you are still a little reserved about feeding, rather than reverting to your normal food you could try feeding plain boiled chicken (shredded after it has been cooked) and plain boiled white rice. Both are gentle and will help bind her. The added moisture in the food will also help to keep her hydrated.
N.B. Dont forget to make sure she has plenty of water – diarrhoea will dehydrate a dog quite quickly so it is important to give her every opportunity to drink, even if she is not eating. If you suspect your dog is dehydrated, you can give Dioralyte sachets to help replenish the electrolytes in her system too. Please be very careful BEFORE you give Dioralyte to check the ingredients as the flavoured sachets (things like black current flavour etc) use the sweetener Xylitol which is, of course, toxic to dogs 😉
If you do not know what has caused the diarrhoea and she is still loose after a couple of days, or if you see blood in the stool, please speak to your vet for further advice and possible investigation.
