Diarrhoea
If you have a dog, sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with diarrhoea. Most of the time it’s nothing to worry about and can be resolved fairly easily.
Acute diarrhoea occurs suddenly, only lasts a day or two, and is normally easy to resolve. However, some types of acute diarrhoea can be life threatening, especially those where blood is present. Causes of acute diarrhoea include allergic reactions to food, overeating, sudden change in diet, eating decaying or toxic food, viral infections, stress, and bacterial infections.
Chronic diarrhoea is where there has been either a continual problem, or it keeps coming back. Causes of chronic diarrhoea include malabsorption, bacterial overgrowth, pancreatic disease, inflammatory bowel disease and parasites.
How can you assess whether your dog’s diarrhoea is serious or not? Well, if the following symptoms are present, it’s time to consult the vet: vomiting, loss of appetite, high fever, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea, watery diarrhoea, and dehydration (you can tell if your dog is dehydrated by gently pinching his skin. If it falls back quickly, your dog is not dehydrated. If the skin sticks in place for a few moments, he is).
If you have a dog, sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with diarrhoea. Most of the time it’s nothing to worry about and can be resolved fairly easily.
Acute diarrhoea occurs suddenly, only lasts a day or two, and is normally easy to resolve. However, some types of acute diarrhoea can be life threatening, especially those where blood is present. Causes of acute diarrhoea include allergic reactions to food, overeating, sudden change in diet, eating decaying or toxic food, viral infections, stress, and bacterial infections.
Chronic diarrhoea is where there has been either a continual problem, or it keeps coming back. Causes of chronic diarrhoea include malabsorption, bacterial overgrowth, pancreatic disease, inflammatory bowel disease and parasites.
How can you assess whether your dog’s diarrhoea is serious or not? Well, if the following symptoms are present, it’s time to consult the vet: vomiting, loss of appetite, high fever, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea, watery diarrhoea, and dehydration (you can tell if your dog is dehydrated by gently pinching his skin. If it falls back quickly, your dog is not dehydrated. If the skin sticks in place for a few moments, he is).
As stated above, diarrhoea can have various implications but often it may be just a case of poor diet.