Dogs really often have diarrhea. Weather changes, eating weeds, indigestion... can all cause diarrhea. As an owner, it is impossible for you to have never encountered a dog with diarrhea. What to do if you have diarrhea? Do you want to go to the hospital right away? Can I eat something? This article will answer you one by one.
Replenish water first
The principles for dealing with diarrhea in dogs are similar to those in children. As long as it is not severe watery diarrhea (it is suspected that it may be bacterial infection or other Alibuza bugs), conservative treatment is required. If the diarrhea is serious, be careful about dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.
If you have diarrhea and vomiting and cannot replenish water through your mouth, you will need to get an intravenous drip from the hospital if you are severely dehydrated.
At this time, I felt the difference between furry children and humans. If the children told him to drink more water, he would be fine. But would he listen to the dog when he was told to drink more water? Of course he didn't understand, so he had to stew chicken soup and add water to trick him into drinking it.
Reduced activity, seek medical attention as soon as possible
If there is only diarrhea and mild vomiting, but activity and appetite are normal, conservative treatment can be adopted: "fasting + rehydration". However, if you observe decreased activity, loss of appetite, or even fever, it is recommended to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
How to observe appetite?
Tempt him with snacks without actually eating them (because he has to fast). If he loses interest in the snacks, Dai Zhi will be a bit arrogant. Severe dehydration may also cause loss of appetite. You can try warm diluted broth first. If you still don't drink it, you should go to the hospital.
How to measure temperature?
Dogs usually take their rectal temperature. Coat a mercury thermometer with Vaseline. If you don't have a thermometer specifically for dogs at home, put a layer of condom on the outside (where can I buy condoms? 7-11 has them...), insert 1.5 cm into the anus, stay for 30 seconds, then take it out and read the temperature.
The normal body temperature of dogs: 38°C ~ 39.2°C.
If you don’t have a thermometer, you can also feel the temperature of your ear, but you have to touch it frequently to feel whether you have a fever. The conclusion is to buy a thermometer as a backup.
Rainbow’s example
I found out that Rainbow was allergic to pork after accidentally feeding her pork in early January (50% of dogs are allergic to pork!), and her symptoms were diarrhea. After two days of fasting and recuperation, things got better. However, a few days ago, I observed soft stools and even mucus. It was similar to the previous situation. However, the diet has not changed recently. I suspect it may be caused by the changes in hot and cold weather?
But this time it was more serious. In addition to diarrhea, he also had hematuria. His penis was red, swollen and inflamed. He screamed and ran away when he was touched. Moreover, his mobility had not decreased before due to diarrhea. However, this time when I came home, I found that he had become super and unusually well-behaved. He lay on the ground motionless and allowed people to hold him around, so I had to take him to a doctor quickly.
The test result was posthitis + gastrointestinal discomfort, and conservative treatment was adopted. The veterinarian said that it is normal for dogs to lick their genitals, but it is not recommended if they lick when there is inflammation or wounds, so they should wear a headgear temporarily.
As for the gastroenteritis, the doctor originally wanted to prescribe medicine, but I said no, since it would be useless to take medicine for diarrhea anyway... I just need to replenish water and salt. (Iron Teeth Mother)
Moisture Calculation
Algorithm 1: 100-50-20 Law
I felt very lethargic when I got home after seeing the doctor. I didn’t know what to do, so I had to use my usual housekeeping skills XD. It doesn’t matter if a dog doesn’t eat, but it absolutely cannot stop drinking water. The same goes for people. Assuming that a normal person doesn’t eat at all, the total amount of water needed in a day can be calculated using 100-50-20:
What is the 100-50-20 law? It’s a bit complicated, so take a closer look at the following:
The first 0-10 kg, the water requirement is 100ml/kg. The first 11-20kg, the water requirement is 50ml/kg. The 21st and above kg, the water requirement is 20ml/kg
For example:
The daily water requirement of a 37kg person is:
100ml/kg x 10kg (0-10kg water requirement) + 50ml/kg x 5kg (11-20kg water requirement) = 1250ml
Algorithm 2: Weight x 60
After checking the information, I found out that there is a 40% discount on the amount of water given to dogs! Another simpler notation is the dog's water requirement: 60ml/kg/day, which needs to be adjusted based on food intake, activity level, age and kidney function.
Take Rainbow as an example, 14kg. If you use the human algorithm and get a 40% discount, it will be like this: (100 x 10 + 50 x 4 ) x 0.6 = 1200 x 0.6 = 720 ml
Using the second algorithm (60ml per kilogram per day), it will be like this: 14 x 60 = 840 ml/day
We conclude that a 14kg Dogs need about 700-800 ml of water a day.
How do you know if the water supply is enough?
The dog’s age, activity level, health status, and even the temperature and moisture content of the food will all affect the actual water demand. How do you know if the water is enough?
Books will tell you that you can observe whether the mucous membranes (eyes, tongue, and nose) are moist. The standard answer from veterinarians is usually to scratch the skin of the neck to see if it is elastic.
Personally, I think this is too difficult. The above symptoms will only occur when you are severely dehydrated..
I observe the color of my urine, and the color of my urine is the most accurate. The ideal urine should be light yellow. If it is dark yellow and smells bad, it means that you haven’t drank enough water!
Example practice
If you want to replenish water immediately, you must calculate the hourly water supply more accurately. For example, if you have a 14 kg Rainbow, you need to give 720ml of water every day, which is equivalent to 30ml per hour. However, because you have diarrhea and are dehydrated, you need to quickly replenish the water, so you can give 2-3 times the basic amount, which is 60-100ml per hour, and repeat it more than two or three times.
When Rainbow has diarrhea, I wake him up about every two hours and drink 100ml of chicken soup + water diluted 1:1, which is 50ml/hr.
After two or three rounds of this, the color of the urine will look much better. At this time, the amount of precipitation can be adjusted.
I didn’t eat and only drank water for the whole day. The next day I started adding dozens of feed pellets to the soup and slowly increased my food intake. After working hard for a weekend, Rainbow finally had beautiful strips of stool on Sunday afternoon!
My mother felt moved when she saw the complete shape of the stool. Although she wanted to invite her friends to take a look, she did not take photos of the stool because of aesthetic issues.
An article that will last a lifetime (I am talking about it myself), I hope it will be helpful to everyone.