Dietary changes and related health topics
A dogs digestive tract gets used to being on the same dog food, and dietary changes can lead to digestive system issues with foul-smelling results. Dogs may have diarrhea when switching kibble brands or in response to eating something they shouldnt.
Food allergies can also cause digestive issues in dogs. Your veterinarian may want to switch your dog to a special veterinary diet, sometimes referred to as a prescription diet.
A lot of human foods can cause gastrointestinal problems in dogs since they are difficult to digest, so dont add table scraps or fatty foods to your dogs diet. Dogs who are fed fatty foods can develop pancreatitis. Unfortunately, dogs love to fetch their own “treats” out of the trash and consume whatever foods they can get, so try to keep food out of their reach. Eating foreign objects can also lead to a case of diarrhea.
A dog infected with parvovirus will have smelly diarrhea feces that may have blood or mucus in it. Parvo is a disease thats passed from the poop of infected dogs or items contaminated with the poop (like shoes, feet, and clothing). All unvaccinated dogs are at risk for parvovirus. Puppies under the age of 5 months are the most at risk and the hardest to treat.
Most dogs with parvovirus will recover as long as they get appropriate treatment. In addition to diarrhea, watch out for:
Take your dog to the veterinarian if you notice diarrhea thats smelly. Theres no cure for parvo, but dogs can survive with veterinary care. Certain dog breeds have a higher risk of fatality from parvo, including:
While many dogs with Giardia dont have diarrhea, this parasite can cause older adult dogs and puppies to have watery diarrhea. Dogs can become infected with this parasite by drinking contaminated, stagnant water, like from a puddle or a shared dog bowl.
Dogs with Giardia may have persistent or intermittent diarrhea that smells horrible. Their poop will be soft and watery, may contain blood, and may look green. Giardiasis isnt typically fatal except in dogs with an immunocompromised immune system, but it does need to be treated by a veterinarian.
In addition to the causes listed above, other causes of diarrhea that smells bad include:
Treatments vary depending on the severity of the diarrhea and what is causing it. For mild cases, you may be advised to refrain from feeding your dog for 24 hours and let the body heal itself without trying to digest food. The veterinarian may instead prescribe a special diet to feed in small amounts.
If diarrhea persists or is severe, your veterinarian may order tests to help with diagnosis, such as:
When the tests reveal a cause that has known treatments, your veterinarian will prescribe the appropriate medication, such as a dewormer for parasites or antibiotics for bacterial infections. Dogs with diarrhea can become severely dehydrated, so their treatment could involve hospitalization to administer fluids.
Giardia is usually diagnosed through a fecal flotation test. Trophozoites can sometimes be seen moving when a fresh stool sample is microscopically examined; however, since there’s no guarantee that the parasite will be visibly present in every stool sample, your vet may recommend a more reliable ELISA SNAP test. This test detects the presence of antigens (proteins) produced by Giardia in a blood sample.
You just got a new puppy, so your vet recommended testing a stool sample… and it came back positive for Giardia. Now what? Giardia isn’t one of the intestinal parasites that we typically think of (like hook worms and round worms) but it’s actually more common than you might think. In fact, we had several clients with pets that tested positive for Giardia this month alone! The affected pets weren’t just kittens and puppies, either. We treated quite a few adults dogs and cats as well. Some dogs and cats had been experiencing loose stools for a while, while other pets were entirely asymptomatic. Fortunately, Giardia is easily treatable! Here’s what you need to know…
Cats and dogs become infected with Giardia after ingesting the cysts, which are usually found in infested water or stool, or by sniffing the cysts up from contaminated ground. Once the cysts are inside the body, they transform into the trophozoite and begin feeding off the intestinal wall. They reproduce, and some will eventually return back to the cyst form and be passed through the stool. Large numbers of feeding trophozoites are the cause of the primary symptom of a Giardia infection: soft, watery, foul-smelling stool, often with a greenish tinge and occasionally tinted with mucus or blood. Some pets will also experience vomiting, weight loss and lethargy, but unless they are young or immune-compromised, most pets will be asymptomatic.
Oral Fenbendazole (Panacur) is the most common medication used to treat Giardia, and at House Paws we use a powder form that is mixed in with food once a day for six consecutive days. Giardia is highly contagious, and it is usually recommended to also treat any other pets in the same household. Metronidazole is another medication that may be used in addition to Panacur and works to reduce gastrointestinal inflammation and resolve loose stools. Both of these medications have a bitter taste that some pets will refuse, so you may need to get creative with administration. After the course of treatment is complete, your pet’s symptoms (if any) should be fully resolved. We always recommend re-checking a stool sample a week or more after finishing treatment, to make sure the Giardia is completely gone.
In humans, Giardiasis or “Beaver Fever” is one of the most common causes of diarrhea while traveling and occurs when individuals drink contaminated water. As a result, it is often affectionately referred to as “Traveler’s Diarrhea.” There are several forms of Giardia specific to each species, some of which can be passed from animal to human. For this reason, it’s important to practice good hygiene if your pet has Giardia, including frequent hand washing and wearing gloves while handling stool and litter boxes. Because the cysts can survive in the environment for long periods of time after exiting the body, try to pick up your pet’s stool and dispose of it immediately. Bleach and Lysol are effective cleaners to use regularly in your pet’s living areas, but be cautious not to expose your pet to any cleaning-related toxins (see this blog post for more information about responsibly using common household cleaners when pets are in your home). Bathing your pet one to two times per week and wiping the anal area with a wet wipe after defecation can also help minimize potential reinfection and/or human transmission.
Pet owners need to be aware that a vital way to monitor their pet’s health is knowing what dog poop should look like. Being able to identify what normal dog poop looks like compared to abnormal poop, enables an owner to notice the signs warning of risks to their dog’s health.What Normal Dog Poop Looks Like An owner needs to be familiar with what is normal for their dog as far as poop goes. Then any change in size, smell, color, or consistency is immediately noticed. Healthy dog poop is, generally, easy to identify. It is segmented, slightly moist, chocolate brown in color, and firm, with a mild odor. Size and Smell Matters If a dog produces large amounts of poop and it is noticeably stinky, then it likely is caused by a mostly kibble diet. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Consider how it affects dog poop. Most kibble manufacturers add extremely high amounts of fiber to even so-called “diet” or “lite” foods. Think 15-28% compared to the vet recommended 4-6%. This is why many vets prefer owners feed raw food to their pets. The stronger odor is due to the fact that a dog’s body isn’t meant to absorb certain nutrients that are found in kibble diets. Dogs aren’t designed to absorb grains and other starches. Neither can they absorb unnaturally high amounts of potato and pea used in many “grain free” foods. In contrast, raw food diets give dogs less poop in a quantity that is also more normal in size and smell. Their stool will turn much lighter in color within a 24 hour period and quickly disintegrate. This is consistent with the signs of healthy dog poop.Consistency Concerns Knowing the consistencies of dog poop can mean the difference between making a slight, temporary diet change to calling the vet’s emergency line. The ideal healthy dog stool is like children’s modeling clay dough: firm enough to keep its shape, yet soft enough to give way when pressed. Some veterinarians use a fecal scoring system to evaluate a dog’s poop. The scale is from 1 to 7, with 1 being like hard pellets, and 7 being a puddle. The healthiest dog poop should be around 2. If a dog produces stool inconsistencies that could be scored anywhere else on the scale and it persists for more than a day or two, the owner should take their dog to the vet. Soft stool without blood or mucus can simply be a sign of a dog’s dietary change or indiscriminate eating. In such cases, it won’t happen for long as the dog adjusts to the new diet, or returns to their regular food. Nevertheless, it can also mean there is an intestinal parasite, such as giardia, or signal IBS or serious food intolerance. Watery stool may signify stress, or be a warning sign of a viral infection like parvovirus, or a parasitic infection. Such stool can quickly lead to dehydration, especially in puppies, and needs immediate veterinary attention. Soft stool with mucus is another indicator of parasites or the parvovirus. Another example of stool inconsistences is poop that is partly firm followed by partly soft. This is a case of small bowel diarrhea and indicates any number of causes such as a bacterial overgrowth of the small intestine, food intolerances, IBS or other serious issues.Other Signs of Unhealthy Dog Poop Red colored stool means there is fresh blood or clots in the poop. The brighter the shade, the lower down in the dog’s digestive tract the bleeding problem will be found. This sign is warning of a serious health problem requiring urgent veterinary attention. Black stool, sometimes described as a tarry stool, indicates the presence of old blood in the dog’s digestive system. The darker the black stool, the higher up in the digestive tract the issue is. It can stem from an injury caused by indiscriminate eating, or be the warning of a serious danger like cancer. Gray or yellow colors are associated with issues connected to bile, so gray or yellow stool can signal liver, pancreas, or gallbladder problems. White stool with a chalky texture from a dog on a raw-food diet indicates too much calcium or bone. A slight change in diet usually returns the stool to what dog poop should look like. White specks in soft or watery or otherwise normal looking stool are actually worms or eggs. Worms or eggs means the presence of parasites. Stool that looks greasy may indicate excess fat in a dog’s diet, which can set off a painful inflammation of the pancreas, or be a sign of an enzyme deficiency. In either case, consulting a vet for diagnosis and treatment is best.What an Owner Can Do Once an owner knows what dog poop should look like, they can then discern when a dog is having a brief episode of unhealthy stool or needs to see the vet. Whether healthy or not, when taking a dog in to an appointment, bring a stool sample for vet to get the best care possible. Pet health is important. The Emergency Pet Express Shield plan can help when a dog has stool issues. It includes CBC, Chem Profile Fecal Study, X-ray and Emergency Examination. Call or sign up! Posted by
My dog had diarrhea THIS Fixed it FAST!
A healthy dog has poops that are moist but solid, are chocolate brown in color, and keep their shape. Dog owners can keep tabs on their pet health by noticing changes in their dogs stools, especially with soft stools. Diarrhea is defined as loose stools with frequent bowel movements.
Foul-smelling diarrhea is always a cause of concern because it can signify underlying health conditions, including common causes, like bacterial infections; diseases, like parvovirus and Giardia; infected anal sacs; intestinal parasites; food intolerance; or other dietary issues. Always take puppies and dogs to the veterinarian for an examination, especially because some diseases causing diarrhea can be fatal.