YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - Diarrhea...........Why A Dog Might Suddenly Get It

Here's an article from the website I Love Dogs.com and you might find it helpful if your dog's symptoms happened after eating something different from his usual food.

ASK A VET: My Puppy Has Diarrhea for the First Time — What Happened?

I have a 5-month-old Shih Tzu. I normally feed her dry food, but for a treat yesterday at tea time I fed her some heart.

She loved it, but today when she went to do her business, it was black and runny. Half an hour later, she vomited yellow bile, but has not since then. Her next stools were very runny and contained a small amount of blood.

Since then I have given her no food, just water. I’m hoping it was the heart I gave her, but I’m worried that maybe something more is wrong, as this is the first time she has ever had runny stools.

– Julie

Hi Julie,

I’m sorry to hear your puppy is not feeling well. The good news is, since her symptoms appeared right after eating the heart, it sounds like what she’s experiencing is a simple case of an upset stomach.

With a few exceptions (like chocolate, grapes and xylitol), dogs can eat the same foods as humans. Dogs, like humans, are classified as omnivores, meaning they can consume food from a wide variety of sources. That being said, most dogs living in our homes are fed the same dog food every day. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since most commercially available dog foods are formulated to be fed this way and are nutritionally balanced.

However, when dogs eat the same thing every day, their digestive systems become accustomed to that diet alone. When any other food is introduced, especially rich foods, it can throw everything in the digestive tract out of balance. This can lead to vomiting and bloody diarrhea. Despite the sometimes shocking symptoms, this is usually not a serious illness and will pass in a few days with the right care. In rare cases, a serious medical condition called pancreatitis can develop. This can be diagnosed with simple blood tests and requires more intensive treatments.

As always, if you are worried about your pet, and especially if the condition is not improving, schedule an appointment with your veterinarian. Your veterinarian will likely recommend fasting the dog for 24 hours while allowing frequent but small amounts of water, and then feeding her a highly digestible bland diet like Hill’s Prescription Diet i/d or home-cooked skinless, boneless, boiled chicken and steamed rice. Your vet may also prescribe an antibiotic or other medication, especially if your dog is vomiting frequently.

The intestinal tract is populated with many bacteria that assist in the digestion process. When you feed your dog something unusual, the normal population of bacteria can become unbalanced. With this unbalance, some bacteria change forms and release toxins that can cause bloody diarrhea. If the bleeding occurs lower in the intestinal tract after most of the digestive process has occurred, then you may see red blood in the feces. If, however, the bleeding occurs in the stomach or near the stomach in the small intestine, it will be digested as it passes through and will appear black in the feces. Also, if the heart you fed your dog contained blood, that blood would be digested and show up black in the feces.

Other things may cause similar symptoms, such as parasites, inflammatory bowel disease or pancreatitis, so if your dog’s symptoms don’t improve, you should make an appointment with her veterinarian. Bring a fresh stool sample with you so your vet can check for parasites.

Once your dog seems back to normal, do not abruptly switch from the bland diet back to her regular food. Anytime you change diets, do so gradually. Start by mixing a small amount of the new diet in with the current one, and gradually increase the amount of new diet while decreasing the amount of the current one over the course of five to seven days. If you feel that your current diet is not sufficient and you want to supplement it, you could always add a multivitamin or specific nutritional supplements like glucosamine/chondroitin sulfate, reishi or green tea.

Since this incident could indicate that your Shih Tzu has a sensitive stomach, you may want to avoid giving her human food as a treat. If you want to give a tea time snack, give her a small amount of her regular diet. Or, you could find a commercially available dog treat that she likes and can tolerate. Just watch out that she doesn't’ gain weight; snacks can add a lot of calories.

Good luck!

Dr. Smith

Ask a Vet is intended for informational purposes only. If your dog requires veterinary attention, you should take him to your vet or animal emergency clinic for an examination. Click here to find a veterinarian near you.

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ASK A VET: My Puppy Has Diarrhea for the First Time -- What Happened? | i Love Dogs

P. S. I'd add that persistent blood in the stool and profuse vomiting may also indicate an urgent medical condition known as HGE (Hemorrhagic GastroEnteritis) so keep that in mind. If you dog has severe vomiting and bloody diarrhea symptoms, better contact the vet ASAP. Search the term HGE here on YT threads and become very familiar with its symptoms and know what to do if you suspect your dog's symptoms fit those of HGE. Here are some links to old threads about it.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...enteritis.html

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...enteritis.html