Upset stomach in puppies is something I have seen often throughout the years and people have also asked me a lot about it.
If your puppy has an upset stomach, don’t beat yourself up, it is not your fault. It is common for a puppy to develop an upset stomach and most times it is caused by what your puppy picks up and eats which you can’t control.
In this post, we would be going through everything you need to know about a puppy’s upset stomach that would help your puppy.
Causes of your puppy’s upset stomach
Biting or swallowing items that would cause them harm
Puppies are young and curious, they like to get almost everything they see in their mouth and some of the things they put in their mouth are bad for their stomachs and G.I tracks.
As a responsible puppy parent, you should not leave your puppy unsupervised for too long and you should not leave items that you know might be toxic, laying around.
Wearing your puppy a muzzle during walks would stop it from picking and eating stuff.
Toxic foods
Some foods can cause harm to your puppy if eaten.
There are a lot of toxic foods like onions, garlic, chocolate, and so on. I advise that before you give your puppy any human food, look it up on Google to see if it is safe for your dogs.
Eating too fast
Eating too fast could cause your puppy to have an upset stomach and could also cause vomiting.
If your puppy eats too fast, you could reduce the portion you give it per meal, then increase the number of times you feed it per day.
If that method doesn’t prove effective, then you could try bowls designed to help slow down their eating. I recommend the Outward hound dog feeder slo bowl.
I use this for my puppies because most puppies are always excited and eat faster than they should, the bowl is best for preventing fast eating.
Allergies
Your puppy’s stomach could be sensitive to a particular food and an upset stomach is its reaction to the food.
I have seen puppies who are allergic to chicken, puppies who are allergic to lamb, and puppies who are allergic to foods that other puppies eat.
Illness
Some illnesses can cause your puppy to develop an upset stomach.
Parvovirus is a very common illness in puppies that causes diarrhea.
Some other diseases that can cause an upset stomach include gastroenteritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
I advise that, if your puppy’s upset stomach is accompanied by fever and lethargy, you should consult your doctor because the upset stomach could have an underlying cause.
Your puppy’s immune system is still developing, so I suggest they should be at home most of the time and you should avoid taking them to places you know they might get an infection.
Endoparasites
An upset stomach in puppies could also be caused by parasites in their stomach and G.I track.
They could get some of these parasites from eating scraps from the waste bin and on the ground.
Symptoms of an upset stomach in puppies
The major symptoms of an upset stomach in puppies are vomiting and diarrhea.
Also, some puppies with upset stomachs lay down tired while some pace around restlessly. You might also hear your puppy’s tummy rumble.
Remedies for your puppy’s upset stomach
Because diarrhea and vomiting are the most common symptoms of an upset stomach in puppies, I would like to show you how to deal with them and also give you remedies to help with the upset stomach.
Remedies for the Diarrhea
What should I feed my puppy with mucus diarrhea?
Regardless of the cause of your puppy’s diarrhea, I would give you a feeding guide that would be okay for your puppy.
When it comes to feeding, the first thing to feed your puppy with diarrhea is nothing.
I know it sounds strange.
For the first 24 hours, you should not give your puppy any food to eat.
Food should not be given within the first 24 hours that you notice diarrhea so that the intestinal tract can rest completely.
It also gives time for the inflammation to subside.
Although food should not be given to the puppy within the first 24 hours, water is very necessary.
You have to ensure your dog is well hydrated.
Your dog should be granted free access to water. If your dog does not drink water I advise that you force it to drink.
When you want to introduce food to your puppy after 24 hours, I recommend that you introduce something that is especially bland.
My number one choice of food after the 24-hour wait is plain white rice.
You should give your dog ¼ cup of rice per 10 lbs.
Plain white rice helps firm up your puppy’s mucus stool.
White rice is low in fiber, which helps in not promoting bowel movement.
White rice is low in fiber because the bran, which contains most of the insoluble fiber, has been processed away.
Low-fiber food allows the bowel to form instead of promoting its movement.
Plain rice is also easy to digest, which saves the bowel from doing a lot of work which is good because it is not in a good state at the time.
I recommend your feed your puppy plain rice for 2-3 days.
Natural remedies for puppy diarrhea
These treatments are more effective if the causes of your puppy diarrhea are a change in diet and eating harmful food.
It would also work if the causes of your puppy’s diarrhea are parvovirus and endoparasites.
But I advise that you treat the diseases while you treat the mucus diarrhea.
Chamomile tea ( ½ cup per 10lbs twice a day)
It is good for diarrhea. It helps in calming the inflamed intestinal tract.
It also relaxes your digestive muscles.
A study in rats found that chamomile extract prevented diarrhea.
You should give your puppy the dosage above for 2-5 days.
Probiotics for puppy diarrhea
These are really good bacteria that are lost during diarrhea.
Probiotics help your puppy digest food, they keep bad bacteria from getting out of control and making your puppy sick.
They also create vitamins and help support the cells that line your puppy’s gut to prevent bad bacteria that you may have consumed from entering your blood.
One food that is high in probiotics is plain natural yogurt.
The majority of natural plain yogurts are quite high in acidophilus and lactobacillus and are very effective for mucus diarrhea.
You should give your puppy 1 tbsp per day for 2-5 days.
Diatomaceous earth (food grade) for puppy diarrhea
Diatomaceous earth is made of single-celled honeycomb-structured algae organisms with silicon exoskeletons called diatoms.
It is basically a type of algae mineral that is rich in silica.
This aquatic food can help heal and repair the gut and enable good stuff to proliferate.
This food grade of diatomaceous earth decreases some of the inflammation.
It also binds some of the toxins that would be causing the results of diarrhea.
It binds the fluid in the stomach and firms up the stool
It also has some other benefits for your puppy’s gut which include:
Detoxifying the gut,
Cleansing the intestinal walls and digestive tract,
killing parasites, which would be helpful if the cause of your puppy’s diarrhea is parasites,
Increasing mineral absorption, and
Reducing gas and bloating.
Remedies for vomiting
Acupressure
This is a Chinese technique that you could use to make your puppy feel less nauseous. Vets have also confirmed that this technique works.
This method involves gently using one of your fingers to press or make a circular motion around your pup’s PC 6 point for 30 to 60 seconds.
The PC 6 point is located below your pup’s wrist and above the pad of its dewclaw as illustrated below.
Cannabidiol oil
Cannabidiol oil can help reduce the rate of vomiting in your puppy.
Dosage: 1mg per 10lbs body weight.
Peppermint essential oil
Putting peppermint essential oil in a vaporizer can make your puppy feel less nauseous.
Peppermint has been proven to be really helpful for nausea and because your puppy has a strong sense of smell, when you add it to your vaporizer and your puppy inhales it, it can help reduce its vomiting.
Put 10 – 15 drops in your vaporizer.
I would advise that you should have these natural remedies always stocked at home because you never can tell when your puppy would have an upset stomach.
If your dog is not getting better after these natural remedies then I suggest you try these OTC drugs I would mention.
Pepcid (famotidine)
This is an over-the-counter antacid that works very well for dogs.
Dosage: 2.5mg/10lbs body weight, 2 to 3 times a day.
Gravol (dimenhydrinate)
This is what I would give my puppy when all other remedies and treatments don’t work.
Dosage: ½ tab/ 10 lbs body weight.
Bone broth for puppy upset stomach
Bone broth can help your puppy’s upset stomach, it contains gelatine which can help with your puppy’s diarrhea.
Make sure the bone broth you give your puppy is specifically for dogs and doesn’t contain any toxic ingredients like such as onions or garlic.
If your dog has not had bone broth before now, I suggest you give it a very small amount and watch how it reacts before continuing to feed it bone broth.
Bone broth should be served in small quantities, you can give it to your puppy to drink or mix it with its meal.
Pumpkin for puppy upset stomach
Pumpkin can help with your puppy’s upset stomach because it supports your puppy’s bowel regularity. Pumpkin is an excellent source of fiber and its flesh contains a lot of soluble fiber. soluble fiber is special because it can help with diarrhea by making food move slowly through the GI tract.
Pumpkin encourages a healthy gut microbiome. Pumpkin flesh has prebiotic properties which help promote a healthy gut microbiome.
Pumpkin supports a healthy gut lining. Pumpkin flesh is high in vitamin A and pumpkin seeds are high in zinc, both of these nutrients play a role in maintaining intestinal barriers.
You can give your puppy 1-2 tablespoons of pumpkin per day.
Frequently asked questions about puppy upset stomach
How do puppies with upset stomachs behave?
Some puppies tend to be tired and lie down for a long time while some pace around restlessly.
Puppies also tend to eat grass when they have an upset stomach.
Can teething cause an upset stomach in puppies?
Yes, teething can cause an upset stomach in puppies. Teething in puppies can be accompanied by mild diarrhea and vomiting.
Conclusion
If after trying these remedies and treatments and in two days you have not seen any improvements or your puppy develops other symptoms like fever and chronic weakness, I suggest you take your puppy to the vet immediately.
I urge you to share this post with people who might be interested, it could be on Facebook or Reddit. This could help a puppy parent whose puppy is suffering from an upset stomach.
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