Home Remedies for Vomiting and diarrhea

There are many causes to an upset stomach.  As yourself these questions – Did your dog ate something he wasn’t supposed to? Is your dog is stressed? Did you changed your dog’s food suddenly? Have you been anywhere (like a dog park) where they could have picked up a viral or bacterial infection? Could your dog has parasites?

As long as your dog is normally healthy and does not have any other illnesses, and is not a young puppy or a senior dog, then it’s pretty safe to say you can attempt to treat his diarrhea at home for a couple of days before going to the vet.

IMPORTANT: If you notice blood in your dogs diarrhea, blood in the vomit, If you look at your dog’s gums and they are pale or grey, your dog becomes lethargic, or shows any other signs of being in pain, please call your vet right away.

1. Lots of Liquid

Make sure your dog is drinking a lot of water. Just like people diarrhea can quickly make your dog dehydrated. If your dog isn’t interested in drinking water, you can encourage him by adding some chicken broth or beef broth to his water.  If you feel he/she is too dehydrated, take him to the vet.

2. Pure Pumpkin

Give your dog some pure pumpkin puree (not pie filling). Pumpkin is a great source of fiber and can help your pups upset belly quickly.

3. Bland Diet

The best food for your dog with diarrhea is something bland like boiled chicken and rice. Stop feeding your dog his regular food and offer him a small amount of bland boiled chicken and white rice. Feed him small amounts at a time to make sure he can keep the food down. If so, then slowly feed him more and more until he is feeling better.  Another great food is “Answers Goats Milk” which has probiotics and great nutrition while being very easy on the stomach.

4. Good Bacteria

I highly recommend adding a dog probiotic to your dogs daily food. Human’s have different gut bactaria so a human version wont work for your dog unfortunately.

5. Medicine

You can use over-the-counter medicines to settle the stomach.  You can use Pepcid or Tums to help with stomach acid, ½ OR 1 Dramamine or Bonine tablet to ease nausea, or diarrhea medications such as Imodium.  Imodium dose is 0.1 mg/kg of Imodium given twice a day. If you do the math, this means that a ten-pound dog will receive a dose of 0.4 mg of Imodium. That is not even one mil.  It’s a very small amount.  

Carsickness is common.   Short drives each day will help to build up a tolerance in the car.  Make sure your dog is travelling in the center of your car whenever possible, and in a place where they can see out the window if at all possible.  If they can have fresh air or a fan blowing on them, it can also help with car sickness.  Pepcid can be given 20 mins before a car ride which can help some dogs.   If your dog needs something stronger, 24 hour Dramamine or Bonine might help, given an hour before travel.   In extreme cases, Cerenia can be obtained from your vet.