Natural Remedies for Dog Emergencies: The Two D’s

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Did Shermie get into something he shouldn’t of? 

Natural remedies for diarrhea – be prepared for an emergency

Since April is Pet First Aid Month, I wanted to continue posts on this topic. Dehydration and Diarrhea go hand in hand. And over many years, I’ve had to troubleshoot a lot of terrible cases of diarrhea. Some of these were a result of living with a dog that got into human food. In other cases, I’ve also lived with a dog that had chronic Hepatitis and an immune-mediated disease. I’ve all out panicked in a few cases.

As you know from reading my blog – I use a lot of herbs and feed a raw diet to all my dogs. I like to look at natural remedies when I can. Given that, when it comes to the two “D’s” I practice the following:

Dehydration – *I’ve also used a dilute Pedialyte with our dogs in some cases and keep a case in the garage just in case

  • Coconut water or coconut juice
  • I give Bruiser and Walter 5 cc every 2 hours (for small dogs and cats)

Diarrhea

Note that in almost all cases, if there is blood in their stool or if it’s evident they’re ill, gums look pale – I’ll take any of our dogs into the vet. To stop the diarrhea I typically make white rice and canned coconut milk. I give a couple tablespoons every 3-4 hours until the diarrhea stops.

According to Dr. Basko’s site:

  • 1 cup of cooked white rice
  • 1/4 cup of canned coconut milk

Then for a few days following no diarrhea, I switch to a bland diet of white rice and boiled chicken or boiled beef. I feel small amounts every 3-4 hours.

(If they won’t eat anything for more than a day, I also take them into the vet even if they don’t seem ill).

These were also taken from many resources but the one article I like a lot is: http://www.drbasko.com/site/top-home-natural-remedies-digestive-emergencies-pets/

Other articles on the topic.

herbs

 

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There are 49 Comments

  1. Lindsay says:

    Sharing for myself if no one else. I know this will come in useful in the future. Thanks Hun 🙂

  2. Cathy Armato says:

    The two D’s are definitely biggies. It’s interesting to see you can give dogs diluted Pedialyte. Good info, thanks!
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

    • Thank you! Yes to pedialyte and since it’s sweet they don’t resist it too much. I’ve used it on more than one occasion with a super sick munchkin doxie too. So glad these were helpful.

  3. So important to remember! I keep Bounce Back on hand (powdered electrolyte mix that can be used on farm animals as well as pets – important around here!), and it’s been hugely helpful the few times there’s been issues.

    • Hi! Oh I’m so glad you added this – I haven’t used Bounce Back before but will look that up! That’s awesome there is something for farm animals too! I honestly cannot remember who told me about using Pedialyte but it works so well… what farm animals do you live with?! That’s so awesome.

  4. Hmm… I wonder if Mr. N would eat coconut. When we’ve given him beef and rice before, he picks out all the beef bits and leaves the rice. I’ll have to see. Thanks for joining the hop!

  5. Oh, I had never thought of offering coconut water to the dogs – great tip! Thanks so much for joining the hop.

    • Thank you! I’m so happy to be part of the hop – such a great topic for this month. Coconut water is a good one someone once shared with me!

  6. Kari says:

    I wouldn’t have thought of coconut milk, but I do keep it on hand. Good to know!

  7. Andrea says:

    Thanks good post I didn’t know about the white rice and coconut milk so we we haven’t had any problems in that area but it’s always good to be prepared.

  8. Diane says:

    Thank you for sharing! I hate the dreaded diarrhea and am always at a loss of what to do. Next time, I will be prepared!

  9. Kelly says:

    Great information! Thanks for sharing, I did not know about coconut milk and coconut water for these issues. I will keep some on hand, Thank you

  10. Nichole says:

    This is a great list to keep handy!

  11. Thanks for the info, I normally put bran or pumpkin in her food for upset tummy and dehydration have not yet had that problem but now I know what to do (I have heard of Pedialite)

  12. Thank you very much! We keep a few of these things handy for when we travel! Sometimes travel can get one of our girls a bit upset, so we try to make sure we are always prepared! I used to give our Shiloh Pedialite quite often since she constantly had stomach upset. It worked great to keep her hydrated and keep her electrolytes balanced!

  13. Great info! My older pup, Kitsune, has a really sensitive stomach. I’ll keep these remedies in mind for the future.

  14. Rama's Mama says:

    We are big proponents of natural remedies. These are great. We keep a lot of the same stuff in our doggie medicine cabinet. 🙂

  15. Great information, will pin these for future reference! 🙂

  16. This is getting printed and put in the emergency folder. I never knew Pedialyte was safe for dogs. What an awesome idea for dealing with dehydration!

    I am always looking for natural remedies for dealing with health issues with the dogs and while I have used the RX Biotics before, I was unfamiliar with the use of Passion Flower in calming things down in the gut.

    • Thank you! Hopefully you won’t have to use it — Diluted PediaLyte works well and I need to look up the dilution factor but it’s almost 2:1. Love the probiotics! I get those from our holistic vet. Passion Flower is for Sherm as he needs something to take off his anxious edge but it also aids with some digestion but it’s more the probiotic that does the trick!!

  17. Great suggestions- I use the same for humans as well as mashed banana and blended cooked pumpkin in tiny amounts

  18. Beth says:

    Thanks for the information, I didn’t know that coconut water was a good option for dogs.

  19. I’ll pass this info on the my BFF for her dogs. Hopefully, she never needs it!

  20. MattieDog says:

    This is just such great information – coconut water is a gift on so many levels! Great article!!

  21. I definitely need to share this with my mom for her dog. Bandit does have problems with both at times.

  22. Such a great post with amazing information! I’m sharing it immediately (also selfishly so I’ll have it as an easy reference!

  23. Carol Bryant says:

    We used coconut oil. I love that you broke this down so pet parents can relate. It is really important to stay on top of diarrhea so dehydration can be avoided.

    • That’s so awesome you use Coconut oil! I hope this is all helpful – it’s based on a lot of experience for sure with dogs that just had upset tummies a bunch over time! Totally agree with you about the combination of these two!

  24. Katie says:

    Great natural remedies! I love using them for myself and I am trying to get better at using them for the dogs! Thanks for sharing 🙂