Dog has diarrhea for past 3 days..

FriesianTBX

Hi, I'm new and I needed to ask a question about my 3 yo Chihuahua. I will be taking him to the vet later, but needed to know what questions I should ask. TO give you some background, he is a 3yo blk fawn CKC Chihuahua and his name is Buxton. His dog food is Eukenuba high energy and has been since he stopped getting puppy food. His water and feed bowl are cleaned weekly and he always has access to clean water and food (le bistro). For 3 days now he has had liquid diarrhea, he has not had any changes in food or water and has not been in a kennel or around any diseased dogs, what questions should I ask the vet when I take him in this afternoon?

blackgavotte

You are already doing the correct thing by taking him to your vet. Just FYI one of the things every vet I have worked for, has told people, the first line of defense with diarrhea, is to stop feeding the dog for 24 hours. This gives the intestine time to clean itself out and then rest. Water is okay. If you stop food right away, and leave access to water, you should not have a problem with dehydrating. People panic when they see diarrhea and think they have to keep on pushing food at the dog, and often just make the situation worse by offering him anything they think he will eat, whereas if they left him empty he would most likely be allright when they started food again, in small amounts, the next day. Check this out with your vet when you see him today, I don't know if your vet will agree with this or not. It may be that this food is too rich for your dog, does he need high energy if he is just at home while you work all day? Some dogfoods also have one ingredient that just does not agree with a dog, it does not mean its a poor food, just may not agree with your dog.

FriesianTBX

Thank you for your reply, the vet gave him an anti-biotic and anti-diarrhea medicine along with a pill for some kind of worms (can't remember if it was roundworm or ringworm). He told me to let him eat and drink the same as he does and just keep an eye on his stools. He said he had intestinitis (I think I spelled that right, lol) and that with the anti-biotics it should clear in 7 days. I am very relieved that I at least know why he has had the problem, now we can go about fixing it.

Puppy & Dog Forums