My dog has had diarrhea for four days. Is it a vet emergency?

Combined vomiting and diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration so you should monitor very closely for weakness which would indicate the need for an emergency vet visit. Rice and water does not provide enough nutrition to promote bowel healing - I recommend a specialist intestinal canned diet or boiled chicken/fish/eggs added to the rice.

If the diarrhea has been going on more than 24 hours and Lj hasn't improved with bland food, probiotics, and Immodium, then it's time to see a vet. There are many possible causes of diarrhea: stress, dietary indiscretion, infection, parasites, and more serious issues such as inflammatory bowel disease, Addisons disease or cancerous changes. You've done a great job trying the simple initial interventions that can help - but if that didn't do the trick, then it's time to have Lj checked out. Hopefully it's still a simple cause that will respond to a course of medication, but sometimes further diagnostics or long-term therapy are necessary. Your vet will likely recommend starting with a fecal sample check to look for microscopic parasite eggs. Depending on exam findings, they may also recommend some initial screening bloodwork to evaluate general body function and help screen for some of the conditions that can be associated with diarrhea. Or, they may recommend an initial course of medication to see how Lj responds and go from there. Hope this helps!

I recommend giving Chico a bland diet, boiled chicken and white rice. If he becomes lethargic, there is blood or he isn't eating then I recommend taking Chico to a veterinarian. Also if the diarrhea isn't resolving after another day I would consider taking him to a veterinarian. They can make sure he is not dehydrated and run a stool sample to make sure he doesn't have intestinal parasites. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

This is a medical emergency, and you cannot treat this at home. You have to take Poppy into a vet now. Please take her into an ER vet clinic; if there isn't one in your area, there will be a vet on call for emergencies. The information to reach that vet is found on a clinic's answering machine or website.

Since he is going every 3-4 hours it might be a good idea to take him to the vet to prescribe medications to help resolve the diarrhea, especially since he is going in the house at night. If you wanted to try some treatment at home, you could withhold food for 12 hours and then try a small amount of a bland diet, like boiled chicken and white rice. If the diarrhea has improved then continue the bland diet for a few days and slowly transition back to his normal food. You could also add a dog probiotic to his diet. Proviable Forte Kit has a probiotic capsule and paste for diarrhea. If the diarrhea continues then he should definitely been seen by your vet.

Poor Morticia! The diarrhea could be due to many conditions including eating something she shouldn’t have, bacterial over growth, parasites or even organ disease. If the diarrhea has continued beyond 24 hours, I recommend to have her examined by the veterinarian. With continued diarrhea, there are often bacterial shifts in the gut that will make matters worse regardless of the initial cause. Make sure to bring in a sample of fresh stool. The doctor will check her for parasites and bacterial over growth. Many times a bland diet can help and then a slow, gradual introduction to the normal food can be done. A bland diet can consist of 25% boiled white meat chicken and 75% boiled white rice. This should all be plain. I hope Morticia starts feeling better quickly! Please feel free to post any additional questions.

4 days is very long for a dog to have vomiting and diarrhea. I recommend that Alexa see a vet as soon as possible. Potential causes for her illness include dietary intolerance, dietary indiscretion, food allergy, intestinal parasites, GI blockage, gastroenteritis, bacterial or viral infection, IBD, pancreatitis, among others. Your vet may recommend abdominal x-rays, bloodwork, or an intestinal parasite screen to help diagnose her ailment and create an appropriate treatment plan.