My dog has diarrhea. How long until metronidazole starts working?

Hello. It might take 3-5 days minimum to see if the diet will work. Often, when we suspect a problem is due to a food sensitivity, the food trial is 6-8 weeks. So, it can take time to see if the diarrhea subsides. Just make sure she is drinking plenty of water & not losing weight. Also, make sure you communicate to your vet that the diarrhea did not respond to the metronidazole. She may want to continue testing, switch to another antibiotic or medication. I would also start her on a good probiotic for dogs like Proviable or FortiFlora, both should be available at most pet retailers. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I wouldn't be too hard on the vet in this case, because shelter vets are quite used to treating these cases and metronidazole kills most of the offenders for causing diarrhea. You are right to be concerned about dehydration and how quickly the treatment should work. In most cases the diarrhea will improve within a day of starting treatment. It may be 3-5 days before his stools are back to normal though. If the explosive diarrhea continues for longer than a day after starting treatment and/or the kitten seems to be very depressed/inactive, then it would be best to return him to the shelter. There are some cases that require hospitalization, but I can assure you that most are treated well at home with the prescribed protocol. For now, I recommend following the veterinarians directions and calling the vet tomorrow if he seems to not be getting any better, or seems to be getting worse. Below is a link to an article about diarrhea in cats that may be helpful. https://www.petcoach.co/article/most-common-causes-of-diarrhea-in-cats/ I hope that helps and the foster kitten gets better soon.

Sorry Jake is having problems. Metronidazole is often used to treat diarrhea in dogs. It is not common for metronidazole to cause vomiting. However, the underlying CAUSE of the diarrhea is usually some form of gastroenteritis which is inflammation of the stomach and intestine. Gastroenteritis often includes vomiting and can occur for many reasons including: bacterial imbalance, viral infections such as parvovirus (Jake is too old for this to be a concern) ingesting non-food items such as trash or mulch inflammatory bowel disease cancer in the GI tract intestinal parasites At higher doses, metronidazole can cause "grogginess" or an unsteady gait. If he is showing those signs, discontinue the metronidazole. Correct, I would hold off on Pepto, but Pepcid AC is fine. I hope I've answered your questions, and I apologize that we did not get to your question sooner. Please feel free to post again if you still have questions or concerns with Jake. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi! I would say that it is likely ok. Sometimes it takes a bit longer to see results. If it is just soft and Snowball is otherwise fine, I would just give it a few days before getting concerned. Keep in mind that metronidazole is not always a curative medication for diarrhea but rather an antibiotic with anti-inflammatory properties that help with colitis. This means that it will not treat an underlying disease every time. Perhaps try a few days on a bland diet mostly composed of boiled chicken or turkey and rice. If no resolution within a few days, it may be appropriate to start her on a probiotic or try a different medication such as Tylosin. Best of luck with her!

This may not be unusual. Pets with diarrhea will often flush out the distal colon and it can take 2-3 days before the stool is present again in the colon. Make sure Figlio is eating well and acting normal. This is generally a good indication that he is recovering as expected. If he does not have a bowel movement after 3 days or if he seems to be feeling ill again, have him re-examined. Daily walks will help the bowels to move as well. Lastly, make sure he is drinking plenty of water. I hope this helps and that he continues to recover well.

If Lexi is still playful and eating, and her stools are improving (even if they're not normal yet), then it sounds like you're on the right track. I would continue with her course of flagyl as your vet prescribed. If her stools don't continue to get firmer, you might want to ask your vet about adding a probiotic, or even consider the Hills Biome prescription food, which has been shown to be very effective for diarrhea issues. If the diarrhea worsens again, reach back out to your vet. We often start by treating diarrhea fairly symptomatically and supportively, but there are many other potential causes of diarrhea including Addisons disease, intestinal parasites, inflammatory bowel, food sensitivities, etc - so depending on the diagnostics your vet ran on Lexi initially, they may recommend further workup if this issue becomes recurrent. Hope this helps! Feel free to reach out if you have any follow-up questions.

I agree that this poop is quite a bright color yellow! This is not normally caused by metronidazole, so it's hard to say why it might be happening. Poop can sometimes be yellow or orange in color, and it may not mean anything in particular... so I wouldn't necessarily be concerned unless it stays this was for several days in a row, or she's having other symptoms of a problem. If she's still acting normal and this stool is improved vs. yesterday (which I'm assuming it is, since it definitely looks better than bloody diarrhea!) it should be okay to continue on her meds as prescribed by your vet, and monitor for the next few days. If her stool is not back to normal within the next 3-5 days, or if she develops other new symptoms in the meantime, then I would recommend having her rechecked by your veterinarian.