Dog not eating after antibiotics. What food helps stomach and digestion?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Just like you pointed out, there are many different diets in the market to the point that it is hard to decide which one is best for patients. For any concerns on digestion, I prefer a veterinary prescription diet called Purina EN which is easily digestible and at the same time very good in terms of nutrition. It is also palatable and most dogs seem to like it. Alternatively, you could consider another diet which is the Hill's id which is similar to the Purina EN though in my experience it is not as palatable and some dogs will not eat it. Your veterinarian would have to write up a prescription for this diet. Good luck and have a good night!

As long as Coco is feeling well, this is likely a change in the stool from the antibiotics and maybe from anesthesia. I would recommend starting a bland diet and adding in a probiotic such as Purina Fortiflora, which can be found online or at your local Petco. For the bland diet, please see below. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. GENERAL INFORMATION A bland diet is a diet that is soft and highly digestible. It is low in fiber, fat and protein and is high in carbohydrates. Bland diets are generally composed of a single carbohydrate source and a single lean protein source. The most common bland diet is boiled rice and boiled lean chicken breast, without skin and bones. Since bland diets are low in fiber, stool production slows and defecation is less frequent. Bland diets are fed to rest the gastric system and to help promote normal stool formation. Animals that are physically sick should not be fed bland diets as a method of treatment. PRIOR TO FEEDING A BLAND DIET Pets should be fasted for 12 to 24 hours. Young animals should not be fasted for more than 12 hours. Fasting will allow the intestinal system to relax and minimize acid secretions that may irritate and inflame the intestinal lining. During the fast small amounts of water or ice chips may be provided. Never fast a sick animal, it may cause disease progression and death. BASIC BOILED RICE AND CHICKEN BLAND DIET RECIPE CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE: Boiled white rice LEAN PROTEIN SOURCE: Chicken breast, no skin and bones BOILED RICE: 1 part white rice with 3 parts water boiled for 20 – 25 minutes or until the rice is easily crushed. BOILED CHICKEN: De-fat chicken breast and boil in water for 10 – 15 minutes or until the chicken meat is easily pulled apart and cooked all way through. MIXING INSTRUCTIONS: Finely chop the lean protein and mix 2 cups carbohydrate source and ½ cup lean protein source. STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Bland diets can be premade and stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 48 hours. The bland diet can be cooked in a batch and frozen in feeding sized portions to minimize preparation time. Thaw and warm the frozen diet prior to feeding. PERMITTED LEAN PROTEIN SUBSTITUTIONS Pork loin, egg whites, low fat cottage cheese. 7% low fat hamburger, plain low fat yogurt. PERMITTED CARBOHYDRATE SUBSTITUTIONS Boiled potatoes, boiled spaghetti, Minute rice. PERMITTED COMMERCIAL BLAND DIETS Science Prescription Diet I/D, Eukanuba Veterinary Diet Low Residue, Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Intestinal HE. FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS Estimate 25% of your animal’s diet and feed that amount of the bland diet every 6 – 8 hours. Smaller animals will require less and larger animals will require more adhering to the same carbohydrate to lean protein source ratio. The bland diet should be fed for 4 -5 days with no treats or other food sources until stools are firm. TRANSITION BACK TO A NORMAL DIET Never transition back to a regular diet rapidly. Transition back to the regular diet over a 1 week period. Start by adding 25% of the regular diet to 75% of the bland diet and feed that combination for 2 days. If stools continue to be firm then continue substituting the regular diet in 25% increments and feeding the combination in 2 day time intervals until the diet is 100% regular diet. Minimize treats for 1 week after moving the diet back to 100% regular diet.

You can try baby food, low fat yogurt, boiled chicken and rice, or lean ground beef with no seasonings, or scrambled egg. You can also substitute the water for Gatorade or pedialyte to give her a few calories and electrolytes that way

When my patients have diarrhea after antibiotics I will usually prescribe a canine specific probiotic to help get the good bacteria loaded back up in the GI tract. My favorite is Proviable and it also comes with a paste to help firm up the stools. My second favorite is Fortiflora. I would encourage you to call your veterinarian and discuss the possibility of using one of these products. Best of luck and I hope he improves soon.

I would call your vet to see if it could be a side effect of the medications prescribed. Remember, if no food goes in, there won’t be stool to come out, so I think the biggest problem is not wanting to eat/nausea. Some medications can cause this to happen. Or there could be a second issue causing the poor appetite. You can try bland human foods like boiled chicken breast and cooked white rice to entice Lucky to eat.

Antibiotics can sometimes cause upset stomach, and the underlying illness may also cause Appu to lose his appetite. You can try offering bland foods, such as boiled rice and chicken, his regular diet moistened to make it easier to eat, or even canned dog food watered down into a sort of paste to make it a bit easier to digest. If he continues to refuse all food, or can't keep any food down, it is also a good idea to let your veterinarian know in case they need to switch medications, or have Appu come in for IV fluids and other treatment.

Violet's diarrhea is probably from the recent change in food and possibly the antibiotics she was on. For some dogs canned food is too rich and is difficult for them to digest. If she will only eat canned food you could consider feeding her a low residue prescription diet (Hill's i/d, Royal Canin GI low fat). You can purchase these from your vet. Since Violet has been having diarrhea for a longer period of time she may have an imbalance of the normal bacteria in her gut. When this happens dogs usually need antibiotics and probiotics to help get everything back in balance. And finally, I always recommend having a fecal performed in cases of diarrhea to rule out intestinal parasites. I hope this helps. Best of luck.