When your dog is sick from overeating or the ingestion of toxic or spoiled food, they may experience vomiting and/or diarrhea and the only thing they want is to get better quickly. Good nutrition based on healthy products will be the right thing to do in these cases to alleviate their unpleasant symptoms.
AnimalWised recommend a soft diet for dogs with diarrhea, which will relieve the gastric discomfort that they are suffering from. You should always talk to your trusted veterinarian to make sure they agree with this diet and remember that we are only looking for one purpose: that your dog's health improves.
Why use a soft diet for dogs with diarrhea?
A soft diet for dogs is indicated mainly for dogs suffering from diarrhea, but also other health problems, as explained below:
- Digestive problems such as diarrhea and/or vomiting
- Lack of appetite
- Transition from commercial food to homemade natural diet
- Recovery from surgery
- Some types of cancer
But the objectives will be the same: that the dog is nourished, hydrated and can easily digest the food. Always, according to the causes, our veterinarian will give us the best advice. In the most debilitated animals, the amount of energy in the food must be high, so we must put more emphasis on proteins and calories.
Ingredients to choose from
If our dog is suffering from diarrhea, we must understand that they will be hungry and probably dehydrated. And we must prevent them from suffering an embarrassing situation. So, start by offering them small portions to see how they tolerate them.
It's not a matter of replacing everything they've lost or giving them what they are hungry for, we have to be careful. Their diet should be formed with the following percentages in mind:
- 80% of beef or chicken or fish without fat or bones
- 20% fruit and/or vegetables
Regarding meat (or fish), choose the ones that contain less fat like chicken, rabbit, turkey or hake. We must give it raw because cooked is always harder to digest. For those who do not encourage raw meat for fear of salmonella, although their dogs will love it, they can grill it back and forth. Let's avoid using seasoning, but a little salt can be used to encourage them to drink water as diarrhea makes them lose large amounts of liquid. However, please remember that salt is not good for dogs, so only use it in this case.
Vegetables and/or fruit should be easily digestible such as apples, carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, etc. Avoid leafy vegetables or citrus fruits. Cooking them can be more digestible than raw. We can boil them. Check out our article on forbidden fruits and vegetables for dogs so you know which to avoid.
We can also add a scrambled or grilled egg in small quantities as it is very nutritious and will strengthen their defenses together, with a great contribution of calcium.
If your pet has been recommended a liquid diet, which is usually specifically for after surgery and, especially, for the digestive tract, we can choose a natural chicken broth (not industrial). Brew chicken with water and a little salt, but never use vegetables such as onions or leeks, which are harmful to our dogs. With the broth we will be able to hydrate our pet and gradually stimulate their appetite, until they can tolerate solids. We can also make a thick rice soup.
How many times should they eat daily?
Remember that a sick dog will be delicate and, as they begin to feel better, will demand more food that, at times, we must regulate not to make them sick again. Portions should be distributed, between 4 to 5 times daily in an adult dog (they usually eat 1 to 2 times a day) in less quantity. In this way, we will help the digestive tract to work slowly and effectively and avoid unwanted overloads.
Normally diarrhea can last between 2 and 3 days and we would have to observe an evolution, but remember that the intestinal flora will need to repopulate and this takes time. To improve the intestinal flora, we can also add yogurt or kefir to the diet, always in small quantities. Another thing to consider is that we can make a puree with all foods to encourage digestion and to assimilate the nutrients better.
If you want to read similar articles to Soft Diet for Dogs with Diarrhea, we recommend you visit our Diet problems category.