Puppy suffers from diarrhea, but has no other signs of illness

Question

My puppy (a pug that is almost three months old) is having diarrhea with some blood occasionally. This happened straight after we started providing it with more food. The change was due to the fact that we could not measure the food intake in the last couple of weeks, but after we acquired a measuring cup, we doubled the intake because we found out that before we were providing half of the daily recommendation.

Now the dog is as playful as before, has no temperature, has a large appetite, and drinks water normally.

What is the most probable cause of the diarrhea?

Answer 1

You need to get your pup checked out by a vet asap.

ASAP means stop reading this and call your vet right now.

While it's possible the increase in food has contributed to the diarrhea, blood in the stool is a big red flag. It's more likely your pup has swallowed something harmful, or has something else going on internally. Your vet will likely ask for a stool sample, and run some tests - including an ultrasound or xray.

Answer 2

The most probable cause for bloody diarrhea is an infection with giardia intestinalis or. This is not necessarily lethal, but the outcome depends on the overall health status and correct treatment. Furthermore giardiosis can be transmitted to humans, so it should be treated in any case.

As LizMGagne wrote correctly only a vet can distinguish a giardiosis from other causes which may be more dangerous. To diagnose giardiosis firmly, ususally the stool from three successive days has to be evaluated. Your vet will instruct you accordingly.

Answer 3

We have an elderly dog (16 years) who suffers from bouts of diahorrea and who is otherwise healthy.

Our vet prescribed calf scour tablets, that help manage bacterial imbalances in the digestive system. It is prescription medication and therefore can only be prescribed by a vet.

This has assisted enormously as has a diet of raw food and beef bones.

As mentioned in others responses, please take your dog to see a vet immediately.

If you can stomach it - collect a very recent sample of the puppy's diahorrea - that may help the vet analyse the problem.

The potential causes of the diahorrea are numerous, but generally relate to the health of the digestive system of your dog that could be related to the dog's:

• local environment (your home);
• wider environment (where you take your dog in your community);
• diet;
• current or recent emotional condition;
• current or recent medical condition.

My point being, with all the possible contributing factors, only your vet has the training, expertise, experience and equipment necessary to perform the medical checks and tests that will hopefully result in a reasonable answer to your question.