Guest blog by Dr Emmanuel Fontaine, Scientific Communications Veterinarian at Royal Canin North America
I recently attended a webinar on canine diarrhea and learned a surprising statistic: 84% of the cases that veterinarians see are classified as mild. While this statistic includes dogs of all ages, it highlights that mild cases are most common in veterinary practice, even among puppies. As I often stress in my blog posts, a systematic approach to feeding is crucial for managing health issues effectively, especially for puppies experiencing diarrhea. This approach involves answering three key questions: What to feed? How to feed? And how much to feed? In this article, I’ll share my insights specifically tailored to help your puppy recover quickly and maintain good health.
What to feed: The role of bland diets
The term ‘bland diet’ often brings to mind boiled chicken and rice, a go-to remedy often recommended for puppies and dogs with diarrhea.
This choice is popular due to its high digestibility, meaning the food is easily broken down and absorbed by the body.
While boiled chicken and rice is a good starting point, I believe there’s room for improvement.
Crafting a homemade bland diet allows for flexibility, but it’s important to note that such diets often lack essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals, crucial for a puppy’s growth.
Another significant factor is nutritional consistency.
Puppies’ digestive systems can be sensitive to changes in the nutritional content of their food, a common issue with homemade diets.
For mild cases of diarrhea, I tend to recommend specialized commercial diets.
These are not only highly digestible but are also formulated specifically to support digestive health in puppies.
When selecting a diet, look for products that have specific claims of promoting digestive health, as these tend to be more reliable than simply checking the ingredients list.
Additionally, consider therapeutic gastrointestinal diets prescribed by veterinarians, which are often an excellent choice for supporting a puppy’s digestive health and overall growth.
Ultimately, when managing mild diarrhea in puppies, prioritizing digestibility is essential to effectively support their health and development.
What to Feed: Should You Use Supplements?
When your puppy has diarrhea, it might feel instinctive to start using supplements.
However, it’s crucial to approach this with caution.
Effective nutrition hinges on balance, not excess. Overusing supplements, even with good intentions, can worsen the issues you’re trying to solve.
Take pumpkin, a popular remedy known for its gastrointestinal benefits.
Pumpkin contains soluble fibers, which help absorb water and form a gel-like substance in the digestive tract. This slows digestion, allows for better nutrient absorption, and can solidify loose stools, thus alleviating diarrhea symptoms.
While many sources recommend pumpkin for puppies with mild diarrhea, it’s essential to recognize that it’s not a cure-all.
I’ve seen cases where puppies received pumpkin alongside a therapeutic GI diet AND other digestive aids like psyllium seeds, yet their diarrhea continued.
The problem? Sometimes, an excess of beneficial elements disrupts the necessary balance for recovery.
Therefore, unless advised by your veterinarian, I recommend starting with a diet specifically formulated for digestive health and initially avoiding supplements for mild cases.
This focused approach promotes a balanced restoration of your puppy’s digestive health.
What to feed: Probiotics?
Probiotics are often praised for their ability to balance the gut.
They are live, beneficial bacteria that enhance the health of the digestive tract’s microbiome.
Imagine the microbiome as a vibrant city within the gut, populated with beneficial bacteria.
Experts consider it so vital to our pets’ health that it’s likened to an organ itself.
This microbial community doesn’t just aid digestion; it’s crucial for immune system development, influences behavior, and plays a role in weight management.
Given the significant role of the microbiome, maintaining its balance is essential, especially during digestive disruptions like diarrhea. In these situations, probiotics are often recommended to support the microbiome.
However, it’s important to approach probiotics with well-informed caution.
Navigating probiotic options can be complex, as not all are equally effective.
Recent research highlights a crucial point: the efficacy of probiotics varies greatly.
While some are supported by robust scientific evidence, others may offer little beyond hopeful promises.
These insights emphasize the importance of professional advice.
Before starting a probiotic regimen for puppy diarrhea, consulting a veterinarian is crucial.
What to feed: Considering mixed feeding?
In cases of mild diarrhea in puppies, mixed feeding can be a valuable strategy to consider.
This method involves combining both dry and wet food, which can help soothe the digestive system of our furry companions.
The logic behind mixed feeding is based on the digestive system’s structure, particularly in an area known as the brush border.
This region is lined with enzymes that are essential for breaking down carbohydrates, playing a crucial role in digestion.
However, when diarrhea occurs, this area may become impaired, reducing the effectiveness of these enzymes.
Wet food, which typically contains fewer carbohydrates than dry food, can be especially beneficial during these times.
By incorporating wet food into the diet, we reduce the carbohydrate burden, easing the strain on the compromised digestive system.
This adjustment can significantly improve the digestibility of the food, providing relief to the digestive tract.
I often suggest mixed feeding as a temporary solution during bouts of diarrhea in puppies.
A one to two-week transition to a combination of wet and dry food can give the brush border cells the necessary time to recover.
This recovery period is crucial for restoring optimal digestive health and improving stool quality.
After the digestive system has stabilized, you can gradually reintroduce a primarily dry food diet.
How to feed: The case for digestive rest?
Historically, a period of digestive rest—typically a 12-24 hour fast with only water allowed—has been recommended in many texts and blogs as a way to manage diarrhea.
This approach was intended to give the digestive system a chance to ‘reset.’
Recently, this traditional method has come under scrutiny.
The prevailing opinion in veterinary circles is shifting towards an alternative strategy: continuing to feed during a bout of diarrhea.
The case against the traditional fasting method and in favor of continued feeding is based on the idea that providing a flow of highly digestible nutrients might actually speed up recovery.
This is particularly important for puppies, who not only require highly digestible diets to support a healing digestive tract but also need consistent, high-quality nutrition due to their rapid growth and the physical demands of development.
How much to feed: A critical consideration!
The amount of food you give to a puppy, especially when dealing with mild diarrhea, is crucial for their health and recovery.
This vital aspect often gets overshadowed by the focus on what and when to feed.
Yet, it has the potential to either promote wellness or exacerbate digestive issues.
A common mistake in puppy care is overfeeding, which can lead to osmotic diarrhea.
This occurs when too much food overwhelms the young digestive system, drawing excess water into the intestines and causing diarrhea. This situation highlights the importance of precise portion control, particularly in these delicate cases.
A good starting point is to follow the feeding guidelines on your puppy’s food packaging, which are designed to meet the nutritional needs of growing puppies.
With the development of pediatric growth charts for puppies, we can now monitor a puppy’s growth and if needed, adjust these portions with even greater accuracy, customizing the amount to the specific needs of each puppy.
While measuring cups are commonly used, they are not always reliable for portion control and can often lead to overfeeding, as several studies have shown.
Using a kitchen scale, however, provides much more accuracy.
It ensures that your puppy’s food is measured exactly to the gram, removing any guesswork and promoting optimal health.
The idea that using a scale is too time-consuming is a myth.
Spending just 30 seconds to weigh your puppy’s meal can significantly improve their dietary balance, contributing immensely to their overall well-being.
Adopting this precise feeding practice is an “atomic habit” that can bring significant benefits.
Reflecting on my 15 years in veterinary practice, the advancements in managing puppy diarrhea have been revolutionary. Nutrition now plays a central role in our approach to mild cases, highlighting a significant shift towards supporting the intricate ecosystem of the digestive microbiome. Our methods have evolved from merely managing symptoms to actively promoting microbial balance and recovery. This progress marks a significant advancement in canine health, emphasizing the crucial impact of puppyhood experiences on a dog’s lifelong health. Armed with this understanding, we are better prepared to guide our puppies through their critical early stages, ensuring a path marked by robust health and vitality.
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Emmanuel Fontaine graduated from the Toulouse Veterinary School in 2004, he continued his studies at the Alfort Veterinary School (Paris) as trainee Vet in the domestic carnivore unit of the Reproduction Department. From 2005 to 2011, he worked at the Centre d Étude en Reproduction des Carnivores (CERCA) [Research Centre for Reproduction in Carnivores], a unit specializing in pet breeding assistance. Emmanuel Fontaine is also qualified at the European College for Animal Reproduction (ECAR) and completed his PhD in 2012 on the use of GnRH agonists in canines. From September 2011 to September 2018, he worked as Technical Services Veterinarian for the PRO team at Royal Canada. He then was in charge of Scientific Communication for the Americas until August 2022. He now works as Senior Scientific Communications Veterinarian for Royal Canin North America.
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