How do I treat my dog’s upset stomach, soft stool and cough at home? Is there a human medication I can give him?
Original Question: Good morning, I have a wonderful 3-year-old Golden Retriever named Dudley. He is perfectly healthy (and perfect). He is up to date on his shots and is actually the correct weight he should be for a Golden as he gets a great deal of exercise. He has had tummy issues for the last few days. Early morning coughing up liquid (bile?) and also has soft serve stool. Otherwise he walks and plays as per normal. There has been no change to his diet. What I was thinking of doing is to give his tummy a little rest (he obviously has some sort of issue) is to give him smaller amounts of food - 1/4 cup every 3 to four hours instead of his 1 cup of food 3 times a day. Would you recommend this? Also when I had a dog as a child I remember my mom making the dog a mixture of boiled rice and lean ground beef (fat drained off) would you recommend this or just giving him his regular food in smaller quantities in regular intervals? One last question, is there any people medication that I could give him? I remember you saying on 1010 that you had a paper that talked about people meds for dog, could you please send it to me? Thanks - Debbie
Mar 1, 2018
Hi Debbie,
You are exactly right in your thinking. Whenever soft stool is occurring, it means that there is some level of mal-digestion and/or malabsorption in the intestine. Giving the intestine a break for 24 hours is a good start. Then feeding very small meals frequently is the next step.
Yes, you can make an easily digestible diet. 1-part rice to 3 parts boiled/cooked skinless chicken is a good plan. You can substitute the rice for boiled potato and you can substitute the chicken for low fat/no fat cottage cheese.
As far as medications you can give, I would probably only recommend one thing in this case. You can purchase a daily probiotic from a pet store and use that over the course of 5 days. I wouldn’t use anything more serious than that.
I hope this helps.
Dr. Clayton Greenway
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