How to Help Dogs with Gastritis
In order to help dogs with gastritis and stomach problems, there are certain steps you can take to ensure your beloved pet is relieved from this painful condition. Before learning about common treatments, it’s necessary to educate yourself about gastritis in dogs, and how to prevent it from becoming a recurring condition.
Help! I have no idea what gastritis is and what’s causing it?
When foreign bodies enter your pet’s stomach through contaminated food or other unhygienic sources, the stomach lining can develop inflammation; this causes gastritis. Long-term gastritis can also be developed due to:
- Allergen Exposure
- Immune-mediated diseases
- Injury of the gastric mucosa
- Increased gastric acid secretion
- Bacterial infection
- Adverse drug reaction
- Heavy metal poisoning
I love my pet but how do I know if it’s gastritis for sure?
Luckily, there are a number of ways to figure out the likelihood of gastritis; before any form of treatment, we need to pinpoint if it’s in fact gastritis. Symptoms come in the form of:
- Periodic Vomiting
- Sudden Weight Loss
- Dark Black Stools or Bloody Feces
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal Pain
- Lethargic Mood
If the vomiting happens to be in the form of green bile and contains bits of undigested food, it’s most certainly stomach inflammation and usually a case of gastritis.
Now that we have diagnosed my pet, can we move on to the treatment?
Yes! As a pet owner, it’s understandable that the owner faces mental trauma equivalent to the suffering of the poor animal. Hence, without further delay, here are ways you can ease your pet’s condition:
- Starvation
You heard right! Withholding food can be imperative to healing your pet’s stomach condition. If your pet is vomiting, feeding it food would alleviate the condition and prolong gastritis. It’s necessary to keep your pet away from food for at least 24-hours to ensure the toxins are expelled from its body. If the pet begins to feel better during the period of starvation, re-introduce low-fat foods such as rice and cooked potatoes to help with nutrition.
- Hydration
Water is the magic potion to curing gastritis and other forms of acidic reactions related to pets. Continue providing your pet with water throughout the day for striking the alkaline balance against the acidic formation within your pet’s stomach lining. The inflammation should reduce over time.
None of the following procedures have worked out! What do I do?
Do not panic! Seek medical assistance right away, try to find animal hospitals near you or enlist professional help from a vet. Depending on the severity of the condition your vet could order tests such as:
- Urinalysis
- Blood test
- X-rays
- Abdominal Ultrasound
- Biopsy of the stomach
- Fecal Floatation
While the majority of the tests are usually to confirm to see if no other underlying condition is the cause of the pet’s gastritis. In more severe cases, your vet could suggest a surgery or an endoscopy if there are foreign objects found inside your pet’s stomach during the tests.
Some valuable information for taking good care of your pet
The good folks over at VCA hospitals have a detailed listing of all the possible causes of gastritis in dogs with over 20 possible causes, the link can be found here. For a better understanding of what to feed your dog and what not to, a video compiled by Dr. James Talbot explaining appropriate care for your pet dogs can be found here.
We all love our pets graciously! It’s time we took serious measures to educate ourselves with pet care information to ensure our little bundles of joy are always healthy.
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“How to Help Dogs with Gastritis” was written by guest writer: Susan Combs
Susan works as a Pet Health and Safety Expert and holds expertise in the area of animal/pet care. She has over 6 years of experience in pet healthcare and is a pet parent to a dog named Chilly.
Other articles by Susan Combs:
- Regular Horse Grooming for a Healthy and Fit Horse
- Cat Playroom – 10 Ideas for Creating a Cat Playroom in Your Home
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Wow, this made me realise how much work it is to own a dog… There’s really a lot to think about before getting one.
Yes, there is a lot involved in having a dog. You never know what will happen. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my post. See ya!