What Causes Diarrhea in Dogs

Be watchful when your dog displays watery bowels. If the diarrhea in dogs is compounded with lack of appetite, and inactivity among several other symptoms, it may be caused by intestinal worms.

Dogs normally have high resistance for diseases, but they are highly susceptible to worm infestation. It is due to their nature in eating substances and handling body functions usually by mouth, tongue or teeth. And while it is literally impossible to safeguard your dogs into contracting intestinal worms, you can however be watchful for symptoms that appear whenever an infestation has taken place.

There are several kinds of worm infestation common to dogs. These are roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms. Most worms are acquired from the ground when contact is made. For instance, when your dog plays on an open space, there might be a patch in the ground that harbors worm eggs which might stick to a dogs fur, which then he licks thus acquiring the worm. Dogs also usually sniff at fecal matter of other dogs, and a transition of worms can take place.

Roundworms are the most annoying worm infestation in dogs. As eggs, they can be passed from mother to pups, for instance and mature in the pup's intestines. Due to weaker constitution, the pups could never fight off these invaders and usually an infected pup will succumb to higher stages of infestation, where roundworms will begin invading other parts of the body, eating tissues while the body is still alive.

Hookworms are another cause for diarrhea in dogs, especially if the bowels include blood in it. Hookworms attached themselves on the intestine of the host's body, sucking out blood. Hookworms, in smaller concentration, may be asymptomatic but larger concentration could result in a sickly, severely anemic dog that gets weak easily, despite voracious feeding remains frail.

Tapeworms may be the only most visible worm infestation of dogs. While they might cause diarrhea in dogs, the best proof would be the visible segments of the tapeworm in the fecal matter, and also of the hind quarters of the dog, usually attaching to the furs.

Another cause for diarrhea in dogs could be poisoning, though it has lesser occurrence since dogs normally won't eat anything that smell of substances dangerous to them. These substances include chocolate (cocoa), onions, grapes, some types of nuts (macadamia nut) and raisins. The onions usually are swallowed accidentally since it accompanies most food and sometimes used as powder. That makes the reason of feeding exclusive dog feed to dogs a more optimum choice than feeding it with what's left of the tables.