Vet-Approved Home Remedies For Upset Stomachs In Dogs

It's 5:00 in the morning. You're asleep, when you suddenly find yourself jumping out of bed with ninja-like reflexes, after hearing that familiar vomiting sound. Your dog has got an upset stomach again!

I understand how painful it can be to see your little friend suffer because I have had many similar experiences before. We all know that vomiting is one of the most common symptoms of an upset stomach. But there are also many other signs you should watch out for:
• Diarrhea
• Profuse salivation
• Loss of appetite
• Desire to eat grass or to lick the carpets/floor
• Passing gas (more than usual)
• An audible gurgling stomach
In some cases, dogs with an upset stomach will show just one or a combination of the above symptoms.
It is normal for dogs to get an occasional upset stomach just as we do. You don’t have to rush your pet to the vet every time they get a little tummy trouble. Just last week, I cured my dog’s upset stomach at home with some home remedies my vet told me about. These home remedies may be of great help to soothe or heal your dog's upset stomach, so I listed a step-by-step guide below.

Step-by-step Guide Of Dog Upset Stomach Home Remedies

Once you’ve determined your dog may be a good candidate, you can try the following sequentially. But do take your dog to the vet if symptoms do not change or continue to get worse.

Step 1: Fasting

This may sound mean. But don’t feed your dog anything (including food, treats and water) for 12-24 hours for an adult dog to allow his/her stomach to rest, recover from possible intestinal inflammation, and hopefully clear itself up.
You may worry that fasting for that long will do harm to your dog and make him/her hate you (I did too at first). But in this case, it does benefit your dog’s health. I promise the grudge will not last long and your dog will thank you later.
If you own a small dog, do not fast it for more than 12 hours - usually the whole night is sufficient. If you worry that his glucose may drop due to the fasting, it’s okay to rub a little bit of pancake syrup on his gums.
Warning! If the dog is still showing symptoms of stomach ache after the fasting, you should take it to the vet as soon as possible.

Step 2: Keep Your Dog Hydrated

After the fasting in step one, we can start feeding something to keep your dog hydrated.
Don’t let your dog gulp lots of water in a short amount of time, because this may cause further upset, leading to more vomit and increasing dehydration.
Offer the dog ice chips every 2 to 3 hours instead. If it can keep that down and there is no vomiting for at least 4 hours, you can give it some more ice cubes and small quantities of water (try 1/4 to 1/2 cup an hour depending on your dog's size).
Warning! If your dog repeatedly vomits during this course, then a vet check is required.

Step 3: Start The Bland Diet

After the 12-24 hours without food, and there hasn’t been any vomiting, and the dog has been able to keep down some water, you can feed it a bland diet, which helps with upset stomach and digestion.
Bland Diet Recipe
What you need are:
• Boiled rice (brown or white)
• White meat chicken (make sure it is skinless and boneless)

The recipe must contain 75% boiled rice, and 25% chicken. Do not add any seasoning or additives like oil or salt on the bland diet. Feed the dog very small portions of this meal 3 or 4 times a day for the next few days. As it is feeling better, gradually increase the amount up to its normal daily portion.
Keep the normal daily portion diet for a couple of days and if the dog still doing well on it, gradually add its regular food into his diet. You can start with ¼ normal food with ¾ rice and chicken, then ½ and ½ and so on, until you’re feeding it as usual again.

Warning! My vet told me not to use hamburger meat, though it is a fairly common recommendation on bulletin boards. He said, “The meat is too greasy and will not help your dog’s upset stomach. At the same time, it is not healthy for your dog.”
A Bonus Ingredient To The Bland Recipe

• Add a tablespoon of plain, unsweetened yogurt or cottage cheese to the food. This helps sooth the inflamed stomach and intestines, and it can even stimulate your dog’s appetite.
• Keep your dog on daily probiotics, such as FortiFlora or Culturelle. This can help treat diarrhea by promoting the growth of good bacteria.
• Plain canned pumpkin, sweet potatoes and bananas are gentle foods that can be added. Give one to four tablespoons each day, depending on your dog's size.
If the dog shows no interest in the food you carefully prepared, do not force it to eat, a vet visit is a better option.
If your dog’s condition worsens or doesn’t improve after eating the bland diet for a day, or if it develops any of the following serious symptoms, contact your regular vet right away.

• Acting lethargic
• Running a fever
• Vomiting continuously
• Having continuous squirts of diarrhea
• Painful, distended, or hard belly
• Having blood in vomit, urine, or stools • Getting quickly dehydrated

How Do I Know if My Dog Is Dehydrated?

These remedies I learned are only for dogs who appear to have a mild and occasional upset stomach or who just get sick once in a while, and you don’t see anything that requires immediate vet care. While it’s crucial to consult with your vet before administering any home remedies.

What Causes An Upset Stomach And What You Can Do To Avoid It?

You might be curious to know what causes an upset stomach and what you can do to prevent it from happening. I have collected my vet’s answers and listed them below.
• One of the most likely causes for an upset stomach is a change in diet.

Sometimes a dog gets an upset stomach from something as simple as a change in brands or flavors of dog food.
If you want to change your dog’s diet, make sure you still have some of his current food to allow time for the transition. Slowly start mixing in more and more of the new food into less and less of the current food until the transition is complete.
• Eating too much at a time.

Just like us human, a dog eating too much at a time may lead to discomfort in the stomach. How much food you should provide per meal depending on the size of your dog. Consult with your vet if in doubt!
• Your dog ate something they shouldn’t have.
Dogs are curious like kids; they’re always putting things in their mouth. If they eat something like coins, balls, woolen yarn and tree branches and so on, they’re likely to get an upset stomach.
Keep the canine away from garbage and other inappropriate, indigestible but potentially swallow-able things. Don’t allow it to roam freely around your neighborhood without supervision, as you don’t know what it will eat.
• You dog is allergic to some foods or medication.

Foods and medication that a dog is known to be allergic to should obviously be avoided whenever possible.
• Food poisoning.

Many common household foods are toxic to dogs. Never feed your dog the following foods:
• Chocolate
• Dairy Products
• Macadamia Nuts
• Onions And Garlic
• Yeast Dough
• Coffee, Tea, and Other Caffeinated Substances
• Grapes And Raisins
• Apple Cores
• Avocados
• Bacon