Where the dog is found to be generally OK and without blood in the faeces. Remember that diarrhoea is a common side effect to medications.

As we discussed, I suspect that XX has developed diarrhoea due to a dietary change or indiscretion which is likely to have changed the bacterial flora in the intestine. Such as change of the bacterial flora is a very common cause of diarrhoea in dogs. This is because such a change causes the intestine to become irritated and unable to absorb certain nutrients from the gut contents. The result is diarrhoea. The most common cause of this is a sudden change of diet or eating something the dog has found that its digestive system is not accustomed to.

As there is no blood in the diarrhoea, and because your dog is behaving normally and showing no other signs of illness, I recommend that you start by adjusting your dog’s diet as this is often all that is needed to get the intestinal function back on track.

Give only the basic diet and stop giving treats and other supplementary feeding of leftovers. It is a good idea to reduce the amount of food given by 50% and to feed this ration in smaller frequent portions. You can for example divide this ration in 4 smaller daily feeds rather than 2 daily feeds.

It is important that your dog has access to plenty of fresh clean water.

Most cases will improve within 24-48 hours and completely resolve within less than a week following this dietary stabilisation.

Monitor you dog closely and take the temperature twice daily if possible. The normal temperature in dogs is 37.5-39.0 degrees Celsius.

Contact your veterinary surgeon if you see any other signs of your dog being unwell such as:

-          Blood in the faeces.

-          Dark faeces (melena).

-          Straining without producing faeces.

-          Reduced appetite.

-          Elevated temperature.

-          Vomiting

-          Lethargy or dullness

If the diarrhoea persists without signs of improvement for more than 48 hours after keeping on the simple diet, then you should contact your usual veterinary surgeon for further advice.

If you have changed the dog’s diet on purpose you may expect loose stools for a couple of weeks, a gradual changeover where the new food is introduced slowly as part of the ration may make this problem less likely.