Content
- Puppy with a swollen belly: what to do
- Puppy with water belly
- Water belly in dog: treatment
- Dog with a swollen and soft belly
- Ascites in Dogs: How to Treat
- Dog with swollen and hard belly
- Home remedy for dog defecation
- constipated dog
When the dog has a swollen belly, it is soon thought that the animal may have worms, which may not always be the real reason. The dog may have an ascites, which means that the dog has a swollen belly due to the presence of free fluid in the abdomen, popularly known as water belly, and can have several causes.
The Animal Expert prepared some tips about home remedies for puppies with a swollen belly, but ascites is a symptom and not a disease in itself, so it is necessary to take your dog to the veterinarian to find out what is causing it.
In addition, there may be other reasons that lead the dog to have a swollen belly, such as gas and even a distended stomach, so you should be aware of other symptoms that the dog is showing.
Puppy with a swollen belly: what to do
In the area of the dog's belly is where we can locate the stomach and the upper part of the intestine. we can have a dog with a swollen belly due to any of these reasons:
- Digestive problem;
- Stomach twist, or a stomach twist;
- Tumor.
Therefore, the tutor must be aware of other symptoms, since if the case of the swollen belly is a tumor, it rarely grows quickly overnight. A tumor can take months or even years to reach large proportions, so if your dog's belly starts to swell very quickly, in a matter of hours, your dog may have a gastric torsion, which is when the stomach dilates and rotates on its own axis, twisting and strangling nearby veins and organs.
The food inside the stomach gets trapped, also leading to gas accumulation, which causes the dog's belly to become swollen in a few hours, and as there is strangulation of blood vessels, it can occur. organ and tissue necrosis. The animal can die in a matter of hours and the treatment is only through surgery, as the organ must be placed in its correct position and sutured so that it does not twist again, since once it happens, the greater the chances that it occurs again in the future.
Others symptoms of gastric torsion, in addition to belly swelling, are hypersalivation, vomiting reflex but without content to be expelled and flatulence. Animals have pain and discomfort, so if you suspect your dog is having a gastric twist, take him to the vet immediately, as this is an emergency.
To learn more about gastric torsion in dogs - symptoms and treatment, see this other PeritoAnimal article.
Puppy with water belly
In case of ascites, which is when we have a dog with a swollen belly due to free fluid in the abdominal cavity, the tutor must first take the dog to the veterinarian, since ascites, popularly known as water belly in dog, can have several causes, and it is not always easy to treat with home remedies.
Between the main causes of bellyache in dogs which has a water belly, we have:
- Verminosis;
- Hypoproteinemia, which is a deficiency of protein in the blood;
- Tumor;
- Cardiac insufficiency;
- Liver failure;
- Rupture of the bladder or other urinary organs, which leads to leakage of urine into the abdominal cavity. It is extremely serious, as the animal can become intoxicated with its own urine in a few hours, and the treatment is only through surgery.
Some infectious diseases, caused by viruses and bacteria, also have ascites or water belly as one of the symptoms.
Water belly in dog: treatment
The treatment of water belly in dogs depends on the disease that is causing the leakage of fluid into the abdominal cavity, therefore, it is not possible to treat only with home remedies, as it is necessary for a veterinarian to evaluate the animal, and through of exams obtain the diagnosis for the correct treatment.
Dog with a swollen and soft belly
Swollen and soft belly is what the dog looks like when has ascites or water belly, as it is popularly known. The puppy's belly really looks like a balloon filled with liquid and soft to the touch.
Ascites in Dogs: How to Treat
In addition to a good palpation during the clinical examination by a veterinarian, other complementary tests such as ultrasound and X-ray may be necessary in order to check for rupture of urinary organs or tumors. And, in these cases, the treatment is only through surgery, according to the clinical condition that the animal presents.
Dogs with a very swollen belly can still present breathing difficulty due to compression of adjacent organs, tiredness, lethargy, lack of appetite and even difficulty walking. If the veterinarian is suspicious of an infectious disease, the fluid from the abdomen is drained using a technique called paracentesis, and sent for diagnostic analysis.
Dog with swollen and hard belly
Another reason to notice the dog with a swollen and hard belly is the constipation, and it is not the most serious affection, but it is quite uncomfortable for the dog, and it can even hurt the mucosa of the anus region, since the dog defecates more hardened feces, which injures the skin causing the region to bleed.
The dog can look like the swollen belly due to gas accumulation and fecal cake, and the reasons could be a low-fiber diet and low water intake. Other reasons can lead to constipation such as ingestion of foreign bodies (stone, grass, paper, tissue, etc), sedentary lifestyle, and even kidney problems or an enlarged prostate in males.
Some household measures can help the treatment, such as encouraging the dog to drink more water through the use of a source or changes in the dog's diet, such as changing the ration, or changing the animal's dry food for a wet one, however, before nothing else, talk to your vet about it.
Home remedy for dog defecation
In less severe cases, you can use a home remedy for dog defecation like the following:
- Add mashed pumpkin between your dog's meals, as squash is a good source of water and fiber, wheat and oats are also good sources of fiber, and can be added to your dog's meal, but talk to your veterinarian about the amount so you don't administer too much fiber.
- The use of vitamin supplements, which can be found at Pet Shops. These supplements contain additives and enzymes that aid the dog's digestion, talk to your veterinarian to find out which one is the most ideal for your pet's condition.
- Milk of magnesia it is considered a natural laxative, and can be administered with care and in very low doses. Milk of Magnesia can help your dog to loosen trapped stool, but never give your dog Milk of Magnesia if he is not drinking water or if he has diarrhea.
- Mix 1/4 teaspoon of ginger in 1/2 cup of tea of chicken or beef broth.
- add olive oil at meals only when the dog is constipated, this measure should not be used often, as olive oil can cause diarrhea.
- daily exercises they help the movement of the gastrointestinal tract, and the movement of feces through the colon and intestines, improving constipation.
If, even after trying some of these measures and getting no results, your dog's case may be more serious, then take him to a veterinarian for a thorough evaluation. Learn more about the symptom in the article dog with swollen and hard belly.
constipated dog
Dogs may also have a swollen belly from excessive gas or constipation. In these cases, the problem lies in the lack of fiber in the dog's diet or lack of water intake. Constipation can also be related to the ingestion of large amounts of hair in dogs with long coats and sedentary lifestyle.
Signs that your dog is constipated are:
- The dog tries too hard to defecate;
- Hard and dry stools.
Talk to your veterinarian about a change in your dog's diet, such as switching to a ration that contains more fiber, or if possible, exchange dry food for wet food, which will make your dog drink more water naturally. To learn more about the Types of food for dogs see this other article by PeritoAnimal.
If the veterinarian indicates treatment with laxatives, it will probably be light to use, as large amounts of laxatives can cause diarrhea and dehydration, and should be used with care. Pumpkin, wheat and oats they are also good sources of fiber.
And now, let's talk about the good thing? In the following video we explain the reasons that lead us to have a belly-up dog:
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Home remedy for puppies with a swollen belly, we recommend that you enter our Home Remedies section.