Multiple Dog Household Gastroenteritis: Three Housemates All get Diarrhea and Vomiting

Diarrhea and vomiting can have a myriad of causes. However, when more than one dog in the same household come down with upset bellies, it narrows down the potential causes.

It boils down to something they all got into or an infection.

We had that happen once when daughter’s Chi caught a bug someplace and then gave it to our guys as they were hanging out together.

Multiple Dog Household Gastroenteritis: Three Housemates All get Diarrhea and Vomiting

The story of Kaiser, Tia, and Dante

Beyond sharing a home, Kaiser, Tia, and Dante also share toys, bowls, and mischief ideas. Do you think that makes them likely to share cooties too? You bet.

Dante gets sick

At first, Dante was the only dog who got sick. Because of his breed, Dante does his individual issues, particularly allergies. Untreated, his allergic skin disease can get quite bad.

The week he became sick, Dante started a new anti-inflammatory medication to control his skin problem—Atopica. However much you might be concerned about this drug; it is safer and has fewer side effects than steroids.

One of the common side effects of Atopica can be a stomach upset, particularly at the beginning. It was reasonable for Dante’s dad to assume that’s what was happening.

The other two dogs get sick

After a couple of days of Dante throwing up and having runny poops, Kaiser threw up his dinner too. And not long after, Tia joined in with an upset belly.

Did you ever have multiple dogs getting sick all over the place? It’s not fun. But because apart from the GI upsets, all three dogs acted healthy and happy, it made sense to figure they should get over it on their own with the help of a bland diet. Many GI upsets are self-limiting and resolve on its own.

Veterinary visit

Two days of bland diet passed, and the dogs kept on getting sick and having diarrhea. It became clear that whatever this was, it wasn’t going away. It was time to see a veterinarian.

The veterinarian checked the housemates thoroughly. They were all in good spirits and generally good health. They didn’t have a fever, weren’t dehydrated, and seemed unaffected by what was happening to their stomachs.

The diagnosis

All three dogs were suffering from inflammation of the stomach and small intestines–gastroenteritis.

Gastroenteritis is common in dogs due to their nature. The way I like to explain the term is that gastroenteritis happens when something naughty enters the digestive system. The GI tract becomes inflamed, which results in diarrhea and/or vomiting as the body is trying to get rid of it.

Did they find some tasty carcass they decided to munch on? Did they pick up a virus? It could have been either of those things.

The treatment

The veterinarian recommended a prescription diet for upset stomach designed to help out an upset digestive tract to settle down as well as a medication to soothe the irritated tissues.

In a couple of days, the dogs stopped throwing up and their stools firmed up.

Source story:
Kaiser, Tia and Dante All Had Gastroenteritis

Related articles:
Gastroenteritis in Dogs: Gastroenteritis is when …
My Dog’s Vomiting
Diarrhea/Runny Stools in Dogs: Why Is My Dog’s Poop Runny?

Further reading:
Gastroenteritis in Dogs

Categories: Conditions • Diarrhea • Dog health advocacy • Gastroenteritis • Real-life Stories • Symptoms • Vomiting

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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