Puppies are like babies in that they too suffer from colic due to indigestion or when they are unable to release the gas trapped in the intestines. However, this condition is temporary. It becomes less frequent and goes away by itself as the puppy grows up. Until then it can cause the puppy a lot of distress depending on its intensity. A puppy that has colic has the urge to empty the bowels soon after having food. The puppy suffering from colic appears panicky and fretful, cries and in some extreme cases it may have seizures.
Although both babies and puppies can have colic their treatments are different. Before trying to deal with puppy colic it is important to understand what causes it. With patience and understanding you can successfully handle the problem yourself. No matter how you feed the puppy, food remaining in the stomach will produce gas. This builds up until the puppy defecates or passes stool. Many young puppies don’t know how to pass stool and need stimulation, which is usually provided by the mother. If the mother does not do it for some reason, then the puppy does not learn how to effectively pass stool and may suffer from colic due to the decomposed food sitting in the stomach for long. The dealing of the person with the puppy will be educated at the original site. The eating habits of the pets should be great when there will be availability of the proper information. The ingredients of the food should be organic and herbal for the puppies to eat and consume.
Mothers stimulate their puppies by licking the genital and anal areas while they are feeding and this triggers the puppy’s reflex to eliminate. If you are feeding the puppy yourself then of course it is missing stimulation by its mother. Thus puppies should not be weaned too soon and weaning should be a gradual process. If the colic is due to lack of stimulation then you can follow the mother’s lead. You can also do something similar with your puppy. You can do a similar type of stimulation using a warm moist cloth. Rub the genital and anus region of the puppy with a cloth, soaked with warm water, before and after feeding it. This provides the necessary stimulation for the puppy’s bowel movements, thus preventing colic. The colic may also be due to inactivity of the bowels and trapped gases.
One of the easiest and most effective ways of controlling frequent puppy colic is giving it food meant for dogs with weak stomachs. It is just like you would change the baby formula that doesn’t agree with your baby. Make sure that the puppy is prevented from eating food meant for your family members. Once your puppy is comfortable with a particular type of food, stick to it and don’t change it until it is necessary to do so. If the colic persists then get in touch with your veterinarian. Also a puppy suffering from colic may have frequent urges to eliminate, especially after food. You must make arrangements for this so that the puppy does it according to its potty training.
A puppy having colic attacks is already in a helpless state and thus there is no use yelling at it or getting angry. Screaming or yelling at the puppy will only make matters worse. It is important to deal with the problem patiently. The problem usually fades away by the time the puppy is one year old. Veterinarians usually advise you to feed the puppy, suffering from colic, more often but a little at a time. This will give more time to the puppy’s stomach to digest the food. Continue feeding it as per the vet’s advice and slowly but surely the problem will subside and eventually go away.
The puppy suffering from colic should be given a lot of water to drink if it suffers from diarrhea also. This is to prevent dehydration due to loss of fluids in diarrhea. Feed the puppy the prescribed food and medications regularly. Continue potty training your puppy even if it has colic. Once the colic subsides your puppy will grow into a happy and healthy dog.
