My Boxer Puppy Has Diarrhea After Taking Antibiotics

If your veterinarian has prescribed antibiotics for your boxer puppy, diarrhea can be a side effect. Your boxer puppy needs the proper care to ensure that the diarrhea does not result in him needing intravenous fluids, entering into a coma, or even dying. Because of their relatively low weight, any health issue or change in appetite and elimination habits in a boxer puppy is a cause for concern and should be properly evaluated and addressed promptly.

  1. How to Know if Your Boxer Puppy Has Diarrhea

    • It may not be as obvious when a boxer puppy had diarrhea than when an adult dog does. Boxer puppies have bowel movements many times a day, compared to an adult dog that may only go once or twice a day. If the waste seems liquified, and your boxer puppy is needing to have a bowel movement more than usual, he probably has diarrhea.

    How Does the Antibiotic Cause Diarrhea?

    • Most antibiotics, including those for humans, kill "good" bacteria that lives in the intestinal tract, as well as killing the "bad" bacteria, which is the intent of the medicine. Destroying or disturbing the balance of bacteria in the intestines frequently leads to diarrhea in boxer puppies. This problem can occur with injected and oral antibiotics.

    Call or See Your Veterinarian

    • A boxer puppy can quickly become dehydrated from diarrhea. It is important that he stays well hydrated. Encourage him to drink water as often as you can. A veterinarian may suggest that you feed him rice, yogurt, boiled chicken or add some canned pumpkin to his food to help solidify his bowel movements. A veterinarian may also recommend that your puppy drink an electrolyte drink mixed with water. But let a veterinarian make the recommendations on what to feed him and how to try to end the diarrhea. A veterinarian may want to see a sample of your puppy's bowel movement. Put a few tablespoons of the waste in a disposable plastic container with a tight-sealing lid.

    How to Avoid DIahhrea in the Future

    • The best way to avoid diarrhea in your boxer puppy is to never feed him table food meant for people. Growing boxer puppies need a steady diet of high-protein puppy food geared specifically towards boxers. Check the first five ingredients on the nutrition label of the dog food -- two or three of those should be meat sources such as chicken, lamb or beef. Avoid foods with ingredients like "beef byproducts." Avoid dog foods with several corn or grain ingredients in the first five ingredients. Later in your dog's life, your breeder may recommend that you switch your boxer to a BARF diet, or bones and raw food diet, which is a diet that more approximates what a boxer would eat in the wild. However, this type of eating is not recommended for boxer puppies.