Can I give my dog maalox?

If your dog has an upset stomach, you may be wondering about giving them some of your Maalox. People routinely turn to this product for dealing with constipation, diarrhea or indigestion. However, providing it to a dog is a bit trickier.

First off, we need to address whether Maalox is appropriate for canines. Many owners are rightly skeptical about giving any type of human medicine to a pet dog, including those available over-the-counter. Perhaps, if you lower the dose, things will turn out okay?

This is a controversial topic. In our humble opinion, your dog could be given a modest amount of Maalox in certain situations. However, it’s usually best to actually do nothing at all. Very often, these types of symptoms go away on their own. For your dog’s sake, be very cautious about administering any product that was never intended for their digestive tract.

Can I Give My Dog Maalox? Answer: Cautiously and properly dosed

But again, most instances of canine digestive trouble will pass before whatever you give them takes effect.

Maalox is similar to Pepto Bismol which is another OTC medicine that owners sometimes give to their dogs.

Consider that the reason people can take things like Maalox, for our various upsets, is because they can last for an hour or more, or we have some social function or work situation that requires us to be at our best. The dog has nowhere to go, no one to impress, so they can let things progress naturally and take care of themselves on their own and in due time. So the good news is that dogs process things pretty quickly, so if they are having a problem it will likely be short-lived.

Upset Stomach Symptoms

Some signs are easy to spot, especially if your dog is vomiting or has diarrhea. Another one that is easy to spot is if they are straining to pass their stool. But other signs can be harder to read, such as them not wanting to eat as much as they usually do, leaving food in their dish when they usually don’t, or hearing rumbling noises inside their stomach.

While an individual case of upset stomach in a dog is not enough to be overly concerned about, what you want to do is look for any patterns, or chronic cases of digestive troubles. From there you can try to determine what the problem is, enlisting the help of your veterinarian if you are unable to come up with a viable reason as to why they are suffering.

In any case, a vet will be able to help troubleshoot the situation by asking you relevant questions. They’ll narrow down the cause so you can treat the real reason instead of just the symptoms.

Better Treatment Alternatives

A better way then Maalox to treat a dog for stomach problems is with all-natural substances like food. A lot of owners will give their dog something like a can of pumpkin or boiled rice to help soothe their digestive system, and make sure they pass whatever’s causing them grief.

But again, the best medicine is prevention, and if something does come up often the best answer is to just monitor the situation and don’t get yourself involved in it. Nine times out of ten owners only make things worse by trying to help.

Preventing Digestive Troubles

It’s good to go with the best possible dog food you can justify on your budget. A high quality dog food will get rid of most digestive problems on its own, because it will be properly balanced with everything your dog needs, and won’t contain a bunch of fillers like the cheap brands do.

You can also avoid a lot of complications by not giving them table scraps, or other foods that are meant for people and not for dogs. Dogs are really simple as far as what they need to survive, and if you just stick to the basics, you’ll usually end up without any troubles.

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