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If your Collie is experiencing diarrhea, gas, upset stomach, or vomiting, life can be difficult for both you and your beloved dog. Collies can experience gastrointestinal issues for a myriad of reasons, but fortunately, many of these issues can be alleviated at home with a few natural remedies or supplements. However, if your Collie is consistently experiencing diarrhea or vomiting, make an appointment with your veterinarian right away.
Best Collie Upset Stomach Remedies
1. Fast Your Collie for 12–24 Hours
Sometimes all a dog needs is time for their gastrointestinal tract to heal and reset. Withholding food for 12–24 hours allows the system to flush out whatever caused the issue and reboot to a healthy state. It’s important to keep your Collie hydrated, even during a fast. However, do not let them drink too much at once, as this could cause vomiting or set off another bout of diarrhea.
2. Give Your Collie a Bland Diet for a Few Days
At the end of a fast, it’s best to slowly introduce a diet of bland, easily digestible food. Try boiled, unseasoned, skinless white meat chicken shredded over plain white rice. For dogs on grain-free diets, substitute mashed overripe banana or canned pumpkin. Feed a few spoonfuls every 2–3 hours and gradually increase the quantity over a 24-hour period.
Next, begin a slow re-introduction of their normal food by serving a 75% bland/25% regular diet mix for a few meals, followed by a 50/50 mix, followed by a 75% regular/25% bland, until your dog is eating their regular food exclusively again.
3. Use a Multi-Strain Probiotic for Your Collie’s Diarrhea or Gas
Diarrhea can disrupt the balance of bacteria in your Collie’s gut, including the beneficial bacteria that support healthy digestion. A canine probiotic supplement can help maintain a balanced digestive system and support overall gut health. Pupkin™ Probiotics, Prebiotics & Postbiotics for Dogs with Pumpkin, Gut-Soothing Bone Broth & Mushrooms combines probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics with pumpkin to support healthy digestion and normal stool quality. It also includes gut-soothing bone broth and functional mushrooms, making it an easy-to-use option that can be added to your Collie’s regular food for daily digestive support.
Using a probiotic is also helpful for reducing your Collie’s gas or easing the transition to a new food.
4. Give Your Collie a Prebiotic Supplement or Pumpkin
Canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling), slippery elm, chia seeds, and plantains are all forms of prebiotics, which are reported to offer natural GI-healing benefits. Prebiotics are non-digestible ingredients that promote the growth of beneficial microorganisms in the intestines — essentially, they are the food that probiotics need to thrive.
Pureed pumpkin is packed with fiber, which helps to bulk up the stool. Slippery elm is said to coat and soothe mucous membranes, including the GI tract. Chia seeds are packed with fiber and absorb excess water, and plantains have antimicrobial properties. As always, consult your vet before making changes to your dog’s diet. Some high-quality supplements, like this dog prebiotic chew, already contain pumpkin.
5. Try Giving Your Collie Digestive Enzymes to Improve Digestion
Oftentimes, the cause of your Collie’s stomach issue may be related to incomplete digestion. Some Collies have trouble digesting protein, fats, carbohydrates, or fiber. Digestive enzymes help your Collie break down and absorb each of these nutrients. Failure to absorb nutrients can result in bouts of runny stool, so these vital enzymes can help.
- Protease: Breaks down proteins into amino acids, improving digestion of meats in particular
- Amylase: Breaks down starches into carbohydrate molecules that your Collie can digest
- Lipase: Breaks down fats in your Collie’s gut
- Cellulase: Breaks down fiber from plants and grains
Any good digestive enzyme supplement for dogs should include all four of these enzymes.
If You Give Your Collie One Supplement, Make It This One
Providing an all-in-one probiotic, prebiotic, and digestive enzyme supplement is the easiest way to ensure that your dog is getting the microflora they need to support an optimally functioning GI tract.
Learn about Pupkin™ Probiotics, Prebiotics & Postbiotics for Dogs by iHeartDogs
Additional FAQs About Your Collie’s Gastroenteritis, Gas, Diarrhea, Bloating, or Vomiting
1. Should I Use a Probiotic When Transitioning My Collie to a New Food?
Probiotics are very useful in preventing diarrhea when transitioning your Collie to a new food. First, give your Collie a probiotic for a week or so before introducing the new food. Then slowly increase the amount of new food while continuing to feed some of the old. During this time, continue giving the probiotic until the transition to 100% of the new food is complete.
2. My Collie Recently Was Given an Antibiotic. Should I Also Give a Probiotic?
Yes. Antibiotics destroy both harmful and beneficial bacteria in the gut, which can leave your Collie’s digestive system unbalanced. Giving a probiotic alongside or after a course of antibiotics helps replenish those beneficial bacteria and supports a faster return to normal digestive health. Consult your veterinarian about timing, as some vets recommend spacing the probiotic dose a few hours apart from the antibiotic dose to maximize effectiveness.
