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Can I give my nursing dog diarrhea medicine without affecting puppies?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 3 months old | 59 lbs

Can i give my nursing dog a medicine for diarrhea? iam afraid because everything goes into the milk puppies are feeding

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Laura Johnson VMD

Veterinarian

Published on April 6th, 2018

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Any medication you give a lactating dog will be passed through the milk to the puppy. I do not suggest any human medications and if her diarrhea is severe you should have her examined by your Vet and a fecal test ran to rule out intestinal parasites. It easily could be the food you are feeding as she should be eating a puppy food. I would try a bland diet of boiled chicken and hamburger with rice for a few says. A probiotic should be fine, I like Purina Fortiflora. I hope this helps!

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    Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on July 1st, 2018

    Probiotics in general are safe for nursing, although if your dog's appetite has been decreased for that long I would be concerned that there could be something more serious going on and would definitely recommend checking in with your vet once you are able. You also should try to get your dog back on dog food since I would be very concerned that there is not enough calcium in a home cooked chicken and rice diet. You may want to try offering canned puppy food (although this could make diarrhea worse) or check in with your vet to see what kind of food they would recommend. If she is not getting enough calcium and protein while she is nursing she could become very sick.

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