My Labrador, Biscuit, is seven years old and has the constitution of a small tank. She eats anything, runs everywhere, and has never given me a day’s worry about her health. Which is why the night she started vomiting at 2am was particularly alarming. By morning she’d had diarrhoea as well, was refusing food, and was noticeably lethargic — lying flat rather than her usual position of sitting hopefully next to wherever food might appear.
I called the vet first thing. They confirmed it sounded like a straightforward gastroenteritis — common in dogs, usually self-resolving, but requiring careful management to prevent dehydration. They recommended withholding food for 12 hours, offering small amounts of water frequently, and if I could get hold of an oral rehydration solution designed for pets, to use that rather than plain water. They mentioned Oralade specifically.
Why Rehydration Matters More Than Food
I hadn’t thought much about pet rehydration before this. I knew dehydration was a risk when dogs were ill, but I’d assumed water was water. The vet explained that when a dog is vomiting and has diarrhoea, they lose electrolytes as well as fluid — and plain water doesn’t replace those electrolytes. An oral rehydration solution is formulated to replace both, which means the body can actually absorb and retain the fluid rather than losing it again.
The GI+ formulation in Oralade also contains prebiotics to support gut recovery, which made sense to me — a stomach upset disrupts the gut microbiome, and supporting its recovery alongside rehydration seemed like a more complete approach than just replacing fluids.
Why I Chose Oralade GI+
The vet had mentioned it by name, which was recommendation enough. The Oralade GI+ Oral Rehydration & Gut Support in roast chicken flavour was the obvious choice for Biscuit — she’s not a fussy dog, but when she’s unwell she’s less inclined to drink, and a flavour she finds appealing would help. The 500ml bottle was the right size for a single illness episode with some left over.
The fact that it’s suitable for all ages and all pets — dogs and cats — was also useful to know. We have a cat as well, and having a product that works for both means one less thing to stock separately.
How Biscuit Responded
I offered Oralade to Biscuit in a bowl alongside her water bowl, following the instructions on the bottle. She sniffed it, then drank about a third of the bowl immediately. That was the first time she’d shown any interest in drinking since the night before, which was a relief in itself.
Over the course of the day I offered it every couple of hours in small amounts. By the afternoon she was more alert — still not herself, but sitting up rather than lying flat, and showing some interest in what was happening around her. By the following morning she was eating a small amount of plain boiled chicken and rice, and by the day after that she was back to normal — sitting hopefully next to the kitchen, tail going, entirely recovered.
What I Noticed About the Recovery
I can’t say with certainty how much of Biscuit’s recovery was down to the Oralade and how much was simply the illness running its course. Gastroenteritis in dogs usually resolves within 24-48 hours with proper management. What I can say is that the recovery felt faster and smoother than I’d feared when I saw how unwell she was that first morning. She was willing to drink it when she wasn’t willing to drink plain water, which meant she stayed better hydrated throughout, and I think that made a meaningful difference to how quickly she bounced back.
Why I Now Keep It in the Cupboard
After Biscuit recovered I ordered another bottle and put it in the cupboard. The thing about a stomach upset is that it tends to happen at inconvenient times — evenings, weekends, bank holidays — when getting to a vet or a pet shop quickly isn’t straightforward. Having Oralade already in the house means that if it happens again, I can start managing it immediately rather than waiting until somewhere is open.
It’s become part of my standard pet first aid supplies alongside the usual things — wound spray, tick remover, the vet’s number on the fridge. A small thing to keep in stock that makes a significant difference when you need it.
Where to Find It
The Oralade GI+ Oral Rehydration & Gut Support for Pets is available in the Digestive Aids and Pet Medicine collections, within the broader Pet Supplies range.
If you have a dog or cat, I’d genuinely recommend keeping a bottle of this in your pet first aid supplies before you need it. The moment your pet is unwell at 11pm on a Sunday is not the moment you want to be searching for something that might help. Having it already there makes a stressful situation a little more manageable.
— Tom Gallagher, owner of Biscuit the Labrador, who is fully recovered and back to her usual habits of eating everything and sitting hopefully in the kitchen
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