[My3Dogs]

Hey all:
Sorry to have jumped in and then disappeared, my mom had a heart attack Monday and I'm spending almost all of my time with her at the hospital.

I would love to have some opinions and ideas on what we have going on. Tucker has had liquid diarrhea for 2 weeks now, since the day we got him. He's been on four meds (metronidazole, albon, centrine, gastro cote), eating plain rice and prescription EN, probiotics, had several clear fecal checks, CBC is perfectly fine. Every time we take him to the vet, we walk out with no more answers than we had started with, and the dog is still having diarrhea left and right. If anyone has any ideas we would love to hear them. He turned 9 weeks old yesterday.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Kendalle]

what is EN?
normally the metro clears them up pretty fast. hmmm... Is he throwing up at all? does he eat really fast?

Try boiling some sweet potatoes and make mashed sweet potato just a little not a large meal. and a little bit of rice cooked with a little chicken but don't actually feed the chicken until its a little harder poop.

IF you notice blood in it, keep up the parvo tests.

 

[My3Dogs]

EN is the prescription dog food our vet gave us. I can't post a link because I don't have enough posts, but if you search it, you should be able to find it. He has been on metro for almost 2 weeks. He has never vomited and his activity level is great. He is not the least bit lethargic. He had blood just that one morning and the vet said it was irritation of the intestines. He has been tested for parvo 2x, both times negative. CBC comes back perfect every time. The past week he has been getting plain white rice with the Rebound liquid the vet gave us. We have discontinued as of yesterday because in his diarrhea now are whole pieces of rice. We are out of the meds and see no point in getting more because he's been on them for almost 2 weeks and we've seen zero improvement. His poop is still completely liquid and very frequent.

 

[Dragonrain]

Do you think it could be food allergies/intolerance? My dog has food allergies and if he eats something he's allergic too he gets really horrible diarrhea.

Grains are the number one food allergen for dogs - that includes rice so even feeding a bland rice diet would cause problems. Most dog foods also include grains as fillers. Maybe you could get him a good grain free dog food and see if that helps at all?

They can be allergic to things other than grains too. My dog is very allergic to chicken.

Vets can do allergy testing but it's usually expensive. You could try doing an elimination diet though - I'd defiantly start with something grain free if he is getting sick even when just eating rice.

 

[Sasami]

Do you think it could be food allergies/intolerance? My dog has food allergies and if he eats something he's allergic too he gets really horrible diarrhea.

Grains are the number one food allergen for dogs - that includes rice so even feeding a bland rice diet would cause problems. Most dog foods also include grains as fillers. Maybe you could get him a good grain free dog food and see if that helps at all?

They can be allergic to things other than grains too. My dog is very allergic to chicken.

Vets can do allergy testing but it's usually expensive. You could try doing an elimination diet though - I'd defiantly start with something grain free if he is getting sick even when just eating rice.

I had the same thoughts. My dog has allergies and gets the same way when she eats something she's allergic to (like the wheat in a stolen bagel or something).

Maybe try feeding just plain chicken by itself since the grains are the most likely cause. I have a foster dog right now who has allergies (different symptoms than your dog, though). I decided to JUST give her chicken for a while and she's improving...she must be allergic to something in the kibble (and it's a "good" brand--EVO).

 

[My3Dogs]

Thank you for the ideas, and if you have any more, please share!

We fasted him for 20 hours and following the suggestion above, I gave him some mashed sweet potatoes around 2pm. I gave him a little more just a bit ago. When he went to the bathroom, it looks like mashed sweet potatoes coming out of his butt LOL My husband is going to the store after baseball practice and he's going to get something grain-free so we can try that. I figure that it definitely isn't something medical since he's been on the meds for 2 weeks and all tests have been negative.

 

[Kendalle]

it sounds like he isn't digesting anything though. Give some electolites like pediasure, to make sure he gets some nutrients. I wonder if some toast would help.

Hmm..

 

[My3Dogs]

He's getting Rebound that the vet gave us. I'm really at a loss, I have no idea what to do!

 

[My3Dogs]

I was just reading that antibiotics can slow digestion in animals, and he's been on them for two weeks. He stopped taking them yesterday, maybe we will see some improvement?

 

[My3Dogs]

Well, he's had three small meals of the mashed sweet potatoes and he is having MUCH firmer poops! Looks like thick soft serve ice cream (sorry to be gross, just hard to describe with words ) So we aren't sure if it's because he hasn't had any medicines for 24 hours, or if it was because of the fasting, or because of no rice, or what! No idea where to go from here. I can't feed him sweet potatoes forever!

 

[Sasami]

Well, he's had three small meals of the mashed sweet potatoes and he is having MUCH firmer poops! Looks like thick soft serve ice cream (sorry to be gross, just hard to describe with words ) So we aren't sure if it's because he hasn't had any medicines for 24 hours, or if it was because of the fasting, or because of no rice, or what! No idea where to go from here. I can't feed him sweet potatoes forever!

If it was me, I'd feed chicken until he has normal stools (what you're describing is still not "normal") since it's a more balanced meal than sweet potatoes and also more species-appropriate. Then from there you can try going back to kibble (I'd choose a grain-free brand) and see how he does. If he gets sick again, it's most likely something in the food.

 

[My3Dogs]

Oh I definitely know it's not normal, but we've had pure liquid for days, we get excited about a little consistency! LOL I did buy some boneless, skinless chicken breast tonight to try to give him. Do you just boil it? How much should he be getting?

 

[Kendalle]

I'd boil it and feed an small amount wait 2 hours feed maybe 1/8 cup and then a little more until he can be up to a normal meal for him.

I read that sweet potatoes are a natural stool hardener so hopefully that is helping a little. you can still give him some with the chicken.

 

[Sasami]

Oh I definitely know it's not normal, but we've had pure liquid for days, we get excited about a little consistency! LOL I did buy some boneless, skinless chicken breast tonight to try to give him. Do you just boil it? How much should he be getting?

I'd feed it raw but if you're not comfortable doing that, boiled chicken would be fine .

 

[My3Dogs]

Raw? Really? That seems gross! LOL Do you feed your animals raw meat? Is there a reason for doing it that way?

 

[Sasami]

Raw? Really? That seems gross! LOL Do you feed your animals raw meat? Is there a reason for doing it that way?

Gross for us humans, sure, but dogs don't mind .

I do. If you're interested in learning more, check out these links:

http://preymodelraw.com/why-pmr/
http://www.orijen.ca/orijen/ORIJEN_White_paper.pdf
http://www.dogster.com/forums/Raw_Food_Diet/thread/431875
http://www.rawmeatybones.com/diet/exp-diet-guide.pdf

Dog diet is a controversial subject but I'm amazed at how well our dogs are doing on a raw diet. My dog used to get sick frequently, even on the "good" kibble brands. Not any more. No more allergies, either. The small amount of tartar build-up (there wasn't a ton since I've always given them bones) is almost gone, their coats are softer (and they were fine before), and their stools are small and crumble away naturally. My current foster dog has bad food allergies that completely disappear when she gets raw meat instead of EVO kibble (which, again, is a good brand).

I wish I had switched sooner, honestly, but I figured my dog was doing "fine". I didn't think she could become even healthier but she did.

 

[somebody]

Do you think it could be food allergies/intolerance? My dog has food allergies and if he eats something he's allergic too he gets really horrible diarrhea.

Grains are the number one food allergen for dogs - that includes rice so even feeding a bland rice diet would cause problems. Most dog foods also include grains as fillers. Maybe you could get him a good grain free dog food and see if that helps at all?

They can be allergic to things other than grains too. My dog is very allergic to chicken.

Vets can do allergy testing but it's usually expensive. You could try doing an elimination diet though - I'd defiantly start with something grain free if he is getting sick even when just eating rice.

Well, he's had three small meals of the mashed sweet potatoes and he is having MUCH firmer poops! Looks like thick soft serve ice cream (sorry to be gross, just hard to describe with words ) So we aren't sure if it's because he hasn't had any medicines for 24 hours, or if it was because of the fasting, or because of no rice, or what! No idea where to go from here. I can't feed him sweet potatoes forever!

That's good! So he's not had any grains and the stool is starting to firm up..Hmm....finding a grain free puppy food is a good idea.

I'm assuming he's been tested for parasites? He's only about 10 weeks old right? What's his history?

 

[TheCozyPet]

I give my dog white rice with chicken broth. You could also try lean ground beef and plain white rice for a week. Works like a charm!

Before doing that take away all the food for 24 hours.

If he continues to have diarrhea you might phone your vet or better just let him have acheck up. Good luck!

 

[My3Dogs]

Ok, to restate again:

Tucker is 9 weeks old. We have had him for 2 weeks. He has had diarrhea since we got him. He has been to the vet three times. He has been tested for parvo twice (negative). He has had 3 CBC (all normal). He has had 3 fecal checks (negative). He has been on metronidazole, Albon, Centrine and Gastro Cote. He was also given Forti-Flora (probiotics) and Rebound (dog pedialyte). The vet gave us a prescription dog food to feed him, which we did. None of these things caused any improvement whatsoever. The rice started coming out undigested in his liquid diarrhea. After an 18 hour fast, at the suggestion of a poster here, I gave him mashed sweet potatoes yesterday and this morning and saw quite a bit of improvement. His poops last night and this morning were considerably firmer. However just a few minutes ago, he had another liquid poop. I boiled chicken for his breakfast and he ate that. We are going to pick up a grain-free food today.

 

[Dragonrain]

I know you must be so frustrated with all this...I really hope you figure out something that works soon!