Puppy with diarrhea - again

[PassinthruOutdoors]

Back about 4 weeks ago my new pup (14 weeks old now) had a fun few days with diarrhea, stool samples to the vet, chicken and brown rice for dinner, back to normal. There was no change in food, water, etc. Now 4 weeks later the same thing, but this time we have been changing his food but only 25% of the new added to his old - just started last week (been almost a full week now and he had been doing well). Back on chicken and rice for now.

No change in activity level, no change in his attitude and activity or drinking habits. He was just at the vet last week, prior to changing food for more vaccines and checkup - very healthy. Read some older posts on here about adding some pumpkin, yogurt and some other things. Plan on making a call to the vet tomorrow if the chicken and rice doesn't tighten him up some.

The only thing i can think of is that he has gotten into something. He does eat the grass and almost everything goes in his mouth, but we usually have a really close eye on him. He is being feed 4 cups a day, 2 in the AM, 2 in the PM. No change in feeding time either.

any other thoughts and suggestions.

[hotel4dogs]

I would ask the vet about treating him for giardia, even if the fecal is negative. It's pretty hard to pick up on the fecal, and rather common in pups. Some vets (including mine) will just routinely treat the pup for it if they have intermittent diarrhea. I'd be especially suspicious because giardia has a 23-28 day cycle of activity, I believe.

[RookieTrainer]

I would ask the vet about treating him for giardia, even if the fecal is negative. It's pretty hard to pick up on the fecal, and rather common in pups. Some vets (including mine) will just routinely treat the pup for it if they have intermittent diarrhea. I'd be especially suspicious because giardia has a 23-28 day cycle of activity, I believe.

I would second this. When my pup has had it, the appearance of the stool (it almost looks like it has oily mucous in it) and the smell (indescribable) are pretty good indicators, but you may not have either. It is notoriously difficult to pick up definitively on a test.

I would also have a conversation with your vet about giving your pup enough medicine for a long enough period to get the bacteria fully killed.

[windycanyon]

Agree on the parasite check. How soon after the vaccines did the diarrhea start? Could be too many vaccines at once (esp if Lepto is part of the combo) for him to handle. The thing that has really worked for me is psyllium husks from the health food store. Psyllium is the "active" part of Metamucil. I buy ~1# bag and keep it on hand for all my litters.

[PassinthruOutdoors]

He was at the vet Jan 30th and I believe he had Rabies and Lyme if I remember correctly. so less then a week. I know we had a large get together at a friends and he may have gotten into some people food there on Sunday - Problem started Monday afternoon. got a call into the vet now.

[hotel4dogs]

when my vet treats for giardia, he treats it twice, 4 weeks apart. I believe it's 5 days on pancur, 21 days off, 5 more days on. Something like that.

[Oldfield Retrievers]

I've had issues with this in the recent past and narrowed it down to the food. I don't know if it is cost cutting, price competition or a more rich formula. Years ago loose stools in puppies didn't seem to be such a problem. I've tried several different puppy foods (holistic & high dollar) with inconsistent results. The last brand I tried was "Pro Plan puppy" and had very good results, almost immediately. I recently purchased a BLF puppy and the breeder (also a vet) had her on "Eukanuba large breed puppy" and she was extremely healthy and the stool was very good. I had read many threads steering me away from both brands and toward a more natural formula, but loose stools is a serious condition and I needed a solution. Parasite checks are always a must, if your puppy has loose stool "better safe than sorry" but food would be my next step. Kennel condition is also a consideration"clean and free of debris".
Goooood Luck! and if you discover a solid solution "HA HA" please post your solution!

[Mcgnaw]

Hi,
One of my dogs had the same symptoms. Took him to an old vet (Cornell grad) and he said: "Well I could do a lot of expensive tests or you could just stop feeding him beef." We stopped feeding him beef and haven't had any more problems for years. Good luck.

[thelast2]

I would ask the vet about treating him for giardia, even if the fecal is negative. It's pretty hard to pick up on the fecal, and rather common in pups. Some vets (including mine) will just routinely treat the pup for it if they have intermittent diarrhea. I'd be especially suspicious because giardia has a 23-28 day cycle of activity, I believe.

+1 This is a high possiblty if your dog is drinking out of puddles or ponds, had a bad bout with my YLM last summer we had extremly large amount of mosquito larvae in the ponds and my dog was sick as hell from ingesting the water. So might not hurt to be cautious around outside watersources, be worth asking the vet about.

[mtellup]

I went through this same thing last fall with my pup, at about the same age. On and off diarrhea for about 3 weeks. Lots of expensive antibiotics.

Turns out he was eating mushrooms in the back yard. It could have been a lot worse than just diarrhea.

Don't know if you have mushrooms in CT this time of year, but you may want to check. My pup was getting them before they were visible above the grass. I caught him chewing one and that is how I discovered
source of the problem.