Hello Everyone, I have a 4 month old puppy currently going through a bad spell of diarrhea. I has had minor episodes in the past but nothing to be alarmed. This one has been going on for about a week. Current food for the past month and a half is Acana Large Puppy Breed Kibble Monday: First signs of very soft stool and diarrhea Tuesday: 2 events of very liquid diarrhea. Started him on boiled rice and chicken Wednesday: Continued boiled rice and chicken Thursday: At this point he hasn't pooped in 24hours. A mix of of rice and kibble (1/4 of the portion). He finally poops and its solid. Friday Morning - poop is very soft again with a greasy glaze to it (almost like a raw sausage). The stool looked very bizarre so I decided to bring the stool to the vet so they can run some lab tests. Friday evening - full blown diarrhea is back. He i.s now back of boiled rice and chicken His mood hasn't been affected. He is still very playful, good mood and obviously always looking for food. Any advice? Thanks
Hello and welcome to the forum Johnny. What does your vet say about your puppy and his diarrhoea? They are the best people to help you. What is your puppy name?
They basically told me to feed him boiled rice and chicken until diarrhea stops, which it did. However, as soon as kibble was re-introduce the diarrhea was back with episodes every 2 hours. I am now waiting on stool lab results. His name is Brando.
Hi and welcome. There may be something in the kibble he is reacting to, or he may have some kind of stomach bug - giardia or similar. Hopefully the lab results will give clarity. In the meantime, he'll be fine on chicken and rice. Keep the rice a bit sloppy so he gets enough liquid.
Hi and welcome to you and Brando. I agree with Karen's comments. If it's not a bug it has to be the kibble. How was he before you changed him to the Acana kibble? Did he have similar problems? Hope you get the results soon so you can help Brando to a healthy stomach
Hi and welcome. I would keep him on rice and chicken until you get the results back. It could be a tummy bug - best to rule that out first. I had a lot of problems with diorrhea when my girl was a pup - we found out she was allergic to wheat and possibly other ingredients in kibble. After several months of trying different kibble, we changed to a BARF dirt and it has cleared up all her issues as its a natural diet.
Had similar issue with Ajax. It was the kibble brand. Did the shredded boiled chicken and rice routine then switch to a new brand. Helped. If not a parasite then that's where the problem lies IMO. Now moving off kibble to raw, not BARF though.
The only thing I can suggest is to reconsider the boiled rice and chicken. We went through deadly serious diarrhoea at age 6 years old and it didn't work for us at all. Now I do see that it seems to be helping your puppy and it's not till you go back to the kibble that problems return. But take a read here, at the Mercola site. My (new) Vet agrees rice often doesn't work and can make things worse. http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/03/26/dealing-with-dog-diarrhea.aspx In our case Oban was deadly ill. We went to novel protein and carb of cooked turkey and baked sweet potato. Sweet potato and pumpkin are often used to regulate bowel movements. Sweet potato has 6 x the amount of fibre pumpkin does so you would need less; we still needed lots. Then, at the instigation of our new Holistic Integrative Vet we went to a raw, BARF diet. We have since discovered that Oban has Lymphangiectasia and in no way do I mean to suggest your puppy has this horrible ailment. I'd like to stress too, everything we did was through the Vet. We tested stool multiple times for giardia or other worms or pests. None. We tried Flagyl and Prednisone to stop up the diarrhoea, didn't work. I do suggest a stool sample to your Vet is a logical next step if you can't get this under control. ETA: Oh, you did take a sample to the Vet. What was the result? Giarrdia can be very hard to find and might need multiple tests of the stool.
Hello, Thanks for the all the replies!! I am now patiently waiting to receive the stool lab results from the Vet, which are due sometime today. I called them again this morning to touch base with the vet and explaining to him that he had 5 episodes of bad diarrhea throughout the night. The vet suggested that I continue on boiled rice only since his behaviour has not changed. The vet prefers waiting for the results prior to me bringing in the dog for evaluation. I also realized that he started snoring/breathing loudly (more than usual) while sleeping as of late? Any relation? To answer the question about kibble, when I picked him up from the breeder, he was on the Royal Canin Maxi kibble. I am not a fan of the ingredient list of that particular kibble, so I decided to switch him to Acana Large Puppy Breed. The switch went fairly well and he really enjoyed Acana kibble. He had absolutely no issues with the food during the first 2 months. This all started recently. Thanks
I always start to suspect a kibble causing a digestive problem when there were no problems with a previous kibble. It may be worth comparing the ingredients in both as there could be something in the Acana which is causing the problem, it may help in discussions with your vet. Fingers are crossed though that you get the results from the vet and all is clear and you can agree a plan of action for Brando
Hi Johnny, welcome to the forum. Some of our other members have needed to feed the rice and chicken for more than a week, which I would have worried about a bit if I hadn't heard about it here. As long as he is okay on this I would continue until the results are back. Sometimes "processed" chicken can be an issue but not fresh, that is worth bearing in mind too. Hope Brando picks up soon x jac
Hello Everyone, Here is the update: The stool lab results are negative (OVA & parasites test). Therefore, parasites have been ruled out. He was prescribed Metronidazole for 7 days, along with Fortiflora and bland diet of chicken and rice. I have to admit I am not a huge fan of antibiotics and chemicals, especially when the vet explains that this is just "standard practice". I ask the vet is the possibility of the kibble having too much protein/calories and it may have been a cause of the diarrhea. Any comments on these antibiotics? The diarrhea has now stop in the last 24hours on a diet of rice, boiled chicken and probiotics.
Well metronidazole is an antibiotic I believe is used in dogs to treat parasitic infections but can also be used to treat "doggy irritable bowel" in that it reduces inflammation of the bowel lining. In my experience in humans it can cause nausea and diarrhoea in its own right - I guess the Fortiflora probiotic should reduce the latter. If your pup is off his food a little and/or salivating that might suggest some nausea. To be honest, it sounds like a pretty sensible approach from your vet, I wouldn't worry about it. Are you planning on going back to your original food or an alternative? I know some people believe Chappie tinned food can be helpful for upset tummies. Or maybe go for duck and potato or a narrow food source food? I would be surprised if too much protein or calories was the cause of this. Sometimes over-feeding can cause loose stools but not frank diarrhoea. When you are restarting feeding (whatever it may be) splitting food into at least 4 small meals to start with is a good idea.
Ok thanks for the feedback! He hasn't had a bowel movement in almost 36 hours now. I am planning feeding him rice, boiled chicken and a handful of kibble to start the transition slowly. I decided to stick with the champion food - Orijen Large Breed Puppy. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition.
Had the same problem with Rory he was parasite free when tested. He deveoped cholitis and became very ill. It was chicken he had a intolerance to combined with a puppy tummy.. I just use white fish or something similar no rice, once we worked out what it was i was fine. I used orijen but had to stop as it was just too much for my labs, it gave them all upset tums.
I am new to the forum but wanted to say what worked for us. I have an almost 7 month old Black male (Ernie) who went through this same thing around 4 mos. The vet did find he had a parasite but even after being on Metronidazole, the very loose poop returned. The vet had me go on equal amounts of sweet potato and boiled ground turkey 3 times per day (1/2 cup each). She had him go on an herbal supplement, Cholacoll before his meals (this stopped the loose stools immediately), 4 total per day. We increased this mixture and then slowly re-added his kibble while decreasing the sweet potato/turkey mix and after about 2 weeks cut his meals to 2 a day. He also gets a probiotic powder at each meal. After he had been on only kibble and was diarrhea free for a week we stopped the Cholacoll. He has been fine ever since and is doing wonderfully. He was eating Zignature White Fish but now eats The Honest Kitchen "Love" which is beef as the protein. The Honest Kitchen is a grain-free, natural dehydrated food. It is pricey but I wanted the best for him and just did not want to go to raw. You can read Dr. Karen Becker's blog, healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/dr-karen-becker.aspx, and she also talks about the sweet potato turkey mix for diarrhea. She is a holistic vet and has great articles as well as videos. Good Luck
Thank you for all the info!!! He finally had a bowel movement and it was solid. I am currently feeding him 3 meals per day - 1 cup of 50% boiled chicken and 50% kibble. I am also mixing probiotics with every meal. I am re-inter grading the kibble for one last try. I want to see if the kibble is the source of the problem or if it was a virus.
Johnny- What was the result of reintegrating the kibble? Was the kibble the problem? Duncan has had really bad diarrhea for the past few days - it stopped and he had solid poop when we keep on the ground turkey or boiled chicken and sweet potato, but if we reintroduce his kibble, which we may have done too suddenly and not gradually like you are supposed to, he had terrible diarrhea again. I don't think it is his kibble since he has had 0 problems for the 9 weeks we have had him on it and he doesn't have a parasite, so I think he may have just ate a plant or something that made him sick (the vet thinks so too), but just wanted to hear what the result of your situation was and how slowly to reintroduce the kibble/their normal food again to the turkey/chicken and potatoes For now I am keeping him on the boiled chicken/rice/sweet potato diet that is firming up his poop and making sure he is drinking a ton of water, but I don't want to have to cook him special meals the rest of his life! haha
I reintegrated his kibble 1/2 cup at a time, mixing it with boiled chicken and rice. I think it was also something he ate that made him get diarrhea. He is back on his kibble and doing fine. Also, I have started giving him a tablespoon of plain yogurt once or twice a week. He is now supplementing as well with probiotics and digestive enzymes. To be honest, I don't really see a difference in his tool, but his energy level is off the charts. haha Slowly but surely reintegrating kibble is the best and only way in y opinion. Yogurt has helped him tremendously.
