My 13 week old puppy has had severe diarrhea this week. So some background to my question - when was 12 weeks old we started taking him for regular 2x day walks. After a few days I noticed he was looking thinner, and thought I should increase his food a bit. He was still on the same daily amount he had been eating at 8 weeks old. I did not increase, but just started using treats on top of his daily food allowance (so he got perhaps an extra handful of kibble each day). After about a week, my husband agreed he was looking thin.... not in a bad way, just in a growth way, but still to us a sign he needed a bit more each day (blanket over ribs was not quite thick enough, etc). We decided to increase his food the next day (this was 3 days ago). That night, he had really bad diarrhea (before we increased food). It lasted two full days and it was pretty bad. We took him to the vet yesterday. He was weighed: on his 12 wo check-up puppy was 12.6kg. Yesterday, (ten days later) he was 12kg. So a rather large weight loss, not only the 600g loss but also the loss of what he "should have" put on. Vet is not sure what has caused the diarrhea (pup is totally fine, happy, playful, eating his food like a pig, etc). No fever, no other signs of anything. We are assuming that he caught something from the lake/beach we took him swimming at the day prior to the diarrhea starting. Vet says it is possible it is giardia but the onset was very quick, and it could be anything. So if it persists we take a stool sample in to him on Monday. In the meantime, vet gave him 2 injections to stop the diarrhea (he said what they were but I totally forget), a probiotic paste, and a special medical grade food. The food is a special diet for management of acute diarrhea to help heal the digestive system and not put any more stress on it. He only gets 150g of this special food every day! He was currently on 300g per day of his normal food and we were going to increase it a bit because he was looking thin! He is so scrawny today, when I pick him up I can feel how thin he is. We were told to feed the entire bag of food. It is a 1kg bag so it's about 6 days worth. Nothing else and nothing in between meals. This morning, after yesterdays shots, probiotic and new food, his stool was fine. Seems to be on the mend, but we will see how it goes over the next couple of days. Regarding his food - should we continue with this very tiny amount of special food for the full 6 days, or after 2-3 days of normal stool, start giving him more of it? Or start mixing a bit of his regular food in with it, or using his regular kibble as treats? I hate seeing him so thin and want to get him back onto his regular food as soon as possible. I'm not sure the best way to go about that? Should I transition slowly? Should we still be walking him 2x a day when he doesn't seem to be getting much by way of calories? I fear he will just burn more calories than he is taking in! Tomorrow we wanted to take him to a puppy socialisation class. He hates/is scared of other dogs so I really want to do this while he is young enough. But I will need treats for it. I'm not sure if it is acceptable to take him if his diarrhea has been clear for 24 h (using same guidelines schools have with children!?) and if so, what to use as treats? The medical food, or his regular kibble? Or none? Last question, once this has all passed, and he is fully on his own kibble, do puppies regain weight quickly or should I increase his food a lot more for a week or so, to get him up to a good weight (feel), and then cut it back to what is a normal amount for him? Thank you.
Sorry you’re having difficulties. Did your vet test his stool for worms? I ask cos when my boy lost weight it turned out he had tapeworm. Treated for worms and he put on 1 kg in the first week.
I doubt it is worms as he had a worm treatment a week earlier. Anything is possible. I am not overly concerned what it is, if it continues we will do a stool test on Monday. But you can't show up at the vet late Friday afternoon without a stool sample and have him check for anything really. His stool has gone very hard and dry quite quickly after the medication/probiotics/new food. I'm still wondering how to approach the end of the food bag- mix with regular food or just right into the new one? And feed him for the size he is or the size he should be?
If he's still underweight & skinny perhaps add another small meal. If his stool is good, I think I'd mix his regular food in rather than just dive in and switch. Good luck.
