Harley still hasn't come in season so not sure if this is going to happen yet! The vets said possible but I'm not sure now. Anyway, Harley's stools were very bloody 2 days ago (sorry if you are eating breakfast!), this has nearly stopped, but now she has very very loose stools . I feel like she gets better for a few weeks, then we go down this path time after time. She is on rice and chicken again. Going to order pro kolin today. Any advice of keeping her stools 'normal'. For treats she has chicken, ham, cheese, dog biscuits. Her kongs are stuffed with peanut butter or rice or banana or salmon mousse. We give her rice bones and vegetable chews. I am very careful on how many treats she gets and for her food (Royal canin gastro) she only has roughly 300g, recommended is just over 400g. If I up her food, she has runny stools. I just feel we are going in circles constantly and an getting really frustrated and tired as she is up again every night needing to go out. I know it's not her fault, but I'm frustrated as I don't know how to sort this out for her. Any advice gratefully received
Re: Poorly tummy again !!! Her treats and the kong stuffing looks a bit rich if she is having bowel problems. She may have a bacterial infection of the lower bowel as my Lab was very much like she is and eventually one of the vets tested her blood and discovered this problem. A long course of antibiotics and he was cured.
Re: Poorly tummy again !!! Stacia - do you have any suggestions on what treats/kong stuffings I should cut out? I only use cheese if we are lead training as she loves this. She has rice bones every few days and the veg chews every few days. I use a kong most days as I work. Thanks in advance. Karen - no tests have been done yet. She has had 5 bouts of this since we've had her she's had 2 lots of antibiotics and paste which did help. I'm going to phone the vet again today to ask for them to do tests or something as it's not fair on her. I will ask their opinion on giardia. Thanks
Re: Poorly tummy again !!! Naya I would get a stool sample tested. I'm surprised the vet hasn't suggested it as its been going on so long. My two had campylobacter. It wasn't bad diarrhea just loose once a week or so but after a coup,e of weeks I knew it wasn't normal and went to the vet who wanted a sample of their stool at its worst. Tests came back as campylobacter which is treated with 3 weeks of broad spectrum antibiotic. If Harley has anything like that just giving a a normal does of antibiotic will make it go away for a bit but not kill it off completely so it will reinfect. Sorry. Hope you get it sorted soon Jen
Re: Poorly tummy again !!! Just lost a whole blummin post Ternaya! So forgive me if I now sound brief,running out of time.... I was going through this 5-7 months,although Dex was pretty much permanently runny. After several diets changes we settled on RC Gastro,I think Harley is already on that isn't she? We had a positive Giardia test so I would ask the vet about that like Karen advises,it wasn't the cause of Dex's loose tum but it needed treating and certainly wasn't helping. I'd cut out ALL treats ( brutal,I know!) and slowly reintroduce and see what she can cope with( slow process)...that was my vets advice..in doing this I discovered dexter can basically tolerate steamed chicken and roast chicken with the skin removed,(the skin makes him very mucousy,sorry maybe too much detail!)training is difficult,I was trying to get through my first lot of obedience classes training a 6 month old with kibble in a room full of high value delicacies,you can guess what I spent most of my time doing ??? I get to a certain point where I think I'm going to bite the bullet and change him over onto fish4dogs because it's fish protein and that is supposed to be gentler on a sensitive tummy but I'm phased by the changeover and fearful of that dreadful time we had at 6 months when he was loose pretty much all the time.we live with his 'Norma' probably being looser than most dogs 'normal' but I know immediately when he is upset that he has eaten contraband outside the house .to be fair he probably drinks more water than most dogs too with the heat we have.... Dex's kongs are soaked kibble packed in with crunchy kibble and steamed chicken....occasionally if I've had sardines for lunch ,I will literally put a drop of oil on my finger and run it round the top and bottom rim of the kong before freezing .....they hold his interest just fine,he's at them until they are licked clean and doesn't seem to know he's missing out on all the other yummy treats and kongs his forum friends have! I'm really sorry she's upset again,my tummy just sinks when I see this recurring for people,it makes you so worried and miserable,big hug xxxx ( Not so brief reply after all,my fish pie will be mush ;D) x
Re: Poorly tummy again !!! Sorry to hear Harley is poorly again. I was once told by a trainer that dogs are lactose intolerant and that cheese isnt good for their stomachs- at the time I pointed out that I know lots of people who use cheese as treats (lots of you on here!) amd she said that it can upset tummies so maybe its worth cutting that out and seeing if it makes a difference? Hope she gets better soon!
Re: Poorly tummy again !!! After the big tummy upset at Christmas, I've had to be more careful with Charlie than I used to. I'd also look at the treats you are using. The sure fire way to firm up Charlie's poo is to feed nothing but kibble. No cheese, fresh or processed meat, or commercial treats. Nothing but kibble works better than chicken and rice, pro kolin etc. At greyfriars there is no need for the jackpot sardine treats and so on, and he has had nothing but kibble and sea biscuits for 2 weeks. His poo is perfect.
Re: Poorly tummy again !!! Naya, difficult to remember what I put in Rourke's kong now, I just thought your mention of salmon mousse might be a bit rich and also the peanut butter. I think I used to stuff the bottom with a dog biscuit, then put some softened kibble in and a wee bit of chicken, perhaps a wee bit of cheese, mashed all this down and put another dog biscuit on top then froze it.
