Our puppy is 6 months old this week. He has been fed Acana Puppy Large Breed since birth (ie/ whatever age they are weaned onto food). His stool has always been great - firm, solid little logs. We had one bout of diarrhea at 13 weeks old, mid April. Cleared up in 4-5 days: an Eukaneuba special food for gastrointestinal distress, some probiotics, and everything was back to normal. End of June, about June 25th, we woke up in the morning to diarrhea all over the floor. Sometime in the middle of the night. We assumed it was from having eaten something on his walk the night before - my husband said he is pretty certain it was a rotten plum (lots of fruit trees in people's gardens that drop onto the sidewalks). Several bouts of it during the day over the next couple of days. We tried probiotics, no effect, and after 4 days we took him to the vet. The vet just sort of said "hmmm" and not much more. Gave him an injection to slow down the bowel, metronizadole, and said to come back if it did not get better. It got better, but not completely -- better as in "firmed up a bit" but was still very very soft stool. We went back 4 or 5 days later. The vet was a bit weird and said "why does your puppy always have diarrhea? This seems to be a continual problem for him." Which we thought was weird being that it's only the second time. He put him on Amoxiclav, another special gastrointestinal diet food (Hills) for 5 days, probiotics, and another injection to slow the bowel. Again, it seemed to clear up quite well, but not perfect. Amoxiclav finished, the next day everything was good. The following day soft again, but not diarrhea soft. Just not as firm as it always was before. It lasted a couple of days and then got a bit softer by this past wknd. He was due a wormer at 6mo so I gave it to him on Monday (endogard plus). Stool was fine Monday, Tues, and this morning. By this evening it's back to VERY soft again and puppy is pooing and then running a few feet away to squirt last bits out. Our breeder suggested trying a new food - he recommended a special grain free, gluten free food for dogs with allergies. He said one from the litter is on it now as she was not doing well on the Acana, but all of the others are still on the Acana as far as he is aware (he keeps in close contact with us all!) And that all of his dogs have always been find on the Acana, but recently he switched one from another litter onto this grain/gluten free food as well. He gave us a bag of it to try, but we have not yet. What else could cause this kind of soft stool, on and off? Would it be usual to be doing totally fine on a food and then suddenly develop problems with it? Any thoughts on this?
Have tests been down to rule out Giardia and/or any other nasties in the stomach/ intestines/ bowel? That would be my first step. Have you reduced the amount of food as overeating produces soft poos, although not always diarrhoea. If tests are all negative and it's not food quantity the food itself has to be suspect so a change would be good but I would look to move to a single, novel protein source - something he has never eaten before so shouldn't be sensitive too, which will mean lots of research on food ingredients before choosing.
The vet did a stool sample in April when he had diarrhea and it came back clear incl for giardia. Although it depends on how long giardia takes to show symptoms.... I think this did start aboit the time we increased his food though so that is something we might have to look at. Would that happen on and off or would it be runny/soft ALL the time? I guess I can try to find another food but I think he has been exposed to every protein source before, through treats at least (ie salmon, duck, turkey.....). I can do some research on a suitable option tonight. Would it be normal for a food to be fine and then after a few months, not be okay?
Overfeeding would, most likely, produce soft poo on a daily basis . It may be worth running another series of stool tests just to confirm that there isn't an underlying problem. A food can start to cause a problem after some months of consumption without problems. Sensitivity can build slowly. Most common protein sources for sensitivity are chicken and beef, if that helps. With the range of dog food now available you should be able to find something suitable.
