Willow a year now and on and off has had the runs and been to vets etc, vets are not concenred by my worry is 1. why it keeps happening and 2. why does it last so long. it normally lasts a good week or so. We supervise her in the garden and on walks and never see her eating anything . She is on Royal Canin Sensitive Food already so its not her food. What else could it be? This bout she has had since Saturday gave her chicken and rice Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday mixed a bit of kibble in with to get her back on kibble and came down to two piles of runs this morning ! Any ideas please?
Re: has the runs alot You say it can't be her food but it really could, we have a gluten intolerant girl at the moment and our previous boy was intolerant of many foods and allergic to several too. There could easily be something in the food causing it and it may be worth trying others looking at what makes it worse and what settles it.
Re: has the runs alot I would definitely be asking my vet for a faecal sample to be sent away for testing for giardia and campylobacter amongst other things. And even though she's on a 'sensitive' diet this could still be causing the diarrhoea through over feeding, or anything else supplementary to her regular food - treats and bones/chews etc. Also if she does have some sort of dietary intolerance such as wheat/gluten then this could also be causing it - those sensitivity diets are ok for an upset tummy but if the underlying cause is an intolerance those foods don't actually cater to that sort of thing. You will need a specific wheat free food (if wheat is the cause). I would be asking for allergy testing if the faecal tests are consistently negative and reducing the amount of food/eliminating any extras in her diet doesn't work.
Re: has the runs alot Harley was on RC gastro sensitive and kept having this problem. We done the chicken and rice meals at times for 7+ days. Every time she went back on her food it happened again. We ended up having so many tests and found out she is wheat intollerant. We changed her food to Bob and Lush and haven't had any problems since.
Re: has the runs alot Royal Canin gastro does not contain wheat gluten - at least the type stocked by my vets doesn't. Royal Canin sensitivity control does not contain gluten or lactose. You can even get a version of RC SC21 that is chicken and rice free. The point of SC21 (if that is what Willow is eating) is that you are supposed to feed that, and absolutely nothing else, until you have stability. If you don't get it, then you need the vet to investigate further. It might be worth trying another sensitive food but check the ingredients carefully before you do to make sure you are changing something, and you know what it is that you are changing.
Re: has the runs alot Gypsy is on Royal Canin sensitive too and is fine on it. BUT it's relly hard to find treats that don't give her the runs. Even just chewing a rawhide without swallowing any gives her a runny tummy. The only treat I have found so far is pure dried fish skin, even fish4dogs stars set her off. Occasionally she will eat bird seed which falls from the bird feeder and that gives her runny poos too. : My Gavin (Cavalier) was the same, but his brother could eat anything. Tatze is also in the 'eat anything' camp. Some dogs just have super sensitive tums. I'm hoping Gypsy will grow out of it, but we'll see. ...
Re: has the runs alot Mags would that have implications for her becoming a guide dog? If she's got a super sensitive stomach? Because whoever gets her in the future might not be able to see if/when she's scavenging something she shouldn't?
Re: has the runs alot [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=7861.msg110290#msg110290 date=1410954011] Mags would that have implications for her becoming a guide dog? If she's got a super sensitive stomach? Because whoever gets her in the future might not be able to see if/when she's scavenging something she shouldn't? [/quote] No - a big part of her training is no scavenging, plenty of Guide Dogs have sensitive tums. The beginning of no scavenging is that she is allowed no human food, ever. At meal times she must lie under the table and relax, the same when I visit cafes and restaurants with her, she has a blanket and she must snooze on there. Us eating must have no relevance to her. Bits of food on the floor must be walked past, head up. In fact all lead walking must be head up She is getting really good at all of that already, going to a cafe with her is a pleasure as she gets so many compliments. The only things she tries to pick up on walks are sticks - and that's because she plays with them in the garden so sees them as toys :-\ but we are getting there with that too.
Re: has the runs alot Lover lab,big sympathies ,Dexter came to live with us at 5 months ,we probably didn't properly solve his runny tummy until he was 12 months old ....we found a suitable food ,RC Gastrointestinal puppy from which he graduated to the adult....but in this 12 month period anything other than his kibble,steamed chicken or roast chicken with skin removed would upset him dreadfully......A lot of labs seem to go through this.Dexter is really stable now ....but I proceed with caution on any changes.He still lives on a very restricted diet...He has NEVER had human food,apart from the things he has stolen which I can count on one hand.....I've introduced fish4 dogs sea biscuits and sardines in oil now but I did that really gradually to check on no ill effects.... Dexter did have giardia as a pup and that was a factor in us stabilizing his tum ,it's a really simple tea At that your vet can do pretty much instantly ,it's worth having the check to eliminate that as a possible cause x
Re: has the runs alot Sorry you are having trouble, I have the opposit problem. There is nothing Bouncer wont eat.
Re: has the runs alot [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7861.msg110278#msg110278 date=1410949158] Royal Canin gastro does not contain wheat gluten - at least the type stocked by my vets doesn't. Royal Canin sensitivity control does not contain gluten or lactose. You can even get a version of RC SC21 that is chicken and rice free. The point of SC21 (if that is what Willow is eating) is that you are supposed to feed that, and absolutely nothing else, until you have stability. If you don't get it, then you need the vet to investigate further. It might be worth trying another sensitive food but check the ingredients carefully before you do to make sure you are changing something, and you know what it is that you are changing. [/quote] While that's correct it doesn't mean a dog cannot be sensitive to chicken or rice or any of the other things in it. We found rice was terrible for Duncan's itchiness. I actually found fish and potato foods best for him. But point is a sensitive dog can be sensitive to anything and it's hit and miss until you find something that is right for them. Also as has been no treats of anything else until settled and you can say exactly what causes the problem.
Re: has the runs alot [quote author=Julie1962 link=topic=7861.msg110497#msg110497 date=1411021025] [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7861.msg110278#msg110278 date=1410949158] You can even get a version of RC SC21 that is chicken and rice free. [/quote] While that's correct it doesn't mean a dog cannot be sensitive to chicken or rice or any of the other things in it. [/quote] Yes, it's possible to do this without chicken and rice.
