At my wit's end with chronic diarrhea... advice?

[Gatorblu]

Have you tried a week or so on potatoes and ground beef? Or potaoes and fish? Just to try to rest his tummy? When all this started with Thor he would get better when I fed him boiled chicken and sweet potatoes, but as soon as he went back to kibble the diarrhea started back up. That was how I figured out we were dealing with pancreatitis. Once I figured that out, the vet ran blood work to confirm it. (We changed vets soon after this. When the comment was made he just may have soft stools the rest life. Like that is how it was suppose to be.) Has your pup been tested for pancreatits? Just a couple of ideas to throw out there.

 

[DiverDiva]

Some things that give Oscar the runs are corn, soy, and canola oil. I need to be very observant about some of the treats and other things I feed him. I often give him a kong with kibble and yogurt in it, and I discovered that Yoplait plain yogurt is thickened with cornstarch and that gives him diarrhea. I now use Dannon plain yogurt (not the nonfat type, which has gelatin) for his kong. Waggers treats, which looked pretty good to me as far as the ingredients are concerned, are made with soybean oil. Many premium treats and kibbles are made with canola oil, including the Solid Gold and Natural Balance products. I now search for the products containing chicken fat or beef fat.

Also, watch out for beet pulp. Along with getting the runs, Oscar seems to have acquired a yeast infection in his ears from that.

 

[EAO76]

Could it be a change in the water?? If it's city water maybe something in the chemicals?? My water is well water and that doesn't agree with Bode. He drinks the filtered water from the frig like us now and it's help clear up his issues.

I was going to ask the same thing. Maybe try giving him bottled water? It may be a stretch but you never know...I also would try the psyllium or pumpkin (one or the other) whenever I have had sick fosters these tricks would work wonders.

 

[BeauBo]

I went through some of the same things with my Beau for about a year. He's highly allergic to beef, chicken and lamb are not options for him either. After several attempts we have finally found something that works for him. Natural Balance (Limited Ingredient Diet) LID Fish and Sweet Potato. I found someof the other limited ingredient foods had raspberries and other fruits that he could not tolerate. I believe there are only 4 or 5 ingredients total in this food. There are other flavor combos available but this is the one that works for us. His stools are solid and easy to clean up. He rarely has gas, which he did frequently before. We find ours at Petco but I'm sure other Pet stores sell it. Continue with the probiotics while switching foods and hopefully you'll find a solution that works for you soon.

Good luck.

 

[mancin]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I started adding pumpkin to his dinner last night so we'll see how that goes. He is a FAN of it, that's for sure!

The change in the water I thought of - and I'm trying to recall if the problem started around the time I switched him off of Oregon water to Wisconsin water (it may have been around the same time I switched his food, my memory is failing me). I brought really big jugs along with me for the road trip so they didn't have water from different states, and I *think* I had enough left over to last about a week or so. I did the same type of transition with the water that I did with the food - slowly started mixing the two until they were 100% on Wisconsin water. That's certainly a possibility though!

Gatorblu - Thanks for the tips on the psyllium as well as other grainless foods. I might have to give one of those a try! He has not yet been tested for pancreatits. I think that's the next step (assuming it's a blood test?). The vet mentioned if the meds and/or pumpkin don't help, we should be doing blood work to test different levels of bacteria in his system to determine what is out of whack.

 

[mancin]

For those of you that have used pumpkin before, about how long did it take before it had any effect?

 

[emilyaj]

I definitely second Gatorblu and the other members who have mentioned Psyllium. I was in a similar situation to you; my pup Buckley is almost one and had NEVER had solid stool until we started this about 2 months ago. He is on TOTW Pacific Stream (he too cannot have chicken and is sensitive to grains), and I put about a teaspoon of Psyllium and the recommended dosage of Prozyme in every one of his meals. I swear he literally went from runny, watery poo to solid within one day!! He still occasionally gets an upset stomach when he eats something random, but for the most part, it has totally changed our lives!! He goes to the bathroom half as much (though he has kept his trademark boxer gas), and they are way easier "piles" to pick up... I swear they used to be poo pancakes.

Good luck!!

 

[blueeyes]

Pumpkin does work as a good fiber source. Keep in mind there is a fine line between too much fiber and too little. So increasing in increments is better than giving too much right away. My vet had me start with 1T. with every meal, then day by day if things looked better we'd increase it bit by bit. We had to go up to more than a 1/2c. It worked only a short time for my girl. Psyllium is actually Metamucil, it bulks up stool to get the extra water out. It shouldn't be given with other medications as it hinders their absorption. Psyllium should be taken 1 hour before other meds or two hours after. Also if you give capsules make sure your pooch immediately drinks 8 oz of water. The capsules expand like a sponge and they can suffocate if these expand in the throat and aren't washed down into the stomach.

I'm just outside of Milwaukee too. But I don't think it's the water. It could be other medical issues. My poor girl has had diarrhea now since October/November. It's gotten worse and worse. We've tried everything, Tylosin powder, pumpkin, psyllium, hypoallergenic foods, grain free, (she was on raw before the diarrhea and did well for 6 years on it), we had her prophylactically dewormed, antibiotics, rectal schmear/culture, CBC, TLi and B12 labs, ultrasound and most recently we just started her on Butesonide (steriod). If this doesn't cure it, my fear is there is something worse going on. Let me know if you have any questions, as I've been through and tried practically everything except for the endoscopy/colonoscopy. Good luck to you, I hope you pup gets relief soon!

 

[mancin]

Thanks everyone for your input! I'm switching Tyson as we speak to TOTW Pacific Stream, so I'm hoping that will help. The pumpkin and the meds from the vet have done nothing. I started adding the probiotics back to his food. I'm going to order some psyllium this morning (although I'm wondering if that will help if the pumpkin has had no impact...?)

I was hoping that I could avoid having his blood taken (he HATES it and it's very stressful for him), but each day it looks like that's the direction I'm headed. :(

So frustrated for him.

 

[cantfindlog]

I keep psyllium on hand. I purchased the brand Konsyl and it is at Walmart and I'm sure at most of the local stores in Milwuakee. I purchased that brand on a recommendation on BW a while back. Then you can buy a small size and not worry about shipping charges if the pysllium doesn't work out. Just make sure it is psyllium and no additives, which ever brand you buy.

This works great for Leah when I needed it and it worked well for a foster that I had briefly last summer.

Good luck, I hope it gets better.