I have an 11 month old named Simon. He has had diarrhea since we brought him home as an 8 week old puppy. When I noticed his first episode of diarrhea, I immediatly took him to the vet because our other dog had coccidia as a puppy and had similiar symptoms. The vet said he didn't have it and sent us home with an antibiotic. His diarrhea never resolved and he ended up in the "puppy ICU" due to severe dehydration related to a severe coccidia infection and worms. After we got him home, he had about 1 solid stool and has basically had diarrhea ever since. We have taken him to the vet several times, he has been on several rounds of Flagyl and Primor, neither cleared his diarrhea. He is very thin and small (about 45 pounds) and has now began to have accidents in the house at night. His stool is liquid with blood and has a very foul, almost sweet odor to it. Has anyone ever had this problem and if so, what was it? The vet wants us to go to an internist at Purdue (which is very expensive), I am just trying to exhaust all other possibilities before doing this. Thanks!
Chronic Diarrhea
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Chiefsmom
Boxer Insane
I know this seems so simple; and I'm sure you've already done this already... but have you tried a change in diet? Our lab-mix went through this as a pup; where we took him to the vet and spent tons of money testing him for all kinds of things! But then we switched his food and it all turned around! Just curious if it's something you've tried!
Keep us posted as to what happens!!! Sending (((((healing vibes)))))!
Keep us posted as to what happens!!! Sending (((((healing vibes)))))!
nswain
Completely Boxer Crazy
I agree with looking at his diet - some dogs just don't do well on any commercial foods (mine is one of them!) A homecooked or raw diet can work wonders, it's usually much easier for dogs to digest. Tons of information her on BW if you do searches in the Feeding section.
Also, at this point the antibiotics may be making the problem worse... my baby gets diarrhea any time she goes on an antibiotic. She gets a lot of skin infections due to allergies and has to go on meds, but we found that she developed bloody diarrhea every time a few days after starting the antibiotics. Most dogs tolerate them well, some don't. Probiotics are great for helping rebuild the good bacteria in the gut, since your boy has been on and off antibiotics for so long this might be something to try!
When our vet recommended an internist, we decided to try a holistic vet first and he worked wonders for us. Helped us to look at her diet and try to make her healthier overall instead of just medicating her symptoms.
Good luck and I hope your boy gets better soon!
Also, at this point the antibiotics may be making the problem worse... my baby gets diarrhea any time she goes on an antibiotic. She gets a lot of skin infections due to allergies and has to go on meds, but we found that she developed bloody diarrhea every time a few days after starting the antibiotics. Most dogs tolerate them well, some don't. Probiotics are great for helping rebuild the good bacteria in the gut, since your boy has been on and off antibiotics for so long this might be something to try!
When our vet recommended an internist, we decided to try a holistic vet first and he worked wonders for us. Helped us to look at her diet and try to make her healthier overall instead of just medicating her symptoms.
Good luck and I hope your boy gets better soon!
Chronic diarrhoea with foul odour sounds very much like giardia or some other protozoan infection. Has he been tested for that? Of course, it would probably be treated with Flagyl (which is very rough on the liver), so perhaps isn't such a strong possibility since he's already had a few rounds of that drug. That said, flagyl isn't actually that effective against giardia, so it may still be a possibility worth investigating if it hasn't been already. Here's a short veterinary article with more information: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1622&articleid=739
henrysmom
Boxer Booster
Giardia is now more easily detected in a new "snap test" - you have to ask for the snap test and not just a regular fecal exam as cysts may not show up in every stool sample.
Henry and Quigley both developed chronic diahorrea a few weeks ago and Quigley tested positive for Giardia.
They were both treated with metronidazole and now all symptoms seem to have disappeared.
My vet told me it was the first positive test she had seen (she has only been practicing for 3 years though).
As GM says, it is worth ruling out before changing diets.
Henry and Quigley both developed chronic diahorrea a few weeks ago and Quigley tested positive for Giardia.
They were both treated with metronidazole and now all symptoms seem to have disappeared.
My vet told me it was the first positive test she had seen (she has only been practicing for 3 years though).
As GM says, it is worth ruling out before changing diets.
Thanks everyone! We have changed his diet, he was on puppy chow, then we had to give him boiled chicken, rice and cottage cheese for a while, then we tried a different kibble that didn't have any sprayed on animal fats and had lots of the "good stuff" in it. The most recent diet (like the day after I wrote the original post) was pumpkin and potatos, which did yield a semi-formed stool (finally). We took him to a new vet yesterday and he dewormed him and gave us some other medication to deworm him, drew some blood and sent his stool out for more testing. We have a prescription diet now, we'll see how that goes. Thanks again for all the suggestions, I think he might have IBD, but we'll see. I'll keep you updated!
tesster
Boxer Insane
We went through the same thing with our Conner. He is intolerant of basically everything. We ruled out all the possibilities and we he was finally diagnosed with colitis (rule-out diagnosis when they can't determine a cause). We changed his diet to raw (after trying several alternatives - grainless kibble included) and he's thrived. He gets meat, bone, offal and some veggies, but not many, as they typically cause him grief. Poor baby. He's 100% better now except when he counter surfs something he shouldn't have.
You should definitely get rid of the puppy chow and trade up for a better kibble if you're not able to entertain raw or home cooked. Puppy chow is full of nasties that could be causing him issues.
You should definitely get rid of the puppy chow and trade up for a better kibble if you're not able to entertain raw or home cooked. Puppy chow is full of nasties that could be causing him issues.
buffylvangel
Boxer Booster
Get your baby off all grains, rice, etc. It saved my pups life.
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