help-- so tired of diarrhea (long)

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sgbtab

Banned
have you thought about colitis. you might want to look into that. gracie has colitis and she had loose stools for about 2 years and she would go to the bathroom at least 10 times a day. I started raw feeding and she is doing well. although she still has a problem eating bread which is a no no nonoicon everytime she is just about solid some one in my house leaves the bread out. I keep trying to train the humans in my house :LOL:
 

dagney's mom

Boxer Booster
yesterday and this morning i put a little bit of california natural in his boiled chicken and rice... he had diarreha both times... if the california natural is too rich, then what should i put him on?

we have tried so far: nutro large breed puppy (he came to us on this food), canidae, solid gold and wellness simple solutions... canidae worked for a little
while, wellness was not good for him

dagney does have some chin acne and his ears get red only after he runs around alot and he doesn't scratch too much... what food should i try him on? i feel bad switching his food so much... i am going to makea vet appointment for next week and have him checked for colitis and for giardia.

any suggestions with food?
 

1FlashyFan

Boxer Insane
Going back to gmacleod's post, it does seem you've tried a variety of quality kibbles and you may need to look at the problem from a different angle.

I can imagine how frustrated you must feel. Good luck with the vet visit, I do hope you figure out what works for Dagney.
 
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1FlashyFan

Boxer Insane
Please excuse the technical problems

This is the quote by gmacleod that I was attempting to reference in the previous post:
He may have an irritable bowel... Since nothing else has worked, have you considered trying a natural raw diet? It probably won't cure an irritable bowel, if that is indeed his problem, but it may help some. And then, there are some dogs that simply don't do well on any kibble, but do fine when given a natural diet.
 

adonofrio

Boxer Pal
Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome (IBD) / Colitis

I feel your pain. I got Raven at 10 weeks old and he is now 14 months and has had diarhea almost his entire life until about 10-12 weeks ago. He came to me on a combination of Eukanueba Puppy & Bil Jac and had really loose stools - like soft serve ice cream. In an effort to firm up his stools I tried boiled white meat skinless chicken and rice and he started pooping liquid. I then tried California Natural and liquid poops started containing blood. I continued to try just about every high end kibble there was and all the time going to the vet weekly, sometimes more and nothing was working.

It was heartbreaking because he was growing and not gaining weight. I became very worried about his health, so I wound up switching vets 3 times until I found my current vet who diagnosed him with chronic Inflammatory Bowel Disease which causes colitis. My vet told me that IBD is a side effect of a compromised immune system, which has been the cause of various other immune related issues that he went through in his short life (demodectic mange & staff infection, etc). After over $1000 in tests to confirm chronic IBD and trying several prescriptions and prescription diets, my vet finally figured out the right combination that got Raven pooping semi-normal.

My vet recommended Eukanueba Low Residue Food, which is an RX diet that you have to buy at the vet that is specially formulated to produce less stools and be easier on the digestive system because the food is broken down to the bare amino acids. I was sick when my vet first prescribed this, because the kibble has everything you know you're not supposed to feed your dog (first ingredient is corn grits!). Even though it helped him, I wouldn't accept it as a long time solution, so I'd slowly try transitiioning him to CA Natural or Wellness and whenever I did the diarhea started again and got bad.

Long story short, I had to accept that the Eukanueba Low Residue was the only kibble that worked for him. He's also on 500mgs of Metronidazole daily(aka Flagyl), as well as 1 pepcid AC daily for acid reflux, which I didn't know he had until he started spitting up pink. After accepting the permanent switch to the Low Residue diet - Raven finally had his first solid poop in nearly a year. He has an extremely sensitive stomach and even licking snow can set him back to loose stools, but at least we found the right combination of food & meds so that he can poop solid. I hate the idea of having him on an RX diet and meds for the rest of his life, but I couldn't have him pooping liquid with blood.
I wish you the best of luck, but I'd suggest a quick google search on IBD & Colitis in dogs.
Good luck
-Annette
 

1FlashyFan

Boxer Insane
Consider all your options

adonofrio said:
I feel your pain.
I'm sorry you've been going through such a frustrating experience. Anyone who has had to deal with this knows just how difficult it is for you and your puppy. We've gone through quite a bit too, only not for quite as long as you have. I've spent a bundle on emergency visits (two 3-day stays) and the number of vet visits probably equals the number of premium dog kibbles we've tried to no avail (lost track of the number). We were at the point where the vets wanted me to have my 13 week old puppy undergo invasive testing (endoscopy and colonoscopy) to confirm either IBD and/or colitis. I figured before I'd put him through that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain with a natural diet (raw).

I read up on it first, found a vet who would support me and then, gave up on kibble and went to a homecooked plan but it still wasn't perfect. Without any kind of transition, we just dived in from one day to the next. I know it's only been a few days but this is the longest my puppy has ever gone with normal bowel movements. No more diarreah, no more loose stools, no more blood or mucous. There is no awful smell to the stool and my puppy is more energetic and playful than he's ever been. No more drugs either (no flagyl, no sulfa antiobiotics, nothing but a raw diet).

I was very resistant to this for reasons I'm just beginning to realize. I grew up feeding kibble, fearing chicken bones would choke a dog, and other endless arguments against a natural diet that challenged this idea. Many wise BW people (gmacleod, Jan, lafsalot, and others) kept suggesting it to me, but I kept holding out for some weird reason. I think it just seemed too simple; the answer had to be more complicated, right? It took desperation for me to come to my senses and at least give it a try. I'm so glad I did, and so is Gunnar!

I guess all I'm wanting to share is that you should consider this option as you decide how to tackle this challenge. Raven and Dagney are lucky to have such loving and concerned people caring for them, and I know you're doing your best to keep them healthy. I wish you strength and many healthy days ahead as you find what works for you and your puppy.
 
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sgbtab

Banned
I agree with flasy fawn. I to have a boxer with colitis/ibd and this has been going on for 2 years. gracie has never had a solid stool always bloody and loose. I tried everything and of course the medical bill's rulesicon I ended up putting all of my boxer's (3) on raw. and you would not believe it solid stools still a little blood but I think in time it will get better.it has only been around 1 month. the only problem I have is with family members leaving out bread it seems gracie can smell bread a mile away wormicon and when she eat's bread it's like starting all over. if only the humans would learn the rule's rulesicon
 

Boxer_Mom

Boxer Buddy
My boxer has had runny stools *forever* and we have tried just about every food. The one that made his stools the worst was California Natural, and I have heard from many people that it's just too "rich"...whatever that means. The only food that gives him semi-firm stools is the Wellness Simple Food Solutions Venison. He can't have duck because it's still in the poultry family and he's allergic to anything with chicken in it. We have gone through this for months, and it really depressed us and felt like it was something we were doing...I felt so bad for Monson. We have tried about 20 different foods...lol. He can't have chicken, corn, wheat, "animal fat" (which has who knows what), and so many other things....even lamb gives him the runs. I don't know many people who have had success on California Natural though, so after 3 weeks, we finally gave up on it and gradually switched him to Wellness SFS and within a few days, his poops had really changed. Good luck!!
 

dagney's mom

Boxer Booster
update on dagney

we switched dagney to solid gold's hud-n-flocken 3 weeks ago and he is doing great... his poops are solid about 65 % of the time and a little loose the rest of the time... he is also beginning to put weight back on.... my only concern is that when dagney is almost done pooping, a little blood comes out at the end... anything to be worried about?
 

kragbax

Boxer Buddy
dagney's mom said:
we switched dagney to solid gold's hud-n-flocken 3 weeks ago and he is doing great... his poops are solid about 65 % of the time and a little loose the rest of the time... he is also beginning to put weight back on.... my only concern is that when dagney is almost done pooping, a little blood comes out at the end... anything to be worried about?

From what I've read, and from my own experience with my own pup (having gone several times to the Vet regarding the blood after the poop), it sounds like colitus. At least, that's what my vet is telling me. Unfortuantely in my situation, lil Champ apparently also has coccidia, which simply prevents him from having solid stools (untill we get it cleared up). Do a search for colitus and see what others have tried, and you should talk to your vet about this as well I'd think.

-Krag
 
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