Our 9-year old Duke has had diarrhea since Thursday when it began with loose stool. Very early Saturday morning he woke me up because of panting so I took him outside and the stool was even looser. So, for his meals on Saturday and Sunday we put him on boiled hamburger and rice. The few movements he had were firmer, but not back to normal. So for dinner last night I added just a little of his regular food in with the boiled hamburger and rice. When he went out later it was explosive, noisy diarrhea with mucus. From midnight until now (6a) he's gone out 6 more times and each time it was noisy, explosive and all brown liquid, with the last 3 times having blood involved (poor pic below). Not sure if the blood is from straining, but now I'm completely worried.
I've emailed his vet and collected a sample to take in, but hope that the good folks here night have some ideas of what's going on?
I would call the vet, too, as soon as they open. I'm a really worry wart and would probably bring him in asap today, to rule out anything. Could he have eaten something outside?
Is he acting normal otherwise, eating, drinking?
Yes, he has been totally normal - eating, drinking, playing, barking. My thought is he has eaten some bunny poop that it so obvious on top of snow these days. Last week he did eat a little of some grayish/beige substance that was on a neighbors curbside snow pile, but no idea what it is. I just checked his gums and they seems moist and normal. Hoping to get in to vet when they open.
Well, Duke was at the vet hospital all day yesterday, mostly as a mascot/guest and allow me some desperately needed nap time after the night before. The full fecal exam results aren't back, but the rectal exam showed inflammation and bacterial growth consistent with Giardia and/or other infection, likely bunny poop eating related. So he came home with Metronidazole and a new probiotic (for him) called Proviable DC. We'll continue with small meals of boiled hamburger and rice for several days. I took him out this morning and already his stool is firmer and he no longer seems uncomfortable.
So glad they found what made Duke sick and that he is on the mend. We have to watch Tucker and Tonka like hawks and they still eat something. I actually used muzzles a couple of times when they went out.
I'm not sure if this means anything but last night Duke seemed just a tad restless during the night. Not panting or anything but quite a few times he would be sleeping on his side and then sit up a little and look around or stare. I'd ask if if he had to go out, but de didn't react like he had to go out. He would go back to laying on his side for awhile and do the whole thing over. It happened maybe 3 or 4 times throughout the night. I wonder if Metronidazole is bothering him some? Otherwise he seems normal - playing, eating, peeing and hopefully pooping will return to a more normal schedule as is digestive tract get moving again.
Duke was his usual sleeping self last night. I did speak with his vet this morning and she thinks the Metronidazole and probiotics are starting to work. His stools are loose but I assume it's because boiled hamburger and rice has no real fiber. Will likely add some pure pumpkin to his food today, and then slowly start adding back in his regular food tomorrow.
Now that Duke is 9 years old I'm getting super vigilant and maybe over-worried about his health. I can't help it.
After several days of normal stools Duke's diarrhea returned yesterday. His last dose of Metronidazole was on Wednesday. It's possible that he got into some more bunny/animal poop, but now I'm worried again. He's still on a bland diet and his stool today was a tad firmer than the squirting, noisy stuff yesterday so hopefully this is self-limiting. I've called his vet to see if she thinks it's a good idea to restart Metronidazole but she isn't back in the office until Tuesday.
boiled chicken (without salt) and rice is a lighter and better alternative for the tummy. Plus, you can also give him rice water (take half a cup of rice and boil in a liter of water). A small piece of banana is also helpful. Feed this diet for a few days more **after** his stool has returned to normal and then gradually reintroduce his regular food. Our vet would normally advise a call back if the treatment has finished and there is no noticeable change after three days.
I'm boiling chicken as I type this I guess I can worry less because his blood tests were normal and when he was on Metronidazole his bowels improved greatly. Maybe he needs longer and more Metronidazole to beat this.
Duke is back on Metronidazole for another 10 days and his vet added 5 days of a deworming powder. I'm keeping up with the boiled chicken and rice diet. Is boil-in-bag rice okay or should I use regular rice? Also, even before the new round of Metronidazole and dewormer his stool (diarrhea) was and still is yellow-orangish. Is that because of the diet and normal?
Glad you called the vet. NOT SURE about the rice question and the color of the poop question. As long as the boil in bag rice doesn't have anything in it dogs can't have I guess it would be alright. Think the yellow/orangidh olor must be from the chicken.
Metro never worked for my dogs. Panacur did. Can't remember dosing instructions. I think it took a couple of rounds spaced a week or two apart. I hope Duke is better soon.
Duke has been on the boiled rice and chicken diet since last weekend, and Metronidazole and dewormer since Monday. His stool has returned to relative normal, i.e. not entirely firm because of less fiber and still orange/yellow. Is today a good day to start slowly adding his regular food back into his diet?
Duke has been on the boiled rice and chicken diet since last weekend, and Metronidazole and dewormer since Monday. His stool has returned to relative normal, i.e. not entirely firm because of less fiber and still orange/yellow. Is today a good day to start slowly adding his regular food back into his diet?
I tried reaching his vet, but she's out until Monday. For breakfast this morning I gave him chicken and rice with about an 1/8th cup of his regular food - about 18 pieces of kibble. Hope it goes well.
Last night Duke had another diarrhea round that was exactly similar to the first incident - repeated trips outside from 11p to 6a (7 times) where he had explosive, noisy diarrhea. He's been on 2 separate rounds of 10-day course of Metronidazole (his last dose was this past Wednesday), 5 days of dewormer and a bland diet of boiled chicken and rice with a little pure pumpkin since the original bout on 1/9/17. So after being up all night with him just now he jumped off the sofa from a sound sleep and vomited up a teaspoon of yellow bile and went through the motions for more but nothing else came up. At around 5:30a I did give him one chewable of Pepto Bismal with a little rice and pure pumpkin, but I don't see how that could cause vomiting 4 hours later.
I am so frustrated, worried and at wits end. He has gotten better while on Metronidazole so we very slowly added some of his regular kibble to his boiled chicken and rice, but a couple days out of ending the Metronidazole both times the diarrhea returns with a vengeance. His original stool sample came back negative for parasites but because we thought he might have gotten into some bunny poop or an odd looking gray substance that could have been animal/bird waste, the courses of Metronidazole and dewormer made sense, and seemed to help quite a bit. But now that he's back to diarrhea again I'm so worried it could be something else. Luckily he seems quite normal otherwise - eating, drinking, peeing, playing, barking - but it's taking a toll on us as we worry about his stool from day to day, constantly having to make more rice and more chicken, and now I'm going out of town for a few days meaning my wife will be dealing with this alone.
I have emailed his vet and probably get him seen tomorrow (Monday). Can anyone here please chime in with ideas or experiences that can help us move in the right direction? Also, is chicken and rice better than boiled hamburger and rice?
I am so sorry for all you and Duke are going through. Were x-rays taken? Could it be irritable bowel syndrome, gastritis, or pancreatitis? I think we were always told to feed boiled hamburger and rice.
I did a search on this forum on gastritis and lots of posts came up and included ones on pancreatitis: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/gtsearch.php?q=gastritis
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