[KellySue301]

Hello everyone!

We got Peach on February 10th when she was 8 weeks old. She started off with decent stools, didn't notice much of an issue other than the first night where it was a bit loose but felt that was normal due to the sudden change, etc. Since then, on and off, she will get random bouts of awful diarrhea sometimes straight brown water, sometimes looks like soft serve chocolate ice cream, sometimes it's a lot of stool and sometimes it's a smaller stool. Also she will have some really good, firm stools as well. I truly can't figure out what brings on the diarrhea. She has been tested for any and all parasites, everything negative. She came home on Diamond puppy food and we kept her on that up until about a week ago we have slowly started switching her to Purina Puppy Large Breed Sensitive Skin and Stomach Salmon and Rice. We have been very slow at it, making sure to not rush anything. We have tried giving pumpkin, have been giving Fortiflora, everything. The vet prescribed a probiotic that she was on before we started the Fortiflora, was on it for 3 days, she seemed to do alright on it. It seems that she is fine in the mornings, firm stool, and by the evening her stool is extremely soft/watery and is needing to be taken out several times throughout the night otherwise she will (and has) soil her crate. For example, this has just happened today - all day no stool at all despite getting breakfast like normal, finally one good firm stool in the evening, fed dinner, and now stool is diarrhea/watery and has gone twice. She does eat like she's starving, we have a slow feeder, and she still eats extremely fast even with it - I swear I do not hear her chew more than 3 times. Total food she gets now is 2 cups a day, and a couple of extra handfuls throughout as we use her kibble for training (tried using treats during her puppy class, absolutely awful diarrhea all night after that). She can go extended periods of time without soft stool - last week, she went all week with really good, firm stools - weekend hits, diarrhea, and now through the week it is back to firm during the day and soft/watery at night. I'm at a loss here. We try to keep her settled after every meal for about 30 mins in her crate, this sometimes seems to help, other times does nothing. Any further suggestions??

Her health otherwise seems fine - very active, energetic. She has vomited a couple of times, twice total since being home, once in the middle of the night after having a bout of diarrhea outside. She does itch herself a bit, will itch her ears and groan a bit when doing so. They don't seem yeasty (our other dog has had awful yeast infections in his ears in the past and hers seem nice and clean and clear). Her belly also seems to be a bit on the dark side, and she did have some dry, flaky skin on it (which is why I figured we could try the Purina).

Thanks for your time!!

 

[DblTrblGolden2]

It sounds like Giardia, in which case I would do Metronidazole. You would also need to keep all stool areas clean, pick it up and spray the spot with a bleach/water combination. Has the vet treated her with anything other then the probiotics? I always add a little water to puppy food to soften it, this also helps them eat slower. Sometimes it will stick in the bowl and cause them to take more time picking it out, or a slow feeder bowl. I would be feeding 3 meals a day. You may also want to consider going on the Purina Pro Plan EN Gastroenteric RX food for a few weeks. I've had good success with it with a puppy that had awful stomach issues.

All of this should be discussed with your vet.

 

[Emmdenn]

You can pick up safeguard dewormer at tractor supply and worm her with that (I do this routinely). Puppies also just tend to have a faster moving GI than adults which can lead to soft stools. Try adding a scoop of pumpkin, Greek yogurt or a probiotic (I like forti flora and probios) to her food and see if that helps firm her up.

 

[Sankari]

Second the giardia diagnosis. It seemed somewhat similar to what we experienced with our golden - he was older though at 1.5 years old but the stool test never positively identified it. However, I think treatment would be 10 days metronidazole and 5 days panacur as that's what we did... The 5 day panacur would be useful in getting rid of the giardia while the metronidazole firms up the stool.. Also would suggest to keep on a bland diet of chicken and rice for a while and then transition back to kibble..

 

[KellySue301]

Thanks everyone! She continued with the diarrhea today, and we ended up calling her vet. We have been trying the pumpkin and Fortiflora with mixed results. I have stopped with mixing her kibble to see if this helps. Her vet told us that it would be odd for her to show symptoms of a parasite or Giardia so soon after infection if she were to become infected this past Saturday after we had brought her to a public setting that included other dogs/people. She had been tested for parasites as well as Giardia about 2 weeks ago and everything came back negative - but like you are saying - I fear a false negative. She had given a dewormer of two doses, first was done about a week and a half ago and in a few days is her second round of dewormer. She was also dewormed by the breeder's vet before we picked her up. Our vet prescribed an anti-diarrhea medicine (metronidazole) today for the next 10 days, as she said she feels it is gastroenteritis, since she had gone last week with a completely solid stool. I will say our other dog who is 8 years old is doing perfectly fine despite constant interaction with her. The vet said if the current medication does not firm up her stool, to give another call and they will run a fecal again. She already has an appointment for this Friday (week from tomorrow) for her next round of shots, so we will see how she is doing by then I suppose.

 

[DblTrblGolden2]

The metronidazole should firm things up, don't be surprised if she goes a day with out having a stool. Metronidazole also treats giardia. Older dogs don't seem to get Giardia as easily as puppies. It's not just about taking her to public places, if she has had giardia you have to sanitize your own yard. I have a large yard and last Spring had a new puppy that ended up with Giardia. I picked up all poop in bags and then immediately sprayed the spot with a bleach and water solution. I had a specific area for the puppy to go to the bathroom so the older dogs had no risk of exposure. Giardia unfortunately is one of those things that you have to be vigilant about cleaning up. If it's not giardia the metronidazole will still help. It is a go to med for loose stools. If it were me and it started to come back I'd try the Purina Pro Plan Gastroenteric RX food for a few weeks to let her tummy calm down. One of my sons labs had terrible tummy issues as a puppy, two obstructions from swelling. We did a constant dance of metronidazole and fortiflora. I eventually put her on the gastroenteric food for a couple of months and then slowly transitioned her back to Pro Plan Sport 30/20 Salmon. She's been fine ever since. Her stomach just needed time to heal. Good Luck!

 

[Emmdenn]

I’d look into hills prescription diet while she’s on the meds — it helped us immediately when we were dealing with stubborn diarrhea in conjunction with metronidazole.

 

[caninelover]

Not sure about Gastroenteritis but my 4.5 month old has had Giardia since we brought her home. Her symptoms are mild and only include intermittent soft poop (not liquid, explosive, and no vomiting). We tried one course of Paracur (I think that's what it's called) but she still came back positive. She is eating fine, and growing well so vet advised not to treat and just recheck in a couple of months.

For what it's worth I tried adding pumpkin and I think it made things worse, like her system was overwhelmed by too much fiber. So I stopped it and went back to plain kibble and probiotics and her her stools are improving. So maybe try stopping (or reducing) the add INS, and maybe just plain boiled chicken and white rice for a day or two to let her system recover? Good luck and I hope whatever you try works!

 

[KellySue301]

Thank you all again for the help! She had her first dose of Metronidazole last night with dinner, and she had 0 bouts of diarrhea since then. No accidents all night, and then this morning one good solid poop. Gave breakfast with next dose, no poop since then. It seems this is the miracle pill when it comes to diarrhea lol! I think I may get another stool sample done at her next appointment just to recheck for any parasites since she has been doing quite a lot of interacting with other dogs and people since the first test, as well as just to try and rule out a false negative.

We have stopped with the pumpkin as well. It was odd, she seemed to stiffen up with her poops when the pumpkin was frozen on her lick mat, but the soft stool would come back when we gave it with her kibble and the pumpkin was mushy. We had also been giving some blueberries with each meal and stopped that as well. So now she is on strictly the Purina Pro Plan SSS kibble with the Fortiflora probiotic and that is it. Here's to hoping the solid poops keep at it!

We will definitely keep up with the cleanliness of the yard just in case this is a parasite of some sort, the last thing we would want is a reinfection, even though all the testing has come back negative - you just never know!

 

[caninelover]

Sometimes Giardia can be hard to detect (it's technically a protozoa not a parasite or bacteria) but great that the medicine is helping!