# Diarrhea Problems



## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

My 13 week old GSD has been having some digestive issues for the past couple weeks that the vet can't seem to nail down and was hoping someone here would have some ideas. 

My GSD has been having recurring diarrhea that varies from soft logs to pudding consistency and hasn't been putting on weight that well. The vet has run 3 or 4 fecal tests and all have come up negative. We've tried a couple different foods and they all seem to be doing just about the same. Panacur didn't clear it up on the off chance that it was a parasite that didn't show up on a fecal. Fortiflora also didn't seem to have much of an effect.

I thought it might be EPI, but she doesn't have the voracious appetite that is described on the symptoms.

About the only other thing that I can think of is maybe switching to a fish based kibble, but past that I'm straight out of ideas and the vet hasn't had a whole lot either.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

Have they done blood work? If not do the GI blood work.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

First of all what food are you feeding
if you are changing foods that could be a reason right there 
you have to ween off foods and mix together


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

When we got her we weened her from the food the breeder gave us to wellness which she didn't like, so we did a 75/25 mix with CA Natural and switched over about a week's period but didn't seem to have an appetite for it. I had a bag of nutro in the pantry that she got into while I wasn't looking and seemed to love that. So, she's been on nutro for the past two weeks. Although I'm not a huge fan of the nutro, I though it might be the switching of foods that did it. So, we've tried keeping her on the nutro without a whole lot of success. Her stool seems to be ok in the morning, but gets worse in the afternoon.

No bloodwork has been done as of yet.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

I would have the vet do blood work.She could have an intestinal infection.I went through it for a month before a new vet did the GI bloodwork.I think she is too young for EPI.That tends to be for older dogs but it could be possible.Fast her for the bloodwork so you get the right numbers with no guessing..Stick with one kind of food while you are finding a diagnosis.


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

Alright. I'll call the vet and see when they can get her in the schedule. Thanks. 

Hopefully we can nail down what the pup's problem is. She seems to be happy and playful and otherwise a normal pup.


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

Any idea how much the blood work cost you? I called the vet and she said it's most likely a parasite or bacterial infection but we could do the tests anyways and general blood work was $120 while the GI test was $250.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

The general bloodwork won't show it,Athena had that first.The GI cost me $226 and some change.If she is willing you could always try a round of antibiotics.Most do the Metronidazole but some object to the possible side effects.If it is an infection it is usually a 30 day course of meds.


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

yeah the dog was already on Metronidazole for a week. It seemed to get a bit better as the diarrhea wasn't water anymore, just pudding consistency. At least that's a fair price for the GI work then. They're doing the fecal culture now to test for a bacterial infection. If this doesn't work I'll get the GI test. Thanks for the info.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

Athena was on the Metro for 7 days then 5 then the new vet put her on it for 30 after the blood work results came back.She did good after the first 7 days then a day or 2 after she started back up.The first round of it.I don't believe the fecal showed anything for us.Good luck I know how much of a PITA it is when they are sick.


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

So here's the update so far. We get the final results of the fecal culture later on today but when the vet called the lab yesterday nothing had grown. We took her in today and had the GI work done, so it'll be a while until it gets to the Texas A&M GI lab and they can run the sample.

In the mean time, the vet put her back on Metronidazole and Panacur as she had much more solid stools on that. So, now we wait for the results.

The breeder seems to think this is a bad case of giardia, but a SNAP test was run last week on her and it came back negative. Either way the Metro and Panacur should get rid of that.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

Good Luck.I hope this blood work shows the cause and it isn't anything major.The Metro should take care of it.How long did they put her on it for?Just watch for signs of weakness in the hind end.That can be a side effect of the Metro.


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

they gave us 2 weeks worth. Hopefully we'll find out midweek next week about the blood work.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

Ours was sent to Idexx and we got results in 4 days.The 2 weeks may do it but if it is an intestinal infection she will most likely need a month of meds to take care of it.


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

Yeah we're just waiting for the results. Hopefully the bloodwork will find the issue and we can adjust the meds.


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## greenleaf2001 (Mar 1, 2009)

Hello-

Buddy is 7 months old and had the same problems. We switched him to a raw diet and he has been healthy ever since. You may want to visit the BARF/RAW forums and give this a try. It worked wonders for us within 24 hours.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

greenleaf, I am glad to hear of your sucess! I remember your posts, and you had your work cut out for you healthwise. Great pupdate!


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## packet (Jun 24, 2009)

Well we got the results of the bloodwork back. She tested normal on everything. So, it's not EPI and not SIBO, which is certainly good news.

After fasting her for the test though, we put her on chicken & rice for a few days as recommended by a few people and it has made quite a change. Previously she never really had any attraction to food but now she can't get enough. It's like a completely different dog. We're slowly introducing kibble back into her diet (California Natural) and she's doing well. 

She's half way through the course of Metro & Panacur and her stool is much firmer than last week. Since Friday she's put on 2-3 pounds. So, things are definitely looking better. As long as the diarrhea doesn't return when she gets of the meds, we may be in the clear.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

I'm glad to hear she's better.I bet she had some bacteria or the worms.She should do good on the CA,I switched to it and no problems with Athena's tummy.It's a good limited ingredient food and more reasonably priced than NB.


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