# Diarrhea that keeps coming back!



## Abby142

My puppy Jade (5 mo.) has been having all kinds of problems with diarrhea. 

When we got her the breeder had been feeding her a raw diet, we transitioned her over to the Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy (Chicken and Brown Rice). She has been fully on that for almost 2 mo with no problems. Her stool was well formed and she was eating like a champ. Then she suddenly started to have diarrhea. And it wasn't just soft stool, it was liquid. I was concerned that it might be parasites so we took her to vet, they did a stool sample (which came back negative) and they started her on Metronidazole. She was back to normal within a day. She was on the Metronidazole for a week, and a few days after it stopped the diarrhea started again. Took her back to the vet who recommend that we go with another round of Metronidazole(two weeks this time) in case it didn't have enough it to knock out whatever was hanging around. We finished that on Saturday evening and on Monday the diarrhea was back with a vengeance. It was pretty much all liquid. She actually threw up Monday night, twice, which was new (she has never thrown up before) so i took her back to the vet. Today she is in there to have a diarrhea panel done (to see if something is hiding out that the normal stool test didn't catch), and they are also doing an ultrasound/x-ray of her abdomen to make sure that everything looks okay. 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I have heard from some people that the blue buffalo can be too rich for little puppies but she was fine for 2 mo with little problems. Plus if it was the food why would the Metronidazole appear to fix it? I am just a mommy that is looking for a way to help my baby. Yesterday when i got home she didn't even care, went straight outside to go potty and throw up. That is very unlike her, she is normally overjoyed when we get home and I'm just really worried.


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## wolfy dog

Was she OK on the raw diet? If so I would go back on that and ask the breeder for help.
Often when my dogs have liquid diarrhea I can fix it by feeding them raw green tripe. But you may have to start with small amounts several times a day to make the transistion easier.


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## Gretchen

This sometimes happens to our dog after it rains. I live in CA, and we have long dry spells then it seems like the rain picks up all sorts of nasty stuff and our dog gets diarrhea. Very often the stool sample comes back negative.

It could be so many things - an allergy, GI inflammation. Would you consider a raw diet?

We do the easy, but probably more expensive raw diet. Either use a prepared raw like Nature's Variety or dehydrated raw like The Honest Kitchen.

Are you doing the basic rice/boiled chicken now? In bad cases like yours, our dog has done well on a temporary low residue diet, canned food that the vet sells. Often with the antibiotics, our vet will give probiotics, have you tried those?

How you get to the bottom of this soon. It must be hard for you to see your pup so sick.


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## Abby142

she did okay on the raw, but i am not the biggest fan of the raw thing. It works great for some people, its just not really for us. Ever since we have been on the BB food she has been so much more energetic, her coat is gorgeous and the shedding actually got better. But if it will stop the diarrhea we probably will have to do the raw again. 

We did the boiled chicken and rice the last time she had the diarrhea, and will probably go back to it when i pick her up this evening. She wasn't very fond of it. Kinda looked at it for a while before realizing that was all she was getting.


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## jaggirl47

Has she been tested for giardia? What about a fecal? Any worms?

If you can find nothing that is causing the poo, try a 6 week course of Tylan.


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## lzver

I second what jaggirl47 says about a 6 week course of Tylan if all other testing is coming back normal and not showing any issues.

Our GSD is almost 9 months old now and we battled chronic Diarrhea issues with him from almost the beginning. I can’t tell you how many fecal tests we ran (he did have roundworm and tapeworm at one point early on, so we did several fecal tests to confirm they were gone). We tried switching his diet … we did the Limited Ingredient foods several times trying a different protein each time, we tried grain free, we tried home cooked and he was getting fed a gastrointestinal canned food from the vet for several months because that is what he did the best on. 

After another bad round of diarrhea in August I had his TLi, Folate and B12 tested to see if he possibly had EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency). His TLi and B12 came back good but his Folate was a little elevated. We thought this might suggest a case of SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) and he was started on Tylan in the end of August. Within 24 hours we saw an improvement and with 3 days the diarrhea was gone. Currently we are in the process of slowly taking him off the Tylan. He’s getting 0.3 cc twice a day this week and next week he’ll get 0.3 cc once a day and then we are going to see how he does off the Tylan. 

I would suggest reading up on SIBO or Tylan Responsive Diarrhea on http://www.epi4dogs.com – I can’t get to the page right now, but if you browse to the SIBO page, you’ll get all the info you need in regards to this. In general, the people on the forum on this site were very supportive and a great help in figuring out what was wrong with my Jake. 

Good luck finding a resolution. Been there, done that and learned far more than I ever cared to know about dog digestive issues in the process.


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## Pattycakes

When my dog was a puppy, she seemed to always have diarrhea. I had her checked out for everything and everything came back normal. I was feeding her the BB chicken and rice formula for a puppy. After talking with the woman who ran the doggie day care about my dogs diarrhea problem she suggested I switch the dog food to a salmon based food instead of a chicken based diet. Amazingly enough, after putting her on a bland diet of cooked ground beef and rice, and switching to a salmon based kibble, it got rid of my dogs diarrhea and she hasn't had any problems since. I guess my dog can't tolerate chicken.

But definitely make sure you have ruled out any health issues before you start switching foods. And I hope you are able to resolve it soon. I know how frustrating it can be (my dog was 10 months when I finally got rid of the diarrhea).


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## Abby142

Thanks for all your help guys! All the test have come back negative and every looks okay. We went ahead and put her i/d food in an attempt to settle things outs. It has worked like a charm! We are back to almost completely solid and the vomiting has stopped. I guess it was the food all along. Wish we would have tried that before we spent all this money, but at least she is healthy and we ruled out any major health issues. 

My question now is what do you all recommend for food (since we don't want to keep her on i/d diet for too long)? I think I want to avoid chicken and we want something that is good for her, but not a rich as the BB. Any suggestions? 

Again thank you all so much for your help and support! this first time mommy really appreciates it!


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## jaggirl47

Personally, I love Orijen 6 fish.


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## Capone22

This happened to my first dog. On and off for two months. Every time we did the med(same one your doing) it would clear up but as soon as we would stop it would come right back. It was Awful. I did my own research and had a strong feeling it was giardia (it's VERY hard to catch with a stool sample) I did panacur and it cleared it right up and never came back. 


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## Abby142

Thought I would post an update...

Jade is still having diarrhea, but now it is more pudding like than liquid. And instead of being all soft, the first bit every time she goes is solid and then as she walks and poops it gets more and more pudding like (don't know why she won't stand still. makes picking it up so much less pleasant:crazy
She has also stopped gaining weight. She will be 6 months next week and she has been sitting right around 40 lbs for about the last two or three weeks. She eats and drinks great, has lots of energy, but she just isn't getting better. We actually had her tested to EPI this week. I was positive that that is what it was, but I just got the call from the vet saying that it is negative. She has tested negative for parvo, she has had all her shots, and has had three totally negative stool samples over the course of almost 2 months. No worms, no parasites, nothing unusual. They even did an x-ray of her abdomen and everything looks normal there too. She is currently one the prescription Hills I/D diet from the vet (crap I know, but it give us the most solid poop) and eating 2 cups twice a day. 
I am going to get a new dewormer from the vet today ( I wish i remember what it was called) that is suppose to be good against giardia. We have already spent over $900 on vet bills alone and simply can't afford the $280 diarrhea panel that would test for it. 

More than the diarhea I am concerned about the last of weight lose. When we first got her she gained about a pound a week. Now you can obviously see her ribs and it has me worried. 

Any one have ANY ideas? :help:


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## Doc

Panacur is a good wormer that will treat Giardia. SafeGuard 10% Goat Wormer can be purchased over the counter. You might want to try adding some probiotics to the kibble.


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## Soto

Abby142 said:


> Thanks for all your help guys! All the test have come back negative and every looks okay. We went ahead and put her i/d food in an attempt to settle things outs. It has worked like a charm! We are back to almost completely solid and the vomiting has stopped. I guess it was the food all along. Wish we would have tried that before we spent all this money, but at least she is healthy and we ruled out any major health issues.
> 
> My question now is what do you all recommend for food (since we don't want to keep her on i/d diet for too long)? I think I want to avoid chicken and we want something that is good for her, but not a rich as the BB. Any suggestions?
> 
> Again thank you all so much for your help and support! this first time mommy really appreciates it!


Can you tell me what exactly you did for your dog? Our GS has had Diarrhea since we got her and it's going on 4 1/2 months now. She tested positive for Giardia and round worms. We have treated with Panacur and Metridonizole and still has the diarrhea. I'm at my wits end. Hoping to try whatever you did and see if it helps. I was also told by a GS rescue person that some GS suffer from Pancreatic Enzyme deficiencies and it would help to use a supplement. Gonna try that as well but thought I'd check with you first on what the I/d diet consists of?

Thanks so much!


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## Heidigsd

Soto said:


> Can you tell me what exactly you did for your dog? Our GS has had Diarrhea since we got her and it's going on 4 1/2 months now. She tested positive for Giardia and round worms. We have treated with Panacur and Metridonizole and still has the diarrhea. I'm at my wits end. Hoping to try whatever you did and see if it helps. I was also told by a GS rescue person that some GS suffer from Pancreatic Enzyme deficiencies and it would help to use a supplement. Gonna try that as well but thought I'd check with you first on what the I/d diet consists of?
> 
> Thanks so much!


I am not the OP but can give you some info. Many GSD's do suffer from EPI, here is a group I belong to with a ton of info: Overview - EPI * Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency

Has your vet checked for and/or treated for SIBO? Tylan powder really helps with SIBO.

Here is a diarrhea panel that my vet runs when we are faced with diarrhea, it's not cheap. I think we paid $160 last time: 
http://www.idexx.com/pubwebresource...tes/realpcr-canine-feline-diarrhea-panels.pdf


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## trcy

When Kaleb ate a pepper from the garden he had really bad bloody diarrhea, Parvo test was negative. He was placed on the sensitive stomach ID canned food. given antibiotics and to help replace the good bacteria in his system a probiotic gel. I had to squirt some in his mouth twice a day. He has not had any issues since then. He was only on the ID canned food for a week.


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## AmyOle

We had good luck with Kocci Free when kolachi's giardia was 'Undetectable'... (But obviously there- those pudding stools sound exactly like her symptoms). One course of KF and she's back to normal. We also had her on I/D for six weeks, then slowly reintroduced proteins until we determined she didn't tolerate chicken or salmon.


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## My5dogs

Check for coccidia as well. My puppy same issues. He's in Fromm LBP 


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## GSDAlphaMom

Soto, how many rounds of treatment did you do? They can test negative if the parasites are sluffing off at the time the fecal is tested. It often takes more than one round. I had one several years ago that came infested with coccida and giardia (note giardia is a different test). It took 3 rounds (2 wks per round) to get her parasite free.


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## Abby142

Soto said:


> Can you tell me what exactly you did for your dog? Our GS has had Diarrhea since we got her and it's going on 4 1/2 months now. She tested positive for Giardia and round worms. We have treated with Panacur and Metridonizole and still has the diarrhea. I'm at my wits end. Hoping to try whatever you did and see if it helps. I was also told by a GS rescue person that some GS suffer from Pancreatic Enzyme deficiencies and it would help to use a supplement. Gonna try that as well but thought I'd check with you first on what the I/d diet consists of?
> 
> Thanks so much!


I would do as Heidigsd suggests and get you pup tested for EPI and SIBO and go from there depending on the results. 

the I/d diet was just a Science Diet kibble that the vet sold us. We didn't use it for long, and eventually switched for a grain-free, chicken-free food and it seemed to work really well. I know a lot of other people have had success with a raw diet.


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## blackshep

Soto said:


> Can you tell me what exactly you did for your dog? Our GS has had Diarrhea since we got her and it's going on 4 1/2 months now. She tested positive for Giardia and round worms. We have treated with Panacur and Metridonizole and still has the diarrhea. I'm at my wits end. Hoping to try whatever you did and see if it helps. I was also told by a GS rescue person that some GS suffer from Pancreatic Enzyme deficiencies and it would help to use a supplement. Gonna try that as well but thought I'd check with you first on what the I/d diet consists of?
> 
> Thanks so much!


My pup didn't have roundworms, but boy did we have trouble with giardia. Get a steam mop. Clean toys, bowls and bedding in hot soapy water frequently. Wash bedding on hot cycle and bath your dog a few times. Pick up poop, don't let it drink from puddles.

The one thing that helped clear her up, was changing her to raw. I don't know that the upset tummy from feeding kibble gave the giardia a chance to take hold or what, but her poop firmed up within 24 hours of changing to raw.


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## MaureenBland

My dog had horrible diarrhea as well, for literally months. We did the metro - the checking poops - all was fine... Then I ran out of bully sticks...... and VOILA he was cured. He is the first dog I had who reacted as badly to bully sticks as he did. Fast forward months later, and although his poop has firmed he was still "off" - I did allergy testing. He is horribly allergic to beef. That couldn't have helped.


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## vom Eisenherz

You're masking problems, not fixing them, unless you find out what the problem is. You can use any food you like, designed to "fix" stools, but still, the problem will be there. You just won't see it. Metronidazole will often do the same- short term use will make symptoms subside, but they'll come back over and over. 

If this were my dog, this is what I would do, and have done, for countless dogs. 

7 day course of fenbendazole
Geneflora probiotics, double dose 14 days and stick with it for AT LEAST 30days
Don't change foods around during this time

Retreat in 3 weeks for another 7 days of fenibendazole and again, up the probiotics. I know there are different recommended time lapses between treatment, but this is what has worked best for me. 


The food allergy thing is really, really overused. Giardia blocks absorption, so it really doesn't matter WHAT you feed if it's not being utilized properly. Some foods might go through better than others, but it's not the food's "fault" so to speak.


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## Corvus Laeus

Old thread, but my 11 week old Tiberius is just getting over the same thing. I got him from the breeder and, unfortunately, didn't get any of the food he was on with him. I started him on BB Freedom puppy and he had the squirts the whole time. I transitioned him to BB Wilderness Puppy Chicken and he had bad liquid stool for the last week until it finally started to firm. I feared he had a chicken allergy due to him biting at his hind legs and some dandruff. I'm thinking the dandruff could be his adult fur coming in and the cold snap we've had as he has come back negative on stool and he's firming up now. 

I also think I was initially overfeeding on the BB since I've heard it was rich. I've cut him back ~2/3 of what I was feeding before. I'm mixing with Primal RAW at the moment as well and he is loving it.


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## Sp00ks

vom Eisenherz said:


> You're masking problems, not fixing them, unless you find out what the problem is. You can use any food you like, designed to "fix" stools, but still, the problem will be there. You just won't see it. Metronidazole will often do the same- short term use will make symptoms subside, but they'll come back over and over.
> 
> If this were my dog, this is what I would do, and have done, for countless dogs.
> 
> 7 day course of fenbendazole
> Geneflora probiotics, double dose 14 days and stick with it for AT LEAST 30days
> Don't change foods around during this time
> 
> Retreat in 3 weeks for another 7 days of fenibendazole and again, up the probiotics. I know there are different recommended time lapses between treatment, but this is what has worked best for me.
> 
> 
> The food allergy thing is really, really overused. Giardia blocks absorption, so it really doesn't matter WHAT you feed if it's not being utilized properly. Some foods might go through better than others, but it's not the food's "fault" so to speak.


Thank you for the info. I 90% believe this is what we are going through right now. From what the vet told us in her simplified terms it appears she thinks its either Giardia or EPI. I've done some reading on EPI and I firmly believe that is NOT the problem. Sorry to resurrect the older thread.


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