# poop problems



## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

A week ago I switched everyone over to Natural Balance Ultra dry kibble. Bella and Duke seem to be doing awesome on it, it's the first time in Bella's life she's ever eaten dry food without anything mixed in, her coat is looking a little more shiney than usual, and she doesn't get eye boogers like she used to sometimes. Duke scarfs his whole bowl down and begs for more, lost the ey boogers as well, and his poo is nice and firm.

I am, however, worried about Daisy. She's had pancake-batter type poop since we brought her home (in 3 weeks we've gotten MAYBE a handful of sort-of-formed stools from her). She seems to be losing weight (or at least not gaining enough for her growth) and her ribs are starting to be visable. Her fur looks like it's thinning out. She's looking more and more like we just brought home a starving stray puppy.

We've tried everything--completely dry, moist, mixed with canned food, mixed with Natural Balance Log food--and nothing seems to get her stools firm. Her activity level is fine and she doesn't act like she's sick, but she sure looks it!

Anyone have tricks for firming up stools? Today is the first day she's really eaten well since we brought her home--should I give her a little more time to adjust or is it time to look for something else for her?


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

It may not be a bad idea for a vet visit to clear up any worm/parasite concerns. Poor Daisy!


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## PuffinGirl (Feb 20, 2009)

If you haven't taken her into the vet and had them do an exam, I would highly recommend that. They should do a fecal on her for sure. I went through almost two months of diarrhea with my puppy, and ran every test we could think of on him. A couple thousand dollars later, and all the "bad" possibilities crossed off the list, our internist suggested trying different diets to see if it was a food sensitivity. Thanks to a recommendation from a fellow forumite, we found a food that made a HUGE difference overnight.

But, we would not have tried experimenting with diets without first knowing that there were no health problems causing the diarrhea.


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## lylol (Feb 18, 2009)

Concur... visit the vet and get some tests done... have heard lots of pups this year with giardia and some with worms that the standard wormer isnt working on. And the first test hasnt always found the problem... keep after it, it sounds like Daisy doesnt have that much reserve to be sick for long without vet attention. Once tested, my standby for upset stomachs and also as part of food switches its too cook chicken (I like without the skin so as not to be too rich) and rice and feed with just a little kibble mixed in and gradually increase the kibble as the tummy settles. I have also used a probiotic esp if the vet gives the pup meds. Ask your vet about them. Pumpkin is also a good "firmer" and filler... not the pumpkin pie mix but plain canned pumpkin. Let us know what you discover


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## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

They went to the vet at 9 weeks and were given a worm treatment, and have a vet visit scheduled for Thursday for their next round of shots where I do plan on bringing this issue up but was hoping to get some feedback here in the mean time.

Also, I don't know if this makes a difference but at least one of her litter-mates is showing similar symptoms--no change in activity level, but not eating as much/not gaining weight/diarrhea.

And I should also probably note that she is starting to look a little better last night/today. Her ribs are less noticable than 2 days ago and she is eating better. But her coat still looks really crummy, like a malnourished stray.


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## PuffinGirl (Feb 20, 2009)

Definitely have the vet do a fecal on her. Dewormers do not treat all kinds of parasites, if that's what she has. 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of things that can cause diarrhea. It can be a very frustrating process trying to figure out the cause.


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## greenleaf2001 (Mar 1, 2009)

Hi-

We've had our GSD Buddy for a little over 5 weeks now. All 5 weeks he had diarrhea or pancake poops several times per day. The vet was stumped as he tested negative for any parasites. We tried EVERYTHING- pumpkin, rice, different food, etc with no success. As a last resort we tried raw organic lamb patties that was balanced for a RAW diet that the natural pet food owner gave us as a sample by a distributor in the Midwest called Stella and Chewy's. Within 24 hours perfect poops and it's been almost one week now. His coat has improved, he's gaining weight and no more accidents.

We are going to transtion to a RAW/BARF diet this week ( wanted 1 week to make sure this worked first). Some dogs just can't tolerate kibble.

Good luck!


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## Doc (Jan 13, 2009)

Be sure to specify testing for Coccidia and Giardia. Both can cause the symptoms mentioned above.


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## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

So we decided to move the vet appointment up. The fecal still showed no worms or parasites, but apparently she had a high bacteria count, which accounts for the diarrhea. She was given a probiotic powder to add to her food, and we decided to mix her kibble with just a little of the Natural Balance chicken canned food to try to be a little easier on her system. The vet said it doesn't look like she has skin mites, as the patchy hair loss is mostly on her legs where her skin is really dry. He didn't want to give her fish oil because a side effect is sometimes diarrhea, so instead he gave her something else (I forget the name and I'm not home) to add to her food. He said it'd be a better option because it wouldn't cause the diarrhea, and it helps with absorption so she'll get more nutrients from her food as well.

At 12 weeks, Daisy is now 22 lbs (she did manage to gain almost 6 lbs in the 3 weeks) and Duke is now 30 lbs (he gained 10).


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

Could it be colitis.I finally talked to the dr more in depth about Athena's illness last week and he said it was most likely colitis which may reoccur but hopefully not.She had diarrhea 6 days, ended with bloody watery diarrhea.The last day before her 2nd appt she wouldn't eat and was vomiting up the food from night before and the water she had drank.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I hope this helps Daisy out! Keep us posted!!


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## mmarie (Feb 25, 2009)

Small update:

Her weight is already improving. Her ribs and tummy have a little meat on them already. She isn't pooping as much (which I take to be a good sign, because before it seemed like she was poo-ing more than she was eating, now she's on track with Duke) but it's still not formed.

I feel so bad for the poor little girl, I can tell she's TRYING to be potty trained and KNOWS to let me know she needs to go out, but she just doesn't have time to get to me sometimes when it's time to poop. She'll have to stop and have an accident, then she'll come get me and finishes outside, then she shows me where her accident is and watches as I clean it up. BUT, the accidents are getting smaller, significantly less frequent, and I can read on her face that she knows she messed up, so I'm trying not to get too down about it.


And yes I know I know, a lot of people here think that puppies should not be let out of a crate or out of sight until they are completely potty trained. But we chose not to go that route, and keeping up with the two of them is impossible to do 100% of the time.


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