# Best Food for Chronic Diarrhea?



## gusto (Dec 8, 2011)

I have a friend with a 10 month old female ASL that has had chronic diarrhea for 2 months, they purchased her at 8 months so could be longer as well. She has settled in just fine except the diarrhea.

She had roundworms and giardia that have been treated and the last stool check was clear. The vet wants her on a prescription diet of EN so they kept her on that but have been trying to get her back to what the breeder was feeding which is Nature's Domain with salmon as the protein. Breeder claims she was OK on it. I'm not buying into that, hence this post.

Every time she is put back on her food she gets runny D again. When on EN she has soft, ploppy stool.

I'm not sure of the best foods especially since the vet is being no help and just wants her on the EN. Any help on a bland food I could suggest would be awesome!


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I have a cat that I brought home from KS, kept on the same food and developed terrible diarrhea so it's entirely possible that is the case here. The food could be made in a different manufacturing facility?

I would look for a limited ingredient food. I see Nature's Balance recommended quite often. Has this puppy been checked for EPI or similar issues?


----------



## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

Joey's not a puppy and doesn't have chronic D, but we've given him boiled white rice with boiled hamburger when D happens.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I'd rule out EPI and SIBO, and if those were ruled out, I'd do a long-term treatment of Tylan/tylosin, at least 30 days. If it cleared up, yay. 
If they take him off and he relapses, oops, more Tylan. Perhaps for life.

If I didn't do that, at the very least I'd do safeguard (fenbendazole) (with a dosage recommendation from the vet, and the vet's blessing) for 7-10 days.


----------



## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

You might want to look into a home made diet, I found a website where you could order breed specific recipes, www.wdcusick.com


----------



## konashepherd (Jul 26, 2011)

We had the same problem with my dog. After months and many test later we found out he had IBD (irritable bowel syndrome) he now has to take 10mg of predisone every other day and has to eat prescription ID from the vet. He had diarrhea for months and got down to 53 pounds but now he is over 90lbs and doing great. They found out he had it after taking a X-ray of his intestines. They were soo swollen that nothing would absorb in his body and he would just poop it all out. I hope you find out what's wrong with your dog, I was very worried about mine so I know what your going through


----------



## konashepherd (Jul 26, 2011)

I also tried the tylan powder for 2 months and it didn't help my dog at all


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

IBS would be different and probably better treated as autoimmune.

Tylan has helped many dogs with SIBO though, and even colitis. 
You'd need a vet's advice obviously, to rule out IBS


----------



## konashepherd (Jul 26, 2011)

i/d® Canine Gastrointestinal Health - Canned
this is what my dog is on but the dry food. The food is already broken down so your dog has a better time digesting it. You can only get it from the vet. It works great but it's kinda pricey. We did boiled hamburger and rice but there isn't many nutrients in that so he couldn't stay on that forever.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I didn't think i/d was for long-term use?


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I/D does work, and can be used long term. My cat was on it for years due to IBD until I switched him to RAW.

Your friend needs to find out the cause first. Have they tried probiotics and digestive enzymes? I would first test her for IBD, add digestive enzymes and probiotics with a limited ingredient food.

The PRIORITY at this point is to stop the diarrhea before the inflammation continues to do damage to the intestines. If putting him on a prescription diet does that, then it should be done. And then they can go from there.


----------



## konashepherd (Jul 26, 2011)

The vet wants him on it for at least six months and then we can try other foods. I want to feed him a higher quality food but he has troubles digesting it.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Ah ok. I just didn't know it was a long-term food.


----------



## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

look at the natural balance synergy. I have tried this, its very good.


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

get a 2nd opinon. don't give the dog meds people
prescribe without a Vet's ok.


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Cheerful1 said:


> Joey's not a puppy and doesn't have chronic D, but we've given him boiled white rice with boiled hamburger when D happens.


Same here.
I use Immodium D to slow things down. Vet approved, just don't use it often or for too long. There are some here that disagree with using it at all.


----------



## gusto (Dec 8, 2011)

doggiedad said:


> get a 2nd opinon.


I think this is where they need to be at. I told them to shop around but in the meantime, she's on EN.

Thanks for the help.


----------



## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

I'd disagree (with the use of immodium) for a few reasons. 
Firstly, if there is diarrhea it means the body is attempting to rid itself of something. Same with vomiting. Slowing down or stopping the process can delay the ridding process, and prolong the illness.

Secondly, the MDR1 gene can make dogs susceptible to Immodium and it can be toxic to them. You don't know if your dog posesses the MDR1 gene until it is too late, unless you test for it prior to giving the medication. 

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/breeds.aspx

Finally, some studies I've read indicate that giving this can cause "paralytic ileus" which is where the intestines _stop_ altogether. 

Medications which are safe to give are pepto (but I'd use it as a last resort - it contains ingredients that can harm the stomach like aspirin can) and the old style KaoPectate which is just kaolin and pectin. We buy it for like $5.00 for a gallon of it, in a feed store.


----------



## vom Eisenherz (Feb 13, 2012)

A clear fecal DOES NOT MEAN NO PARASITES OR PROTOZOA. If you KNOW the dog had both roundworms and giardia, I would start there. Do the fenbendazole long treament regime for giardia. That will take care of roundworms, too. Then, put the dog on a GOOD probiotic and keep her on it. There is a reason for chronic diarrhea. 

I am so tired of vets/people just wanting to mask problems instead of curing them. Science Experiment food isn't going to cure the reason the dog is having chronic diarrhea.


----------



## abakerrr (Aug 8, 2008)

vom Eisenherz said:


> A clear fecal DOES NOT MEAN NO PARASITES OR PROTOZOA. If you KNOW the dog had both roundworms and giardia, I would start there. Do the fenbendazole long treament regime for giardia. That will take care of roundworms, too. Then, put the dog on a GOOD probiotic and keep her on it. There is a reason for chronic diarrhea.
> 
> I am so tired of vets/people just wanting to mask problems instead of curing them. Science Experiment food isn't going to cure the reason the dog is having chronic diarrhea.


This thread caught my eye because I have a 10y/o aussie with a similar problem to the OPs dog. My vet is taking me nowhere with a treatment plan so im considering trying the fenbendazole, followed up by two weeks of metronidazole and long-term use of probiotics. Jen - Any brand recommendations for a good probiotic?


----------



## vom Eisenherz (Feb 13, 2012)

I have a few I use. I used to use Garden of Life brand Primal Defense, and I use Mercola now. But there is another one I have shipped to a dog of mine who's away from home and I think it's this one.


----------



## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

I really like the results I saw in Jax with carmspack.com Sunday Sundae. It has the probiotics, digestive enzymes, whole food vitamin sources.
Carmspack Working German Shepherds, Feed-Sentials


----------



## abakerrr (Aug 8, 2008)

vom Eisenherz said:


> I have a few I use. I used to use Garden of Life brand Primal Defense, and I use Mercola now. But there is another one I have shipped to a dog of mine who's away from home and I think it's this one.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. 

So i'm looking at all three products and the CFU probiotics per serving ranges from 2 billion to 70 billion. Are there notable differences between feeding a dog a two billion CFU probiotic and a seventy billion CFU probiotic? ... A little confused on which to get.


----------



## Laney (Feb 12, 2012)

Cheerful1 said:


> Joey's not a puppy and doesn't have chronic D, but we've given him boiled white rice with boiled hamburger when D happens.


Same with mine. Rivers is 8 months old but doesn't have chronic D, but occasionally, when needed, we give him boiled white rice, and boiled sweet potatoes (and sometimes plain boiled chicken). It has worked every time for us. We just mix it in with a couple scoups of his normal dog food and that seems to be enough.


----------



## marksteven (Aug 2, 2008)

Without a doubt, Natural Balance sweet potato and fish limited ingrediant formula works. Mine was diag. with EPI according to the bloodwork results. He was De wormed several times even though no worms present and did 2 cycles of Metroz. I then put him on NB sweet potato and fish and Pancreatin from Enzyme Diane. After about a year and a half i weened him off of Enzymes. its been 2 years since and not a single potty issue. I credit that mostly to the NB. For a dog with Chronic D , less ingredients or bland is better. I swear by it.


----------



## kag0002 (Jan 9, 2011)

I have a GSD that is just over a year and he has a very sensitive stomach and often gets diarrhea. I started feeding him a heaping spoonful of pumpkin with his food and it has REALLY helped. It was suggested to be by my breeder/trainer. I don't know if it will help but you could give it a try


----------

