# diarrhea + teething?



## jessac

Our pup (18 weeks) is most definitely teething. Each day we see more new teeth and find more holes in his gums. I think at this point he's lost most of them except for his canines. In the past week or so, new little front teeth are filling in. In the past few days, he's had pretty soft stool. It was pretty regular (coinciding with his regular poop times) except for today. He woke us at 3am to take him out and he hasn't been going out at night for about a month now to pee or poo. He has had a few schedule disruptions this weekend, though, as well which could have affected his elimination schedule. He seems to be his normal self, playing, energetic, mischievous at times...could the loose stool be related to his teething? I've been giving him pumpkin, frozen into cubes, because he seems to love anything frozen right now. It has helped firm it up a bit, but the minute I skip a serving of pumpkin, it's back to loose. 

I plan on going to the vet tonight to drop off a stool sample just to check for a parasite as a precaution, but since he hasn't been acting funny and had a negative fecal as recently as three weeks ago, I don't really believe it is a parasite but figured I'd rule it out.


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## Aramis' Mummy

My boy is 5 months now and still teething. he gets extreme diarrhea with it. I too give pumpkin and if that doesnt help i add rice to his meals. seeing the vet won't hurt just in case it is something else. gotta love the middle of the night potty runs lol


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## Dante's mom

Dante is 4 1/2 months and we thought the same thing. We took him in to the vet and brought in 2 samples and one showed Girardia...


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## jessac

Ok, I am at a loss. Looks like we'll be going back to vet this afternoon (once my baby cousin leaves, she's got a fever and I'm babysitting). Last night we went from loose stool to official diarrhea, complete with yucky mucus. No blood noticed. 

He's hungry, no change in appetite and wants to play and run (though I've encouraged gentler, less vigorous play). He did wake up three times last night with poo though, which is unusual for him. Been putting pedialite in his water bowl and feeding ice cubes to keep hydrated. 

Any ideas what this could be? I guess giardia, but it didn't present this way when he had it when he was younger. Could he have picked something up from horse poo? He's been pretty interested in it on our walks. I know the vet will suggest keeping him for observation and stuff, because that's what they suggested last time he was ill (but he did also have vomiting at the time). But since he doesn't handle separation well, she injected him with fluids and we took him home to observe him ourselves. Although that time it was much more sudden onset than now. 

Any ideas on how to comfort him until we can get to the vet this afternoon? 

Sorry about the gross poo talk and the rambling. Sick puppy + sick toddler + lack of sleep = me, brain dead.


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## Draco's mom

Hi, I have 4.5mo old with exact same symptoms- teething and diarrhea. Had only a few mid night accidents but last few days stools have been consistently soft. No other issues - beautiful coat, good appetite, drinks lots of water, active. So I am trying to decide if I should go to vet or not.


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## Draco's mom

Here he is yesterday


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## jessac

Well, I called vet and they won't give me any advice over the phone, so I will most likely take him in, even though he's still his normal, perky, happy self just with funky poop. I don't know what to tell you about Draco, but I'll let you know what the vet says about my boy. Honestly, if his fecal comes back negative, they will inject him with fluids and give me GI food and send me home and tell me to withhold food and water for 24 hours unless he asks for food (which he will, and always does). I'd be more worried if he was vomiting also, because then it could be a blockage, but with no vomiting, I'm not too worried. Just sort of frustrated because I don't see how going to the vet will really help...

And last time he had giardia, he shed a lot and didn't really have runny poops, just softer stools. Never noticed excess mucus either. That's why I'm not sure if it's a parasite, but if it's not, what else could it be? Is it possible to just be from his teeth?


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## jessac

OK I am sooo pissed. That was a waste of time (an hour and a half) and money. I still don't know what my dog's issue is. My normal vet wasn't there because she was stuck in surgery and I got another one. Bad idea. I should have rescheduled but we were there so I thought why not? Well, he did a smear and said his bacteria and all that business look good. Very little inflammation, no need for a probiotic. Said that he wouldn't even bother doing a fecal since he's had so many negative ones recently. (I was under the impression that you could get a parasite anytime, anywhere and could be clear one week (or even just show clear) and then have one present the next, but you know, I'm a dumb owner, what do I know?) He then diagnosed him with a sensitive stomach. I understand that could very well be the case, but I dunno. Seems silly not to check for anything else. He asked what I fed him. Mentioned in addition to his kibble, he gets cheese and (beef) hot dogs (very very small) as a training treat. He also had pumpkin when his stool started to loosen as I was trying to firm it up. Told me I should stop all treats and only feed him kibble. I asked how he expected me to go to puppy class with kibble? I told him, he actually will work for kibble at home, but out and about, on our walks (where we treat for walking nicely) and out at puppy class, I have to do better than kibble. I said if I took kibble, he may or may not work for it, depending on what he feels like. Because he's a puppy and the whole world is more exciting than kibble most of the time. Then, of course, it turned into a discussion about training and how I need to get control of him, because it shouldn't matter what treats I use, he should want to obey me and I should be #1. (I am not an idiot, that is the goal and why we are training in the first place, but he's 18 weeks, and I'm not dumb enough to think that at that age, he's going to be well behaved and understand commands well enough to do that). So, then he gave me a card for a trainer, you know, a real one. Grr!

And then, for the finale, he brought up neutering. Because he recommends I get it done between 4-6 months. After speaking with our regular vet, we actually discussed 12-18 months (after maturity) so that if my boy decides he likes agility, or herding, or some other sport, that we can get into it and know he's got the best structure he can for it. I brought up some things I had heard as far as why neutering that young might not be a good idea and got told they were all wive's tales spread by the internet.

So frustrating.


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## mego

Maybe give your regular vet a call when she's back from surgery and get the fecal exam done anyway - just as precaution. Sure it might be 'a waste of time', but I wouldn't have peace of mind unless it was done if I seriously thought something could be wrong.


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## jessac

Forgot to add: he did prescribe Flagyl (which my dog had a reaction to in the past) and then another antibiotic when I pointed that out. My question is this: if he believes he doesn't have an infection and the smear was good and in balance, why prescribe the antibiotic? Seems unnecessary if he believes it's cuz I feed him cheese, no?


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## mego

Did they document that your dog had a reaction to Flagyl in the past? If so, this guy you saw today REALLY doesn't know what he's doing...I've never heard of antibiotic for cheese. Sounds like tons of mixed signals from that guy.


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## jessac

I don't know if they documented it, but his giardia certainly was and he didn't know he had that before either, so who knows. I put a call in for my regular vet to call once she's out of surgery, because I'm certainly not pumping pills into my pet until I speak to her.


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## Dante's mom

The mucus in the poop was exactly what Dante had. His coat was great, full of energy and had a great appetite. I took in two samples of his poop and they thought by "looks" everything was fine BUT under the microscope the second sample showed giardia. They put him on Panacur and now he is really doing well.


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## Draco's mom

I took my pup to the vet. His diarrhea wasn't getting any better for 5days. He tested negative to worms but they found bad bacteria and put him on antibiotic/metronidazole and prostora probiotic. Vet also suggested feed him rice for 3days. Immediate improvement in first 24hrs. Last pool was solid and it was 12 hrs ago! Thinking maybe too much rice now? Well, less poop is ok with me after all that liquid business!


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## Dante's mom

I'm really glad to hear that he is doing better =)


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## Draco's mom

Ok, we are back to square one. After two days on rice and solid pool, I put him back on kibble and diarrhea is back. All I can think of now is it caused by the food. Last night I mixed rice with food and stool was soft but not liquid. Definitely need to try another food. He was on innova puppy before we got him so I haven't tried any other food. My previous GSD 13yrs ago was on eukanuba. Should I try that again or any new foods are better? Any suggestions? I do want to have him on some sort of kibble, not ready for any natural diet. Thanks!


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