14 replies to this topic

[gator96]

I have a 3 1/2 year old male. Out of the blue starting around Thanksgiving, he began having very watery, mucousy, and in some cases bloody diarrhea. At first the vet prescribed Metronidazole and it went away. Then a couple of weeks later it was back. We have been battling this on and off again (more on than off) diarrhea since then. The poor boy has lost about 6lb since Nov. I have always cooked for him. When this started he was on beef, liver and a small amount of vegetables. Since then I have tried chicken and now just turkey and rice but nothing seems to help. He remains very energetic and has a great big appetite. The latest round of vet visits was a TLI test which turned out negative for any Pancreas issues. His B-12 was high and his Folates were low. It looks like the next focus is around figuring out why his folates are low thinking that this is what is causing him not to absorb the food. We are getting frustrated thinking that we may never find the answer. Anyone have any experience in this area to share?

[Maralynn]

Has the vet done a fecal? Has he been wormed at all?

I would wonder if his folates were low because he isn't absorbing his food rather than the other way around.

I'll just throw this out there - My dog Kenzi had similar issues over a period of 6 months or so. Great appetite, great energy but of and on diarrhea that would get really bad at the drop of a hat. Fecal was clear and but I also treated for worms just in case. A couple different rounds of Metronidazole. And no solution. I finally switched her to a combination of The Honest Kitchen Embark and raw and it went away

[urge to herd]

Check for pancreatic insufficiency. Also, and this is way out there, do a fecal fro clostridia perfingens. The thing that doesn't fit with your boy is that c. perfingens made my Buzz really, really lethargic, no appetite, etc. I'd check anyway.

Are you getting good bacteria back into his system? Probiotics can help.

Hope you find out what's causing his troubles.

Ruth

[WWBC]

I would worm him for three days in a row with panacur....1 cc to 5 lbs.............I would repeat the worming in 10 to 12 days..............he may have a bad case of whip worms...which can be hard to find on fecals....another thing to try after a good worming would be Guinness(Imported only)....1 oz to 25#.........you can just put it on his food.....it is ok if it is flat..so one bottle lasts a long time per dog...I would give him the Guinness (imported.black label).....every two weeks for six weeks then once a month........It has helped one of my "skinny" boys finally put on weight. You may want to try giving him cold pressed coconut oil two or three times a week in his food too. Good luck

[Ooky]

I had a similar issue with Odin, about 6 months bout as well. I think he had giardia but who knows since his fecals never tested positive for anything. But sometimes they aren't shedding the parasites when you test so...

We did two rounds of panacur at the 7-day dosing, whoch would help during days 3-7 while he was on it, but then he'd just go back to being sick again. We switched his food to a limited ingredient thing (which it sounds like you already have) but with a NOVEL protein (venison/bison in our case). Finally, we did 10 days panacur and met AND probiotics all at once. He still gets probiotics. The food switch and the major treatment fixed everything finally and he's been fine ever since. I've kept him on the same food because I feel superstitious about it but actually I don't think he needs it. I have a toddler and therefore he most certainly does NOT have a limited ingredient OR grain free diet any more.

Good luck and keep us posted. 6 months of soft serve stools ---> terrible diarrhea and everywhere in between was awful. My boy retained his energy too but his coat condition declined a lot, I could tell he was unhealthy.

[Rave]

Fatty plain greek yogurt may help. Did for my girl.

[Debbie Meier]

What WWBC said....takes more then one round to clean the dogs up. In a case like yours we will repeat the process 3 times at 10 to 14 day intervals then deworm in a month and then in three months, each three days of panacur. May also go 5 days on the first worming instead of 3. If it is worms the environment may be reinvesting the dog so worming on a schedule will help get the pattern broken.

[gator96]

Thank you so much for all of the good advice. I have been giving him probiotics for the past month and haven't seen any change, but we will stick with it. With regard to the fecal tests, we have done some in the past and there have been no evidence of worms, however I didn't realize they were so hard to detect. The vet just recommended another fecal test when we got the TLI test back this week. This time I think he's looking more for bacteria. I will certainly ask about the deworming.

[WWBC]

Whipworms are hard to detect...........and as you live in FL........warm and wet....whipworms get in the ground and are darn near impossible to get rid of, best way to defeat them is to keep up a good worming program.........

[jvw]

I went through this type of problem with one of my dogs. It seemed like an endless cycle. Boy did I get sick of coming home and cleaning up messes. One fecal did find some whipworm. Finally started Panacur. Treated again in 3 weeks, and then again in *I think* three months. Treated all dogs in the house. Fed special low residue,low fat food for a while. Also used probiotic Proviable, first in the tube and then ten day course of capsules. I did find that after the first and second treatments of Panacur we had more soft stool, but it didn't last long and wasn't as bad as the initial problem.

I hope you find a solution. Its frustrating!

Jennifer

[ShesMaggie]

My Reno had pancreatitis...I feel for you. Endosorb was a lifesaver for me. Its not a cure but can be given along with the other meds and really helped get it under control in the meantime. I also feed a spoon of pumpkin every day.

[urge to herd]

Gator, the probiotics need to be given at least a couple hours before or after dosing with antibiotics. The timing varies, according to which source you consult. The antibiotics will kill off the probiotics, if given too close together.

You might know this already, but it never hurts to check.

And, c. perfingens has to be specifically tested for - I can't remember if they cultured Buzz's stool sample or did something else. The vet has to request a search for the particular bug.

Good luck,

Ruth

[ShoresDog]

You are probably not feeding these, but just in case, let me mention the problems that can be caused by meat jerky products for dogs, e.g., dried chicken strips, such as the big bags of Costco dried chicken breast strips. There was an old topic about this, and it's been discussed here and there since. They cause lots of dogs to get diarrhea.

[Rua]

to help combat it you might want to add pumpkin to his diet as well..when any of mine get the runs I give them pumpkin as treats(pumpkin mash is fine as long as nothing else in it) ...helps to firm up their stools...might help while your trying to get it under control/figure it out..hope he gets better

[Jumpin Boots]

Have you discussed running a canine pcr diarrhea panel with your vet? It's a bit pricey up front, but test for a ton of stuff; Giardia spp., Cryptosporidium spp., Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin A gene, canine enteric coronavirus, canine parvovirus 2 and canine distemper virus. In the long run it is a lot more expensive to test for one thing at a time and then trying a treatment for a while.