beehounds

Just an update - we had normal (brown!) poop today after she was fed only Hills i/d yesterday! I'm so relieved. Hopefully after a few days on this we can transition back to her normal food again, because this stuff is prohibitively expensive. The chart on the Hills website says to feed 3.5 cans a day for a 60lb dog, actually. She is slightly under 60lbs. I checked the calories against what she normally would be eating, and three cans a day is about right.

Okay, thank you. I'll definitely ask about doing that.

No, the vet never recommended bloodwork (maybe because she just had some done a couple months back?). I can call and ask about it, thank you, I was thinking of asking about that anyway. Do you know what bloodwork would be able to show in this case/what we'd be looking for?

Oh that's terrible, I'm so sorry. Hazel is also a good eater and something would have to be seriously wrong if she got fussy about her food. I hope your girl is recovering okay. Just a general update on Hazel -- she's still having mushy, barely formed poop and it's still orange but not as bright orange. Yesterday it started to look a little better (more brown and formed) and then it was worse again. The advice I got to feed one can of the Hills i/d split between two feedings and supplemented with oatmeal was apparently wrong. It seemed odd to me so I double checked. The receptionist I spoke to must've given me the wrong instructions, because when I called the vet again to ask about it, the vet said she'd never intended that. So I picked up a case of the Hills i/d and we're going to see how she does on around three cans a day. It was incredibly expensive and I'm really hoping things firm up in the next few days because I don't see how I could possibly afford to feed this long-term. Four days' worth cost almost as much as her 40lb bag of kibble, which has been sitting untouched for a couple weeks now. I just don't understand what could have caused this. Her fecal sample was clear for parasites. She did get a special dental bone and treat around Christmas, which was around when she began to have diarrhea, but she's had those before without issue, and if that's the reason then I don't understand why this would persist for weeks. I was thinking that if we don't see any normal-ish poops by the end of the weekend I'll ask about doing some bloodwork or other further testing. At least her behavior is totally fine. She's extremely active for an 11 yr old dog, her appetite is great, she's drinking a normal amount. She is on medications for high blood pressure, but has been on those for a couple of years now without issue (after a whole stressful saga and a series of consultations with Dr. Couto). I just want to solve this diarrhea mystery and have her be fully well again. And preferably get her back on her normal kibble.

I'm so sorry to hear that. No, we haven't done bloodwork yet but I'm going to ask the vet to do that soon if it doesn't resolve. Her gums look fine and her energy level is great lately. What were your dog's other symptoms? Thank you, I'll keep that in mind if we don't see any improvement. Right now her poop is sort of formed but soft and mushy and still bright orange. It's been almost two days on the prescription food and probiotics. I'm concerned that the bright orange color is a symptom of something else going on; I keep reading that it's associated with liver issues and pancreatitis. But she has no other symptoms of either of those.

Yes, I have not given her any treats or dental bones since this started. She's drinking a normal amount and has a good appetite. We tried rice and ground turkey but the rice did not help at all so I switched to oatmeal which worked better. I could switch to beef I guess but she's now been put on a prescription diet and probiotics so I guess we'll see how that goes. I was told to split one can between two feedings and continue to feed oatmeal since one can a day doesn't really provide enough calories. The vet did prescribe metronidazole which is the same thing as Flagyl I believe but it didn't seem to do anything.

Hi, I haven't posted here in a long time but wanted to ask for some advice about my senior hound, Hazel, who just turned 11 years old. (I've had her for about 9 years.) For about a week and a half she had diarrhea. I brought her to the vet at around day 4 or 5, we got prescribed metronidazole, and were told to put her on a chicken and rice diet. She's allergic to chicken so I did turkey instead. This didn't seem to help at all, so after about 4 days I switched her over to oatmeal instead of rice, which seems to have given her slightly more solid poops, but they're still mostly mush. They're just not complete puddles anymore. However, her poop has been bright, bright orange this entire time. She's not eating anything orange (pumpkin, carrots, etc) that would cause this. She had a fecal that was negative for parasites but they did not check for any kind of bacteria. The vet said that it wasn't necessary because the metronidazole should have taken care of any bacteria. I just spoke with the vet again today -- it's been a week since I brought Hazel in to the vet, and almost two weeks now since this all started -- and I told her about Hazel's stool being bright orange. They want to put her on a prescription canned diet and a probiotic and see if that helps. She's run through her course of metronidazole and the vet doesn't want to give her any more since it's not doing anything. Does this sound like we are on the right track? Is there something else we should be checking for? I got myself all scared reading about how orange poop could mean liver issues, and I worry that she could still have some kind of bacteria going on. She was acting somewhat lethargic/off in the beginning of all this, but over the past few days has been back to herself again -- active, bright-eyed, happy. Her appetite has been great this entire time. (Though if she ever stopped wanting to eat I would know something is severely wrong; she always wants to eat.) No vomiting or anything. No sign of abdominal swelling or pain. The only thing I can think of that would have caused the diarrhea would be that she got a dental bone and a couple of treats she doesn't normally get around the 24th when this all started, and maybe that threw her system out of whack? She had been eating those dental bones for a month without issue though. Thanks for any help or advice you can offer.