Help With Poo.......please?!

[Guest umasmom]

Hello Hello!!!! I have been an avid greytalk reader but this is my first post. You guys are all wonderful and the knowledge that I have gained from reading is just enormous. So thank you.

 

I will do an introduction at a later time (with pics, of course) but I would really like some help first.

 

My most recent addition to our family is Lola. She is a 10 yr old retired brrod mama that we adopted jsut over 3 months ago. She is from down south. She is one of my other grey's moms. I know....it's a really good story. Again, later with that. (sorry) (we have three greys total)

 

She is in perfect health except she has runny to watery to explosive runny watery poo!!! Poor girl!!

 

Let me go down the list and tell you what we have done:

 

She has been tested for worms (on three separate occasions)

 

and Giardia

 

she was on canidae....

 

switched to Innova Red Meat (thought allergic to grains?)

 

she has been on GI- Encaps for about 2 weeks with no success (this has worked with several fosters in our group)

 

Tried boiled chicken and rice...

 

She is now on Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potato (thought maybe she had an allergy to a particular meat?)

 

she does not get any treats (only kibble...until we can figure it out)

 

no yogurt anymore (she was getting it with her food)

 

She has had SEVERAL accidents in the house. We now keep the pups enclosed in our room at night so nobody can wander and poo. (she hasn't had an accident during the day..only night)

 

For about two days after switching to Wellness....she had mushy poo for about 2 days and then it went right back to very runny. I'm talking gross runny. Sorry to be graphic but her poo kind of trails cuz it shoots right out of her. I know...it cannot be comfortable for her. She will lick herself often as well. Can't blame her for that.

 

I am just hoping one of you has an insight or thought that we haven't thought of yet.

 

My next step is going to add a digestive aid like Prozyme and if it comes down to it...I may have to raw feed her but I would much rather not do this. (We don't have the freezer space...no close butcher...and I would have a hard time with my stomach.) But if that is the only option.....I will do whatever to make my sweetie feel better.

 

So what do you think? I want to say again, she has been to the vet about 5 or 6 times now (in 3 months) and they cannot find anything wrong with her. A CBC was done and she is one very healthy dog. She's been tested for worms several times as well as giardia. She runs and plays and smiles....having a senior is great. Now if we can just get her poo in order.

 

Thoughts???

 

[Burpdog]

Was she being fed raw & kibble on the farm?

 

I'd do 5 days of panacur and see what happens. Many times they are wormy and you have to hit it just right to find them.

[Guest umasmom]

Sorry.......I knew that I would forget something.

 

We did do 5 days of the panacur. Nothing.

 

And a couple weeks after that we did metrazydyl (spelling??)

 

And no.....she was not fed raw. She was fed a lower grade kibble and I was told that she 'occasionally' had loose stool.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Batmom]

I would do all of these:

 

1-Two rounds of Panacur. Yes she tested worm free, do it anyways.

2-Ditch the Wellness and go with ProPlan, Purina ONE, or a veterinary ID food for now. Or even HiPro plus a little meat (cooked if you prefer that to raw).

3-A 10-day course of metronidazol (Flagyl) if she still isn't firming up after the above. If the metro. improves things, I'd keep her on it for a few weeks.

 

Not one of my dogs can eat Wellness without getting amazing diarrhea. I know some dogs do well on it but I haven't had one.

 

Good luck!

 

P.S. You need to do the two rounds of wormer (Panacur) because of some worms' life cycles. If you just worm once, you're getting those adults, but not the next generation. The "higher end" or boutique dog foods tend to have a lot of vegetable oil, and some dogs just do not do well on that.

[Burpdog]

Where are you located?

 

I'd redo the panacur as Batmom says.

 

Wellness is a food that not all dogs can tolerate. I fed it for a long time and my guys did well on it but it took a month to transition over.

 

Have you tried Solid Gold Mmellenia? Eagle Pack Natural?

[Guest Ola]

Did she show improvement on any of the foods? How about the chicken and rice? If you want to leave raw as a last resort, I would try a cooked protein and carb combo for a few days, and if there's no improvement switch the protein OR carb, try again. Eventually you may find a combo that will work for her. Protein choices: chicken, turkey, beef, pork, fish. Carb choices: rice, pasta, potato, sweet potato, barley, oats.

 

I've had really great results with raw, although our situation was not quite as bad as yours. Mayhem's stools ranged from runny to soft-serve, very rarely solid. We had a great and immediate improvement with raw (we used chicken leg quarters to start with) so I knew right away that it was the right choice for us. Chicken legs are sort of a "normal" thing, so hopefully wouldn't ick you out too much. If you can get that to calm her tummy you can always go back to kibble slowly after if you want.

 

The fact that you say explosive makes me worry though, not being able to hold it in always makes me think of a medical problem.

[MP_the4pack]

Can you give her tummy 24 hrs rest before starting up anything new? (no food) Sometimes that helps a little.

 

 

 

 

[NeylasMom]

I would do all of these:

 

1-Two rounds of Panacur. Yes she tested worm free, do it anyways.

2-Ditch the Wellness and go with ProPlan, Purina ONE, or a veterinary ID food for now. Or even HiPro plus a little meat (cooked if you prefer that to raw).

3-A 10-day course of metronidazol (Flagyl) if she still isn't firming up after the above. If the metro. improves things, I'd keep her on it for a few weeks.

 

I second this suggestion and would say you might also add a course of amoxy and B12 injections (or something else to boost her immune system) for the duration. Also, for the kibble, can you find out what they were feeding at the track and stick to that one for the duration as well?

 

The idea would be to knock out any parasites or bacteria you might have missed and give her intestines a rest in the meantime. Prolonged diarrhea leads to a lot of inflammation in the intestines so even if say the panacur knocks the worms out, the rest will help her intestines recover. You might have to continue the flagyl longer if she starts to backtrack once you take her off of it.

 

If that doesn't work, then I think you look into food allergies or possibly an endoscopy to look for IBS or something else more serious.

 

Good luck!

[silverfish]

Three thoughts:

 

Is she getting any milk products at all? Check the ingredients on any treats etc. My first dog was lactose intolerant and would get the most hideous diarrhoea if he had any AT ALL in his diet. We always knew if the kids had let him get a crust of bread with margarine on, he was that bad. For him, no milk products = firm stools.

 

Try using a lower grade kibble. Some dogs simply can't handle the good stuff. Strange but true.

 

Don't be changing her food every day. Make a change and wait several days - unless the result is so explosive that it's clear it's wrong for her. Cut her right down to one or two ingredients for a week, and if she's OK on those, add ONE item in at a time to see what happens. Wait several days to see what effect it has before making another change - preferable a week, or even more.

 

Just a few ideas. Good luck with her!

Edited July 11, 2007 by silverfish

[Guest umasmom]

I am in Wisconsin.

 

And yes....we have given her tummy a 24 hour rest.

 

And yes....I have tried the plain old boiled chix and rice.

 

The only thing that has changed is the color of her poo. Some days it's REALLY bad and runny and explosive and some days it's just really runny. She is just learning how to tell us that she has to go outside so the accidents I feel, have been our fault.

 

I have only tried the three foods (my other two are on canidae with no issues) thus far because we've only had her for three months. I'm not sure where to go from here. It seems that everybody has an opinion on what food is better. It's just really hard because you can't just switch. It's just so frustrating.

 

I really appreciate everyone's responses. Keep 'em coming.

 

[Guest Ola]

It's just really hard because you can't just switch.

Honestly, if she is having explosive poo, then I would just switch. There's no benefit in doing a slow transition in that case. This is of course, once you choose what you want to feed her next.

 

I'm sorry that you are frustrated, but I have faith that you will figure it out soon.

[sweetdogs]

I would really try worming again (twice) - if she came from a farm, she may have had them for a long time & they can be extra tough to get rid of.

 

I'm a raw feeder, so that's the direction I would take but the lower grade food may be what she's been on for a while & that may have done the trick for her. If it's worms & you get them resolved, you can try other foods.

 

Glad to hear she's happy & healthy otherwise - she's a lucky girl to have you!

[Burpdog]

The only thing that has changed is the color of her poo

 

What color is it? If it is yellow she needs a TLI done. That is where I would start.

 

When you switch foods, try & go with a protein that is different. Have you tried only boiled meat? No grain or potatoes. Boil a roast and see how she does. Also note the color of her poop. It should be the color of the kibble/food varying only slightly either way color wise.

 

If her poop is leaning towards cream of baby crap, she has a pancreas problem and may need prescription enzymes.

[Guest umasmom]

 

Here's a pic of my beautiful senior!!!

 

Okay....the color of her poo has always reflected the color of her food. So that's good.

 

Here's what I have put together so far....

 

use panacur again.....twice (I just called and left a message for my vet)

switch her food again. (not sure where to go here....there have been so many suggestions!! )

[Guest MZH]

Tylan for a medicine trial. Works well for chronic diarrhea.

 

A tablespoon of cooked cream of rice in the food; a little dab will really do you.

 

Marcia in CT, almost enroute to SC

[Greytlady94]

I would do all of these:

 

1-Two rounds of Panacur. Yes she tested worm free, do it anyways.

2-Ditch the Wellness and go with ProPlan, Purina ONE, or a veterinary ID food for now. Or even HiPro plus a little meat (cooked if you prefer that to raw).

3-A 10-day course of metronidazol (Flagyl) if she still isn't firming up after the above. If the metro. improves things, I'd keep her on it for a few weeks.

 

Not one of my dogs can eat Wellness without getting amazing diarrhea. I know some dogs do well on it but I haven't had one.

 

Good luck!

 

P.S. You need to do the two rounds of wormer (Panacur) because of some worms' life cycles. If you just worm once, you're getting those adults, but not the next generation. The "higher end" or boutique dog foods tend to have a lot of vegetable oil, and some dogs just do not do well on that.

 

I would follow Batmom's advice. As for food, I would go really simple, one protein one carb. Either lamb, beef, pork, turkey or chicken and one carb, pasta or very well cooked rice.She may have had this problem for a while so it will take a while to get past it.

 

She is such a sweet girlie, I hope her tummy is feeling better soon.

[Guest VelvetEars]

I'd add a dollop of canned pumpkin to her food to give her some fiber. Sometimes that helps firm things up. Not too much, though, because it can have the opposite effect then.

[Hubcitypam]

e-mail me -- Houndkeeper@sbcglobal.net

[Burpdog]

I would do the panacur and go with boiled beef only. Then add potatoes if her poop is ok. You can try EVO reduced fat beef if she handles that ok. The explosive poop could be allergy related. A few (not many) are allergic to rice which is in so many foods.

[Guest wilsontrixie]

go with batmoms advice but i would also start with a 24-36 hour fast (water only) and i would start her on the flagyl (the "M" antibiotic you can't spell, same drug, different name...easier!). the flagyl restores the normal flora in the bowel. sounds like she needs that now as opposed to waiting.

[SAVED2]

Diamond has a new food out , no corn , no rice , it uses oatmeal as filler and it works.

[Guest trevdog]

Evo can be a very rich food for some....sometimes I feed too much and we get soft poops here.

Try something without a lot of grains in it.

[Guest snakes]

Another shot to try...

Where does your water comes from? My girl had some loose stools (thank god nothing like what you've had!).

I found by running our city water through a Brita filter helped a lot. The theory was that the chlorine, lead and any other treatments or metals in the water was upsetting her body's natural balance.

 

 

 

[Guest mandm]

I had similar problems with my greyhound. I was also very reluctant to feed raw. And so I fed him a raw "cooked" diet. Very lean cooked meat & bone meal (human grade). That's all -- no veggies, no carbs. It worked pretty well. But it was expensive and a lot of work (cooking and draining the meat). I am also in Wisc and have some very good sources for inexpensive meat. Let me know if you are interested.