Big D...again

[Guest jupiterooos]

And it's ALWAYS in the middle of the night.

 

Last night I knew it was going to be one of those nights when I heard Jupiter flopping around restlessly, and sure enough, I was right.

 

In an attempt to deal with the problem, we have stopped all supplements, aside from probiotics, so he gets just kibble and water. Treats are rationed and we take note of the "aftermath." Before bed he gets a walk long enough to produce poop. And still, this happens at least once a week. What else can we do?

 

Oftentimes, like last night, there is nothing that would indicate a Big D episode is imminent. He didn't eat anything extra, had normal poop on his walks, nothing stressful happened, etc. There's nothing that would make you think you were in for a long night....but it happens anyway.

 

Any thoughts are welcome....we are getting very sleep-deprived en casa Jupiterooos. This morning I told DH it's a little like having a baby....except with a baby, you don't have to walk a mile before you change them

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Perhaps it's the kibble? How does Jupiter do on a bland diet? What kind of treats is he getting? If it's different from the kibble, I wouldn't feed the treats at all.

 

I'd start keeping a diary of what Jupiter gets fed and see if there is a pattern on the nights he gets diarrhea.

 

 

I hope you get some answers soon!

[Chicocat]

Sometimes, I'll just give a little handfull of kibble in place of a treat. They still think it's a treat. :-)

[Guest KateWantsaGrey]

You're probably reluctant to change up his diet, but it might be worth it to try a bland diet for a while.... can't get any worse right? so it might be worth trying. Also have you had him to the vet to check for worms or anything medical that may be causing the problem?

[Guest Ola]

Is it like liquid, squirty diarrhea, or just soft stools? How are his stools the rest of the time (i.e. not at night) - normal, or also loose?

 

Hope you can catch up on sleep soon!

[Batmom]

Stool sample to the vet. If it shows nothing, do a round or two of Panacur anyways.

[Guest jupiterooos]

Is it like liquid, squirty diarrhea, or just soft stools? How are his stools the rest of the time (i.e. not at night) - normal, or also loose?

 

Hope you can catch up on sleep soon!

 

It's the...er...squirty kind (grody but accurate!) Generally he will poop one or two normal, solid stools, then he'll have one or two of liquidy ones after that. Depends on how long the walk is.

 

That's why I'm reluctant to change his food. His poop is normal for the most part, it's just that once a week or so he has this problem.

[ahicks51]

With our first grey, we had this problem on a regular basis. Stool consistency was poor some days, satisfactory on others, and just appalling the rest of the time. Eventually, we went to raw feeding- a drastic solution, really, although a number of kibble variations failed to resolve the issue.

 

If there is no clear medical cause, try adding beet pulp to the kibble. Some people have had success with pumpkin (canned, plain, nothing added, 100% pumpkin). We have a foster that is fed kibble, and just ~2 tablespoons of beet pulp nuggets (broken to match the size of the kibble) have vastly improved his pavement products. If you can't find beet pulp locally, drop me a PM and I'll send you some to try. If it works, it should be apparent within a day or two- or, if the problem is intermittent, it should mean an end to loose stools caused by diet. At $10 per 50 pounds, it's an inexpensive "fix."

 

Note: Many kibbles contain beet pulp. Not sure what it is about greyhound physiology that does this, but adding just a bit more seems to push a kibble from "not acceptable" to "acceptable." To date, of the 3-4 people that have taken me up on this offer, all have reported success.

[RobinM]

This is waht we just went through.

 

We stopped all supplements. Glucosomine, missing link and vitamins.

 

Then we did a diet of boiled chicken breast and white rice for 2 days. After the 2nd day, I added in 1/2 cup of kibble for 2 days. We kept adding in the kibble and put in less and less rice/ chicken. it worked.

 

Good luck.

[Guest Ola]

Is there any pattern to it? Does it happen on a certain date, or coupled with a certain event? Just curious, because you said it's once a week. Don't suppose you give a special treat or something that could coincide with it?

 

I know my grey gets looser stools when he is stressed or we have interrupted our usual routine. Could it be something like that?

[GeorgeofNE]

Stool sample to the vet. If it shows nothing, do a round or two of Panacur anyways.

 

 

 

Yes, yes, yes to Panacur despite the fecal results.

 

My boy had persistent diarrhea off the track for two months. All stool checks were normal. I had read that if your dog has the big D off the track, even if results of tests are normal, dose him with Panacur. So I told the vet, she said, "Can't hurt!" and we did it. Went away, hasn't come back!

 

George does get icky diarrhea whenever I take him on a greyhound walk with other houndies, so clearly he has an emotional component to his runs!

 

You don't even need a prescription for Panacur, and in fact you can get in on Amazon.com for a really good price. You have to mix and match the packet sizes to get the right dose for the right weight. Panacur D is what she gave me, and charged me 3X the amount...

[Guest jupiterooos]

No, there's no pattern that we can see. Like, this past week, on Tuesday he ate about three hot dogs (dog walker was trying to make friends ) and he was fine, with normal poop. Then Thursday, he ate nothing unusual at all - no treats, just kibble - and had middle-of-the-night D anyway.

 

Ahicks, I will send a PM! He has had on-and-off D since Day One, we're willing to try anything. We are planning on doing a tick panel as soon as we can replenish the old bank account after the last veterinary go-round, but in the meantime, it's worth a try.

 

I'll look into the Panacur too. Is that an antibiotic? Interestingly, Jupiter has been on Clavamox off and on over the past few months, and when he's on it, he doesn't have the urgent middle-of-the-night D. So there seems to be a connection....

[Guest spider9174]

We have a similar issue with Gable and have tried a number of things. Our vet said more protein, but talk to other greyhound owners.

 

I talked to the lady that did our adoption and she said that it could be that Gable is getting too much fat in his diet. She said she's had good results with the following blend of foods. I haven't tried it yet, but it would make sense. When I have Gable on boiled chicken and burger, he has firmer poops. When I add in kibble, he can get looser. She said that it could take 4-6 weeks to stabilize.

 

Here is what she suggested:

Nutro light 1 cup in addition to Proplan Beef and rice 1 cup 2X/day. Only give kibble as a treat during the transition.

 

 

hope that helps