Return Of The Diarrhea

[Guest kaedynsmom]

I know this is a popular topic and I've read a million other entries about diarrhea, but I would definitely appreciate any advice or suggestions if anyone reads this and feels this circumstance may have different contributing factors. We adopted Kaedyn 3 weeks ago today - the first week we tried him on Innova large breed with 2 spoonfuls of yogurt. He loved the food and would usually eat about 3/4 of his bowl. He had diarrhea, but it wasn't horrible and was somewhat formed. I was advised to start feeding him 1/2 kibble and 1/2 bland diet (lean cooked ground beef, no fat cottage cheese, eggs, and white rice) to see if it would help with the diarrhea. He ate that the 2nd week and it definitely helped with the diarrhea - not 100% gone, but much better. This past week nothing has changed with his food, but he has developed terrible and frequent diarrhea - 100% liquid and increased gas (not throughout the day - only when he's going to the bathroom).

 

I did notice that the diarrhea started the day after his 2 weeks of antibiotics stopped. When I adopted Kaedyn he had a terrible infection where he was neutered, had fleas, & horrible (visible) tape worms. The antibiotics were for the infection, he took three pills at the vet for the worms and gets his 2nd dose of pills for the worms tomorrow. He is flea-free and taking Frontline and Interceptor. My vet wants me to change his diet, but before I do that I wanted some advice from the REAL experts! I feel that it might be something else besides the food since he did so well on it the week before. Could the antibiotics have helped somehow with the diarrhea? He has been staying well hydrated and is the sweetest & happiest guy on the planet. Besides that the only other issue is that he has a growth on his tail that I just found out this morning from the vet is a tumor that will need to be removed.

 

Thank you for your help!

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Maybe the antibiotics wiped out his good bacteria, and probiotics would help?

[Guest charmsmom]

I can't give Charm yogurt in his food. Even 1 tbsp at dinner made him have the runs. Try cutting out the yogurt for a few days (replace with canned pumpkin) and see if that helps.

 

...and gas!!!!

[GreyTzu]

Have him rechecked for hookwroms. They are a pain to get rid of. And look into probiotics, something like BioK. We use the fruity flavor daily.

[Guest MZH]

Could be something like Giardia. Did he have a real fecal run, like one sent out to a lab? One of them might show you something you're not treating for now.

 

Marcia

[stlgrey]

Sierra has been having issues with being stressed from the almost daily thunderstorms we have had all spring and summer. She gets so nervous, she won't eat and her poo has been diarrhea like. I took her into the vet for a diagnosis. She had a bacterial infection and was given Flagel for two weeks. The vet also recommended Fortiflora. We are trying this since her poo hasn't really been any better since stopping the antibiotics.

[Guest MAXNAV]

It could also be just food related. My collie couldn't eat high quality kibble. He'd have the runs constantly. He was on abs at first, as the vet thought it was a virus, because we didn't know his background. (picked up as a stray) This went on and on and on for months. The stools and gas was RANCID! He'd put him on abs and Purina Veterinary Diet food (bland food only sold at the vet's), and it would clear up. As I'd start to re-introduce his food again, the big D would start again. He couldn't stay on the VD as it was only to be used as a short-term fix, as there was no nutrients in it. The only thing Max could tolerate in the 5+ years I had him was IAMS Lamb & Rice. Not one single episode of the big D once he was on that. I hope you get the poor guy straightened out.

 

[Guest Bebe]

I did notice that the diarrhea started the day after his 2 weeks of antibiotics stopped.

Very interesting. Mine is coming off of 2 months of antibiotics for a spinal infection and she instantly got the runs.

[Guest spider9174]

the antibiotic wipe out the good flora too. try giving a probiotic, but not yogurt. I use total-zymes and total-biotics. (http://www.petenzymes.com/htmls/faq.html)

 

i has a similar problem when i wanted to put my boy on solid gold barking at the moon. EVO didn't work either. the first week or two, great, then boom big d.

 

first you need to ensure that it isn't caused by worms or a parasite.

if you are sure it is the food, then there is a big chance that evo is too rich. he could be sensitive to the protein source or fat content. many times if you decrease the fat, they firm up.

 

so...my recommendation would be trying a food in the 30% protein range (evo, orijen, and barking at the moon are up at 40%), may be fish based, add in rice and boiled me. you really should go to a single source protein and something that is bland until you stabilize him. use the kibble as a base then add in some bland, low fat additives. I was unable to give my boy yogurt because it loosened everything up. i also started him on a probiotic and enzyme addidtive to help regulate his tummy. this all worked with my boy. i had him for a year before we stabilized him. he went through a cycle of soft, runny, soft, runny...etc. he had a few visits to the vet and one major evet visit related to his bid d. it was awful. i tried a number of foods all of which he was on for at least a month and ended up on Timberwolf ocean fish. He did well on timberwolf until they started changing the formula. He's now switched over to Fromm and is doing well.

 

other things you can do...

increase the fiber content by adding in sweet potato, rice, pumpkin

add in green beans

add in some vanilla wafers (i've heard this works, never tried it)

add in a crumbled metamucil wafer

 

i have also been told giving a 1/4 of their food ration as adult weight control formula will help to. this reduces the fat and helps solidify.

[Guest greytelectric]

You also might want to ask your vet about a special food kibble with higher fiber. When I adopted my two greyhounds I had a similar problem and they were both put on a higher fiber (prescription) kibble. Worked greyt. Once the problem got under control, I gradually added a good quality kibble. They are both fine now.