Not Sure Of The Source Of Diarrhea

[Guest cat_mph]

Last Friday, Toes had diarrhea with some blood. Same on Saturday morning so I did the normal routine (no food for 24 hours). I took him to the vet on Monday. They did a fecal which came back negative; everything else looked ok. The vet said his creatine was high and his platlets wers low but that was inaccurate. It's the same levels he has always had plus they are within normal range for a greyhound. She prescribed him an anti-biotic and Royal Caninn HD food. He had a follow up on Thursday. His stool was firming up but still not normal. Fecal came back negative so they prescribed pepto 2 tables every 6 hrs just for 24 hours and an anti-parasitic medicine. His stool is still on the soft side. Other than all of this, he is perfectly fine. Boucing around, eating normal, wanting to go for walks, etc.

 

Any ideas on what it could be? Anything else we can check?

 

Thanks!

[Guest Koalalou2]

Just a suggestion, have you tried several days of white rice/chicken? We had a senior foster who had pretty severe diarrhea problems for some time and did this to "reset" his system. He was back to normal after three days and we started phasing the dog food back in. He did fine after this.

No treats or anything but white rice/chicken.

[Guest paulamariez]

I wish I had some advice for you, but I really don't. I'm sure someone else on the board will have some ideas. I do know that when my hounds had hookworm, it took a couple weeks for their poops to firm completely up. It sounds like your vet has covered most of the bases. This past spring, Domino had some weird diarrhea thing that lasted for a week. He too, didn't have anything show up in the vet's tests. We ended up just giving him Pepto every day for the week plus a Probiotic supplement to clean up the nasties in his intestinal tract. After that week, he was back to normal. Never did figure out what it was. I will keep your precious Toes in my prayers for a quick recovery. I love his name. My brindle guy's nickname is Tiger Toes!

[Guest cat_mph]

Hello,

 

I did try rice Sunday,Monday, and Tuesday morning before switching to the vet's prescription of Royal Canin HD Tuesday evening. Usually rice does the trick but not this time. His poop has firmed up compared to when this all started but it's not back to normal yet. Maybe I just need to be more patient. However, this is the first time he has had his GI problems more than 2 days and I am a worry wart.

 

Thank you!

[Burpdog]

Try boiled meat only and see what happens. If that doesn't do it, I'd worm with panacur regardless of what the fecal says.

[Guest EmilyAnne]

Perhaps he needs 'gluten-free' rice?

[Guest charmsmom]

It could also be Giardia. That rarely shows up on fecals...Good luck, whatever it is!!!

[Guest cat_mph]

Toes is on Panacur. He was on it for 5 days and finished his last packet this morning. Initally, the vet tested for giardia and that came up negative too.

 

I wonder if I should give him some yogurt or pumpkin along with this Royal Canin Intestinal HD food.

[dmswartzfager]

It could be the Intestinal HE food. Blitz gets prescription food for his IBD as needed, and the best poop I can expect has form but is mushy. As soon as I switch him back to his regular diet, he's fine. So there may be something in the food itself causing some issues.

[RobinM]

When this happened to our pack recently, it was hook worms. They had to be treated. I would bring in another stool sample to rule out worms again. Flagyl works well for non worms BIG d.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

My guy had D for, it seemed like, the first two months we had him. He was fostered for nearly 8 months before we got him. He had 2 rounds of Pancur before I got him. I kept him on the same food that he was eating in the foster home, nothing. Finally when I saw a few drops of blood in his stool I had enough and took him to the vet. They gave him a round of antibiotics for possible cholitis, as well as a stool hardener (dont remember the names). THAT DIDNT WORK. I spoke with another vet (close personal friend of mine) and she suggested, are you ready, Metamucil. Well its been over 3 months now with normal stool. Go figure.

[stlgrey]

I am having the same issue with Sierra. I am also trying Metamucil. We started today on it. We have tried everything else. I guess we need a few days to see if it works for her.

[Guest cat_mph]

I called the vet today. They suggested waiting until Sunday to make sure his body has adjusted to not having medicine. The vet thinks, because of his age, that his stomach may have changed and the semi-soft stool may now be his norm. I will ask the vet about metamucil or benefiber (dosage, how long, etc.). Thanks for all of your help. I will prvide an update next week.

[Guest charmsmom]

Try adding beet pulp, too. It's a little more natural and still firms things up.

[Guest cat_mph]

Unfortunately, I don't believe it will be a simple solution as additing additives to his food. He is not doing better. He is now the same as before I brought him to the vet for the initial visit. They are doing an x-ray today to check for blockage. Also, when I picked him up to go to the vet, I noticed a huge hematoma (flat, red) located on his back right leg. Not sure if it is related to his health issues or to running around in the back yard last night. Plus, his platlets are lower than normal. The vet is going to call me back when the x-rays develop and the other blood test comes back.

[Chicocat]

I don't know who your vet is, but if you can't get a handle on this soon I would suggest you try Dr. Smith at Piper Heritage. I don't understand the comment in regard to the change being due to his age. That's certainly not the norm in my experience.

[SAVED2]

Pasta better than rice.

[Guest argolola]

Poor sweetheart. He will be in my prayers.

[Guest cat_mph]

The vet suggested we do an x-ray to look for blockage. When I picked Toes up to go to the vet, I noticed a huge bruise on the back on his hind leg. I showed it to the vet who ordered a CBC test. He has low platelets; thankfully he is not anemic. The x-ray showed that his small instestine is not in the normal location. It appears his spleen is enlarged. They did an ultra sound today. Should get the results tomorrow. Yesterday, they started him on prednison, pepcid, and doxcycline in case he has a tick bourne disease. Although they tested for TBD back in March, I guess it doesn't cover all TBD and this test will test for all types. There could be 3 causes for all of this: TBD, tumor on his spleen, or auto immue disease. The vet doesn't think it is a tumor. Toes did race in Colorado and VA before retiring in Kansas.

 

Thankfully, his behavior has not changed. He is still bouncing around and eating. All of this gives me hope that he will be ok.

[GeorgeofNE]

Yogurt GIVES my dog diarrhea.

 

When you said the vet prescribed an antibiotic, what was it?