Loose Bowels And Now Diareah After A Well Check

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Here's my situation:

 

Had Mirage at the vet for a well check last Tuesday - all was well. He had a loose poop after the trip, but I attributed it to nerves. Everything was pretty much normal, and then Saturday morning 3:30 am, he asked to go out, which is very unusual for him. Had a very loose bowel movement, and next day, poop a little soft......I cut out all treats and people food treats and kept him strictly on his food. Everything pretty much went back to normal.

 

This morning, again at 3:30 am, out and had diareah with mucous this morning. I went ahead and fed him his normal kibble for breakfast, but had another watery stool on our mid-morning walk. I realize that breakfast was probably a mistake.

 

I know it's sometimes recommended to fast for 12 - 24 hours, and I'm going to try nothing for 12 hours until tonight, but I can't even imagine not feeding this boy for 24 hours.......he'd be eating my furniture! He's always a great eater, and his appetite is not diminished in any way. I'm a little confused that the problem seems to be sporadic. The only thing I can think of that would have been out of the normal is the Frontline Plus I administered for the first time in several months, but that was on Tuesday and doesn't explain last Saturday.

 

When I feed him tonight, what would you recommend? I've seen rice or pasta and boiled hamburger advised.......or would you do chicken? And I searched, but could not find the ratio to follow, so if someone could give me that, I'd appreciate it.

 

I've got a trip planned next Thursday, and I need to get this boy fixed up. If I see no improvement, I'll do the vet on Saturday.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Burpdog]

Do boiled hamburger & potatoes and see how he does. Try some acidolphillus pills too.

[Guest rsqdogsmom]

You may need to get him to the vet.

Diarrhea+ mucus usually = GIARDIA.

The dead giveaway is the HORRIBLE SMELL!!

If you have both the mucus AND the smell from HELL, you'll want to get a poo sample to tthe vet ASAP.

This will NOT go away by itself, it requires MEDS for about 7-10 days.

Good luck!

[Guest dsszarzi]

When I need to put my pups on the hamburger and rice diet, I give them 3/4 Cup of hamburger and 3/4 Cup of rice. The hamburger has to be at least 93% lean. Also boil and rinse the hamburger. I feed them this diet 4 times a day for a few days. Then I start to mix in their regular kibble.

 

I'm going through this right now with Bud. But because he recently had a bad case of bacteria, I am also giving him 1/4 tsp. Tylan powder and 2 Tbs. active culture yogurt once a day.

 

I think you should take a fecal sample to your vet.

Edited March 5, 2009 by dsszarzi

[greyhead]

It may be premature to mention this, but Spencer had intermittent mucus and consistently horrible smell, and it is Clostridium bacteria, not giardia. But since Clostridium is normally present anyway, it can take a while to get a big enough colony that the lab would recognize as a problem. So there's a second step to the testing that can sort it out. Here's a link to a good article. http://www.petshealth.com/dr_library/clost.html

 

I hope it's giardia. Easier to diagnose! But I agree that loose poop and diarrhea isn't something to take casually. If you ever want to look back through my threads about Spencer, you'll see why!

 

ETA: This link helps discriminate various problems by poop color, condition, smell, etc. Hope it helps.

http://onibasu.com/archives/kn/165334.html

 

Edited March 5, 2009 by greyhead

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Thanks to those who replied We've got a vet appointment for tomorrow and we'll try to find out what's going on......seemed better safe than sorry.

[RobinM]

poor baby. Poor mommy. hope it's nothing serious and clears itself up quickly.

 

Hugs to you all.

[KF_in_Georgia]

My secret to 24-hour fasting: Feed dinner a little early. In the morning, sleep until the last minute, then get up, get dressed, walk the dogs, then rush out the door to work, leaving the dogs staring, open-mouthed, looking like they're thinking, "Hey! She forgot to feed us!" Get your own breakfast on the way to work. Then, stall a little after work--running errands, etc.--before going home to feed dinner to dogs who are happy to forgive you.

 

I usually feed rice and chicken to my guys when they need a bland diet. I keep rice and canned chicken on hand at home for emergencies. And if one dog needs a bland diet, they both get it. The one eating normal kibble thinks he's suffering if his sister is getting cooked food and he isn't.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

My secret to 24-hour fasting: Feed dinner a little early. In the morning, sleep until the last minute, then get up, get dressed, walk the dogs, then rush out the door to work, leaving the dogs staring, open-mouthed, looking like they're thinking, "Hey! She forgot to feed us!" Get your own breakfast on the way to work. Then, stall a little after work--running errands, etc.--before going home to feed dinner to dogs who are happy to forgive you.

 

I usually feed rice and chicken to my guys when they need a bland diet. I keep rice and canned chicken on hand at home for emergencies. And if one dog needs a bland diet, they both get it. The one eating normal kibble thinks he's suffering if his sister is getting cooked food and he isn't.

 

Thanks I may have to try your secret!

 

I was also wondering how Mirage getting "people" food was going to go over with Piaget......she's my more picky eater, and I can just imagine her looking at me as if to say, "And why don't I have what he has?"

Edited March 6, 2009 by PiagetsMom

[Guest HoustonGreys]

You have my sympathies! We have been going through a prolonged period with Lofty (especially) and a little with Carmen. I wanted to switch Lofty to a "better" food --- what a nightmare this has been! I think we are finally on the way to getting things settled --- I'm almost afraid to say that. I hope things go a lot faster and better for you!

[Guest RICHandJUDE]

Don't forget worms. With our first greyhound, it seemed that she only got the worms after we had her annual wellness check. With the worms she had very loose and mucus poop.

 

I came to the conclusion that she was picking up the worms from the vet's. My mind asked me why most dogs go to the vet??? My conclusion...because something was wrong with them. Even though our vet was very quick in picking up poop, the eggs could still be lingering on their ground. After that, I wash our dogs feet when we leave and presto....no worms for the last 3 years. It could be simply a coincidence.

 

Chicken and rice seems to help my 3 dogs. I don't have any specific recipe.

[Batmom]

Fasting 24 hours: If you feed twice a day, a 24-hour fast means skipping only one meal. Mine forget about the missing meal in 20 min. - 2 hours. If I'm fasting one, I either have grammy feed the other while we're outside, or I give one 1/4 cup cooked rice and the other a full meal. The 1/4 cup cooked rice isn't as good as fasting -- it'll get their innards working a little bit -- but when ya gotta, ya gotta.

 

I also usually give pepto bismol (not pepcid) gelcaps, which are swallowed rather than chewed and which dissolve quite nicely. Some people prefer immodium, but it has an influence on gut motility that I don't like to risk unless/until I know what the dog's problem is (having had blockages here before ....). Pepto bismol just coats things. Child's dose twice a day for 5 days even if pup seems to have completely recovered before then.

 

If I'm pretty sure doggy just ate something bad, I fast and then start back on dog's normal food, smallish meals for a meal or two. If I'm pretty sure doggy is sick, then I do the bland diet thing.

[Guest MAXNAV]

Don't forget worms. With our first greyhound, it seemed that she only got the worms after we had her annual wellness check. With the worms she had very loose and mucus poop.

 

I came to the conclusion that she was picking up the worms from the vet's. My mind asked me why most dogs go to the vet??? My conclusion...because something was wrong with them. Even though our vet was very quick in picking up poop, the eggs could still be lingering on their ground. After that, I wash our dogs feet when we leave and presto....no worms for the last 3 years. It could be simply a coincidence.

 

Chicken and rice seems to help my 3 dogs. I don't have any specific recipe.

 

You sound just like me. I'm always concerned about the vet's office (and poop piles outside that no-one seems to clean up when their dog dumps on the walkway, etc.), and the same goes for our pediatrician's office. The dog gets his feet washed/wiped off immediately, along with blankets that he's laid on in the car (with bleach), and the kids use the sanitizer immediately, and my kids are 15 & 12 now. Guess I'm a germaphobic, but we've been very lucky so far, so it must be working.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Just to update, we're back from the vet and the diagnosis is colitis. Mirage is on a bland diet for a few days and a week's worth of Metronidazole 500mg. Hopefully, that will fix my boy up. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and advice

[NeylasMom]

FYI, colitis is just a generic term for bowel irritation. Flagyl (metronidazole) is your go to med for diarrhea. Did your vet do a fecal? If not and the flagyl doesn't clear it up or it comes back after he finishes, I would. Also, fecals can turn up false negatives especially for issues like giardia - something to keep in mind as well. Giardia is usually treated with panacur these days (a dewormer) although flagyl can help.

Good luck, I hope the meds clear him right up - probably will.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Yes, we did do a fecal. I'd mentioned the possibility of worms, but all that was seen was "lots of bacteria". I'm hoping this is a quick and easy fix, but he did say that if there was not major improvement by Monday to let him know.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I would Panacur him if it doesn't clear up, in case the fecal was falsely negative (happens often).

 

Good luck, hope it clears up.