Question About Diarrhea

[Guest teddy]

I have a diarrhea problem with our foster, Thor. He’s been through a regimen of both Panacur and metronidazole, prior to that his hookworm test was a -1 positive (one egg on the slide). He initially was eating Canidae chicken and rice, which worked wonders with our other grey Teddy, who has IBS. Then I supplemented with Hills prescription gastrointestinal food when I realized his diarrhea wasn’t going away. It didn’t seem to make a difference. I wondered if he was sensitive to grains. We switched gradually to a grain free diet. No change, perhaps even worse. I tried adding pumpkin. No change. So now he’s on rice alone. After two days on rice, his poops got good. We started introducing the rice and chicken kibble back into his diet, along with pumpkin, result= diarrhea. I’m putting him back on rice alone and will add some raw chicken breasts slowly within the next few days so he can get some protein. Then maybe we can slowly introduce the kibble again? Any advice?

 

ETA: A few weeks ago I also started a probiotic powder, since Teddy is sensitive to dairy I wasn’t going to give anyone dairy.

[MaryJane]

My recommendation - stop the chicken and do cooked beef instead.

[Guest teddy]

My recommendation - stop the chicken and do cooked beef instead.

 

Not raw?

[BauersMom]

Have you had a fecal done recently?

 

I would start with JUST a meat source, not just rice. I usually start with boiled beef. If that doesn't work, I move to chicken. Then start to add a rice/potato in ONE new thing at a time. If you add more than one new item, you won't know what the problem is.

 

Once I get the dog stabilized on something, then I will move to trying commercial foods - but just adding the kibble, not kibble + something else new.

 

But first and foremost, I would have a fecal run again. Otherwise, you may be fighting a losing battle if he has worms or parasites.

 

Good luck!

[TheFullHouse]

My big boys have to have two meat sources to have firm stools so they eat a combination of two foods one with lamb one with chicken. The other thing I found that helped a lot was adding a probiotic to their diet.

[Guest teddy]

Have you had a fecal done recently?

 

I would start with JUST a meat source, not just rice. I usually start with boiled beef. If that doesn't work, I move to chicken. Then start to add a rice/potato in ONE new thing at a time. If you add more than one new item, you won't know what the problem is.

 

Once I get the dog stabilized on something, then I will move to trying commercial foods - but just adding the kibble, not kibble + something else new.

 

But first and foremost, I would have a fecal run again. Otherwise, you may be fighting a losing battle if he has worms or parasites.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Thanks for your reply. We had the fecal done 3(?) weeks ago- we finished the Panacur 2 weeks ago, wondering if it's time for a second round. We had been adding one new thing at a time, but we were working with kibble, not meat/chicken, so you are probably right if there is one ingredient in the kibble that's not working with him, we wouldn't be able to catch it. I'm just wary of going to straight meat and then being stuck at meat with no kibble option. We fed Teddy boiled chicken and rice for months and it got very tiring and expensive preparing those meals all the time.

 

My big boys have to have two meat sources to have firm stools so they eat a combination of two foods one with lamb one with chicken. The other thing I found that helped a lot was adding a probiotic to their diet.

 

What do you use for probiotic? We got this digestive powder that includes pre and probiotics. (i.e. digestive enzymes and also good bacteria)

[MaryJane]

My recommendation - stop the chicken and do cooked beef instead.

 

Not raw?

 

Use cooked beef. There is a reason that vets have recommended a bland diet of rice and cooked hamburger for diarrhea for decades and that is because it usually works.

 

Until the diarrhea gets under control, avoid raw because it can potentially harbor bacteria that could cause additional problems which you do not need now. Once you get the diarrhea under control then you can move to whatever food (processed or raw) you would like to try.

[Sambuca]

I would definitely try to avoid chicken. If ID didn't work then there is almost certain a problem with the dog eating chicken. I had to put my dog on a fish based food and he's doing great now.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Use cooked beef. There is a reason that vets have recommended a bland diet of rice and cooked hamburger for diarrhea for decades and that is because it usually works.

 

Until the diarrhea gets under control, avoid raw because it can potentially harbor bacteria that could cause additional problems which you do not need now. Once you get the diarrhea under control then you can move to whatever food (processed or raw) you would like to try.

 

Unless the dog is seriously immune compromised, its system is more than adequate to deal with any bacteria that might be present on raw meats and the meats will be more easily digestible.

[cleptogrey]

sometimes they need another round of flagyl to help clear up their guts. i have found that true more times than not, also i am a firm believer in plain old boiled, over cooked WHITE rice. i add 25% chop meat just for flavor and let my dogs eat as much as they want when i am dealing w/ a runny situation like that. after they firm up, then i slooooowly add 1/4 c of kibble at a time. i swear by my rice cooker. don't be alarmed when you realize that the dog is consuming 6+cups of cooked rice. i get out a big heavy ceramic bowl in the raised feeder and let them have a good time chowing down. the rice is messy, so put a big towel under it for a faster cleanup.