Food/diarrhea Question

[philospher77]

Katie has always had a sensitive tummy... the kind of hound that will have soft poop when switching between flavors of a food (like from lamb to chicken) within a brand if you do not do a very very gradual switch-over. So I had, for some reason I do not now get, decided to add in some wet food to her kibble. On like day 3 or 4, I noticed her poop was getting soft, and stopped the wet, and have been dealing with very watery diarrhea since then. She doesn't seem to be feeling bad outside of that, still eating, playing, etc. So, I am thinking that this is just a result of the wet food, given the timing.

 

Assuming that is correct, is there anything specific I should do, besides stopping the wet food? In other words, do I fast her, put her on rice/chicken, or just assume that if I go back to the food that she did well on, this will all resolve as the other food works its way through her system? I've cut out everything except her kibble that she was doing well on, but just not sure if I should be doing more (and feeding less) to let her tummy settle, or if that's not required in this kind of situation. And how many days should I give it to see if things improve? If it's not the wet food, the other likely culprit is hookworms, which are an issue in my neighborhood, but that's partly why I have her on Interceptor, since that should treat the hookworms as well as the heartworms. I'm thinking that the food is the more likely culprit, so I am hoping that this will just clear up with time.

 

Advice appreciated!

 

Rebecca and Katie

[Batmom]

If it's gone on for more than 24-48 hours, it's not the food. I'd probably take a stool sample in for a check. Good luck!

[Guest Swifthounds]

Did you fast for at least 8-12 hours? The fasting gives the body time to clear the offending item from the gut, remain empty, and heal from the irritation. Whether you start back with meat/rice or standard food depends on how the dog does.

 

If you don't see improvement after fasting and referring, I would run a stool sample. The problem with trying one when you have water big d is that sometimes you get lucky and get a positive, but more often the body has cleared the egg load from the colon naturally and you can get a false negative.