Diarrhea - When To Go To Vet

[sarabz]

Bella's never had diarrhea before - a few soft poops until we figured out the right kibble and the right treats. Until this week.

 

Thursday am, 3 am, wakes me up with pacing, panting - puddle of liquid diarrhea on the floor, more when I take her out, like this every couple of hours. Orange color, absolute liquid.

 

Continues through Thursday. I fasted her for about 18 hours, then tried boiled chicken & rice. She threw up the rice, but the diarrhea continued, although the normal, dark color of her regular stool. Gave her a couple of small meals of chicken on Friday, it continues. I fasted her another 24 hours then tried boiled hamburger instead of the chicken (all fat skimmed off). Slowly started introducing kibble back in hopes that getting her normal diet back would help firm her up.

 

Today she's still very loose, not quite as liquid as the past couple of days but pudding-like.

 

No temperature, appetite normal, energy level normal (or as far as I can tell for a greyhound!), no tenderness, drinking a normal amount of water. She was at a kennel for a few days, returning Sunday pm (more than 72 hours before the diarrhea started). DH is a worried mess.

 

At what point should I take her to the vet, or do I just take a deep breath?

 

[cleptogrey]

there seems to be a stomach bug going around.(i live pretty close to you) rice, rice and more rice- w/ some boiled chop beef is what i do. my dogs just went thru a couple of days of first puking then the runs, but they were w/ 11 other dogs(home boarding where i always go in dutchess county)- it spread like wild fire. it's been a good # of days since the symptoms have subsided, but i think their stomachs are still wonky. cooking up some rice tonight.

Edited March 31, 2013 by cleptogrey

[TheFullHouse]

I recently learned that Bullitt gets watery diarrhea from rice! His new kidney diet called for rice and I could not get him to firm up. I switched to potatoes instead and he firmed right up. You may want to try chicken and potatoes and see if that works. I just boil them with the skin on and chop them up.

[cleptogrey]

if it's the bug that going around the dogs(all 13 of them) were green at the gills and used up bulk cleaning supplies. the old dane had the worst time. pasta, potato or rice seem to do about the same thing. it's what your dog tolerates. check the ingredients in her food, if it's rice based your safe w/ rice.

[sarabz]

Thanks all. There is no rice in her kibble. She threw it up the first time and wouldn't eat it the second and this is a dog who eats EVERYTHING. No throwing up other than the rice. And the Kaopectate....

 

 

Just wondering how much longer I should let it go - I hate to see her in distress but also don't want to subject her to the stress of the vet if there's nothing that can be done. If she had ANYTHING else going on (e.g. temperature, panting, pacing, listlessness, something wrong with her abdomen) I would have taken her in last week but she's otherwise fine, just the diarrhea.

[macoduck]

How's her water intake? Are her gums dry? If you pull up some loose skin does it take a while to fall back down?

[BauersMom]

If you pull up some loose skin does it take a while to fall back down?

That's what I was going to ask.

 

The diarrhea can cause dehydration quickly - and that would be my main concern.

 

I would probably have a dog in who had serious/unimproving diarrhea after 48 hours on a fasting/bland diet. To me, that says medical intervention may be necessary (flagyl, tylan, etc).

[BatterseaBrindl]

That's what I was going to ask.

 

The diarrhea can cause dehydration quickly - and that would be my main concern.

 

I would probably have a dog in who had serious/unimproving diarrhea after 48 hours on a fasting/bland diet. To me, that says medical intervention may be necessary (flagyl, tylan, etc).

 

Is she drinking water?

And keeping it down?

 

I'd take her to the vet if she's still unable to keep anything down and/or liquid poop.

[tbhounds]

If feel that if the fasting and the bland diet hasn't worked by now know its time for medical intervention. Vet visit!

[Guest OPointyDog]

I would think a vet visit would be a good idea. It may be a bacterial imbalance which requires antibiotics (and maybe probiotics) to reset the intestinal flora. Take a stool sample.

[sarabz]

OK, thanks all. Vet visit tomorrow. She's drinking plenty and keeping that down - gums are a good color, no signs of dehydration. But yes, the diarrhea has gone on too long even with a bland diet.

[Time4ANap]

I've started using Evanger's Organic Canned Chicken in place of the cooked bland diet. Rocket seems to recover faster on it, and I have no trouble getting him to eat it.

 

Usually 1/2 can 4 times a day until he can start back on a little kibble. Going by the instructions he should actually have 4 cans a day for his weight if I was feeding it normally, but spreading out 2 cans over 4 feedings has worked fine when he has tummy issues.

 

Nothing in it but chicken and water, with a little organic guar gum as a thickener. It's also easier to just keep a case of that on hand so i don't have to cook a special diet just for him.

 

Evanger's also has a non-organic Chicken and Rice canned food that they market specifically as a food for dogs with diarrhea or stomach problems. The can notes that it is for temporary use only, and is not intended for regular feeding. When i opened it, it smelled and looked about like the canned ID food from the vet, at 1/5 the price. I have used both foods successfully.

 

Sounds like Bella might need some Flagyl as well. Feel better soon Bella!

Edited March 31, 2013 by Time4ANap

[PrairieProf]

She is not on metronidazole (Flagyl)?? I put my dog on that at the first sign of diarrhea now, as she's had some issues and we don't mess around. In my view you absolutely need that. I would have been at the vet days ago to get that and a quick check-over and maybe have a fecal run and/or a fecal culture started.

Edited March 31, 2013 by PrairieProf

[Guest FreeholdHound]

I learned that elbow macaroni/ chicken broth (low sodium) works for Harry sooo much quicker than rice. Unflavored Pedialyte (meant for kids) can be mixed in too & warmed up. White bread pieces for "treats". That's been our trial & error success recipe. Good luck

[Guest OPointyDog]

Prairie Prof is right, Flagyl might help.

 

I've started using Evanger's Organic Canned Chicken in place of the cooked bland diet. Rocket seems to recover faster on it, and I have no trouble getting him to eat it.

 

I love that the notes say it's Kosher for passover, too. Hee! I haven't seen that brand around here - where do you get it?

 

I just picked up some Newman's Own Organic Beef - I'm hoping it can replace boiled hamburger in my dog's bland diet....

[Time4ANap]

She is not on metronidazole (Flagyl)?? I put my dog on that at the first sign of diarrhea now, as she's had some issues and we don't mess around. In my view you absolutely need that. I would have been at the vet days ago to get that and a quick check-over and maybe have a fecal run and/or a fecal culture started.

 

Anytime i go to the vet now, regardless of the reason, I pickup a week's supply of Flagyl to keep on hand. The first hint of diarrhea never occurs when the vet is open.

 

Prairie Prof is right, Flagyl might help.

 

 

I love that the notes say it's Kosher for passover, too. Hee! I haven't seen that brand around here - where do you get it?

 

I just picked up some Newman's Own Organic Beef - I'm hoping it can replace boiled hamburger in my dog's bland diet....

 

i order the Evanger's from Wag.com . I think Petflow also carries it. The organic is about 2 bucks a can, but worth it to me since it works for us. Locally, Pet Supplies Plus carries it, but the supply there can be hit or miss, so sometimes they have the organic, other times it's the non-organic or the Chicken and Rice - I have used each of them at different times with success. I prefer the organic, it appears to have more meat, and doesn't smell as strong as the others.

[Houndtime]

I think pasta or oatmeal works better than rice. For me, three days is the rule.

 

Since Fuzzy gets diarrhea every first of the month on Heartguard, I keep flagyl and prescription food in the house. I started the prescription food yesterday. Heartguard this morning, diarrhea this afternoon. I wish Interceptor was back on the market.

[TINMANPDX]

I looked up orange diarrhea on google and found it as a symptom of coronavirus - might be best to get a sample to your vet if it doesn't abate. Hope she is right as rain very soon!

[sarabz]

Turns out that the vet thinks she has giardia or a similar water-bourne bug (although I was also thinking coronavirus). Of course today she didn't have diarrhea other than first thing this morning so we still need to bring a sample in. Figures- this morning she didn't leave a mess on the floor when DH went back to take her to the vet, and over the past few days she's been needing to go about every 2 hours. $267 worth of prescription food, antibiotic shot etc later but at least we'll have peace of mind.

[EllenEveBaz]

Hoping Miss Bella feels better soon and her family can get some rest.

[sarabz]

Thanks. Ironically - no poops/diarrhea at ALL since 5 am this morning - watch her now be constipated! (Not that the constipation would be funny, just the irony of finally taking her to the vet and no diarrhea) I love dogs!!

Edited April 1, 2013 by sarabz

[Guest Isabella]

Hope Bella feels better very soon! Hate diarrhea puddles on the floor

[sarabz]

OK, so as I mentioned we took her to the vet on Monday. all tests came back clear- no bugs, no giardia, no nothing. All bloodwork clear, all functions totally normal. "It must be something she ate". OK, I could go with that except for a couple of things -

(1) We didn't change her food, didn't even open a new bag

 

(2) We didn't change her treats, also didn't open a new bag

 

(3) She never, ever, ever, EVER eats anything off the sidewalk. I rarely use "never" with dogs as they're animals, they can be unpredictable, but this one is really true. "Leave it" was the first thing we taught her and it's been so reinforced that she walked past a hamburger yesterday. Seriously. She looked at it, looked at me, and kept walking. So proud of my girl

 

(4) IF she got into the trash (and there's almost never anything potentially toxic in there) - well, the once or twice that she has, we definitely knew it as she had a blast shredding tissues and strewing the remains of the trash bin through the kitchen.

 

(5) Medications? Maybe, but all of our medications are tucked away in drawers. Carefully portioned out when needed and we're extremely careful about not dropping anything (or picking it up if we have) to keep Bella safe. The one time that she did get into something carelessly left out, she threw up shortly thereafter, which is why we're so careful now.

 

 

No throwing up at any point in all of this which makes it hard for me to think she ate something bad.

 

So, I'm at a loss. She had really nasty diarrhea every couple of hours for a few days (Thursday 3 am to Monday 6 am). Once Monday came (vet visit day) she's been soft but not liquid so I'm thinking that she was beginning to get over whatever it was even before she went to the vet.

 

She's on Hills i/d. I'd love to start transitioning her back to her regular food since her poops are perfect on her food and I'm not convinced that the i/d is helping, plus there's no known condition that we're treating. Should I just be patient for a few more days and let her finish the course of Hills?

 

Anything I should have checked? Anything I should have specifically checked when she goes for her annual wellness visit later this month?

 

Thanks all.

[carronstar]

Aquitaine had this a couple of weeks ago. 3 am UWS is very quiet. I knew when I heard the gurgle the night before and a whiff of...something that we would have a middle of the night walk. Something is definitely going around. It only lasted a day or so.

 

Hope Bella feels better soon.

[sarabz]

Aquitaine had this a couple of weeks ago. 3 am UWS is very quiet. I knew when I heard the gurgle the night before and a whiff of...something that we would have a middle of the night walk. Something is definitely going around. It only lasted a day or so.

 

Hope Bella feels better soon.

 

Yep, exactly this!

 

 

Hope Aquitaine is better!!

Edited April 4, 2013 by sarabz