Nighttime Diarhhea

[Guest Darrinkeeler]

We recently adopted a 2 year old retired greyhound. We took him to the vet a few weeks ago and all tests for worms, etc came back negative.

 

Recently he has been having bouts of liquid poop in the night time only. I dont notice any change in behavior or appetite throughout the day and his stools are relatively solid during the day. However he has woken up the last 3 nights around 1-4AM with urgent diarrhea.

 

We have been transitioning his food from chicken and sweet potatoes to a duck and salmon. His skin seemed to be irritated by the chicken.

 

Also the other day he was licking an unknown source of fresh poop outside. He invested a small amount before I saw what he was getting in to to pull away. After that, he seemed to be having the diarrhea.

 

Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

I am just confused as it only happens in the middle of the night, not during other time he poops during the day.

[Batmom]

If he was fine before the food switch, I'd go back to the chicken for a week or two until his gut settles down, then try a different food.

 

Would also be worth taking a poop sample to your vet to check for parasites.

 

Hope you can get to the bottom of things!

[XTRAWLD]

Duck is rather fatty, so that might have something to do with the D. He might also have difficulty with duck because it is in the same poultry family. Turkey is not, oddly enough.

 

If you are thinking there is a problem with poultry, you can try a limited ingredient diet that might bind a bit better. For example, I used sweet potato and fish from Natural Balance when my boy was allergic to chicken. Seemed to work well. The issue with trying different foods and transitioning is that you must let enough time pass for the body to get used to the food, if you just keep making switches the body will get upset. I know it can be rather frustrating, because you want them well as soon as possible.

 

Consider going to a bland diet of rice and broth for a few days and then start over with a different food and see if that works.

Edited November 25, 2017 by XTRAWLD

[GeorgeofNE]

You don't give a reason why you think his food needs to be changed. Irritated skin could be from a lot of things. Typically food allergies present as itchy feet while other allergies present as itchy ears, armpits, etc. That's a generalization, but what made you jump to a food issue?