Soft mushy poops - Page 2

Besides the EPI that I brought up, it sounds like it could be IBD too which is diagnosted by clinical signs unless you were to scope your pup's insides. I would start with the EPI panel really if Cocci and Giardia can be ruled out.

Amoxicillin is a broad spectrum antibiotic...it is used for many types of bacterial infections, including Clostridia.  Maybe that's what your vet meant?  Keep in mind that any antibiotic also disrupts normal intestinal flora. Yogurt is NOT enough to rebalance the intestinal flora.  I always give at least 1 Billion CFU's of probiotics while my dog is on antibiotics, and for 2-4 weeks after the treatment is complete, along with some Arabinogalactan as a prebiotic (food for the probiotic), which also increases butyric acid production (anti-inflammatory).  With a pup you will need to start at a lower dose and work up.  Make sure that you don't give the probiotic at the same time of day as the antibiotic, or it will not survive long enough to colonize.

As mentioned Albon is most often used for coccidia infections...there is also a product called Kocci-Free that worked for one of my dogs with a persistent recurring case of coccidia.  Take a stool sample right away to rule out other things, like giardia, but then again in 3-4 days after the diarrhea starts for the highest chance of getting a positive fecal for coccidia.  Many people immediately run the first stool in and then get a false negative result on the coccidia.

If your pup has been on antibiotics in the past, or has poor digestion due to impending EPI (endocrine pancreatic insufficiency)  it could very well have Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO).  It occurs when the normal friendly flora (Lactobacillus/Bifidobacter strains) are too low and pathogenic strains start colonizing the small intestine...which in turns causes inflammation (sometimes linked to IBD) and urgent, very smelly diarrhea.  Metronidazole (Flagyl) and Tylosin (Tylan) are effective for controling the bacteria involved in SIBO, but unless your dog has a good bacterial balance to begin with, many times it will come back unless you give lactic-acid producing strains of probiotics.  The lactic-acid strains in the probiotic help to change the intestinal pH balance to a more natural level, thereby inhibiting the overgrowth of the pathogenic strains.  Your vet can check the blood serum levels for cobalamin and folate to help determine if you're dealing with SIBO...its a fasting test.

EPI stools will look undigested and oily, since fats are the hardest for them to digest.  They will also be yellowish in color. The test for EPI is called a TLI, it is also a fasting test, so the TLI/cobalamin/folate are often done together.  Check the EPI4dogs site for good insight into this disease. http://epi4dogs.com/

IMO, the longer the diarrhea goes on, the more damage done to the mucosal lining of the intestine.  This can result in malabsorption of nutrients, as well as allergies or food intolerances due to the inflammation causing gaps between the barrier cells. 

I would not keep flipping around on foods, unless you suspect a food intolerance...then switch to a single, simple novel protein diet.  Follow the 4R approach...Remove, replace, restore, repair.  Remove pathogens/treat disease processes. Settle on an easy to digest diet with enzymes if required. Rebuild the intestinal flora. Repair damage to the intestinal lining. Refer to the article on Holistic Approaches to Inflammatory Bowel Disease from the 2007 North American Veterinary Conference.  http://www.ivis.org/docarchive/proceedings/NAVC/2007/SAE/018.pdf

I am not a vet, so you need to do your own research and sit down and have a heart-to-heart with your vet...or find one that is experienced dealing with digestive issues.  Two months is too long to be guessing at what's wrong.

I did have a problem with my young male with whip worm, really played havoc on his system, the first stool sample I took in was clear; decided to do another but much later and what do you know it came up with whip worm which he had for several months prior or possibly since birth or  youngster.  BUT same type of symptoms.  Treated with panacur for 5 days, then waited a few weeks and re-treated again for another 5 days; believe me was not as hard on him as the whip worm.  Never came back again.  But IF if get any type of recurring or icky stools when nothing else has taken place I treat with panacur (the goat version is the easiest to get) in liquid form and is called SAFEGARD; but the farm animal version works best.  BOL  Nan

PS:  In order to get a TRUE definitive answer to any stool sample OR blood workup everything you have been giving her needs to be completely out of her system.  Sometimes that takes a while, so in the meantime the PLAIN pumpkin in the can might help, yogart if she can tolerate dairy and if she can't tolerate dairy I would use probiotics from a health food store (chilled section) and keep refrigerated by the way, not petsmart crap, human grade good stuff.  Then you know what quality you are getting, the pet industry are not known to have GOOD quality med's or supplements for animals, I mean my gosh that might help cure something.  BOL  Nan

Thanks so much for your input and help.  I forgot to mention that she was on both of those drugs mentioned and they did nothing and the poop has been tested twice and nothing as well as a blood test for EPI and it came back fine.  I guess because both of those drugs ( tyloson and metro ) didn't work she thought it might be bacterial in her intestines and the test for that is expensive so to save me some money and she said that coccidious ( spelling,again) seems to be more apparent these days then ever before, ( she said in her 32 years as a vet metro or tyloson has mostly always cleared up diarrhea except in the past two or three years she is seeing this more and more, wonders if it is the ground, water doesn't know or Maya at rabbit poop or deer poop or cat poop, who the F knows ) this is why she is on amoxxicillin to clear out the intestines of bacteria.  maya, does in fact eat everything God put outside.  If it is on the ground and looks interesting it is in her mouth.  I have her on a leash now, but still when she goes out at night she is not watched. She is always ravenously hungry.  Like me.  Last night, I thought she was sound asleep in the kitchen but no..... she had found a rawhide bone under the couch and ate it.  I was up twice in the night with her to go outside.  Good lord..... what a devil she is. So I have scoured the house for rawhides bit I know with her nose she will find one she has hidden somewhere. I have had the same vet for years and she has always done right by me and my dogs.  She says if the amoxicillin doesn't work she has a plan B.  Wouldn't tell me what it was though, but my husbands plan B may be different from my vets.  he says a buck twenty five and you get a silver bullet. Poor Maya. i hope she gets better soon.  ( just kidding by the way )

Eldee, do your pup a huge favor and find a good vet!! I have never had at stool check that was so expensive that my vet was forced to guess a diagnosis. Your vet is "saving" you money at the expense of your pups health and wellbeing.....find a good vet! Also, if Maya has been eating raw hides she just might have some stuck in her gut since raw hides are not digestible and should be banned from the market.

If I suspect a protozoan infection (like coccidia or giardia) I use Ponazuril too, much more effective than Albon, some cases need metronidazole in addition to ponazuril for giardia. 

Find one dog food and stick with it.  Maybe find one with few ingredients, one source of protein and one source of carbs.  
feeding plain canned pumpkin (with no sugar, spices, etc.) mixed with plain raw organic yoghurt (hard to find raw tho) (and add pre-biotics and pro-biotics) and some ginger can help too. 

Juiced wheatgrass isn't just for people, the live enzymes in the raw juiced wheatgrass can be very beneficial to carnivore's digestive systems too.  

What form of tylosin did your vet give you?  If it was liquid form then that's practicly useless for your situation.   I've always had extremely good results using Tylan powder. 

 

if all does not work out, i would start over with rice and 1 meat protein , to get her stools back to normal.

it could be as simple as allergies.

With the EPI testing and what you have had her on that should have taken care of sibo and some, I would start to think IBD and she is not too young for that.