Diarrhea- please help. - Page 2

Kaopectate (regular formula) can work nicely for some dogs.  I just used some yesterday on one of my girls that got sick, probably due to a rawhide bone just got for her.  Gave one spoonful and restricted food, be sure to hydrate and she's fine today and back on her food and regular routine.  I've used Pepto too, but the dogs don't really like the taste; prefer the regular flavored Kaopectate.  I've also used a combo of white and sweet potatoes, slice of leek and slice of turnip and are boiled together, then mashed and given with some boiled chicken.  That worked for one of my shepherds as well in the past.

There is only one way to eliminate chronic Giardia as an underlying cause that makes everything else that goes wrong so much worse.....Antigen Test at the lab.  Your vet cannot do this test.

It is called a FLARE.  Every time there is some new stress, the Giardia can go from dormant to an active flare up and diarrhea again.

Giardia is a mostly undiagnosed epidemic.

Birds fly overhead and poop.  It lands on he ground, in puddles and creeks.  Dogs lick their feet, so even training them not to drink out of puddles and creeks will not solve the problem of exposure.

It took 2 years and 4 vets to finally diagnose my shepherd Phantom.  The antigen test was done because I had a tantrum and insisted.  The veterinarian was shocked when the results came back positive.  Friends who worked a the SF ASPCA shelter old me what to do and to kill it off with several courses of Panacur.  Phantom spent the nex 9 1/2 years of her life with a cast iron stomach.

Good luck to you and your dog.

i agree Kaopectate does work, but I like to stick to more natural things if possible pumpkin, white rice are both good options if you can get your dog to eat them. I at times have also used pro-bios with my husbands service dog due to high levels of stress.

He seems to be doing a bit better now.
We just found the culprit......he ate an entire bag of bbq chips at some point in time. I think that, plus the added stress of yesterday probably brought it on.  I gave him some kaopectate and he is resting in his crate...he still has the poops but not as bad.

You have really got me thinking about Giardia though, It sounds like something I should look into.
Are there any other obvious symptoms, excluding diarrhea?
Approx, how much did it cost you after testing and treatment?
 

I think I might try to track down a place in my province that does testing,

Stop feeding rich treats.Pumpkin is good, plain yogurt with active bacteria cultures. The pumpkin & yogurt are good but,they are not the end all to curing diarrhea. There are way to many things that it could cause it . I feed my dogs Raw chicken legs , thighs & other raw meat beef. Once the raw chicken bones are crushed  it  acts like fiber and tightens up there poop.

Raw diet is great for dogs,healthier,longer life,less trips to the vet,nice coat (not greasey),dog don't stink ,more energy,happier and best of less poop to clean up because they use all of the meat. The kibble poop is some times twice the size because they can't digest (or use)the fillers. Kinda like people and corn .

Here is a link to a raw diet recipe that I use http://leerburg.com/diet2.htm

I would recommend you get this video there is so much good information .It was very well done & there is a vet on the video that talks about how little vets actual  learn about nutrition at vet school. They just sell there vet clinic  food and make  huge money ,it's  big bussiness buying vet food. Ask your self this what did people feed their dogs before commerical dog food? What does a wolf or coyote eat ?(raw).

http://www.dogchefs.com/shop/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=227

good luck

Randy

Just pumpkin thats help!

I for one am not getting involved in this one

Hope you find the problem

Steve

Thanks to all who gave advice.
I put some pumpkin and rice in his food as suggested and within 1 day, he had hard (orange) poops.
He is now completely back to his old goofy self.

 

Bianca