Question about diarrhea - Page 1

Hi, all:


My 3-year-old male GSD has had this condition for about a year, but it comes and goes.  The first half of his elimination is in perfect logs and the rest loosens up until it's almost water.  He's otherwise healthy, but the biggest problem with this is that I can't leave him in the house unsupervised, because he has eliminated inside a few times in the past few months.  I'm sure it's stressful for him too because he has never had an accident in the house until recently.

When I took him to the vet a few months ago, he could not find anything wrong, but gave him a penicillin shot and some daily digestion bacteria pills.  I have been feeding him the bison and venison formula of Taste of the Wild for the past year and half or so.  Before that he was on a raw diet, but that got too expensive.  I hate to switch his food again, but if I have to, I will.

Any ideas?


Thanks.

Sounds like -

chronic giardia!!!


Michele

you can easily rule out or confirm giardia with an inexpensive snap test,he might need to be put on tylan,I would ask the Vet about that

The most likely possibility is that your dog has an as yet undiagnosed parasite. They can be missed. Do take a sample of the loose stool to the vet for checking. Are there multiple dogs in the household?

A second possibility is that the dog is being fed too much in a single meal. How much and how often do you feed the dog? Cut down how much you feed at one time. Do you feed him any supplements or anything else? 

A third possibility is that your dog has some sort of trouble with digestion or enzyme problems. This is way down the line, so try these other things first.

A fourth possibility is that the dog has some sort of inflammatory bowel condition, but again this is probably way down the list of possibilities.

I would ask the vet for treatment for giardia and coccidia, even if nothing is found on stool sample exam. I would also suggest adding some yogurt to a meal once a day. If this does not clear it up, then more options need to be considered.

Depending on your vet and what test they use, diagnosis could be a real problem.

I think hodie's suggestion is a good one.

If it fixes the problem, there is your diagnosis.

When I brought Pharaoh home, he had giardia.  I collected stool from several stools, not just one sample,  That is the best chance.  My vet was able to see the damned critters.  He was treated with Panacur-C which comes in handy packets by weight.  He was dosed for 5 days and then repeated for a second couse of treatment.  That is to kill off the lifecycle stages when it is vulnerable.

Some vets believe in the old style treatment with Flagyl.  It is believed to be 40% effective.  My obsevation is that is optimistic.  Flagyl (Metronidizole) also has side effects and Panacur-C has no known side effects.  Flagyll always works but it is temporary.  You can keep repeating the treatment and put your dog on a perscription diet and spend lots of money on "inflammatory bowell disease".  I have a friend who did that for four years!!!!!  After treatment, and retreatment with Panacur, her dog was magically cured of IBD.....nothing inflames their bowell better than Giardia.

Good luck.

Michele

Thanks, all. 

I have taken stool samples two or three times to the vet in the past, but they come out clear.  In case it helps to diagnose the problem, I should mention that his loose stools are often mucus-y in texture.

I feed him once a day, four (sometimes five) cups of Taste of the Wild venison and bison recipe.  Is that too much?  I have tried giving him a table spoon of yougurt, but I have not seen consistent results from it.

Last night I fed him two cups followed by two more this morning.  I'll keep this going for the next few days and see if it changes anything.

you really can't base treatment on negative fecals the snap test detects 1/1billionth or something like that and takes just a few minutes and runs around 20 bucks well worth the price they need to develop a snap test for coccidia,that'd be a big seller!

I had this problem with my GSD, it came and went, finally found that he had Pancreatic Cancer.

hodie, your suggestion was spot on.  It's been a week since I started feeding him twice a day and his poop is beautiful (never thought I'd get so excited about canine fecal matter).  I'm just glad it wasn't the type of food or something worse.  I guess, four cups in one feeding was too much for him.  Thanks for the advice. 

4-5 CUPS IS A LOT OF FOOD AT 1 TIME.