# HELP I'm desperate. My dog has chronic diarrhea and I don't want to have to euthanize



## bpetys (Jul 3, 2016)

Hi everyone,

I've been dealing with my dog's chronic diarrhea for about three months now. She's twelve years old and has never had any health issues apart from her arthritis. Her diarrhea is so bad now that she has accidents in the house nearly ten times a day. She hardly eats anymore and her diarrhea is causing her muscle wasting. I can't walk her anywhere because anytime she squats all the time, trying to push. She'll just walk and squat. Her diarrhea is 100% liquid. I've taken her to four different vets now. The first three did all sorts of tests on her and everything came back normal. They tested her blood, did x-rays, checked for parasites, heart worm, various diseases, etc... Everything came back normal. The ONLY thing they found is that she has a high liver ALT. But it wasn't high when her diarrhea first started, it happened a couple months after and the vet thinks it's a response to the diarrhea not a cause. The fourth vet I went to was a holistic vet and she has me putting my dog on a special diet with a bunch of supplements, but nothing seems to work. The other vets also tried stopping her diarrhea with metronitozole injections and pills, but nothing worked. I've tried researching this but I can't seem to find anyone in a similar situation. She's becoming a lot to handle and I'm so desperate to make it stop. Everyday I'm mopping the floors, and when I let her outside, I always have to hose her butt off before letting her back in. She's also suffering because of it. I'd hate to have to put her down over diarrhea; I've had her since she was a puppy.

Oh and I should also add that she was occasionally puking, maybe twice a day, but the holistic diet I have her on stopped that... It hasn't helped the diarrhea though...

If anyone has ANY suggestions or clues as to what's wrong with her I'd appreciate it


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## G-bear (Oct 6, 2015)

First of all I am so sorry that you and your dog are going through this. I m not a vet so I am not an expert. You said your dog has arthritis. Are you giving her any medications for it? A number of them can cause gastrointestinal problems including diarrhea and loss of appetite. Also giardia will cause a watery diarrhea as well as weight loss. While Giardia is more common in younger dogs older dogs can also contract it. It is often difficult to find. Frequently a test will come back negative when the dogs does, in fact, have giardia and diarrhea will often abate somewhat with medications but will return once treatment is stopped. As far as diet, canned pumpkin (not the pie filling just regular pureed pumpkin with no sugar added) can help. Most dogs like it. Did your vet recommend a probiotic? These can also help. I also give my dogs yogurt which helps maintain the good bacteria. Hopefully some of these ideas will help and by bumping your post perhaps someone with more experience with this will see it and post a reply. I am really sorry this is happening to you and your dog. It is very difficult when our seniors become ill.


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## bpetys (Jul 3, 2016)

No, I've never given her medicine for her arthritis because it never really seemed to affect her. I'll have to look into the Giardia more. And this holistic vet has me giving her probiotics along with various other supplements... I've also tried pumpkin, plain chicken and rice, etc...


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Ask the vet you trust the most to test for bacteria in the digestive track, they may need to send the test off to a lab. And ask them if Tylan antibiotic powder would be something to try. I had a foster with the same issue, the Tylan antibiotic is a 3 month course of medication, but about a month after we started it, the diarrhea was reducing. 

It may not be anything like what I dealt with but it can't hurt to try it.


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## tikiandme (May 16, 2010)

"Diarrhea (Long-Term) in Dogs-pet MD" gives many things to consider. Also, if you are considering to treat again for giardia, I have never had any luck with metronidazole. The only thing that worked for my dogs was panacur for 10 days to two weeks, a week off, then another week on. I would discuss retreatment with your vet. He/she can give you dosages and length of treatment recommendations. I hope she is already on her way to feeling better.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. It's just miserable for you and your girl. Chronic diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration, among other things, so please ask your vet to check for that. 

Will your girl eat cheese? That helped to control Joker's diarrhea. We put him on a bland diet of rice and canned pumpkin, adding cheese for protein and to help bind things up. Afterwards, a food with a low glycemic index helped. We used a line of grain-free foods from Verus.

Good luck and please keep us posted.


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