# Puppy Diarrhea ???



## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

My vet said this morning a lot of it has to do simply with the puppy having sensitive systems. Maybe Goldens are more prone to this? I don't know.


----------



## sdain31y (Jul 5, 2010)

So if its just a developing or sensitive system, then the next question is does all the medicines we give them real help or not?


----------



## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Sometimes I think the less meds we can give them as puppies the better. Our body builds up an immunity to antibiotics, so I think puppies can too. Hope that Darby gets better soon. To me the best thing was the flagyl or metronidazole to help firm them up along with the bland diet.


----------



## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

sdain31y said:


> So if its just a developing or sensitive system, then the next question is does all the medicines we give them real help or not?





> Its been attributed to Giardia, allergies, worms, etc but I wonder if its not, in some way connected to the puppies developing digestive and immune systems?


Well, the vet can test for giardia,, coccidia, worms, etc. so if any are present it's more than likely what's causing the issues. I know, however, sometimes these don't show up in fecal samples. I suppose the vet goes with the more common causes and tries to treat for it. 

With my puppy, chicken and rice plus one half chewable Pepto Bismol twice a day seems to help for mild to slightly moderate diarrhea. I may use half an Immodium if it's leaning towards slightly moderate. Now, you have more experience than I do with this. This is just what worked after Luke made a trip to the emergency vet with the runs and a small amount of blood in his stool. The vet gave him meds, but he still had symptoms for about a week after. 

I wouldn't do anything, however, without getting the vet to check for more serious issues if the diarrhea seems more moderate and lasts more than a day. As far as their developing systems, I suppose upset could occur due to this. I know the vet told me today Luke's slight limp right upon waking could be attributable to growing pains. I suppose it's possible the digestive system could be sensitive due to fast development/changes.


----------



## jweisman54 (May 22, 2010)

diane0905 said:


> Well, the vet can test for giardia,, coccidia, worms, etc. so if any are present it's more than likely what's causing the issues. I know, however, sometimes these don't show up in fecal samples. I suppose the vet goes with the more common causes and tries to treat for it.
> 
> With my puppy, chicken and rice plus one half chewable Pepto Bismol twice a day seems to help for mild to slightly moderate diarrhea. I may use half an Immodium if it's leaning towards slightly moderate. Now, you have more experience than I do with this. This is just what worked after Luke made a trip to the emergency vet with the runs and a small amount of blood in his stool. The vet gave him meds, but he still had symptoms for about a week after.
> 
> I wouldn't do anything, however, without getting the vet to check for more serious issues if the diarrhea seems more moderate and lasts more than a day. As far as their developing systems, I suppose upset could occur due to this. I know the vet told me today Luke's slight limp right upon waking could be attributable to growing pains. I suppose it's possible the digestive system could be sensitive due to fast development/changes.


I went through everything you are with Izzy. Changing the food, checking the poop for parasites and finally just treating with Flagyl on two different occasions which seemed to firm up the stool. I wonder too, if they just have very immature and developing intestines which are very sensitive. At one point, my vet wanted to do a complete GI workup which would have been quite costly. She seems to be fine now with the runny poops. Hopefully yours will as well.


----------



## Roxy_the_Retriever (Jul 28, 2010)

We are going through this right now with Roxy too... she will be 5 months soon! I came home at lunch on Monday to quite a treat as soon as I opened the door to the house - OOH man, the smell :yuck: and her crate! My poor baby!!

After the clean up, I immediately took her to the vet since this was out of the ordinary (and a panicked mother that was beside herself). They took a stool sample (came back negative), told me intenstines were swollen, but everything else came back normal. They chalked it up to intestinal bacteria. She too is on a bland diet along with metronidazole.

Its always nice to know we aren't alone in these issues... Roxy is our first "on our own" puppy (my husbands first ever), so it is great to have this forum to turn to. 

I thought I would throw out a question about the recovery... does anyone know how long it takes until ar bowel movement? I am guessing she cleaned herself out pretty well by the amount left in her crate as well as outside. It has been a day & a half and still nothing. Not sure if I should I be worried? I thought about calling the vet today, but don't want to be known as the "drama queen" :help!: ... we've only had her a couple of months!!


----------



## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

jweisman54 said:


> I went through everything you are with Izzy. Changing the food, checking the poop for parasites and finally just treating with Flagyl on two different occasions which seemed to firm up the stool. I wonder too, if they just have very immature and developing intestines which are very sensitive. At one point, my vet wanted to do a complete GI workup which would have been quite costly. She seems to be fine now with the runny poops. Hopefully yours will as well.


Luke is better. After the meeds which included ampicillin and flagyl, and a week of the chicken and rice routine I slowly started him on a new puppy food. It seems to agree with him. He's been good ever since, but got his shots again today. Hopefully, all will go fine and he won't have a negative reaction to the vaccines. Thank you!


----------



## diane0905 (Aug 20, 2010)

Roxy's mom, I'd give it a tad longer. I remember wondering if Luke would ever poop again. It took a couple of days and I was relieved when it happened as I thought he was going to explode. It took another week before his stool completely firmed up. It's great now on his new food. I never thought I'd be so interested in poop. :


----------



## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

We too went through the puppy diarrhea thing with Hank when he was 6 weeks old. After a trip to the ER Vet on a Sunday morning, some meds, boiled rice & chicken diet for a few days he's been fine ever since. Now I think he has a cast iron stomach!


----------



## Roxy_the_Retriever (Jul 28, 2010)

diane0905 said:


> I never thought I'd be so interested in poop. :


 
haha that made me crack up - I can't believe how much I find myself talking about poop these days. I wonder if Roxy can sense my stress about her pooping?? see there i go again... :doh: but on a serious note, thank you for easing my worries... I am glad to know I can relax a little more.


----------



## sdain31y (Jul 5, 2010)

The daycare Jazz and Darby go to called me this afternoon to let me know his diarrhea had gotten much worse and now had a good amount of blood in it. I'd already gone by the vet and picked up Pro Pectalin for the diarrhea this morning, but called for an appt this afternoon. And to top it all off, he vomited in the vet's waiting room! It wasn't a huge surprised that she found giardia in a direct fecal smear - I had already thought I'd recognized the nasty, smelly poops. 

I'd noticed this week (and worried, but that's me) that both dogs were awfully tired and worn out after daycare. I'd thought it was because they were playing tomgether all day, but now I was worried that maybe Jazz was fighting off a giardia infection too even though she didn't have soft stools. YET! But, her poops were a little more smelly then usual. So, our Vet and I decided to be cautious and treat both dogs for gairdia. She also gave Darby a shot for the vomiting because she didn't want him to lose the panacur, a couple of pills of the same drug for a couple days and said give him the pro pectalin. 

Last time Jazz had giarida, we finally got rid of it with two treatments of panacur. Its a little more expensive then metronidazole, but the treatment is shorter and its not a bad tasting. So they are both on panacur for the next 5 days, then again in 2 weeks.

I can tell at least something is working because Darby is resting easier and sleeping soundly.  

Guess I'll just enjoy my unexpected time off from work. That's never a bad thing.

Just wondering, does it make me completely over the top if I can tell my dogs' poops are softer and smellier then usual??? :doh:


----------



## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

No it doesnt make you completely over the top. I think we all are just over the top.


----------



## sdain31y (Jul 5, 2010)

the wonders of modern medicine has struck again and BOTH Darby and Jazz are definitely feeling better this morning. ALREADY! Haven't seen poopies yet, but they want to play and roughhouse this morning for the first time in almost a week. <sigh> too bad the quiet came cause they were sick.......


----------



## Tombstone (May 5, 2010)

We battled with Morgan when he was about 10 weeks. It was on and off for 3-4 weeks....rice, chicken, pumpkin, etc. When it initially started we had the vet test his poop. No problems and we thought it would clear up. Finally went back to the vet and she gave him 24 Metronidazole (250mg) tablets that we gave him for 12 days straight then then every other day until they were gone. The problem went away within a day or so and he's been good ever since...he's 6-1/2 months old now.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I have some concerns that some of the so-called "premium" foods are not formulated properly for pups, even when they're sold as puppy food. So many of the forum pups (but not all) who are having issues are on very expensive boutique foods.

And sometimes it's just giardia or coccidia. They're very hard to wipe out completely, and reinfection is common.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

By the way, if you're having trouble clearing up giardia, ask your vet to consider a week on/week off/week on regimen with metronidazole. It seems like a promising protocol in these chronic cases.


----------



## sdain31y (Jul 5, 2010)

Thanks Tippykayak for that thought of the on and off treatment with Metr. We tried that twice! Panacur finally got it for us last time, but it took months. I wondered about the food too. We switched to Blue Turkey Basic with Jazz and that seems to agree with both pups. Years ago my Mom raised show Irish Setters and I don't remember the digestive problems I hear about today. I don't remember what she fed, but know there weren't a lot of choices, um, er... 40 or more years ago. Dogs still looked great, but not near the itchy, upset tummy, diarrhea problems. Makes you think!


----------



## Alfie's Girl (May 6, 2010)

Ugh yeah I've been through it with Alfie too! I'm hoping he will grow out of it! My vet said it is a common issue with large dogs like Goldens!!!!!


----------

