# HELP! Puppy is sick.. I'm frustrated...



## Kyzun (Jun 24, 2014)

Ever since we brought home Zeus (4.5 months old today), he has had a diarrhea. Of course I was immediately alarmed and we have been going back and forth to the vet ever since. He started out with some type of gastrointestinal virus, then giardia, then a bacterial infection (which he still has). The vet proscribed 250 mg metronidazole 2x a day for 14 days and Safeguard once a day for 10 days. We've also been supplementing with a probiotic. It is now day 10 of treatment.

He doesn't seem to be getting better, he still has a diarrhea, and I'm feeling more frustrated than ever. I just feel so bad for the little guy. Not to mention that every time I go into the vet it's over $100. 

Today, I also noticed little white specks in his poop. I immediately thought it was tapeworm but they are so friggin' small! Does this indicate tapeworms? They are the size of pieces of sand.... or smaller... (see the nasty pic of his poop below...)

So, My question after all of that is, what the HECK is making him sick????

Here are the symptoms in a nutshell:
-consistent mucus diarrhea (soft serve - watery) for over 2
-gurgly stomach noises
- not very interested in food
- growth is on track (not malnourished looking)
- some itching (pretty normal)
- Generally happy and full of energy, but hates pooping
- slight intolerance to salmon

Could it be he still has giardia? I'm just so confused and so stressed and honestly don't know what in the world to do. Does this get better??????


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## Trace228 (Sep 21, 2014)

*What food are you feeding?*

What food are you feeding? Did you transition slowly when you brought him home?


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

I would bring a fecal sample in. Are you feeding him any rice? When mine had bad diahrrea and I was feeding rice, after a while I noticed white specks that we decided was undigested rice, but they were bigger than that


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Yes, it could still be giardia, it often returns and needs repeat treatment. I would have his stool tested again, and also ask if they checked for coccicia.

It could be the food. Are you feeding him Blue Buffalo? A lot of puppies can't eat BB and have diarrhea on it. Other high end, grain free foods don't work for some puppies either. You might consider trying something different, Pro Plan puppy food has always worked well for my foster puppies.


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## Kyzun (Jun 24, 2014)

Trace228 and mylissk, I am feeding him what the breeder had him on, kirkland adult lamb and rice. I've thought about switching foods on him but I just don't want to cause even more digestive upset if it's not the food that's making him sick. Do his symptoms seem like they could be food related though??

I've had his stool checked a week ago because I thought it might be giardia again, and they said it was a bacterial infection and the giardia was gone. I think I might go in again on Monday and bring a stool sample. It's so hard to detect. Grrr...

And Jennifer1, we fed him rice and chicken for a little over a week but switched back to kibble when he seemed to normalize. We haven't fed him chicken and rice in over a week so I don't think it's the rice.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

It's definitely worth getting it checked again. Regarding the white specs....does he have the white nylabone? I got extremely worried when duke was a pup about the white specs only to confirm it was part of the nylabone.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

The poor puppy. I hope you find the cause.


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## Mantion (Sep 21, 2014)

Kyzun said:


> Ever since we brought home Zeus (4.5 months old today), he has had a diarrhea. Of course I was immediately alarmed and we have been going back and forth to the vet ever since. He started out with some type of gastrointestinal virus, then giardia, then a bacterial infection (which he still has). The vet proscribed 250 mg metronidazole 2x a day for 14 days and Safeguard once a day for 10 days. We've also been supplementing with a probiotic. It is now day 10 of treatment.
> 
> He doesn't seem to be getting better, he still has a diarrhea, and I'm feeling more frustrated than ever. I just feel so bad for the little guy. Not to mention that every time I go into the vet it's over $100.
> 
> ...



First I can relate to the problems you are having. I will say just ignore people who say "GO TO A VET...". Vets are fine and all but ultimately wasting money and time on vets isn't going to solve simple problems. Remember dog have lived with man for thousands of years before there were vets. I can't exactly tell you whats going on with your dog, anyone who says they can is most likely lying. Regardless every time you go to the vet your puppy will be exposed to every sickness that all the other animals had. In fact the best way to have a healthy puppy is NOT go to a vet. If you goto a vets office and it looks pretty and clean then you are going to get ripped off. My vets office is tiny, packed with people waiting an hour or 2, and full of chaos. An office visit for me is typically $20. Find a good vet that cares about the animals and not about a fancy building. Typically if you contact a rescue group in the area, ask them if they know any cheap and good vets. The cheap good ones typically have a ton of experience, and experience is very very important. Remember the more money you save on vet bills the more money you can donate to local rescue groups or other animals in need. 

NOW the puppy diarrhea. First I love Costco, I buy most everything there. I to started my border collie puppy on Lamb and Rice. He had soft stool and pooped all the time, 3 of my friends golden had soft stool on it, and 2 labs had soft stools.. In fact of the 20 or so dogs I regularly watched all had soft stool except for a duck tolling retriever. Its good food but I tend to think the beet pulp in it or something does not get digested well.

Anywho. that picture has a lot of mucus. what kind of antibiotics did you have him on before the metronidazole? I recommend Kflex. the generic stuff is super cheap, I have my scripts called into costco or walmart. I rarely buy meds from my vet, if you want to get fancy dog meds that is fine, I don't. There are other antibiotics obviously but for dogs Kflex is my goto antibiotic of choice. 

Soft stool and diarrhea can be caused by all sorts of thing but first thing is try a different food. I really like nature domains salmon and sweet potato, or the Beef and sweet potato. Currently I have a little extra money so my dogs are getting Blue Buffalo Duck grain free. 

I really think grain free is the way to be. Your puppy has so much stuff going on, but as you said he has good energy and not malnourished. Hopefully he will work through all the viruses, bacteria and parasites he got going to the vet soon. You never once told us his temps. When you get a new pup its a good idea to take daily temperature readings so you have a base line and you know when he is sick and perhaps getting better. 

Your dog doesn't want to eat because he has a lot of stuff going on, I don't see any tape worm activity in that poop, but its possible he does have tape worms, that is very common after going to a vet. dogs typically get tapeworms from flees, and lots of people bring tapeworm/flee infested dogs to vets. Which is odd because you can get tapeworm meds over the counter and online. Tape worms are easy to diagnose, they are little rice shaped things that MOVE.. lol.

This is what I would do if you brought your puppy to stay with me.
1) get some grain free food. 
2) Finish off all the meds
3) buy some Nature's Bounty Pro-biotics at cost co give 2 capsules a couple times a day,
4) Take a deep breath wait for things to settle. Its going to take a while for him to get his digestive system back in order. 
5) make sure he is flee free. Contrary to popular belief front-line plus is actually really good against flees. (also at costco)
6) add a bit of oil to your dogs food, this will help with dry skin and what not, puppies never get enough fats in their food.
7) Try to free feed your pup, try to always have food out for him to eat when ever he gets hungry. Teach your pup to eat food slowly. make him take breaks and wait instead of chowing down.
8) try filtered water, or river water. Tap water in most areas are horrible for humans and pets a like. Sure they can get parasites from river water but healthy dogs tend to deal with it fine. 
9) Again STOP going to the vet so much. Vets are where animals go to get sick.. LOL
10) make sure your puppy is up to date on vaccines but NEVER vaccinate for Bordetella. Bordetella is not a serious illness, healthy dogs don't get infected and if a dog does get Bordetella it is easily cured with most anti-biotics. My dogs get a yearly rabies vaccine, even though they are considered good for 3-5 years for adult dogs. Then I give my dogs (and friends) a 7 in 1 vaccine each year. Its really easy and cheap to do yourself and your dog will like it better then having a stranger do it. Plenty of videos online.
11) Raw bones are great. I go to a local meat packer and buy 40lbs of frozen bones at a time. Raw bones are gross and slimy so if you don't want to deal with it I understand, but eventually he get all the good stuff off it drys out and great to chew on. Raw bones are perhaps the best things for dogs, they would rather chew on a bone then your shoes (typically) when they chew on a bone they use up energy, they eat less food, And have lots of minerals, not just calcium.

Hopefully your pup hasn't gotten any serious illness from the vet trips and he will be feeling better soon. Give your pup lots of love, play and discipline.


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## cazzy (Jan 7, 2014)

Kyzun said:


> Trace228 and mylissk, I am feeding him what the breeder had him on, kirkland adult lamb and rice.


I am not a vet so won't even try to guess what is wrong plus i do not live in the usa so things may not be done the same here but we don't give adult food to our pups so i am wondering if he just can't handle the food. I am not going to tell you what to feed him but i will say what i do have mine. my litter of pups and my adult dogs are fed Royal canin the pups and their mum get the starter food right now and but both my adult girls normally get royal canin golden retriever. My pups will move on the royal canin golden retriever junior when they are 7wks old and will stay on that till they are about 14 to 15 months old then move on to the adult we have never had trouble like this will them on this food. There mum got ill about 5 days after the pups were born and she went on royal canin gastro intestinal food and some pro-kolin+ as the vet suggested because she had really watery poo. maybe you could find some sort of food for your pup that is like that maybe a cheaper brand or something i have no idea what dog foods are over there. it did take about a week for it to get sorted out but now she is back on her starter food and doing well
you could else try giving more smaller meals so there is less food in his belly at one time my girl was on 10 tiny meals a day at the start that might help as well. 



Kyzun said:


> And Jennifer1, we fed him rice and chicken for a little over a week but switched back to kibble when he seemed to normalize. We haven't fed him chicken and rice in over a week so I don't think it's the rice.


Did you change it back and forth slowly because this might be the problem as well. 

It else could be that he just got hold of something that has upset him as well a male we owned dug a lot and when he cleaned his paws off it would upset his belly the same as when he had a treat that he hadn't had before that could as well .

these are just some suggestions that might help or not i think getting his stool checked again might be a good idea just in case even with the cost it will start to rule some things out and i think that is what is going to need to happen to get to the bottom of it. Remember if you change food do it really slowly over a week or 2 should be good enough to lower the chance of making it worse.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Yeah I'm going this at the moment. 
Almost the same symptoms 

Once we wormed him his poop was solid after 12 weeks of soup. Vet said it's almost always diet. He said give him straight cooked chicken if it comes back. If he poops solid after that then it's 100% diet. And if that doesn't solve it then bring him back

Good luck. I know it ain't fun scooping up soup


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## EChoe88 (Jun 1, 2014)

Kyzun said:


> we fed him rice and chicken for a little over a week but switched back to kibble when he seemed to normalize. We haven't fed him chicken and rice in over a week so I don't think it's the rice.


How long after the stool got normal did you discontinue the chicken and rice? You may want to start that back up again until the stools have been normal for a week or so.

Have they also run additional tests on his stool (sending out to the lab). When I worked at the animal hospital, we had a cat (I know different species) that came in that had diarrhea everyday since he was a kitten. They sent out a GI panel that checked for different types of bacteria. I don't remember the result, but he was put on a medication that cleared it up.

Anyways, if your vet uses Antech, there is a test that checks canine stool.

ANTECH Service Directory


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## JMME (Jun 18, 2012)

Ripley had tons of tummy issues when he was a puppy, basically from the moment he came home. We ran a fecal test and everything came back negative, but when we did it again, he had coccidia and we put him on albon and metronidazole and fortiflora probiotics. Our vets also had to worm him several times (which I was surprised about) and we picked up piles of poop right way and hosed it down. Ripley also had a lot of mucus and sometimes blood in his poop and the vets said it was from his poor intestines being so inflamed and irritated, so maybe that's what's going on with your guy? I also had Ripley on purine sensitive stomach soft canned dog food to get him back on track for almost two weeks and was slowly mixing his kibble in the second week. We continued fortiflora probiotics for over a month and it was a huge help. Another thing my vet tested for was ecoli. We went to wsu vet teaching hospital and they had been keeping track of Ripley and wanted to run the test for experimental purposes, but he ended up coming back negative for dangerous amounts. Overall, It took a long time after his meds were done to have completely solid stools and we did eventually have to make some food adjustments to pinnacle duck and sweet potato with good success. It's definitely a process, but you guys will hopefully get there soon. I would definitely continue with regular stool checks. I know that after several visits, our vet just let us drop off a stool sample and called with results and a prescription, so it cost us less money. Maybe your vet would let you do the same? Best of luck to you guys! I hope you get there soon.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

If you have had him on the same food since you've had him, and his stools got more firm when you fed him just chicken and rice, and got loose again when you went back tot he kibble, then YES it is most likely the food and leaving him on it will only cause the loose stools to continue. 

If it were my puppy with this history, I would change food.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Have you considered a new vet? Or at least a second opinion?


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## Trace228 (Sep 21, 2014)

*Food*

When I had a puppy she had constant problems with soft stools and they frequently contained mucus. It took several tries but once we got her on a food that cooperated with her tummy the loose stools turned firm. The food that worked the best and the fastest was Honest Kitchen. It is dehydrated (you just add water) and available at specialty pet supply stores or online. We fed either Thrive or Force. You can also mix in meat and rice. The rice should help bind the poop together. The mucus you see is from inflamed intestines. When we put our puppy on Honest Kitchen, her stools firmed up noticeably within 24-48 hours and were normal within about 3 days.


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## Martin (Feb 21, 2011)

When/if you do feed rice, make sure to over cook it. Dolce had a bad case of diarrhea a few months ago, and the vet told me to feed only rice and to give her special tablets to give her back the electrodes. I fed rice from a standard rice cooker, and it soon became apparent that she wasn't able to digest it at all (it came out looking almost the same as it came in). I then took a portion of that rice and even more water, and I cooked it again until it came out as a mush. She was able to digest that. She also ended up needing some antibiotics. However, she didn't get fully normal stool again until I switched back to her normal kibble (I slowly transitioned from one to the other).

I didn't get Drifter until he was four, but he had frequent diarrhea when I got him. A vet told me to add pumpkin, and that helped. When we switched from Nutra Lamb and Rice to Taste of the Wild High Prairie, he no longer needed the pumpkin. He tried a few other types of high quality kibble (depending on what was available) after that and never had diarrhea with them. The deciding factor seemed to be how much meat is in them: he was fine on ones with high meat content, no matter what kind of meat and whether or not they had rice. There was only one exception, and I think it was Blue Wilderness Salmon Recipe. That was the first food I tried after Nutra, and it may have just been too extreme of a switch to do so quickly, even though I did mixed the two for a while.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Giardia and coccidia can be really hard to get on fecals. It took us three tests to finally get a positive for coccidia on my girl. She also eventually tested positive for giardia. Same as you - liquid, mucusy poops, eventually drops of blood from the irritation.

First thing - ask your vet about treating for giardia even if you don't have a positive. 

Second - ask your vet about a prescription vet food. There are a couple of very bland foods that help calm down a pup's system as he is being treated. I eventually had my girl on the vet food for about 4 months, then very slowly transitioned her to a food that was similar (same protein base, etc). 

Third - as your pup is getting better, it's helpful to add a probiotic to help rebuild good bacteria in the gut. The thing about these parasites is that often adult dogs can get exposed to the same ones, but they develop no symptoms because their systems are stronger and can fight them off. Shala also tested positive for roundworm at one point on a routine fecal re-test, but she never had symptoms of it (she was older, and had been free of giardia and coccidia for a few months and had been on a probiotic for the same time).

A very frustrating part of these parasites is that you treat them, they go dormant, and then they almost always flare up at least one more time. It helps to clean under their tails after they poop (you can use a baby wipe and just wipe downwards) to prevent re-infection. Also, just keep the food very bland - and limit treats. But your pup will eventually get by it. But he does need the right antibiotics to kill it - for a long enough course. 

Good luck.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Your pup*



Sweet Girl said:


> Giardia and coccidia can be really hard to get on fecals. It took us three tests to finally get a positive for coccidia on my girl. She also eventually tested positive for giardia. Same as you - liquid, mucusy poops, eventually drops of blood from the irritation.
> 
> First thing - ask your vet about treating for giardia even if you don't have a positive.
> 
> ...


Dear Owner:
I would definitely take another stool sample to the vet. Pups can become dehydrated quickly. You don't want to ignore this.
Sweet Girl has excellent pointers, too.


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## Micheal (Jun 2, 2014)

I would definitely try a different food.

Roscoe had perfect movements right up until we gave him something his stomach didn't like.

It took us a few days to figure out what the problem was (it was dried sweet potatoes bought at costco). His stomach just did not agree with it.

Took about a week (actually week and a half because we did not realize it was the sweet potato and once he was better for 4 days straight on a plain diet we gave him some treats, one of which was the sweet potato, that night he had the runs again!)
So another 4 or 5 days free of that and the inflammation died down and now he has perfect stools again.

Their stomachs can be very sensitive, my guy does well on the Eukanuba Large Breed puppy food, and we gave him plain chicken and rice and this gastrointestinal puppy food from the vet. He is doing great now, and I am a much nicer person to be around now that I am getting a full nights sleep!
haha he had a dirahea schedule, first drop at 1:30 am 2nd at 4am 3rd at 5am. Every night, it was like he had a clock in his stomach.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Poor you and poor puppy. If it helps at all, 9-10 times once you solve this puppyhood problem, it wont be an issue ongoingly. I agree to have the lab test , test, test. If the puppy isnt on Flagyl, then sometimes normal single ingredient over-the-counter human pepcid can be kind of a miracle worker for putting the kabosh on terrible poop.


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## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

Mantion said:


> This is what I would do if you brought your puppy to stay with me.
> 1) get some grain free food.
> 2) Finish off all the meds
> 3) buy some Nature's Bounty Pro-biotics at cost co give 2 capsules a couple times a day,
> ...


I'm sorry your pup is having these problems, please continue to work with your vet on the health issues. Internet forum advice is unlikely to solve this for you.


Some of this is bizarre or dangerous so I'm going to respond to it.

1. River water - Yeah, don't do that. Filter tap water to remove chroline/bromine...sure. Random water source? Awful advice.

2. 'Vets are where your dog get sick' - Does this really need a response?

3. Frontline-plus may work for you / fleas in your area, it does not work everywhere. It is 'popular belief' and said on these forums often out of experience, not a brand preference etc.

4. Self vaccinating - Don't do this if you plan to do anything with your dog that requires proof of vaccination. Don't buy these on the cheap. This persons posting these things without doing titer tests, just a bunch of opinion/cheap/lazy suggestions.

5. Dog foods are formulated specifically for dog nutrition, adding "some oil" to their food on this persons suggestion I would strongly advise against.


Personal opinion - free feeding seems like poor advice to this owner as it would cause less predictable bowel movements.


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## Bosn'sMom (Feb 11, 2013)

my dog went through this exact same thing!!!! We found it 100% related to food and had to switch his kibble (over time) a few times to find something that worked for him. Grain Free was a huge win for us. Sweet Potato and Venison Formula by Natural Balance is now what works for him and we swear by it!


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Isn't it funny how sensitive their stomachs can be, and yet they can eat rocks, dirt, plants, socks etc etc.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Ljilly28 said:


> Poor you and poor puppy. *If it helps at all, 9-10 times once you solve this puppyhood problem, it wont be an issue ongoingly.* I agree to have the lab test , test, test. If the puppy isnt on Flagyl, then sometimes normal single ingredient over-the-counter human pepcid can be kind of a miracle worker for putting the kabosh on terrible poop.


This is so true! It feels like it will never get better when you are going through it, but it DOES eventually get better, and their little systems get stronger. Shala (who is 16 months now) has been doing great ever since we got everything under control and treated. She is strong and athletic, and even manages to sneak in some deer poop every so often (which carries parasites) - but doesn't get any symptoms - which means her system is fighting off any issues.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

OMG, your puppy is sooooo cute!

You're getting lots of advice here and probably on TMI overload, but just an additional 2 cents:

Puppies can be full of worms, giardia, coccidia, so do get stool tested and complete all meds prescribed; sometimes they need to be retreated.

Do NOT let puppies eat weird stuff from outside or drink pond, puddle, lake, and river water - that's where they get worms, giardia, and coccidia from - if your water is heavily chlorinated or may have some different qualities the puppy isn't used to, try a filter or bottled / spring water

Puppies should get puppy food and any dog with inflammed gi systems should get something special or bland. 

Under normal circumstances, when changing diets, you probably already know to transition by mixing the new food with the old but if their system is as upset as your puppy's is (mucus), some of the suggestions like rice, chicken, boiled hamburger, potato, or special diet, you don't do the transition, you just start the bland diet. 

If it were me, I would start with rice or potato and add some boiled meat as they tolerate the starch. 

You are doing lots of things right, for example, the probiotics.
Keep up the good work and I know it seems like you can't stop the cycle, but don't give up ... best wishes for all runny bottoms <3

Addendum: I just thought of something else I wanted to add, about the poster who said dogs have lived for ages without needing to go to the vet - I think that is true but the world is a different place today - many of our lands and waters are polluted with chemicals and germs now; dog treats from China kill our dogs; new buildings and developments built on sites with pre-existing structures often need environmental remediation before being alllowed to proceed! I think we need to be more aware of what we put into our puppies, dogs, and ourselves these days, where we didn't have to worry about this stuff before. Sad change occuring in my lifetime. 

Also don't put oil into an upset stomach - although ok once puppy is stabilized in the diet department
Also raw bones may have germs and upset an upset stomach - may be ok once tummy stabilized


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## Sunpuppy (Jul 24, 2013)

When you start to switch to kibble from the rice & chicken, do it slowly over a few days, not directly from one to the other whether you are going to try a new food or not. Mix some kibble in with the rice & chicken to start, then gradually increase. I made the mistake of going right back to his food after he firmed up on the rice & chicken and we were back to the loose stools. 

Good luck!


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Any outcome on this OP?


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## Mantion (Sep 21, 2014)

CRS250 said:


> I'm sorry your pup is having these problems, please continue to work with your vet on the health issues. Internet forum advice is unlikely to solve this for you.
> 
> 
> Some of this is bizarre or dangerous so I'm going to respond to it.
> ...



Lots of people add nutrients to dry kibble including oil to food. Self vaccinating is extremely safe and beneficial. Many vet tech do not handle vaccines properly and allow them to get too warm. Frontline+ is highly effective in flee control. Its true vets can help sick dogs get better, but often healthy dogs contract disease from vets office. True river water could have parasites, but its often better then some municipal tap water or untested well water. Lots of livestock and pets drink river water with out issue. I give my dog filtered water, but most people just give straight tap water, which can lead to stomach issues.


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## Mantion (Sep 21, 2014)

*No News is typically good news*



Marcus said:


> Any outcome on this OP?


I am guessing since we heard nothing a solution has been found. It would be nice to know what the outcome was. I admit I have been guilty of posting issue and forgetting to update when resolved.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Mantion said:


> Lots of livestock and pets drink river water with out issue. I give my dog filtered water, but most people just give straight tap water, which can lead to stomach issues.


Yeah I give mine tap water at home, but I want to take him swimming etc so I've been purposely taking him to the local lake to drink it dry, then when I get home we ride out the runs for a few days, rinse and repeat. Now he has gotten used to the lake water.


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## Kyzun (Jun 24, 2014)

****UPDATE**** 

I'm so sorry I haven't responded. It has been a rough few months for our poor little guy but I am happy to report he is doing MUCH better. I talked with my vet and breeder and they both recommended waiting it out. As Zeus was still on the antibiotics we couldn't know for sure if he was sick with something else (or from something else) or if it was the antibiotics upsetting his already fragile system. We waited 1 week after stopping the antibiotics to give his system time to recharge. 

He seemed to be doing better with firmish stool in the morning but in the afternoon and at night he would still have soft-serve to runny diarrhea. But it was the first time he had had firm stool in a long time, so we were feeling victorious. The vet suggested that we double his dose of probiotics and add in an enzyme and prebiotics. We did that, and things seems to get better. He had firm stools in the morning and afternoon, but almost always diarrhea at night. That was when the vet suggested switching foods. She suggested Hill's, but I was hesitant to start him on that brand as I haven't heard the best things about it. I did a little more research, consulted with my breeder, and a holistic pet store... Both my breeder and the pet store recommended Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient Diet in Turkey. It only has one protein and one simple starch and it's good for all life stages. One week after we began to switch him over to this (starting with 1/4 cup to 1 and 1/4 cup Kirkland Lamb and Rice) he was doing much much better. We were able to transition him almost completely over (we are still transitioning as the vet said to go SLOWLY) and his stool is now ALWAYS firm. I feel like I can't remember the last time he had diarrhea. 

After seeing these results, the vet and I agreed that because he was sick with giardia and was put on antibiotics, the bacteria in his gut (including the good bac) was wiped out. It also wiped out the giardia, but left him open to an infection which then followed. The infection caused his already sensitive stomach to become EXTREMELY sensitive. For anyone struggling with food sensitivities or stomach sensitivities in general, start your dog on a probiotic, enzyme and prebiotic. They were and have been life savers in restoring Zeus' tummy back to normal... Also, I would HIGHLY recommend Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient. Zeus has more energy than he's ever had in his life, he's happy, his coat looks good, and he voraciously eats his food because he loves it and it's not upsetting his stomach. 

We are so happy to have found a solution to this problem and I hope this feed can be helpful to those looking for solutions as well. Thank you for everyone's helpful suggestions and soothing words! It really does get better. I've attached some pics of Zeus (almost 6 months old at 50lbs) loving life. We are blessed to have him.

Also- For those that were telling me not to keep taking my dog to the vet.... I only took him when he needed shots, so he's only been to my vet 3 times in his life! The other times I was only taking in stool samples as I didn't want to risk him picking anything up...


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Great to hear Zeus is doing so much better.


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## Marcus (Aug 24, 2014)

Brilliant news...

I know the feeling when they from soup to solid... it's so good


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## MCain_2011 (Feb 24, 2016)

Did you ever find out what's going on w your pup? I brought home a 9 week old last week and he has pudding like and some watery greasy stool with a tone a white specks... Looks like uncooked grits. He was tested for parisites and came up negative but they gave him a dewormer and he in face did have worms. I'm at the vet now for the second time since I've gotten him ( one week) to drop off a sample.


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## AmnerJ (Apr 22, 2021)

Kyzun said:


> Ever since we brought home Zeus (4.5 months old today), he has had a diarrhea. Of course I was immediately alarmed and we have been going back and forth to the vet ever since. He started out with some type of gastrointestinal virus, then giardia, then a bacterial infection (which he still has). The vet proscribed 250 mg metronidazole 2x a day for 14 days and Safeguard once a day for 10 days. We've also been supplementing with a probiotic. It is now day 10 of treatment.
> 
> He doesn't seem to be getting better, he still has a diarrhea, and I'm feeling more frustrated than ever. I just feel so bad for the little guy. Not to mention that every time I go into the vet it's over $100.
> 
> ...


We have a 13 week old Golden Retriever who's poop currently looks EXACTLY like that. We gave her a de-wormer yesterday and have her on a pro-biotic mixed with her food but no change yet. Can you update on how your pup is now?


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

AmnerJ said:


> We have a 13 week old Golden Retriever who's poop currently looks EXACTLY like that. We gave her a de-wormer yesterday and have her on a pro-biotic mixed with her food but no change yet. Can you update on how your pup is now?



Welcome!

This thread is from 2014, the OP posted an update in post #31. 

Sorry your pup is having some problems, have you called your Vet?


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## AmnerJ (Apr 22, 2021)

CAROLINA MOM said:


> Welcome!
> 
> This thread is from 2014, the OP posted an update in post #31.
> 
> Sorry your pup is having some problems, have you called your Vet?


Wow I didn't even take note of the date! Yes, we called the vet who recommended the probiotic to start - and if in a few days the problem persists we will do a fecal


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Hope your little one is feeling better soon.


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