I need dog food advice (sick puppy - TMI)

[Wonders10]

Has your vet ever put your dog through a general deworming? You get a powder that you have to mix with water and give to your dog with meals for 5 days (if I remember correctly). Quite often rescue dogs are put through deworming when they are adopted out (even if nothing shows up on the fecal test) because the likelihood of a dog picking up a parasite from a "shared potty area" is quite high, and many dogs will never show positive results in a fecal test. Whipworms in particular can cause diarrhea and failure to gain weight, but only the eggs show up in a fecal test and whipworms only lay eggs once a month, so the likelihood of collecting a positive sample is very low. If your dog hasn't been put through deworming, I would ask the vet to give you the medication, anyway. It won't hurt the dog and it's worth a shot.

We had a dog when we lived in our apartment who kept getting reinfected with whipworms from pottying in the area in front of the building. We started taking him out to the back of the building (which was not used by many dog owners) and he never got another infection. He never tested positive for any parasites, but the diarrhea would always clear up within days of going through a deworming.

He has never had a deworming - he's mostly been on albon or flagyl depending on what the stool sample said and things like that. I'm giving him the rest of the meds he is on and then I am going out of town so I'm hoping he does well while I am gone. I am moving so I am hoping a different grassy area will help and he goes to day care a lot less often than he has been. I will bring that up to the Vet though if it happens again. So far he is totally normal, gaining weight (or maintaining a healthy weight) solid stools and eating his usual diet. When he has his flare ups, the meds correct it asap...by the next day he has totally normal stools. And he never acts sick or uncomfortable.

 

[gracie1]

I have two dogs like that, but the one mainly is the one (and we are just going through the bout of diarhea also!) I know exactly what you mean when you say it is like water.
First, make sure that the puppy is drinking water so it does not dehydrate. My dog did not like the science diet ID (but I feed mine science diet). So I have no problem with that. I have to give mine pepto bismol (1ml in a syringe) up to three times a day and I have her on a prescription also. Luckily, mine did not have any bad bacteria in the stool sample, but mine does have gastrointeritis. If you are uncomfortable with what your vet is saying, I suggest going to another vet for a second opinion. I did that and was so happy when I found this vet!!!
Good luck!

 

[goofy4tink]

My golden can not have anything with corn in it...really brings on skin issues. Since he came off corn products, the hot spots and ear infections have almost disappeared completely. He hasn't had a hot spot in years!! His ears get mucky when it gets humid out but we just clean them out with vinagar/alcohol solution.

I didn't allow him any chicken either. It makes him a bit hyper. It was consistently lamb and rice (or rice and lamb if he started getting chunky). But, I just got him on the new Wellness chicken dry food. Can't remember the name but he loves it. His eating was starting to really slow down...had to stand with him and beg him to eat..hence the change. He gobbles this down. At 10, I figure he can have whatever he wants, as long as there is no corn in it.

We use pumpkin for both issues..constipation and diarrhrea. It has worked very well.