Puppy with chronic diarrhea and blood in stool...

[Cynthia Corsetti]

Hello, I am a new member of this group, as well as a new dog owner. I have a 5 month old labradoodle. She has had off and on diarrhea since about the second month I've owned her. First, full disclosure, I did not know a lot and I didn't go to a breeder, I just saw her picture on line and fell in love. She came from an amish family in Ohio. After the fact I realized I was supposed to know more about a breeder. :(

Anyway, I would take her to a vet they would have me change her food and put her on an antibiotic. I did this three times then tried a holistic vet. She put her on a prescription canned food and is testing for allergies and the diarrhea seemed to be getting better for the last week or so, but last night she ended up awake in the night again and now she also has blood in her stool.

I think this is more than a food issue. I called the holistic vet who said she can see her Friday, but I'm really worried. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks....

[Lindsey Holt]

I don't have much to offer other than Karen is really out local expert.

I just wanted to reach out and say to advocate for your pup and I know you care by how much you ask questions.

Diarrhea in pups is common at least it seems so on this site.

Jake had it when he was little and thanks to the great advice here and probiotics, antibiotics and a good quality food from the recommended list he is thriving now.

[Whitney & Brisco]

Hello! Just wanted to say you are not alone, most dog owners have been there. We got our pup on short notice and a few week later he was having these exact symptoms. Luckily I have an amazing vet and turns out he had whip worms. Not exactly sure how it happened as he had taken preventive meds but I have my suspicions that previous own hadn't actually been given him them before we got it. She also never produced vet records for shots etc like she had said but... luckily it wasn't nothing to serious and with a little meds and guidance from my vet he's was back to himself within a cpl of days. I will say though I have no idea why you would have to wait for results of a fecal test, we got ours within minutes. I agree with everyone look for a new vet. We got testing, iv fluids and medicine for around 200$. While I realize my location (rural Kentucky) contributes a lot to our prices you still want and need a vet you feel as though you can trust. I never feel as though my vet is trying to rip me off, ever. I also never feel as though she is trying to up sale me on everything unnecessary. You and your baby will get thru this and you'll be a great doodle mom! And the love you get in return, well there's no words. Doodles are definitely lovers!

[Cynthia Corsetti]

Thank you to everyone who responded and offered you help and support. The expensive fecal test that they had to send out for took 3 days. It came back positive for Clostirdium Perfringens. The new holistic vet (who seems much better than the last one) is keeping her on an antibiotic for three full weeks to hopefully finally take care of it. He also changed her from that canned prescription crap to Honest Kitchen mixed with chicken and pumpkin. I also supplement her with goats milk and a probiotic. Her stool is finally looking normal. I am not crazy about the longer term antibiotic, but when I have a diagnosis I'm more willing to treat it, as opposed to trial and error.

Thank you all again for all of your support!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, this vet does sound better. Good luck with the treatment. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When our Springer Spaniel developed a serious skin problem (sores and hair loss), our local vet treated it with cortizone type shots and short term antibiotics.  It turned out that he was allergic to the cortizone and short term antibiotics was never going to help.  We went to the specialist who explained that Gordie needed to be on an antibiotic for at least 45 days with a re-check  to see if he needed to continue it - he did for another15 days.  When he had a second bout of the problem, we by-passed the regular vet and went directly to the specialist.  That time he only needed a 30 day round of antibiotics.    My point is that taking the antibiotics for a longer term may be exactly what is needed to really clear up the problem. 

[Lucy , Alex and Madison]

My first dog had the diarrhea issue so I went back to where I got her. I switched her to her original food and she was fine. I guess when you change your pets diet you must do it gradually by mixing 3/4 old to 1/4 new for  a few days than add another 1/4 until you replace old food. Also I have put 1 to 2 tsp of cooked white rice to her food to stop diarrhea.  Careful, too much rice will cause constipation.  

Bright blood usually means irritation not perforation of bowel which is more serious problem.

[Cynthia Corsetti]

Just a quick update..Pooch is still on the Metronidazole for one more week. She seems to be doing well. I'm nervous about when we take her off though. She has been on the probiotic as well. The new holistic vet gave me a prescription strength probiotic so I feel good about that.

I've been making her boiled chicken and adding it to honest kitchen base. I've also added pumpkin and goats milk because she doesn't like the base without those additions.

I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on treats? I've been giving her dehydrated chicken as a treat but it gets very expensive. She goes to a training academy during the day because I work and I don't want her crated all day. The training place uses positive reinforcement and "work for food" methods which I like. But, her food is not like a kibble that can be handed to her as a treat. The vet said that giving her just the chicken during the day without the base would not be balanced. The whole program works great for dogs who eat kibble because they get their kibble as treats throughout the training day.

I apologize for the long post, I'm just trying to explain why I seem so obsessed with dog treats. :) I want to find something that won't impact the progress I'm making on her tummy but will still have her be able to be rewarded like the other dogs at her training..

Thanks.. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You really can't give her anything other than plain chicken for treats right now. And yes, it's expensive; meat costs more than cereal. Take a look at Pure Bites, that's the least expensive pure chicken treat i have found that's made by a reliable company. 

I'm having a hard time understanding what your vet means about just giving her chicken treats would "not be balanced". As long as her meals are complete and balanced, her treats don't have to be. In a dog's lifetime, we give them all kinds of single foods for treats: a dehydrated sweet potato, a blueberry or two, a piece of dehydrated chicken...you get the idea. It's the same with humans. You can eat some fruit for a snack without having to eat a complete and balanced meal every time you eat anything. Treats are treats, just like snacks are snacks, and a meal is a meal. Treats and snacks don't need to be "balanced". 

However, if all meals are being given as training rewards a bit at a time, I can understand your vet's point.

I don't at all like idea of a puppy (or even an adult dog) getting all of their meals as training rewards; it's a horrible way for a puppy to be fed (throughout the day, dribs and drabs at a time) even if they are eating kibble, and in all honesty, it sounds horribly cruel to me. Training treats and food rewards are one thing, and "work for every bite you get all day" is something else. Sitting and waiting before being fed is how a puppy "works" for her food. I'd find a different day care and a different training program. If this has been going on for a while, it could actually have contributed to the digestive problems to begin with. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Also, what exactly is the "prescription strength" probiotic? My guy is on an extremely powerful human probiotic that contains 225 billion CFUs per dose and is only sold thru pharmacies, and even that doesn't require a prescription. There are a couple of probiotics like Purina's Fortiflora and Iams's Prostora that are sold only thru vets, and they are not very good at all. I'm asking because you're going to need a really good one after the metronidazole is finished. Be sure that you are giving the probiotics at least two hours apart from the antibiotics, and longer is better. 

[Dolly Dykhouse]

I thought that I would jump on this thread because I am having similar issues with my almost 10 week old ALD, Henry. Henry's stool became super soft 2 days after I brought him home from his breeder last week. I took him to the vet for his well puppy appt along with a stool sample. The sample was sent out to a lab, no fecal float test done in house but the ELISA test which showed he did NOT have Giardiasis or any parasites. The vet gave me an RX for Metronidazole for 5 days and instructions for a bland diet. I told him I wasn't entirely comfortable giving him antibiotics with side effects that sound worse than the very loose stools he is having with the absence of any parasites. Henry is eating well, drinking water, playful and taking to training like a champ (first 2 nights in the crate he slept through, each of last 4 nights up at 2:30 to go pee and poo and right back to sleep) I have ordered Proviable DC from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow night. Henry was on Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover kibble and I started adding a teaspoon of organic sweet potato to it. I used my pressure cooker and made him organic chicken breasts using just water and carrots and sweet potatoes for broth. I was going to use the chicken for his training treats opposed to using pre-packaged (I was using Zuke's chicken treats). I wonder should I discontinue the kibble for now and use the chicken and rice along with some plain yogurt and start him on the Proviable D.C. And see what happens or should I start him on the antibiotics as soon as I have the Proviable? I don't want to give him the Metronidazole just because as there are no parasites unless it will benefit him more than give him even more issues in the long run. I know when I was given the lovely Z-pack antibiotics for pneumonia it took weeks of probiotics to get me back to almost normal and I hate the thought of putting his young body through that if It's not necessary. He is up almost 2# since I brought him home Sunday so he is gaining weight despite the diarrhea. What are your thoughts? Thanks to all of you, you are so generous with your experiences and I know I greatly appreciate it!

Dolly and Henry

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The in-house fecal float test is more accurate for detecting giardia than the ELISA test, and giardia doesn't always show up in every stool sample. Since a LOT of doodle puppies come home from the breeder with giardia, I wouldn't be sure Henry doesn't have it. However, even if he does, you still don't want metronidazole, you want Panacur. It is more effective and doesn;t have the side effects that metronidazole has. I would ask my vet for Panacur. The probiotics should help a lot, and you can give him some plain yogurt in the meantime. 

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Thanks so much for the response Karen, my gut told me to hold off on giving him the metronidazole for now. Funny, I read an article from a vet that the float test was inaccurate for the first fecal test and that the ELISA test should be done the first time and if it was positive then the subsequent follow up tests should be float tests. I'll stop by my vet, or maybe just order the Pancur on Amazon. I won't have the Proviable until tomorrow so I will pick up some yogurt, is a Greek yogurt like Fage ok to use? It has less sugar than a regular plain yogurt and I want to avoid sugars that will only feed the bad bacteria.

Also I noticed that Pancur is sold by the gram depending on the dogs weight, Henry is 14# so would I order the 1 gram which is for a 10# dog or the 2 gram which is for a 20# dog? I would hate to give too little/much.

Thanks again!