Recurring Diarrhea

[David Kaufman]

This is my first post after discovering this site earlier today.  Hello everyone!

I was hoping to find some advice for our 8 month old F1b Goldendoodle, Truffle (spayed).

Since we brought her home at around 10 weeks old, we've had her on Zignature Lamb dog food at the suggestion of our vet and several others.  For the first 5 months we had absolutely zero health issues with Truffle.  Fast forward to last month when she stayed at a pet hotel for a few nights while we went out of town.  Upon bringing her home from the pet resort, she had a good amount of diarrhea.  We took her to the vet to get checked out and her stool sample lab test revealed no parasites.  Vet said it was stress related and should clear up on its own.  They did give us an antibiotic to be safe, as well as some pro biotics to sprinkle on her food.

The diarrhea went away after about a week and we thought everything was back to normal.  However, the diarrhea has resurfaced about once per week since originally disappearing.  It seems to come about for 24-36 hours and then goes away on its own.  I'm starting to think that the food may be too rich for Truffle and is leading to the runny stools.

Looking for any thoughts/experiences from other Doodle owners that may have been through the same thing.  Anyone else use/used Zignature dog food?

Thank you in advance!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi David, we have dozens and dozens of discussions about this in The Food Group here on DK. Please join us. 

I can tell you that Zignature is on our recommended brands list and is not "too rich" for your dog. "Richness" in food refers to fat content. And if she did fine with it for months, it's very unlikely that it suddenly started to cause problems. 

It's never a good idea to give a dog antibiotics unless there is a diagnosed infection or parasite. Many vets automatically prescribe metronidazole (Flagyl) for every case of diarrhea, and that in itself can often cause problems down the road. The Flagyl destroys all of the bacteria in the gut, including the good bacteria necessary for proper stool formation. We often see the diarrhea returning once the meds are discontinued. Probiotics are important, but many vets typically give you Purina's Fortiflora, which is not a great choice. The vets also often neglect to tell people that the probiotics must be given several hours apart from the antibiotics, and that they must be continued for at least two weeks after the meds are discontinued.

Have you asked the boarding facility what kinds of treats she may have been given when she was there? That may have been the original cause of the problem.

She may also have picked up a parasite like giardia while she was there. I know the fecal was negative, but giardia has a 10-14 day incubation period and doesn't always show up in the fecal test. 

I'd have another fecal done, and if your vet wants to give her meds, again, ask for Panacur instead. It's more effective to treat giardia than Flagyl, and also has fewer side effects.

I'd also order Proviable DC probiotics online and start giving those, they should help.

[David Kaufman]

Thank you for the advice.  We have contacted the pet resort and they only feed dogs the food and treats that the owners bring, so she shouldn't have eaten anything she wasn't already used to.

I can follow up with the vet, but we had her stool examined 10 days after we returned from our trip, and she began the antibiotics that same day so I'd think that any delayed onset parasites would have been either picked up in the exam by then or treated with the drugs.

You are correct on the vet-prescribed pro-biotics.  It most certainly is Fortiflora.  I will look into the Proviable DC as you suggested (quick look at Amazon and some people commented that they are very sensitive to heat.  Since it will be 119 here in Phoenix this week, I think ordering online may be out of the question).

Thanks again - I will report back with any new developments!