Whiskey's digestive woes

[Whiskey Girl]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to post Whiskey's story because I have found so much good information in other people's stories.  I hope someone else finds this helpful.

We got Whiskey 3 months ago at 16 weeks old - her first family needed to find her a new home, and we were so happy to get her.  She's a great puppy: social, friendly, obedient and so smart.  Her first family fed her Spot's Stew, but we gave her Blue Buffalo Puppy dry food mixed with a little wet food.  We didn't do any kind of transition to the new food, and Whiskey had no issues.  Her vet recommended that we switch to a large breed puppy food, so we cold turkey switched to the Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy after a month on the regular puppy food.

After a couple weeks in her new home - New York City - she got giardia.  I have heard some people say that 90% of puppies in the city get giardia.  I have no idea if that's accurate, but all other dog owners I know in the city have had issues with it.  At first we didn't know it was giardia, of course.  I noticed she had a funny looking poop with mucus on it, but she seemed to feel fine.  Then that night she started barking in her crate at 3am, which is weird for her, and when my husband let her out of her crate she immediately made a big mess in the kitchen.  For the next couple days, she had nighttime diarrhea – only at night (weird!) she would have to go out every 2-3 hours and her poops were totally liquid. We brought her to the vet who sent her stool sample off to a lab who confirmed she had giardia and put her on Metronidazole (Flagyl) for 7 days.  While on the Metronidazole, Whiskey seemed better.  Her poops were normal and she was sleeping through the night again.

After the metronidazole ran out, she had another mucus-y poop followed by liquid poops so I called the vet and they put her on Panacur granules (Fenbendazole) for 5 days.  While on panacur, her poops were light in color and semi-formed.  I read on the forums that metronidazole is not usually effective alone on giardia, but is best in pairing with Panacur, a dewormer, and that panacur is most effective when given in 2 treatments that are 7 days apart.  So, I got more panacur online and planned to give Whiskey the 2^nd round. 

During the 7-day break between panacur treatments, the diarrhea came back.  At this point, it was just so tiring.  I felt so bad for poor Whiskey, but also for my husband and me.  It seemed like all we talked about was our dog’s poop! The vet gave her 3 more days of metronidazole.  She said Metronidazole has anti-inflammatory properties so it helps calm the digestive tract.  We also did her 2^nd round of panacur during this time.  I was racking my brain for possible explanations and I realized that right before all this fun began, we switched her to the Large Breed Puppy Food.  I mentioned this to the vet, and we decided to put her back on the regular puppy food that she had no issues with and gradually transition her to Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet – Venison and Sweet Potato, which is grain free.  After reading more about Blue Buffalo, I’m glad she’s off their food.

When the metronidazole ran out, AGAIN, the diarrhea came back so her vet wanted to see her for an X-ray and bloodwork and a stool test to see if the giardia was still there.  The bloodwork came back normal, the stool sample showed no more giardia (wahoo!) but the X-ray showed some objects in her stomach.  The vet said that giardia can be very tough on a puppy’s digestive system, so she wanted to put her back on Metronidazole for a longer time.  We also put her on Fortiflora at this point, since she had been on antibiotics for a while.  She said if the issues persisted, she’d do another x-ray to see if the objects in her stomach were still there and possibly have them removed by endoscopy (sheesh!).  She also said that Whiskey may have Inflammatory Bowel Disease and that the giardia could have triggered digestive issues that were really caused by the IBD.   I really hoped it wasn’t IBD, but all we could do was wait and see.

So, during her 10-day treatment back on Metronidazole, we added Fortiflora and we switched to the Natural Balance LID food.  This is a lot of changes all at once, so I don’t know what ultimately stopped the issues, but we’ve been good since.  We did notice that her poops were very dark – from the Natural Balance food or the Fortiflora, possibly?  She also pooped more often – smaller poops up to 5 times per day – but they were perfectly firm.  She has had the occasional mucus-y poop, but she’s a total sidewalk vacuum so we assume it is caused from eating things she shouldn’t.  We used her last Fortiflora packet a couple days ago (she was on it for 30 days).  I’m keeping an eye on her in case we need to go back to it.

Things I wish I had known: (1) get pet insurance when your puppy is super young and has no issues.  I got insurance after she got the X-rays.  I’m worried that now, since she’s had these issues, any digestive problem will be considered “pre-existing.”  I’m still glad to have it in case of other non-digestive issues, though. (2) I love my vet’s office but they really mark up over the counter medications… I wish I had known this before I bought some things like the Panacur and the Fortiflora from them.  From now on, I buy online whenever possible.

Anyway, if anyone out there is facing similar issues, keep hope!  I understand how overwhelming it can be!  And fingers crossed for my little Whiskey!

[Karina]

Always have hope.  Baylor had same issue, but not giardia. The vet put him on Hills prescript. I/D and probiotics.  Worked wonders, no soft served mucous, watering runny stuff.  Had him on the I/D for a couple weeks and switched back to his puppy food, big mistake.  Back onto I/D again and back to normal.  We are now doing a very slow transition to Natural Balance LID  ven/sweet potato.  And yes I've never seen such dark poo.  We are now down to 1/2 cup Science and 1 cup Natural Balance LID at each feeding.  Should be off Science by next week?  And yes his poo is looking good. We also limit his treats and snacks, seem to upset the system. Hang in there, they are great pups aren't they.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Tigger had giardia problems, runny poop, etc.  off and on for the first six months of his life.  Giardia can be the devil to get rid of and very easy to pick up again.  I am in a house with easy turf, a hose and so it was simple to Clorox the dog run everyday.  My heart goes out to you.  It truly is a miserable disease.

The bright side is that Tigger will be eight on May 5 and has not had any recurring digestive issues.  That does not count the eating of miscellaneous non-food items: razor blade cartridge, seashells, a varnished gingerbread ornament and so on,,,,,,.That has lessened but he still just can't resist occasionally stealing and eating something that is not edible.  I do watch him like a hawk, but the mouth is faster than the eye.

I hope Whiskey recovers completely as Tigger has.  There is every chance that he will. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

We have a lot of information on all of these issues in The Food Group. This discussion in particular should be helpful to you: 

http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-upda...

There are also much better probiotics than Purina's Fortiflora, which contains some very poor quality ingredients. Proviable can be ordered online and is highly recommended. 

[Whiskey Girl]

Hi Karen-  Just wanted to follow up.  In your experience, are probiotics something that Whiskey will be on forever or is it a temporary treatment?  We've had some troubles when we take her off them, but I'm not sure if there are reasons Whiskey shouldn't be on them for the long term.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There's absolutely no reason that a dog shouldn't be on probiotics long term, any more than there's a reason why you shouldn't eat yogurt every day, lol. Probiotics are just good gut flora that helps with digestion and stool formation. 

It's hard to say if Whiskey will need them forever; most dogs who have chronic digestive issues do. It might also be possible that down the road, you can discontinue them, or give her some plain yogurt each day. 

[Whiskey Girl]

Thanks Karina, Maryann and Karen for your replies!  I just looked around the food group and there is a lot of great information there.  So great to have DK to help pet parents through these things :)

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Also, you can ask your vet for a prescription for the Flagyl and buy it at any drug store, most likely for less as well. ( Not that I use flagyl anymore, I go straight to Panacur)

This shouldn't be an issue, and to me it's the same as going to your own physician and getting a script for something.