Stool Issues

[Nicole]

Good morning! I have a new 7 1/2 week old labradoodle pup. The labradoodle I lost a few weeks ago had problems all her life with diarrhea/vomiting. She was on prescription dog food but still had many bouts. My new puppy was started on an undesirable dog food. I have been trying some better foods mixing a few kibbles in at a time. The ONLY kind I've found so far that she will eat other than the poor quality she was started on is Evanger's pheasant/brown rice...her stools have been very loose since we got her (pudding/soft serve consistency)...she went to the vet for puppy well check yesterday and vet gave her clean bill of health...did a stool exam and found nothing...last night she started having diarrhea and this morning there was a touch of blood on her behind after going (it was 4:30 a.m. and was dark...I couldn't see the actual deposit)...she has been picking out the Evanger's and not eating her other food which is hampering my attempts to change her over slowly...

Any advice? I'm trying not to panic after last doodle issues that wound up cutting her life span very short (she died at 3 1/2 years old).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

An awful lot of doodle puppies have giardia, coccidia, and other parasites. It is much more common than it should be.
It sounds as if you got your puppy at about 7 weeks old or less, which is unusual; most breeders keep them until 8 weeks of age. That coupled with the fact that the breeder was feeding a poor quality food makes me think you may be looking at giardia or some other intestinal parasite. Giardia does not always show up in a stool culture; sometimes you have to bring in several samples collected at different times to get a positive culture.
But at that age, their digestive systems are also very immature, and it sounds as if you have tried several foods in a very short period. That's tough on a puppy's system.
Blood in the stool warrants another vet visit, just to be sure.

[Kirsy & Jasper]

Fully agree with Karen. My Jasper had a lot of diarrhea and vomiting, when he was a pup. Endless times I took in stools samples.They must have thought I had an obsession! Some tests they can do at the Vets straight away, others have to be sent off to Pathology and take many days for results. One time I waited over a week to be told he had salmonella to come straight back for antibiotics. Weird thing was, by then he had hard stools again.
I only feed Jasper (he is epileptic) a homemade Grain free Diet now, based on cooked Veges and raw meats. But as a pup he was on Eukanuba and Hills Science Diet sensitive stomach kibbles. I do not trust any commercial products, but learnt from the many dog websites I am involved in plus what the Breeders feed - ORIJEN being the most trusted.In regards to the blood. Unless he had eaten a sharp bone or stick, that can sometimes cause a bit of bleeding - see the Vet! TIP: Mashed cooked pumpkin is good to settle diarrhea!

[shelly]

Oh, Nicole I am so sorry you are having such problems with the puppy especially after your last experience! I'm a worry wart, and blood would send me running to the vet. but Karen has already answered and I believe her to be our 'in-house' food issue queen! Good luck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Honestly, other than there being too many changes too fast for a pup this age, I don't think this is really a food issue. She hasn't even been eating solid food for a month, and is way too young for radical food changes. But no food would cause blood in the stool. This is something other than food.

[Nicole]

Took stool sample to the vet today...they are sending it out to a lab to look for microscopic parasites...she hasn't really had that much change...refused to eat the three flavors of TOTW kibble at all...just ate her regular food and left the TOTW kibbles on the saucer. LOVES the Evangers and was putting 5-6 kibbles in with her food for 2 days, then had put a little more in the next day...so really she didn't eat other than 2 types of food. She is eating ID diet today/tomorrow as per vet's instructions until they get test results back. Keeping my fingers crossed it is something simple and easily curable.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Evangers is a great food, and very limited ingredient, so I'm certain that didn't cause the problem.
The Rx food is actually worse than anything you could buy at Walmart, not for the diarrhea, but nutritionally. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's find out what's wrong first.
Nicole, what was she eating before she came to you?

[Nicole]

She was on Diamond Premium Adult food...I was VERY unhappy with this and read very negative things which is why I was changing her over....slowly....When I told the vet that she was on this food the vet also encouraged me to switch to a higher quality food. On Dogfoodanalysis.com diamond is listed as a 1 star food (out of 6 stars) :(

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

While you're waiting for the test results, here's some reading for you to do:
Why You Should Say No When Your Vet Recommends Rx Food

[Kyoko]

I must say "Say NO to ID diet"!! I am not a fan of HIlls.....Terrible ingredients!!

[Hunter and Daisy's Doodle Mom]

I hope the vet finds out what's wrong. I went through almost 8 months of constant vet visits with my dogs and they almost were sent to MSU to have some major tests done. They first had coccidia and then giardia, as Karen mentioned, but they were still having problems. The breeder we got our pups from had them on puppy chow and I personally didn't want them on that. We slowly changed them to Blu and things got better, but not cured. The end result came from blood work done and I don't want to say, "this is what they have" because I don't know...I'm not a vet. But, to let you know, both our dogs were diagnosed with colitis and they both have exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Long scientific name, meaning their pancreas isn't functioning as it should to help break down their food and keep their digestive system normal. We actually make their food now, it's a pain, but it's totally worth their health. They are also on Pancrezyme and a multivitamin called Catalyn to help with their nutritional needs that isn't all in beef, rice, and veggies that I make at home. Don't give up and sometimes you do have to do a little bit of research yourself and work with the vet to find the cause. It's not always a black and white issue.
I hope your puppy starts to feel better soon - keep us posted.

[Nicole]

This sounds a lot like my last labradoodle, Shadow. We were first told Parvo, but tests were negative so they diagnosed her with Corona. She was always panting and drank inordinate amounts of water. They tested her for diabetes, at one time mentioned ?graves? disease...it was about 6 months of constant vet visits as well. Her bloodwork numbers made no sense (two of them were reversed) and they wanted to send her to Purdue for testing...I couldn't afford that as it was going to be at least a couple of thousand dollars...we put her on a prescription dog food and as long as that was all she ate she did really well...although it was HORRIBLY expensive. But anytime she got hold of food other than that prescription (venison/potato) she would start having AWFUL diarrhrea, vomiting, etc. It usually took 5-6 days before she got straightened out again. I purchased a Rug Doctor brand carpet shampoo machine because of all the messes on the carpets and couches. However even with all her problems, she was the best-natured and (although I really shouldn't say it) my favorite dog I've ever had. Temperament was sweet and funny, never a mean bone, and we spent at least an hour together every night at the dog park playing ball. Absolutely adored her.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Nicole, please let us know when you get the results of the tests. I know what you're going through, and paws are crossed that it's something minor and you can put this behind you.