Diarrhea

[Courtney]

Puppy diarrhea is fairly normal, right?  Our sweet girl is only 8 weeks old and she's so mellow that I sometimes worry something is wrong with her, but then she perks up and plays and sleeps again.  I'm just chalking that up to her being so little and having a mellow personality.  Today she has diarrhea though which only adds to my worry.  I feel like a new mama here!  lol.  She's drinking and eating still, although I may hold off on her dinner.  We have only had her since Saturday.  I did change her food right away as I couldn't find the brand the breeder was feeding her and didn't want to feed her Purina anyhow.  She has been on the new food since Saturday though and hasn't had diarrhea until today.  Do you think its the new food, the stress of settling in to a new home, or something else?  Her vet appointment isn't until next Thursday, although I will move it up if need be. 

[Jennifer Corbly]

I believe it's not normal for them to have diarrhea. If you were unable to do a gradual food change then her diarrhea is problem from the food. what food did you change too? What was the breeder using?

[holly b]

Could be just about anything. Stress, the new food, etc. I'd try to get to the vet sooner if it persists over the next day to rule out something like giardia. Good luck.

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

What was recommended to me when Hurley had diarrhea was to mash up banana and /or sweet potato and add to his food along with cooked white rice. My guess is the diet change but I am not an expert by far. Like you, though, I was like a new mom and worried about every change in Hurley's level of activity or eating habits. He was and remains my baby even though he is 55 lbs and 3 years old. Thank goodness he isn't going away to college or talking about getting married. I would miss him more than I missed my son when he went away to get his degree. And that is saying a lot.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

One of the reasons why changing the food prior to 2 weeks of coming home is b/c if they do get diarrhea, you will not know what is causing it….stress? food change? giarda?  Giardia is VERY common in puppies and needs to be treated with an antibiotic along with a probiotic (at least 2 hrs apart from each other).  Me personally, I would call the vet, move up the appointment and bring in a fecal sample..though sometimes, if it is giardia, it can take weeks for it to show up in the feces..so multiple fecal tests may need to be done.

Which food did you switch to? I would not do any more changes until you know what is going on…no treats, bones, etc…as that can add to the problem as well…If you feel you do need to give treats now for training purposes, plain, boiled chicken breasts will do the trick.  Best of luck, and if you join the food group there is a ton of into on diarrhea…poop tends to be a popular topic here! Hang in there!

[Courtney]

Thanks for the replies.  She actually got worse and then vomited.  I wound up taking her in last night.  They ruled out parvo and gave her some fluids and gave us a broad spectrum dewormer.  She seems to be a bit more alert today and doing much better.  We have a follow up with our regular vet tomorrow and will do another stool sample. 

[holly b]

Hope she's feeling better soon!