Poop, have a concern about Henry

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Hi everyone,

Henry came home with us this past Sunday and has had soft stools from the get go. I brought a fecal sample to his Monday morning vet appt (which they misplaced, so I brought a second one in yesterday) to be tested...his breeder had treated him twice for parasites, at 5 weeks and again at almost 9 weeks. Today he had a movement immediately after eating lunch and there were 2 mucousy spots with a drop of blood in them. Total freak out OMG is this parvo moment! I immediately called the vet who put me through all the standard questions, yes he is eating (he's gained 8 oz since Monday) drinking water, totally playful and stool is soft but not liquid and no vomiting. So likelihood it's parvovirus is very small. However, she did make a comment that when she was placing the stool sample in the tube for the lab that there were a lot of little white dots the size almost of a grain of sand or salt in the stool. I should have the results back later this afternoon but thought I would reach out to those with real life, this is my furry child experience in the meantime.

Has anyone else had this type of experience with their doodle? I am a pretty level headed person, but when one of my animals was ill i swear I was more worried than with my human children!

Thanks so much!
Henry & Dolly

[Tiffany Crawley]

Hi - I had a very similar experience with my doodle. She's now 21 weeks old and is healthy but she came home with exactly what you describe and it was giardia.  We did two rounds of panacur that cleared it up and changed her food to Zignature turkey.  Her stools have been retested twice and they are all clear and her poop is formed and solid.  Hope that's not the case for you but keep us updated!

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Thanks so much Tiffany! I've been internet trolling and Giardia symptoms sound almost spot on. Sigh...still waiting on the official call from the vets office. Will let you know as soon as I find out if we are right. The blessing is that it is treatable and hopefully won't leave any lasting effects on his poor intestines. I'll be looking to switch his food out soon too. His breeder had him on Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover and while it looks like it has good ingredients I think I need to move him to something that will be easy on his system; Zignature looks to be a great dog food for single source protein and helping to prevent allergy issues!

[Tiffany Crawley]

Hi - How is Henry doing?!

[Dolly Dykhouse]

Hi Tiffany!

He seems to be doing better. We tested for all parasites including Giardia and he was negative. Color me stumped as I was so sure that was the issue! So, putting it down to the adjustment of a new home, a senior puggle that barely tolerated him we adjusted his diet to include some organic pumpkin and yogurt at mealtime and Proviable DC for probiotics. This did make a big difference and within a week we saw firmer stools. However; Henry goes 6-7 times a day (or more!) and his first pitstop it's firm and a minute or two later at pitstop #2 it's fairly soft. I swear I didn't analyze my children's BM's like I do Henry's! I'm going to start the process to change over his food this weekend and see if that helps any. He is growing like a weed; from 12# at 9 weeks to 19# at 11.5 weeks so I know some of the food is doing its job!