Frustrated and Confused... and worried :(

[Gillian]

Poor Maizey has not had an easy go at it these last couple months... we are having some issues, and since it's Saturday and the vet is closed, I thought I'd open it up to discussion:

Background: She's 4 months old.. just got her final vaccinations yesterday... losing teeth as we speak...I have been going back to work this past week (.. hence a new schedule and extra stress on her)... she's had on and off loose stools/firm stools/diahrrea for the last 4 days.. been on chicken and rice for 4 days... had a soft stool this morning... now diahrrea... she's not too lethargic.. drinking plenty and chewing on toys... she also had her first bath today at the groomers (extra stress??)

The Vet did a fecal on her yesterday and there were no worms....

Should I be concerned enough to to the ER?? Or is this stress related... vaccinations...teething... all in one?!? Poor thing..

Also... I've noticed her licking her lips a bit more (not too excessive, but more often I guess).. is that worrisome or am I just a panicky new doodlemommy?!?!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Tara ate chicken and rice for quite awhile. I would say close to a month at one time and I was pretty freaked out about her getting enough nutrition for a growing puppy. But she did okay with it and it hasn't damaged her in any way.

As far as her feeling stressed, remember this breed is very sensitive and she is probably picking up the energy coming from her "panicky new doodlemommy!" along with the other things she has dealt with recently. I liked the laying on the bed and breathing together suggestion. I think it would be good for both of you!!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Quincy had very soft to loose poops as a puppy. After a couple of trips to the vet and all tests negative I decided to switch to a grain free food. After a couple of weeks nice easy to pick up poops. He is now on Fromm's and is doing well. If you puppy is eating, drinking and active it may just be a case of finding the right food. Some puppies don't tolerate grains very well. Good luck. (We did the chicken, rice and pumpkin route, worked at the time but as soon as we went back to regular feeds, loose poops)

[Gillian]

That's interesting because she was on Fromms puppy food but that isn't a grain free food. It has healthy grains... I'm still going to try the Fromm again in a few days and see what the vet may recommend. Thank you all for your words of encouragement... Sometimes that's all i need :)

[Leigh & Allie]

Also, are you giving her any treats? I know Allie got an upset tummy from certain bully sticks. I switched her to deer antlers and have not had a problem since.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Gill, join the food group for the best recommendations about nutrition. Very few vets have much training on nutrition so you need to educate yourself. There are many members in the food group who have spent so much time researching nutrition and analyzing various dog foods for quality and nutrition, as well as feeding raw. There are discussions about feeding puppies, problems with feeding etc. BTW Fromms is a great food but there are others that may work better for your pup.
Here is the link to the food group.
http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup

[Kelly Oliver]

My Chloe is 3 mos. old, and she was doing the same thing: loose stools/firm stools. The thing that concerned me the most was that yesterday morning I noticed a bit of blood in her stool. I took her to the vet, and they tested her for parvo and giardia (negative on both, thank goodness!). She did find, however and overgrowth of bacteria (can't remember what it's called, sorry). It's very common and not a huge issue. She gave me an antibiotic to give her a couple of times a day, along with something called fortiflora to help restore the balance of good/bad bacteria. Chloe loves to get sticks, dry leaves, barkdust etc. in her mouth and I catch her and get most of it out but I know some gets swallowed. My vet said that labs and retrievers are notorious barkdust eaters! Anyway, that has to irritate the intestines so that could have brought on the overgrowth of bacteria. But again-pretty common in dogs but if left untreated they'd be going through the diarrhea for about a week, which of course can be dangerous for pups. Good thing Maizey is drinking plenty and acting okay! Hope this info. helps! I know how you feel, I was very worried about Chloe!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Gill were you able to get this issue resolved for little Maizey? If so, what finally worked for her? I really hope she is doing better poor little girl!!

[Gillian]

Ok, wow... I can't believe how long ago this all was and how I haven't updated you guys!!

We have had quite the month around here! After a full out diahrrea episode later that week, and my vet saying, "well it could be this... or well it could be that.." and refusing to give us meds of any kind... my husband and I fired the vet and found a new one!

We didn't give Maizey any food for 24 hours after that horrible explosion of poop in our house... and, upon our first visit with this new vet, he sent out her fecal to a lab, and it came back positive for giardia. On top of that, she had a full blown double ear infection (yeast and bacteria)... so we scrubbed our house and put Maizey on meds... she is now clear of giardia but the ear infections won't go away. We are doing one more round of antibiotics on her ears, and then we will see if we need to examine food allergies, etc.

We are so upset with our old vet and their inability to catch the giardia (Even though we know it takes multiple samples to find)... our old vet did not show the concern or care that we know Maizey deserves. So, we are now very happy with our new vet, and hope this ear issue will soon be resolved.

Maizey's tummy issues are much better though... probiotics and Fromm puppy formula are working great :)

[Camilla and Darwin]

Good to hear that Maizey's stomach is doing better. Hopefully those ear infections go away soon!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I'm glad to hear that you have the issue at ONE end resolved!! LOL!! She must be feeling much better just getting rid of that giardia!! There really is a BIG difference in vets-we have found that to be the case too!! It sounds like you have found a good one and hopefully he/she will get to the bottom of this ear issue too!! Thanks for the update!! Hugs to little Maizey from Ricki & Tara

[Gillian]

Well it's almost into week 4, and the ear infections are still there... they definitely look better and the bacteria has gone away, however... the ears are still really red and irritated and there's still lots of brown gunk. We are transitioning to grain free food, but it seems like this is taking forever to clear up! Any thoughts or suggestions as to why (other than allergies.. which seems so unlikely) this might be taking so long to clear up?