Still Diarrhea with my puppy

[Lisa Marin]

My little Tucker still continues with his tummy troubles. I have posted before but wanted to update everyone on the situation. Tucker just turned 5 months old and has had diarrhea since we got him at 8 weeks. He has had multiple fecal that have all come back negative and has been dewormed (even a special dewormer for whipworms...just in case). He has been on metronidizole with success. He has normal stools on the medicine and then within days of stopping it gets the severe diarrhea again. So he has been on meds most of his little life. I have been feeding him Acana Wild prairie and have tried pumpkin and probiotics. After researching from the food group I just switched him to Natural balance duck and potato LID food. I did it cold turkey because he is on the meds and the stools are fine. Has anyone else had this problem???  The vet wants to start with very expensive tests...I have tried to avoid this but might have to?

[Trudy Harlow]

Actually, you can buy FortiFlora from Amazon.  Figured you wouldn't recommend it.

In any case, I can recommend a high-quality human probiotic such as PB-8 over a low-quality dog probiotic.  It may not have exactly the same mix of flora in it, but I can say from my experience with Paddy that it's far, far better than nothing.

This looks like an interesting site, Karen http://dogprobiotics.com/ -- I'd be interested in what you think of it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'll be honest, I am not really very knowledgable about the various probiotics on the market and which ones are beneficial for what. I tend to go with manufacturers that I trust, and Ark Naturals is one that I do. Purina on the other hand....

Lots of human supplements are appropriate and beneficial for dogs, such as fish oil and evening primrose oil,  but not all of them are, and we do know that one area in which dogs differ greatly from human is in their digestive systems. There are also differences in effective dosages. So I am not sure about using certain kinds of human supplements for dogs. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just that I don't know enough about this particular issue to recommend it or not.

The private pet boutiques that handle higher end products and only carry American made products are usually the best places to get recommendations and advice on supplement issues if you're not sure.

[Trudy Harlow]

I checked out the MiracleZyme recommended by that site and it has many more types of flora than the Gentle Digest, which has only lacto bacillus.  Of course human probiotics would not be the best choice, but in my experience, they helped enough to be better than nothing.

I'm interested in the MiracleZyme tablets http://probioticsfordogs.com/pet-supplements/pet-digestion/probioti... .  I wrote them to see if they'd tell me where they were made.  Will let you know.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Fortiflora only has one type of flora, too, Enterococcus faecium, but it works. The problem is the source of the ingredients and the fact that it contains other horrible ingredients, like animal digest.

But the point is, it isn't the number of different types of flora in a product that makes it effective, it's the type of flora.

[Trudy Harlow]

I heard back from the MiracleZyme people.  It's made with some imported ingredients, but nothing from China.  All the rest of their products have totally US ingredients.

I agree that it's the type of flora, but I also know that our guts -- and dog guts -- have many different types of flora, so it stands to reason that putting several appropriate kinds in can benefit the dog more.  Several vet articles I've read express the same thing.

Anyway, I'll probably try the MiracleZyme.  They were prompt in responding to my two inquiries, and I think a tablet will be more successful with my dog.

[Lisa Marin]

karen and Judy...I found another probiotic at my local pet store. After much research it seems better (for Tucker) than the ark naturals. It is similar in ingredients to the MiracleZyme. It is called Great Life enzyme Pro+. Seems to have helped Tucker:)

[Lynda Kamrath]

So sorry to hear about your problems with your puppy.  If there are no problems with any kind of worms, it may be a food allergy (or multiple food allergies) that is causing his problems.  I had to cook for one of my dogs who had liver problems and it just became one of the normal parts of life.  He ate Happy Dog which is a bulgar and vegetable mix.  He could not have processed food (dry dog food).  He did eat meat that had been cooked (routisserie chicken was his favorite).  No problems with stools at all, but he could not handle any processed food.  You will just have to try some different things until you find the food that agrees with him.  Sorry to hear about poor little Tucker.  I would think that it was the food, however, that is causing his problems.  I would avoid anesthesia if at all possible.  It is often more of a problem than the sickness.  Just my experience.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It may be a food intolerance, but true food allergies are rare, and the main symptoms are usually itchiness, scratching, biting and licking paws, etc. Also, it would be almost impossible for a food allergy to have developed by 8 weeks of age, and Lisa says the diarrhea has been going on that long.

However, switching to the NB LID duck based food should take care of it if in fact it is a food allergy, because duck is a novel protein source to Tucker. Diagnosis of a food allergy is done by an elimination diet, which is essentially what Lisa has done by switching to a protein source that Tucker has not previously eaten.

[Lisa Marin]

Hi All....I just wanted to update the group. So far the new diet is working!!!  No antibiotics and the new food has been working! Seems like the LID food with lower fat seems to be right for Tucker. I wish he could tolerate a food with more protein but I am thrilled that he seems to be on his way to normal stools.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Great news, Lisa, I hope he continues to do well!

[Lisa Marin]

Thanx Karen...also the ark natural probiotics seem to have helped too. Your advice has made Tucker a happy boy!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

From experience - Peri had runny stools for quite a while when she came home. It took about 2 months of ONE FOOD and not a lot of treats to get her on track.  She had nothing wrong with her - it just took time for her to adjust.

Good luck!