loose stool a common problem with Doddles?

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

The more I look over this site I see a lot of you talking about your doddles loose stool.

I brought my puppy home 2 weeks ago and since day one she has had very runny poo.  I took her to the vet 2 times for it and it seems to get a tiny bit better while she is on the canned Script food for a day and then goes right back. They tested her for all kinds of things and everything thing came back negative. So I was given the diagnosis that she is just upset from the new home and being away from her litter mates.

She came to us on Nutro food and I thought that was a good food (my old Dog was just on Iamms) but looking over the food group I see its not a great choice so we are trying to swap her over to Blue Buffalo hoping maybe it was just the food. We have her on a probiotic hoping to help but nothing seems to be working.

I have not tried pumpkin yet because of all these different foods and medicines the vets been doing I dont want to keep changing things more for her.

 

I was just wondering if maybe some dogs just have the runny poops?  She just had a accident in the house and it was so loose I had to smear it into the carpet to get it up before using my spot bot. 

At least she is not going 12-15 times a day and its not pure water with blood like it was a week ago.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Well, first of all this too shall pass.  Many puppies have loose stool from the stress but many seem to come with Giardia which is hard to diagnose and clear up.  The food group recommends that you don't change the puppy's food for two weeks because they do need to settle in to the huge change that has just taken place in their little life.  Then you change gradually over about 10 days to whatever new food you choose - good for you to change from Nutro ( it used to be a good food but the source of their ingredients is not good).  Sometime it takes a while to find just the right food for your dog but do choose from the recommended brands list.  Some of our members have done extensive research on these products and where the ingredients come from and they are both nutritional and safe. The RX formula from the vet is really not a good food for dogs at all.   I would recommend that you  ask the vet to test for Giardia and I would use some pumpkin.  One of our food gurus will read this and give you more advice.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Thanks for the reply.  We started swapping her food Friday at the 2 week mark that we had her.

How do they test for Giarida?  They ran stool samples on her if that is one they typicall run?  I am trying to avoid the vet because we have already been 2 times in the 2 weeks I have had her.  Then if you add another trip plus shots in 2 weeks I will be at almost $400.00 in vet bills in just the first month of having her UGH.

I might go get some pumpkin today and mix it in her food.  I just hate to keep adding stuff to her food in fear it might make it worse.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Giardia, which is extremely common in doodle puppies, can be tough to diagnose. The giardia cysts do not show up in every specimen, and there is also a 10-14 incubation period, so the samples your vet tested may not have contained shed cysts, but she may still have giardia. Giardia is highly contagious and zoonotic, which means you can get it, too, and the cysts will remain contagious in the areas where she has pooped unless the areas are cleaned with disinfectants/bleach, even in freezing temperatures. If she does have giardia, you need to wear rubber gloves when cleaning up after her, she needs to be carefully cleaned after she goes, and her bedding needs to be washed. But you need to get a diagnosis.

I would not have changed her food until the stools had firmed up, regardless of how long she was home. But what's done is done. Runny poop is NOT normal for any dog, it is indicative of disease or infection. I strongly urge you not to make any further changes in her food until the poop issue is resolved, and that includes treats, too. Pumpkin, etc. may help firm the stool but will not get rid of the underlying problem.

Have the vet run another test, and bring several specimens. If she does have giarida, insist that the vet give you Panacur and not just metronidazole.

And get health insurance for your puppy today. Seriously.

Please let us know what the tests show.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Oh great now im freaking out.. im almost 7 months pregnant this is not something I need to be catching.

I will call the vet and try to get her in again.  Today her poo is back to being so runny I am unable to get a sample.

She was on Metronidazole last week... so I know that is not the right meds.

 

....just called the vet and the person who has been seeing her is not in today so they had me leave a voicemail to the one who is in to see what she wants to do.

I am also very upset because I keep sending the breeder Emails and she is not responding to me at all. I am going to try and see what they say this time about the dog and then start calling her.  The dog came with a warrenty that if you take them to the vet in the first 3 days and I did for the first poo visit and there is a problem they will cover the vet bills.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Unfortunately, those health guarantees usually do not cover parasites, giardia, coccidia, etc. Check your warranty. Also, they can always say that the puppy got it after she left the breeder, so I wouldn't hold out much hope for getting reimbursed on vet bills.

Don't freak out, but I would tell the vet's office thgat you need to have them run a fecal float test, and a certain vet doesn't have to be there for them to run a fecal. They can do that without even having the dog there. You don't have to take her in at least until after the test results come back. Just drop off a specimen.

Use a "spatula" type device to get the stool samples. Whatever you can scrape up is fine.

Seriously, though, Lindsey, there have been many posts here about insurance and the fact that people have had vet bills in the four and even five figure range from one illness. It's important to get it while your pup is young and no chronic ailments have been diagnosed yet. I cannot stress how important this is. If your pup should happen to get ahold of something she shouldn't eat, and developed pancreatitis or an intestinal blockage, which is not unusual, your vet bills would run thousands of dollars. Petplan is a very good company, there are others, but if you just want to get it donewithout a lot of research, that would be a good safe bet, and you can always switch to another company later if you want.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

So I finally called the breeder instead of Emailing her... she returned my call in 20 minutes but I was outside with the puppy and forgot my phone.  2 out of the 7 puppies sent home have been diagnosed with Giardia.... and mine would make 3 if she has it.

So I just called the vet and left a message of this and waiting to see if they want to see her again or just have me pick up meds to clear this up.

 

The breeder said she had been answering my Emails but I never recived any of them.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad you got a response from the breeder. You can be pretty sure that if 2 of the puppies have giardia, they all do.

I'm sure the vet is still going to want to verify that your pup has it before prescribing medicine. So you will need to bring in a specimen, and they'll want her current weight for dosage purposes. But I still don't think there's any reason she has to see a particular vet for this, and I would mention that to them.

And I cannot stress enough that you should insist that they give her Panacur. It's a three day treatment, usually a powder that you mix into canned food, and it is absolutely the most effective treatment. They may still want to give her antibiotic pills as well, but for some reason, some vets don't prescribe panacur, so you may have to be proactive about that.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

The vet had me pick up Panacur...5 days in a liquid form.
Return a stool sample in 3 weeks to check.
I washed all her bedding and bleached her cage and will repeat every couple days. They said just pick up as much stool as i can from outside and hope we have dry weather to clear the contaminated soil up.
I hope this clears it up and i can move on to just enjoy my puppy. I think it will help in potty training.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sounds good.

The only way to "clear" the contaminated soil is to spray it with a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. The giardia cysts can over-winter, which means they can survive through frost. Even on concrete. Several DK members have had their dogs contract giardia from dog runs and other public areas. This is often one of the reasons that a particular dog keeps getting reinfected. Keep her away from any standing water outdoors, too. They can get it from drinking from puddles. You will need to use a disinfectant in any areas of the house where she had an accident, too.

Be sure to wear rubber gloves when picking it up.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am thrilled that the main part of the problem is solved - diagnosis - and she is on her way to the other part - cure.