Help with puppy food issues!

[Penny & Wrigley]

Here's a quick summary....

8 weeks old has roundworm. Gets taken care of, two negative samples after deworming

During that time he's obviously having loose stool/diahrrea and we are on puppy lover chicken soul food. The breeder was feeing that mixed with 2 other foods so we transitioned to just the puppy lover.

Because stool is still loose, vet gives Hill's Rx food. Now we have regular hot dog like poop for a week. Yay! We use it a bit longer because he had shots and vet wants to make sure stool doesnt change because of shots. vet recommends he comes off the Rx food.

Because of the all of the issues vet recommends going to a food that's not chicken or turkey based since that's what he was in during the issues

So I use the Hill's and start transitioning him to TOTW Pacific Stream. Everything goes well until we get to a 50 50 mix. Last night he was up twice with very loose stool. Overall the stool has looked normal during this transition phase with an occasional looser form until last night when it was just loose.

Thoughts? Since the vet is closed I'm not sure what to do.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is really common with puppies. The combination of worms/parasites, meds to clear them, and Rx food seems to really upset their immature digestive systems and throws off the balance of bacteria in the gut. It can take a long time to get it back to normal.

I disagree with the vet on avoiding the chicken and turkey based foods, because now his digestive system has the added burden of having to adjust to an entirely new protein source. The "issues" were apparently due to parasites and not poultry, lol, so that doesn't make sense to me.

He has also gone from three foods to one food to Rx food to TOTW, and from foods that contain grains to a grain-free food, and switching to grain-free alone usually takes a few days until the dog's system adjusts, even in healthy dogs. He's also been switched to higher protein and lower carbs than he's accustomed to getting. So, too many changes going on at once, in a very young puppy who is also stressed just from going to a new home.

I wouldn't combine the Hill's, which probably contains corn and poultry by-products anyway, with the grain-free fish based food. I'd switch him cold-turkey to the TOTW. He might benefit from a good probiotic, too. (Don't use Fortiflora from the vet) You can try adding a big spoonful of plain, unflavored fat free yogurt to his meals. Also a tablespoon of plain, pure canned pumpkin (not pie filling) will help with the loose stools while he's transitioning. 

Hope this helps.

 

[Penny & Wrigley]

Thanks Karen!  I'm out of Rx food now anyway so I'm going to have to go cold turkey.  We've been transitioning for about 7 days and he did mostly okay until just last night.  I added pumpkin this morning and will go pick up some yogurt today too and see if that helps.  Thanks so much for your advice!  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Please keep us posted on how he does.

[Penny & Wrigley]

Hi Karen,
The last 24 hours have been great. Several normal poops and the little guy slept through the night. Adding pumpkin and yogurt to his meals. Thanks for your help and concern!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hooray! Thanks for updating us, fingers and paws crossed that this continues!

[Penny & Wrigley]

After doing much better the last few days have not been great. I wouldn't say he has diahrrea but definitely a range from soft formed stools to soft and not formed. He also woke up last night to go out which he doesn't really do anymore. I'm still giving him a little pumpkin morning and night. He goes for shots on Friday so I will have another stool sample done but I don't think they will find anything. Did anyone's pup go through this off and on?

[Judi and Daisy May]

Hi Penny....YES....I went thru the exact same thing with Daisy. First she came from her breeder with giardia, worms, and fleas. She came here eating Diamond Naturals her stool was always loose. I had her treated for all the above issues and she just couldn't get over having worms. I think she was treated 4 times for recurring worms and she also developed an intestinal infection from them. That being said I never liked how her stools looked. They always looked mushy with undigested food. I did switch her to TOTW Puppy. It's extremely high in protein but grain free. Her stools changed and she remains on TOTW. I feel she has a sensitive stomach so I limit what I give her. If she has any table food even say a small piece of bread her stools change. I feel for you I went thru the exact same things that you are going thru. It can be so frustrating. Good luck and keep me updated.

[Penny & Wrigley]

Thanks for your reply. It's funny you mention that the smallest thing can change your puppy's stool. Wrigley finally had normal poops for a few weeks so I thought it would be okay to give him a few small treats here and there. I was using Zuke's but they were chicken I had ordered early on, prob not a good idea I know. Then I had some salmon based cookies from Kriser's which is a great pet store. They don't sell any junk. After cutting out everything but the kibble (yogurt and pumpkin), normal poops for the last 24 hours. He goes back Friday for his last round of shots so I will do another stool sample just to be sure but I'm guessing he's fine and just can't handle anything added to his diet. I appreciate your response. It helped to confirm what I was thinking.