Poop and more poop - HELP

[Lisa Turner]

Okay, I have a three month old who Literally as she eats poops in her crate! She has been gradually moved from pedigree chum that the rescue centre were feeding her to Fromm holistic puppy food. I am giving her pro biotics in the morning and the pumpkin with her evening meal. What can I do?

[Tara & Scarlet]

She is adorable Lisa - Scarlet is having issues too. She poops like 8-10 times a day and it's pretty runny. I also noticed some blood today too.  She is going to the vet tomorrow. So from what everyone said I should take a sample to the vet with me???? Keep me posted on the change of food....I can't wait to get Scarlet off the junk her breeder had her on. I am going to start transitioning this weekend.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Tara, you definitely need to have a fecal done. Try to bring in several samples, the giardia cysts are not always present in every sample.

[Tara & Scarlet]

Thanks Karen - can I put all the samples in one container?? Also, should I ask for an antibiotic no matter what the results are?? Is there any harm in using even if she doesn't have parasites?? Is there one antibiotic that's better than others??

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The vets love to give out metronidazole for some reason. Newer research shows that Panacur is much better for eliminating giardia and has fewer side effects, but some vets just don't prescribe panacur unless you ask them for it. We recently had a member who did ask, and the vet still seemed doubtful, then actually went and looked it up, lol.

Often the two are used together.

It's very important that any dog who is on antibiotics be given probiotics, too. Do not buy the Fortiflora (Purina product) from the vet. Use iFlora or Proviable, and/or plain unflavored fatfree yogurt, and give it at least two hours before or after any antibiotics.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Sorry to hear this and so nice of you to rescue her. How is her eyesight now? As for the stool sample, giardia may not show up in just one sample. I would put her on the metronidazole and Panacur anyway. Those drugs are less harmful to her than living with giardia. Also, rest her little tummy with some bland easily digested foods like rice and broth, or some boiled chicken. There is tons of info in here about giardia, so please do a search. Also, clean up of her potty area and paws is imperative. Giardia can be very hard to get rid of and is easily spread.
Good luck and I am glad you read the info about why you shouldn't give the RX crap. Many of us have great Vets who still insist on selling it, so don't let that be a factor in deciding the next vet. My Vet and I just agree to disagree about those foods and she is very supportive of the foods my two do get as they are very healthy and have been for 4+ years.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD has one GP vet and three specialists, and only one of them agrees with me about what he should eat. I don;t pay them for their nutiritonal know-how, that's not their field of expertise.. I don't ask my doctor what I should eat, either.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd say maybe just the Panacur. More and more it seems to me that repeated courses of metronidazole are wrecking these puppies' GI tracts.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

I was sold the same crap back when we first started having our poop issues too,..luckily we have the info here, and now we know better..that the food will not cure the GI issues that are going on..you will need an antibiotic..  When Woody had Giardia, it took 3-4 fecals for the last one to finally come back positive for it..giardia had an incubation period for quite a few days/weeks...I think 1-3 weeks? And you must make sure everything/where that poop has been, is disinfected.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

10-14 day incubation period for giardia.

[Jill, Woody & Maxi]

Thank you Karen :)

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Andrea- I have found pumpkin to help firm up loose BM's as well as help loosen stools if a pet is constipated.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Fiber has a paradoxical effect. It can help with constipation, but it can also help with diarrhea.

Here's a good medical explanation:

Fiber is a stool regulator, a stool normalizer," says Paul McNeely, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. "Fiber knows exactly how to fix constipation or diarrhea."

 

Like a sponge, fiber works by soaking up water, he explains. Fiber also adds bulk to the stool.

"If you have hard constipation stools, fiber pulls water out of the colon to make stools more normal, softer, give them more bulk," says McNeely. "When stools are bulkier, the colon wall can more efficiently push against them when it contracts -- so elimination is smoother."

When there's too much water in the stool, you've got diarrhea. Fiber can help loose stool. "Fiber can't work miracles," McNeely says, "but if you have a loose stool, a lot of excess liquid in the stool, the fiber in your colon will absorb and firm up the stool -- which helps diarrhea."