Mushy stool AGAIN

[NS]

Our puppy is now almost 6 months old, he has gone through 3 rounds of meds for Giardia, we finally got a negative test and thought he was OK!!! His stool was firm for 2 or so weeks -- we were feeding him Fromm Puppy Gold, giving him his Florentero probiotic 2x a day and sweet potato daily.

Our vet told me to quit giving him the probiotic daily and switch to giving him the probiotic every 4 days/2 a day. I questioned her because how can a probiotic be bad to take daily. She pushed back and felt strongly that he didn't need it daily. Now he has mushy, smelly poops. Could it be the Fromm? Could it be Giardia again? I called the vet and she wants to do another test on the stool, she wants to put him on some meds (not sure what until I pick it up), wants me to give him the probiotic daily and add metamucil  with his meals for extra fiber. 

What do you think?? 

[NS]

Karen, 

It is me AGAIN!! Guess what -- mushy, mushy diarrhea again. He has been on Honest Kitchen Zeal and for the past 2 weeks Honest kitchen Embark, was doing GREAT. Taking his Proviable + gentle digest and food and stools were firm.  I am pretty sure he has something going on again -- because his stool is so mushy, loose and it tends to squirt out of him all over the place. 

What would you do? I am thinking of taking in stool sample tomorrow and if it comes back with some type of bacterial imbalance etc then asking for Tylan vs Metronizadole....

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You definitely need to have another fecal done, but Tylan won't get rid of parasites. You really need Panacur if it comes back positive for Giardia. If it doesn't show parasites, Tylan might be an option.

[NS]

one more question -- do you think letting him chew on a bully stick is hard on his digestive system???

[Julie and Charlie]

For now,  I would stop giving bully sticks. Not a vet or expert, but I think that while they are not the cause of your problem, they aren't helping it get any better either.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Absolutely bully sticks are NOT the thing to give. I rarely give my dogs a small one since they can cause my perfectly healthy doodles to have soft stools. In fact, I would be super cautious with any kind of treat. When I want to be certain to cause no issues I just give a piece of Tader Joe's chicken strips.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree. Bully sticks can be very tough on the digestive system. 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I had to stop giving bully sticks to Fudge and Vern because they had problems after chewing them.

[Wendy and Myla]

I'm not sure about the food - Karen is the expert there but I would definitely ONLY give him the food - I know that at six months he needs treats for training but I would still just give him his food as treats!  We do that quite often - Myla doesn't seem to care whether it's sweet potato, liver or her kibble as long as we praise her, pet her and give her a treat.  That way, you know exactly what has been fed and what has to change if it doesn't work!

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I would either follow your vet's advice, you are paying for it, or find a different vet. 

A bland diet is pretty much nutritionally deficient and for a couple of weeks will do no harm.

I would be leery of giving the metrozol again without a very good reason why.

The absolute key here is two meals a day, exactly alike, with a minimum of ingredients and absolutely no treats.

If you need to treat save some of each meal to use as a treat, but do so sparingly.

Consider finding a vet with special training in digestive disorders - at least for a consult

 

 

[NS]

Thank you everyone for your insight. Karen you are a wealth of info, thank you!!!

I did as you suggested, he fasted for 24 hours, then has been eating 2 meals a day that consist of boiled chicken and sweet potato and 1/2T of Metamucil. I bought the Gentle Digest and gave him 1 today. Can I give him the Gentle digest and the probiotic at the same time? I know the probiotic must be given 2 hours before or after the Metro.

Also, how much chicken and how much sweet potato should I be feeding him. He seems SO hungry -- do you think I should feed him one cup of food at breakfast and 1 cup for dinner? I have no idea how much food he should be getting. He had his first stool tonight and it was still really mushy. His disposition has improved but still seems depressed, his tail is down alot. I called the Vet today to discuss Metro vs Tylan and she pushed back and said they are the same and that he really needs to complete the course of treatment for the Metro. I also told her I did not want to feed him w/d or R/x food. She suggested the Royal Canin. I checked your list and it is not on there. I also researched other posts and Karen suggested Honest Kitchen Embark or Acana Single foods for another puppy who was having GI issues. Now that I look back at Bodi, he has never really had firm stools. When he arrived from our breeder he had Giardia and we caught it after 11 days and then he has been on and off Metro and Panacur ever since. The breeder was feeding him TOTW and we transitioned to Fromm. I am thinking that he may benefit from going from the sweet potato/chicken food to either Honest Kitchen Embark or Acana Single formula -- what do you think? 

Thanks again...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that if your vet believes that Tylan and Metronidazole are the same thing, she needs to go back to school and you need a new vet. 

He needs more of the homemade food, it has only about half the calories per cup as his kibble, so however much kibble you were feeding, he needs twice the number of cups of the chicken and potatoes. 

You can give the Gentle Digest at the same time as the probiotics.

Once things improve a little with his digestion, you can try the Honest Kitchen Embark. I just want you to be aware that it is very expensive, more than any kind of kibble including Orijen, and it's a dehydrated raw food that comes as a dry mix and must be mixed with water and reconstituted before you feed it. It's been great for dogs with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but that's not the cause of your guy's issues. Until the parasite/bacteria issues are resolved, food can't fix this. But the HK is usually easier to digest than dry kibble. 

[NS]

Thanks Karen!

We live in Chicago and yesterday I finally found a pet store that sells the Honest Kitchen Food. I picked up samples of the Honest Kitchen Verve vs the Embark because I do wonder if he has a sensitivity to chicken. He has been eating the Fromm Puppy which is a combo of chicken & duck among other ingredients and I thought I would try beef. So far Bodi is making progress. We are on day 5 and he finally has formed stools that are still mushy but at least they are formed versus pure liquid. I have done what you suggested but switched chicken to ground beef. He gets fed 2x a day a combo of ground feed, fruitables(or sweet potato/pumpkin), metamucil. I give him his Gentle Digest and probiotic in the middle of the day and dinner is the same as breakfast + his Metronidazole. 

The plan is to continue on the homemade food until he has solid foods, then try the Honest Kitchen Verve. Do you think this is a good plan?

Again, thanks for being such a great sounding board and a wealth of advice.