diarrhea at night only

[Julie and Franklin]

I have a 6 month old double doodle (goldendoodle x labradoodle). I have had him on fromm since I got him at 8 weeks old and he has been fine on it. He only has diarrhea at night where some nights he will wake me up every 2 hours to go to the bathroom and it is always diarrhea. I took a stool sample to the vet and he does not have any parasites. I have had him on chicken and rice for the past 3 days and he was fine, didn't even poop for 2 days. I then started to introduce his food back to him slowly and that night he had diarrhea all night again. Do you think it has something to do with him food even though he has been fine on it before this happened? This problem has been going on for about 3 weeks now. My last resort is going to the vet because I know they are just going to put him on science diet or some food like that which I don't want. I do not know what else to do any suggestions? 

Thank you,

 Julie

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It would be very strange for a food that he has been eating without problems to suddenly cause diarrhea. It sounds like there is something else going on.

I would have the vet run another fecal; giardia and other parasites don't always show up in every stool sampe, and some testing is more accurate than other types. Make sure they run a "fecal float" test. 

It's easy to refuse the Rx garbage. Just say that you will feed your own homemade "bland diet". The Rx food contains no medicine or therapeutic ingredients of any kind, which is clear from reading the label.

Homemade chicken and rice contains about half the calories per cup of most kibbles. That means that you need to feed twice the amount of homecooked food as kibble. It's possible that he didn't have a BM for two days on the chicken and rice because he was getting significantly less food than normal. The homemade food also has much less fiber and bulk, and almost always results in lower stool volume than kibble does. 

What time does your dog get his dinner? What other foods or treats does he get during the evening? How much time elapses between dinner and his last potty opportunity? 

[Julie and Franklin]

Thats good to know about homemade chicken and rice, I did not know that. I do competitive obedience with him so I was feeding him hot dogs and cheese a lot but when this started I stopped giving him that for treats and made my own home made treats. In my home made treats there is pumpkin, hamburg and bread crumbs. I usually train him at least once a day or every other day but when this started happening I have barley been training him which is unfortunate. I trained him once with my home made treats and he seemed fine with that.

I got some probiotics that my competitive obedience friends told me would help but it actually made it worse.

He had roundworms a month ago so I thought that he had them again but his stool sample came back negative. Since you said it is not in every stool maybe I will get another sample. The last one I brought in was on Saturday when should I bring in the next stool sample?

He eats breakfast between 7am-8am and dinner between 5 and 5:30. I usually take him out to go to the bathroom one more time between 10pm-11pm. Then he usually has me up again in 2 hours and that continues every 2 hours as the night goes on. He sleeps in a crate in my room and he is crate trained and loves the crate so I know he is not getting into anything in my room.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So his stool is formed in the day time, and he doesn't need to "go" frequently, only at night?

What kind of probiotics were you using? 

What type of meds were used to treat the roundworm? 

Does he get bully sticks or any other type of edible chew objects?

[Julie and Franklin]

This is the probiotics I used, I only used it one day.

http://naturesfarmacy.com/store/products/dogzymes-digestive-enhance...

In the day time its half and half, some is formed and some is diarrhea but he doesn't have to go as often.

They gave me drontal plus for the round worms. Which he threw up half of it then ate his throw up. (sorry for the graphics.)

He does not eat any bully sticks or edible chews. He chews on elk antlers which he loves.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd take a another stool specimen to the vet and specify a fecal float test. Something is not right with his digestive tract. It sometimes takes two or more treatments to get rid of roundworms, so he may need another round of the Drontal, to kill those worms that were in the larval stage during the last treatment.

From Cornell Veterinary School:

"If your dog has been diagnosed as having an active infection of roundworms, 2 to 3 doses of the de-wormer will be necessary, as the drug kills only adult worms. Further doses are necessary to eliminate any newly matured worms that were larvae at the time of the first dose."

http://bakerinstitute.vet.cornell.edu/animalhealth/page.php?id=1102

Meanwhile, you might try using mashed sweet potatoes instead of rice with the chicken.You can bake them in the microwave and mash with a fork. Try giving him a couple of spoonfuls of palin unflavored fat-free yogurt with his meals, too. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, and Proviable DC is one of the best probiotics for dogs; it might be a good idea to order some to have on hand. 

[Julie and Franklin]

awesome thank you for your help I really appreciate it!