Puppies have Upset Stomach

[Ashley, Sadie and Coal]

Well, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this so soon, but we think we are having an issue with the puppies' food. Saturday evening we came home from dinner out, and Coal proceeded to poop all over the house in about a minute.  Since neither he nor Sadie have pooped in the house since the first week they were home, we were, of course, shocked and upset.  We first wrote it off as an adolescent behavior or that he just hadn't been out enough that day, though he stays in his crate or exercise pen for hours while we are at work, and doesn't soil either place.  He had several loose stools outside over the next few days, and we began to think something was up.  He was still playing, drinking and acting energetic, but he came to me at one point and whimpered and was very anxious to go out. He usually does his business on a schedule, so this was new for him. He ran to the pine needles and had diarrhea. Yesterday, we came home from work to find his pen covered in piles of loose stool.  At 2 am this morning, he barked to go out and barely made it to the potty spot before having another round. They have slept from 10:00 pm to 5:30 am since they were 8 weeks old.  He continues to play hard and drink his water, but has gradually started eating less of his food.  

Through all of this with Coal, Sadie did not have any issues.  So, when we came home from work this evening (Wednesday) to find her pen full of piles of very loose stool as well as a pile of vomit, we were immediately concerned that something is very wrong with our situation.  Both pups were seen at the vet Monday of this week and got a clean bill of health.  Both have been dewormed on schedule and are completely up to date on shots.  They were 18 weeks old on Monday.  The only thing they both have the same consistently is their food.  While either of them could have picked up a small amount of a foreign substance off the ground, we are thinking it is unlikely that they would both pick up the same thing in a large enough quantity to make this happen.  They are on leash both indoors and out, and haven't been anywhere but our land and the vet in several weeks.  They have been eating BB Wilderness Puppy since we transitioned them during their first two weeks home.  Our best theory is that the new bag of food we opened late last week is spoiled.

My main concern is that it seems like we need to start new food immediately, and I do not want to use any of the BB that we have on hand. I know we should slowly transition, but I don't feel comfortable giving them more of what might be making them sick. We live way out in the country and our only choices for food this evening were from Tractor Supply.  They had Wellness Puppy and more BB.  We got the Wellness and the BB (not Wilderness--not grain free), but that is not what I would have chosen for their new food if we had enough time to order from Chewy.  They have to eat, so what is our best course of action?  I gave them both some pumpkin and yogurt this afternoon.

If they are still having upset stomach tomorrow afternoon, we will go straight to the vet.  At this point, I don't know what to do and if we are even moving in the right direction.  I don't want to overlook another illness or a parasite or something else that might be causing these issues.  I also don't want to upset their systems further by changing to a new food if that isn't a good plan.

[Stephanie and Ragley]

What about home cooking until you can get them back on track or at least until you can get a food that you actually want? 

[Ashley, Sadie and Coal]

I think that is the best solution.  We have been so careful... and here we are with problems anyway.  I was thinking of transitioning to Orijen because Coal hasn't been eating much in the mornings, but I read that some doodles just have less of a food drive and that if he eats well in the evenings then he should be okay.  They are both growing well and look healthy. 

[Stephanie and Ragley]

I had to do homecooking with Ragley for a couple weeks when she was younger and I did boiled chicken and sweet potatoes because she eats Orijen (grain-free). It worked wonders and she thought she was getting 5-star meals every day haha I'm so sorry you are having to go through this- especially with two- but hopefully a solution will be found quickly and they will be back to normal soon. Good luck!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Just reading this my first thought is that Coal may have picked up a bug at the vet's office and now Sadie may have picked it up from him. You could give them some boiled chicken along with the pumpkin and yogurt. You could also add some rice if they seem hungry. Good luck, I hope it all gets better soon. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Good thought, Donna. That makes sense to me.

[Ashley, Sadie and Coal]

That does seem like the most likely source for a bug if it isn't food related.  The vet tech put Coal on the floor for the first time on Monday, but his troubles started Saturday evening... I'm worried and confused, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You need to have fecals done ASAP. It sounds like they have Giardia. Even if they had fecals Monday, that's the nature of giardia, it doesn't always show up for awhile.

It is extremely unlikely that the food is spoiled, and it's a big mistake to change their food to anything new right now. You are only adding more variables that will make it harder to figure out of by some chance the fecals come back negative. And feeding a food with grains when they have been on a grain free diet will only make matters worse. 

You have a couple of choices. You can feed plain boiled white meat chicken and sweet potatoes until you get the results of the fecal. They will need twice as much of the home cooked food as they usually get of the kibble. Or you can return the BB to the store for another bag with a different lot number and expiration date. 

But it truly doesn't sound like this is caused by the food. 

[Ashley, Sadie and Coal]

Thank you, Karen.  We will get  the chicken on the stove and hold off on any other changes until we get the test results.  What about rice-- since they are grain free, should we avoid rice for now?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would, JD never did well with it. But some dogs do fine with rice, even those on grain free diets. I like the sweet potatoes better because they also give you a lot of fiber. You can eliminate the pumpkin that way, too, but continue the yogurt.

[Marie and Hoka]

I agree with Karen. As I can attest, you may need to have more than one stool checked to find out the problem.  I thought our diarrhea was food related until it kept worsening and 3 of the dogs ended up with it!  It turned out to be coccidia.  After one day of Albon, everyone had formed stool again.  Their personalities and energy also improved. Fingers crossed we are finishing the 10 day course tomorrow and hope it is over!

[Mindy Roaderick]

Did they by any chance get their rabies vaccines while at the vet? My doodle Bentley has a delayed reaction to his rabies vaccine. He has the exact same issues you are describing and they don't appear until about 5 days post vaccine. It happened after we adopted him out of rescue last year and we just thought it was a food issue. But when it happened again this year we were able to determine what it really is. It stresses his GI system and required a couple of trips to the vet to help get him through. I don't have his file here at work to tell you what he was on but it took 6 days with me home from work with him to nurse him completely back to normal.

 

[Ashley, Sadie and Coal]

We went to the vet and  the fecal tests came back negative for today.  They gave them an intestinal antibiotic and probiotics. Last night's bland food regimen seems to have helped them both have better bms today. They said Coal didn't have to take the medicine if he wasn't showing symptoms. (?) The official diagnosis is most likely a "bad batch of food or a virus."  The vet felt like the food was the culprit based on where they have been and their limited exposure to other dogs.  If symptoms are not better in 3 to 5 days, then we should bring them back for a full panel test.  

Thanks everyone for helping us through.  Crossing my fingers that this diagnosis is correct, but I am wary at this point.  I guess time will tell. I'm so thankful for DK!