Worried - Persistent Tummy Issues

[Jaime + Oliver]

Who else has delt with persistent tummy problems?  This is the longest we've had issues, and we've hit two weeks now.  I'm stumped and not sure of where to go from here.  Vet thinks he ate something funny, but we're now going on two weeks of this.

9/4 - new food bag opened

9/11 - heartgard given (no prior issues with this)

9/12 - stool softening slightly

9/13 - loose stools

9/14 - completely loose stools, every 2hrs through the night

9/15 - vet visit & negative fecal test. Given 7 day course of metronidazole and 3 days of pro pecatlin, switched to bland chicken/rice. First stool again on 9/18, normal and remains normal while on pro pectalin.

9/22 - normal stool followed immediately by a loose one

9/23 - normal stools

9/24 - loose stools every 30min at 4am :(

9/25 - loose stools every 2hrs throughout the night.

It does seem like we'll have a normal stool, and then just a little while later a very loose stool (IBS?). Energy levels are normal, but he does seem hungrier than usual. Leading up to this there have been no changes to food, treats or routine (Oliver had done well on Fromms Four Star Surf & Turf). Oliver gets a Providable DC probiotic once daily, and pumpkin doesn't help.

The stool test was negative for giardia and other parasites.  We're taking another one in today in case it was just missed.  Could this be an intolerance to food - maybe time to change formulas/protein sources?  IBS?  I'm stumped and really worried about my poor fuzzy boy.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is a great idea, Karen. I had forgotten about the Proviable KP paste. 

[Oliver & Elizabeth]

Our Oliver had a few bouts of GI issues about a year ago. His tests would always come back negative, so our vet said that Oliver might have stress induced colitis. 

When Oliver had colitis I would give him a bland diet of yogurt/probiotics, rice/potato, pumpkin, and meat (chicken, salmon, or beef). The vet also gave us endosorb which is like Pepto Bismol for dogs to help when he was having issues. As he got better, we would transition him back to his limited ingredient food (Acana Duck and Pear). This process worked well for us and Oliver has been colitis free for almost a year!  

I would definitely get another fecal test done and switch him to a limited ingredient diet when he feels better. Also, if your fecal comes back negative, you might want to see what your vet thinks about endosorb. It seems like a lot of vets jump to antibiotics when they might just need some anti-diarrhea medicine to help while their GI tract normalizes after stress or eating something bad.

[Ginny Nightingale]

You have gotten lots of great advice and I have little to add but i do have a question--in looking at your schedule of issues in your original discussion, I can't tell if he had been getting chicken and rice the entire time or if you switched him back to his regular food at some point..that switch has to be done slowly, so I am wondering if you did that too quickly.

.I just went thru this with a momma dog who had pups last week--diarrhea is normal after whelping pups but this went on and developed into IBS. Pooping every hour for 12 hours and very liquid-y and then finally, some blood--and I had to put her on Flagyl (again, not a very thorough vet, but it was a Sunday and I had to go to the emergency clinic) and I kept up with the chicken and rice for five days--there was no improvement in the stool although the frequency decreased--the Flagyl was gone and no change---finally, I decided that I needed to give her just hamburger and rice and no chicken--and in a day, she was better---so I am thinking that sometimes, boiled and rinsed hamburger is better for some dogs.

[Jaime + Oliver]

We did do a slow transition back to the kibble, but we're seeing other odd things pop up now.  We're sticking with sweet potato + chicken for now, and when we reintroduce some other food we'll be sure to go about it carefully and slowly.

[Jaime + Oliver]

Another negative test, and now we're seeing green stool.  Yikes.  Seems like this isn't going to be an easy one to solve.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Green stool can be indicative of an intestinal disorder or a parasite. Is it slimy? 

[Jaime + Oliver]

No, it wasn't slimy.  It was perfectly formed, just green.  It only happened once, and we're back to normal colors now.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So maybe things have resolved? 

[Jaime + Oliver]

I'm hoping so, but we're still on Metro.  Once that's done on Friday we'll see what happens.  We're still feeding a bland diet & will begin adding back in a new protein source kibble.  Fingers crossed this doesn't come back again.