12 week old puppy with weird stools? Need some food advice!

[Divyangna and Chai]

Firstly, I just want to say that this is the best community I have come across online! I have been reading discussions and posts on here since we decided to bring Chai home, and have found a world of helpful information! Keep it up guys, and I am excited to be a part of it! 

Chai is a 12 week old F1 English cream Goldendoodle, and has been with us for 4 weeks now. Unfortunately, I have not once seen normal bowel movements! We are constantly in touch with the vet, who also seems a little stumped. 

We brought her home and she was 6.4lbs on 'Purina focus Large Puppy chicken and rice'. We noticed soft poop on day 1 and at her first check-up, the vet mentioned that this is probably stress, he also endorsed this food. 

Week 1: She had soft stools with some mucus. Her fecal test was negative, she was eating okay, and drinking enough water. We called the vet and they prescribed metro (1/2 X twice daily) and a probiotic gel for 5 days. We stopped all treats and gave her only boiled chicken, but continued the kibble. They firmed up during the course and immediately turned soft again, once we were done.

Week 2: Called the vet again. Another negative fecal test. He put her on 5 days of Metro (1 X Twice Daily - 5 days) and 10 days Panacur. Same reaction as before. Kibble continued but I was adding yogurt and pumpkin to it. She was losing interest in food. I started making chicken and rice to mix with the kibble, and she loved it! So eating came back to normal but not the stools. :(

Week 3: She had to go for her shots, so we told the vet again that it hasn't cleared up. He gave her a probiotic gel (one time dose) and a 10-day course of Proviable. Asked me to move her to only chicken and rice, yogurt and pumpkin. We ended up buying a steam cleaner and tons of bleach cos i was reading all these Giardia posts. I have a 1000 pack of baby wipes now! Also, she doubled in weight during these 3 weeks, so the vet wasn't worried!

Present Day: She has been on just chicken and rice with Proviable and yogurt for a week now. While i see firmer stools (not 100% but better), they are now 50 shades of yellow! I should mention that i am adding a little turmeric to the food, but definitely not enough for bright to mustard yellow! She has also reduced the number of times she needs to go from 4-5 to about 2-3 times. 

I wanted to reach out and see if anyone had these symptoms with their puppy? We are cleaning like crazy and she seems to have enough energy and appetite. We want to start transitioning her to a good brand of kibble again (orijen/ acana /wellness), but are not sure what to give her. Her stomach seems so sensitive! 

Any advice, experiences or inputs will be so so appreciated!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If you've been reading posts here in TFG, you may have noticed a couple of the points I'm going to address.

1. The fact that the vet "endorsed" the Purina food means nothing, because there is no nutrition curriculum in vet school, and what vets do know about dog food comes directly from the sales reps at Hills and Purina. Most of us here have learned to agree to disagree with our vets about food. I personally never discuss food with any GP vets, lol. 

2. You really never want to give metronidazole unless there is a confirmed infection. The way many vets hand it out for any case of diarrhea, I honestly went years thinking it was some harmless treatment for diarrhea like say, kaopectate. Many many dogs here have ended up with chronic digestive issues because of repeated courses of metronidazole in puppyhood. Panacur is much safer and has far fewer side effects. It's also more effective in treating giardia.

It's almost always the case that the diarrhea clears up while the dog is on the metro, but as soon as it's discontinued, the diarrhea comes back. You need to continue the probiotics for several weeks after the meds are stopped. Also, I'm impressed that your vet gave you probiotics, and even more impressive that he gave you Proviable. but did he also tell you that they must be given at least 2 hours apart from the meds, and longer is better. If you give them at the same time as the meds, they're cancelled out, lol. 

3. Rice is hard for many dogs to digest, and it has little nutritional value. A better way to feed a "bland diet" is to use a 50/50 mixture of white meat chicken with all fat removed, and cooked mashed sweet potatoes. 

I would also stop the turmeric. It can cause or contribute to loose stools. 

At this point, since you've never had good stools on the Breeder's food, I'd think about changing it. I would go with a grain free formula that has a single protein source. An LID formula would really be best, but they aren't made in "puppy" versions. 

[Divyangna and Chai]

Thank you!!! 

I completely agree about the Purina. I was planning to change it anyway. Just really confused about what to give her! I think I will start with one of your recommended grain-free brands and see how it goes. 

I was pretty upset about the metro too. Since she had negative fecal tests.. but she did well so I listened to the doc. Do you think i need a new vet? I definitely don't want antibiotics to be the first reaction in the future! We are very pro natural wellness, so it was a bit unnerving for me too. I will continue her Proviable longer than the 10 days though. 

Thanks for the tip on the turmeric! Having grown up in India, turmeric is our go to anti-inflammatory for everything! My dogs back home usually have some in their food without issues, but i will stop for a bit and see. 

Its the yellow color that is throwing me off a bit. Most of her poop is formed now, but is all kinds of yellow!

Anyway, really appreciate your response. I will make these few changes and post some updates! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I would have thought the yellow color was from the turmeric, but if you've used it before with dogs and that hasn't been the case, I'm stumped. Not to worry you, but yellow colored stool can be a sign of liver disease in dogs. Hopefully, the color will improve without the turmeric. 

If you substitute sweet potatoes for rice, the stool will be orange, just FYI. :) 

[Divyangna and Chai]

Ouch, i really hope its the turmeric now!

If only I would analyze other things as much as I do Chai's poop :P

Will definitely post an update soon! Thanks so much!

Also, if you have an idea.. how much food should she be eating at this age? She goes through a cup of the chicken and rice 3 times a day and asks for more. I definitely don't want to underfeed her, but this seems like a lot to me! She is just 12 weeks and 14ish pounds..

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Years ago, when we first brought Oscar home, Lucy had a terrible bout of diarrhea. I attribute it to nerves over bringing a new puppy into the household. She went on a bland diet of chicken and sweet potatoes and her poop turned extremely yellow-orange for the duration of the diet. Once she was back on kibble her stool returned to its normal color. I wouldn't be too concerned over the yellow color while on the bland diet.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

One more thing... when transitioning Lucy back to kibble I did it too quickly the first time and the diarrhea returned. Back to the bland diet for 5 or so days and then I transitioned her VERY slowly over the course of a week or longer, adding just a tablespoon more of kibble every couple days. That time it worked seamlessly. FWIW.

[Divyangna and Chai]

Thank you so much for sharing, and the advice! Definitely calmed my nerves a little. Will see how she does with the transition!

[Divyangna and Chai]

Hey There, 

Just wanted to post a quick update on Chai. We removed the turmeric completely from her diet and have started transitioning her to Wellness core grain free puppy. 

The color is back to normal!! YAY!! I guess it was the turmeric! 

I think I added too much of the kibble on day 1, resulting in soft poop, but I reduced it immediately and started again with one tbsp at a time. She is doing much better! I am so relieved! 

Also, she just LOVES the wellness! Starts jumping and dancing the moment I go towards the container! It's pawesome!

I have noticed her smell change a bit since she started wellness. Was wondering if anyone else experienced that. Otherwise, all is well! TY Karen and Debb!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad to hear that things have improved. Thanks for the update.