GI issues

[Valerie Bandurchin]

My boy had soft stools and then diarrhea pretty much since I brought him home.  I was feeding him Complete Health puppy deboned chicken, oatmeal & salmon meal.  After three rounds of antibiotics my vet recommended switching to the prescription Royalcanin gastrointestinal puppy food.  It has worked well, he now has firm stools; when I tried to add a bit of the Complete Health into the Royalcanin his diarrhea came back.  It is extremely expensive, and I know many on this site don't like prescription food,.

To add more detail, Leo was originally prescribed an antibiotic and probiotic after discovering a strain of c. diff. While on the medication, he was eating a chicken and rice diet and his diarrhea went away. At that time, we switched him back to his Wellness puppy food and his GI issues returned. As a result, he was prescribed another round of an antibiotic/probiotic concoction with the chicken and rice diet and, yet again the diarrhea was gone. For the last time we put him back on the Wellness food and eventually switched to the Royal Canin when his Gi issues remained.

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/diarrhea-in-golden-doodle-...

Read more here: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/diarrhea-in-golden-doodle-...

[Kat and Winston]

Was the c-diff diagnosed after the first round of antibiotics or before? If after it's likely the antibiotics that allowed the c-diff to flourish as it kills off all the good bacteria.  Many humans and pets have some C-Diff in their GI tract but the good bacteria keeps it in check. When an antibiotic kills off the good bacteria along with the bad it allows C-Diff to flourish.

How old is your puppy? You may want to leave him on the Royal Canin for a bit and continue to give probiotics so that his gut has time to heal. I know it's expensive and not the best food, but as somebody who had a human daughter with C-diff let's just say it takes months and months of probiotics to let that good bacteria reestablish itself.

Then you might want to try one of the Wellness or other higher brands limited diet. Oatmeal is said to be easy on digestion, but honestly for some people/pets it can cause diarrhea.

I'm sure Karen will offer advice, but that's just my thoughts. I've been going down this road and have been doing chicken and rice and sweet potato with success. I was thinking of homecooking full time but wanted a food that I could leave him with if need be so have started introducing Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Bison with great success, but the quality isn't the best since there is very little protein from meat. Right now I still add chicken twice a day and some bone meal to be sure it's balanced to up his protein and then in a month or two I hope to switch him to a higher brand food, but really want to give his gut time to heal before making any more changes.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Kat has given you very good advice. You really need to get him back on a good probiotic for at least 2-4 weeks before you try getting him back on kibble. The Rx food is awful in terms of ingredients, but switching now will most likely cause the loose stools to return, so I'd stay with it a little bit longer.

Proviable is a very good probiotic for dogs. There is also a human probiotic called VSL#3 that works wonders for dogs with GI issues, and you might considering trying it. It must be kept refrigerated and it's pricey, but one bottle of 60 capsules will last you 1-2 months and it will do the trick. 

Once you are ready to switch foods, I recommend Wellness Simple Solutions, either the turkey or the Salmon formula. Zignature is also a good choice, any of their formulas other than Zssentials. How old is Leo?

[Valerie Bandurchin]

Thank you all for the information. His C-diff was diagnosed after a fecal exam and then the vet put him on the antibiotic. In the meantime, I will put Leo back on a probiotic for a few months and slowly transition him to a high-quality low ingredient food. He is currently five months so our selection of puppy food is limited. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, unfortunately there are no limited ingredient puppy-specific formulas, so you will probably have to go with an ALS (all life stages) formula, which should be fine. Many puppies are started on ALS foods and never get puppy specific formulas. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When our newest doodle came to us with some parasites, coupled with the stress of a new home, new siblings, and a trip in a motor home, he had pretty serious diarrhea issues.  We tried  Proviable along with the medications the vet prescribed, without success.  At Karen's suggestion we went to a limited ingredient kibble and the human Probiotic VSL#3.  We kept him on the LID kibble and the VSL#3 for over a month, even though after a couple of weeks he appeared okay.  It did the trick and he is now fine.  He has a sensitive tummy though and periodically has loose stools, but when given the probiotic, he is fine in a couple of days.

[Valerie Bandurchin]

Sooooo.....Leo has not had diarrhea since he has been on the Canin, but a new issue is that he is peeing every 40 minutes - he rings his bell to go out and at first I thought he just wanted to play, but if I don't take him out he does have an accident...he does drink what seems to be a lot of water, some people think I shouldn't let him drink so much, but that doesn't seem right....

Any thought quite appreciated!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wonder if he could have developed a UTI. I'd ask the vet. 

Has his water consumption increased recently? 

[Kat and Winston]

Is he eating canned Royal Canin or kibble? There is a LOT of moisture in the canned and so I would agree that feeding and watering at set times or offering a drink after play, but then taking up water will provide plenty of fluid.

Certainly can't hurt to have him checked out for a UTI or any other possible scenarios like diabetes, but he's still a puppy and they can't always hold their urine for very long when getting it in large amounts and if he's on canned that would be adding a lot of fluid to his diet.