On and Off Diarrhea
Hello!
I've had Caius, my 4-month-old, for about two weeks now. I've been feeding him what the breeder told us -- Diamond. It was actually very hard to find this type of dog food, since it's apparently low-key and not well-known. We feed him 3x a day, on a schedule. 7am, 12pm, 6pm. Some days, his poops are solid and... well, you know, the browny color. :p Some days, it's just liquid, green/yellow, and there's a lot of it. We can't even pick it up with a bag -- we have to use sand or cover it up with grass. It's just weird because it's so on and off, even during the day. In the morning, it can be solid, and for his lunch walks, it'll be diarrhea again! I haven't contacted the vet yet, but I wanted to get insight from you guys beforehand.
Any thoughts?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
-
Since he is a puppy I would go to the vet. They can go down hill very quickly if they get dehydrated.
-
Permalink Reply by Lauren on
-
He isn't dehydrated; I even bring a small water bottle with me on walks just in case of this, and he gets plenty of water at home. :p
-
Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
-
Poor baby. I would at least take a sample into the vet. What brand of Diamond did they suggest? There are good and there are cheap Diamond brands. Also if you switch....there's several discussions on this...remember to switch VERY SLOWELY. Good luck!
-
-
I was told that it doesn't matter when to switch. And I got the "Puppy Version" of Diamond.
-
Permalink Reply by Jane on
-
I would at least bring a stool sample to the vet to rule out worms, coccidia, etc. If the stool sample comes back clean, then I would look at changing his food. A tablespoon of pumpkin in his kibble might help make his poops firmer too.
Edit: Actually I just looked up the Diamond puppy formula on their website, and I would change his food now if that's the formula he's on. Chicken by-product meal and corn for the first two ingredients is something you definitely want to stay away from.
-
-
The reason I bought Diamond was for the fact that his breeder was feeding all of the puppies this particular brand. I didn't want to bring him home to an entire new brand of dog food just yet. :/
-
Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
-
He most likely has a parasite. It is VERY common in many pups. Coccidia often presents as on and off diarrhea, they also commonly get giardia which has the same symptoms. Has he had all of his vaccines? It'd be worth taking him to the vet to get a fecal done sooner rather than later. Franklin had coccidia when I got him and the fecal was negative the first time we ran it then positive the next. I waited for a bit to get the second fecal and ended up having to give him a prescription intenstinal dog food for a month because he had blood in his stool and his intestines were so inflammed by the parasite by the time we caught it and started treatment for it.
-
-
Yes, Caius has all of his shots. Heh, I took him out this morning, and his poop was solid. We'll see what it comes out to be here in about an hour.
Edit: According to some websites, if Caius were to have Coccidia, there'd be blood in his diarrhea and not eating. He's eating the same, and there is no trace of spotting, redness, or any sort of blood indication.
-
-
this is not necissarily the case. Usually you won't see blood in the stool until they have had chronic diarrhea and enough of the intestinal lining has sloughed to cause bleeding. We frequently have puppies in who show no symptoms but are positive for parasites. Many times mom passes the coccidia on to the puppy and the puppy caries the parasite with no symptoms until he faces a stressful situation (i.e. going to a new home) where in a week to 10 days you start seeing on and off diarrhea which may or may not develop into full on diarrhea and blood in his stool. Any signs of loose stool and diarrhea are NOT normal, and if he is being fed the same food the breeder fed him, then it is likely due to either coccidea or giardia. As a rule of thumb you should always take a new puppy to a vet shortly after getting it not only to screen for parasites but also to make sure there are no hidden health issues (i.e. heart problems, joint problems, eye problems) that the breeder may have been unaware of.
-
-
A dog can carry coccidia without having bloody diarrhea. My puppy had it not long ago and he had zero symptoms besides the positive fecal. Better to get it checked early because it can be a real nightmare if it gets bad - even causing death in some extreme cases.
If he's acting totally normal otherwise, your vet should let you bring in just a fecal without needing an office visit if he's been there fairly recently. It shouldn't cost that much, maybe $20-$30 I would imagine.
-
Permalink Reply by Wendt Worth Corgi's on
-
Definitely change his food and go with an adult formula. Even if you take a stool sample to the vet and they say its neg. it can be a false neg. meaning just that sample was clean, doesn't necessarily mean your dog is. I like to do a deworming with fenbendazole for 5 days...this will take care of several parasites along with Giardia. Your pup is old enough for Albon as well which they love...its yummy to them. The first day you will double the dose and then the remaining 2-4 days its the normal dose which your vet will inform you of. Giardia doesn't always present itself with bloody stool or vomitting or lack of appetite...infact they can seem very normal and have it. Coccidia, toxidia, etc are forms of Giardia. Probiotics can help keep the intestinal tract healthy and regulate stools along with pumpkin as well. Encysted larvae can enter the blood stream from stress, illness, hormones, etc. You've only had him a couple of weeks. The walks could be stressing him a bit if he wasn't socialized that well at the breeders and this could be the reason for solid stools in the morning but by afternoon he has looser stools. It could be a combination of things so the best advice is have the stool cultured.
Rescue Store
Stay Connected
FDA Recall
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Recall
Groups
We support...
Badge
© 2024 Created by Sam Tsang.
Powered by
