Sensitive stomach?

[papa bear's mom]

My 2 year old rottweiler (Papa) that I adopted/rescued back in September has had about three bad bouts of diarrhea since I've had him. He originally was on Nutro when he was at the rescue. I feed my three other dogs Pro Plan, so I switched Papa over to that as well. He did fine for about two months, then had diarrhea. I figured he just had a bug, b/c my german shepherd got it, too. Had him to the vet, put on rice/hamburg diet and Metranidazole. Then back in December he had bloody diarrhea, freaked me out. Took him to the vet, checked stool, etc., everything fine with the stool, back on hamburg/rice and Metra again. He got sick about a week or so ago with diarrhea again, back on the hamburg/rice again. It didn't go away, so I called the vet and got more Metra. She said perhaps he is just one of those with a sensitive stomach and might have to have Metra on hand for him once in awhile and if we have to, can switch him to a prescription diet - Hill's. I debated about switching food, but I figure that's my last resort. I was just wondering what all you guys feed your rotties if they have a similar problem. I know all about how there are no regulations really on pet food, how to read the ingredients, etc. My other dogs are fine, have been on Pro Plan since we've had dogs (about four years now already). I know that dogs can develop an allergy to food, even if they've been on it for years. I never had a Rottie before, so I guess I am thinking maybe they have a different reaction to certain foods. Please just give me whatever info you have about your Rottie's sensitive tummy :D
Oh, yeah, he was licking the floor a lot, too, last week when he wasn't feeling good, and his usual black, shiny coat had little white specks in it like dandruff, which wasn't there all the other time he has been on Pro Plan. The vet said that could just be the weather - we live in PA - it's cold and snowy.

[Rocky's_mom]

Well, I feed both my dogs Canidae. Which, a lot of people here feed to. Hills, I wouldn't suggest. And I don't know a darn thing about Pro Plan. Rocky-my rott, has been on Canidae for about 2 months now. And WOW! his coat is SO shiny and silky and soft, took care of his little allgery spots, it helps with parasites-if he were to ever pick it up-it just has a ton of stuff in it that I love. Even my hubby (who is sometimes hard to impress) thinks this food is just great! And, I feed less (Rocky=80 lbs, gets 3 cups a day) (Victoria=30 lbs 1 and 1/2 cups a day) and I save more. About 40 bucks for 40 lbs, but it last forever!!!

I can't remeber what is the best sensitive tummy food-I think it's innova....You might try the Canidae (they have smaller sizes and even sample bags) And see how that works.

Another thing I'm thinking of, that m-whatever stuff doesn't seem like it's helping. (Helps for a little bit and then back to the same thing...My personal doc wouldn't keep me on the same stuff, he'd try something different...vets can do the same) If that happens again, you might try a different route with different meds.

[samanthac]

Ok first of all, dogs get diarreah. They eat stupid crap all the time. But beyond this:

1. Was this dog tested for parasites? And not just the vet looking at the stool sample, but sending it out to the lab to have it tested? Guiardia and coccidia are parasites that cannot be seen under a scope and can cause bloody diarreah and/or death if not treated

2. Was a CBC/chem screen blood test run on the dog? Its possible it could also be inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis or a host of other issues that could cause this.

3. The bloody diarreah is BAD. This is usually a sign of an intestinal blockage or intestinal disorder of some kind. Bloody diarreah is a serious thing and it seems like your vet simply dismissed it.

if your vet did not run any of these tests, why not? I'd be flaming pissed with this vet if this is the case. Sensitive stomach and prescription foods are just the easy way out IMO. if the drug and bland diet are not helping then you need to see to it that your dog does get the help it needs.

One thing to remember about vets. You are paying THEM to work for you and your dog. They are not God any more than doctors are and they are their to help you not simply grace you with their presence. If they are not helping your pet, listening to you or answering your questions, then go elsewere or demand that they give you better service or listen to you. If you do not feel confident with your vet, switch...you would with a child, why not with your dog?

[papa bear's mom]

You're right about the Metra maybe not working for good. I was a little surprised when the vet said well he might just need to be put on it at times. My vets are awesome, helped us with so much with our oldest lab who has tons of medical issues. But I will definitely suggest something else if it happens again. (I know I put my oldest lab on Prednisone every once in awhile to help her with hot spots on her skin, and that works to clear it up, but they always come back.) I've got Papa pretty well straightened out again; his bowels seem pretty good now, but he's just finishing up on his latest dose of Metra. I am seriously thinking about food switching, and I think the vet suggested Hill's b/c they sell that at their office....I heard Innova is good. I will check out Canidae. If Rocky is looking that good, it's worth a try. Maybe Papa just needs a little extra in his food rather than my labs and shepherd. Oh, and Happy Woofday to Rocky :D

[papa bear's mom]

Originally Posted by samanthac

1. Was this dog tested for parasites? And not just the vet looking at the stool sample, but sending it out to the lab to have it tested? Guiardia and coccidia are parasites that cannot be seen under a scope and can cause bloody diarreah and/or death if not treated

2. Was a CBC/chem screen blood test run on the dog? Its possible it could also be inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis or a host of other issues that could cause this.

3. The bloody diarreah is BAD. This is usually a sign of an intestinal blockage or intestinal disorder of some kind. Bloody diarreah is a serious thing and it seems like your vet simply dismissed it.

His stool was tested at the vet's office. I think they can pick up Coccidia there b/c my germ. shep. had it once and they picked it up in her stool sample. Anyhow, they didn't do a CBC, but I have to admit I thought they might. Usually, they will just say whatever test they want to try and I say go ahead. I was thinking maybe I should ask for it, but then I didn't. So I will give them a call and see what they think. Thanks for your ideas. Very, very much appreciated!

[samanthac]

You may also want to suggest an x-ray of the abdominal area in case it is a blockage.

That would be what I would do. An X-ray and a CBC. And you are much nicer than I am by suggesting...although my vet and I have an understanding! :)

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by papa bear's mom

You're right about the Metra maybe not working for good. I was a little surprised when the vet said well he might just need to be put on it at times. My vets are awesome, helped us with so much with our oldest lab who has tons of medical issues. But I will definitely suggest something else if it happens again. (I know I put my oldest lab on Prednisone every once in awhile to help her with hot spots on her skin, and that works to clear it up, but they always come back.) I've got Papa pretty well straightened out again; his bowels seem pretty good now, but he's just finishing up on his latest dose of Metra. I am seriously thinking about food switching, and I think the vet suggested Hill's b/c they sell that at their office....I heard Innova is good. I will check out Canidae. If Rocky is looking that good, it's worth a try. Maybe Papa just needs a little extra in his food rather than my labs and shepherd. Oh, and Happy Woofday to Rocky :D

I'm a little bit confused
You mention that your Lab has had numerous medical problems including hot spots...yet you say that your dogs have been eating Proplan for 4 years and are doing great??
I would get all of your dogs onto a better quality food...Proplan would be near the bottom on my list of quality.
Canidae and Innova are great foods and use human grade meats and fruits and veggies and it would good to switch your other dogs onto these foods.
If you think Papa is sensitive to foods...first try him on California Natural (made by the same company as Innova) www.naturapet.com
There are just 3 ingredients in this food and it may be simple enough to calm his stomach.
I also think you should mention to your vet that there could be a possibility of IBD...it seems common enough in the Rottweiler breed. A few of our members here have dogs with it and have had to prepare their own foods for their dogs.

Gina

[C Ross]

My rott has a sensitive stomach. A weekend at the in-laws is guaranteed to give Kudlow four days of the runs because my FIL sneaks him too many fatty treats.

I feed California Natural Chicken and Rice supplemented with yogurt (for his tummy troubles), an occasional egg, and some fruits and veggies when I think of it. He's doing pretty well on it. His coat is a little dry right now, but I blame that on the weather.

Christine

[austin]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

first try him on California Natural

I agree. Hannah has a sensitive stomach. We had her on Canidae, but she was having such frequent bouts of stomach trouble we switched her to California Natural. Now I can hardly remember the last time she had a problem *knocks wood*

[Rocky's_mom]

Originally Posted by papa bear's mom

. Oh, and Happy Woofday to Rocky :D

Rocky-Woof! Woof!!!

What samantha suggested was good too. you could take a stool sample in and test it for everything. If you really like your vet, then talk to him and he should listen to you. Good luck!

[JBCB]

papa bear's mom,

I have to agree with the rest, if the diarrhea is persistant then more tests need to be done, especially blood tests. Our girl Kaeleigh has lymphangectasia which is an nasty intestinal disease (incurable) that can (but not always) manifest itself by diarrhea, amongst others (like nausea and vomiting). The lymphangectasia caused protein losing enteropathy (PLE), where protein leaks through the intestinal lining, and that can be diagnosed with a blood test -- it shows up as really low blood protein levels. As lymphangectasia / PLE can be fatal if not treated, it is something that should be ruled out. The good news is that it can be treated with diet and meds, both traditional (like prednizone), and holistic.

So please get more tests -- if your vet doesn't suggest them to you then you should ask they be done.

If you want to learn more about this disease, do a search with the word "lymphangectasia" and you will see a long thread here when we first learned about Kaeleigh's condition.

BTW, I believe that the prescription foods by companies like Hills and Waltham are very good -- Kaeleigh is being fed Waltham's low fat kibble and canned, and it is helping keep her disease under control. We have a cat with irritable bowel disease (IBD) and he is doing well with a combination of drugs and Hills Science Diet i/d. So to blanket say, "Waltham's / Hill's" is crap" is to denigrade their very good prescription diets. I cannot say that about their commercial foods, but my opinion is that if your dog does well on it, why change?

[lblax]

Originally Posted by JBCB

papa bear's mom,

BTW, I believe that the prescription foods by companies like Hills and Waltham are very good -- Kaeleigh is being fed Waltham's low fat kibble and canned, and it is helping keep her disease under control. We have a cat with irritable bowel disease (IBD) and he is doing well with a combination of drugs and Hills Science Diet i/d. So to blanket say, "Waltham's / Hill's" is crap" is to denigrade their very good prescription diets. I cannot say that about their commercial foods, but my opinion is that if your dog does well on it, why change?

hills prescription diets absolutly do the jobs they are intended to do and are very good foods(hills prescription is not science diet)..personally i find it disturbing that everytime someone post a problem people start second guessing this individuals vets...like this thread 3 bouts of diareha that were isolated incidances does not warrant 100's of dollars of testing... the dog could have gotten in garbage he could have had a big bone mine gets it after every bone he eats or even treats can cause this it probably isnt the food since it is not more constant..... dogs like people get upset tuymmies i wouldnt worry about it until there is some kind of pattern or frequency change

[Judi W]

And I would also discourage going to a food that has a large number of different ingredients in it regardless of how appealing it might look to a human. If it is a problem with an ingredient, you'll never know or be able to hazard a guess. Stick with a single meat type and rice and then you can move to another if necessary. No snacks or treats other than the kibble.

[papa bear's mom]

hey everybody, i called the vet this morning b/c papa's stool this morning was pretty loose....receptionist talked to the doc and she said to come down and pick up some w/d (which is Hill's) and feed that for awhile to see if he straightens out. (papa, believe it or not, ate one of my socks awhile back and we gave him hill's b/c he was all screwed up from that....and the hill's really helped. they did x-rays, etc., could not find the sock but i knew he ate it. he threw it up one early saturday morning on our bedroom floor...very strange but a learning experience at least!) i asked about maybe doing some blood tests, could it be IBD, etc.? (i was just talking to the receptionist at this point) and she said to do the food (w/d) like the vet said and then we'll go from there.

i have total faith in my vets, they've never steered me wrong before. and i know they are not ones to rule out testing either b/c they've suggested everything to me for my yellow lab (the older one with skin problems)

oh, brunie's mom, with the lab maybe her skin probs being linked to food, here's my take on that - we rescued her from a major neglect/health situation and we straightened her out. (she ate store bought cheap dog food) she had mites, lost all her fur, bled, scratched, etc., when we got her. she has most of her hair back now, but still hot spots. the vet said it's allergies most likely but i said no to major testing to rule out all kinds of allergies...she's 13. why bother? at least she's comfortable, lives indoors and happy to be loved for her last few days. better than where she was before - outside, pen, no interaction w/ people, etc just thought i'd fill you in on that. the reason i picked pro plan was that's what my vet feeds her own dogs.

but i am definitely keeping an eye on papa big time with this. i certainly don't want him to be on meds at two years old if not necessary. i'm contemplating switching foods to like maybe calif. natural, keep hearing good things about that and it's just meat and rice. so that's my next step after we try the vet's suggestions and i push for blood work if the hill's doesn't help and we give pro plan one more shot, totally isolated, food only, no treats. i know he had too many treats at christmas and that was his spot with the diarrhea then but also when he had the blood in it...but all my dogs were sick then...overload on santa's gifts..my fault, of course. :o

[papa bear's mom]

update on papa bear
He had blood work, eosinophils were high, indicating a parasite....he's been de-wormed with Panacur for five days, to repeat in 30 days. he's still on w/d hill's prescription food, dry only unless i have to give canned to mix the panacur well enough. his stool is looking great! (i'm sure my neighbors think i'm weird standing right behind papa as he poops and i'm all excited b/c it's normal!) my husband says, all right, papa made some nuggets! they did urine tests and erd test i think it's called --all negative, so no worry about kidney problems. he was already tested negative for heartworm when we got him from the rescue. so the vet said let's keep him on hill's for a bit more and then i can do what i want about food. she said calif. natural is really good. so i may just switch him and my three other dogs to that once we finish up on hill's for about twoo more weeks. he seems better and he's been making nuggets like crazy for about a week. very happy - just love my buddy :)