Diarrhea For 5 Days....need Advice Now....

[Judy Chrusch]

No sense in guessing, it could be sooo many things, I'm glad you finally will get him to the vets, as 5 days of diarrhea is waaay too long and going 4 times a day, yikes!!! With all that diarrhea I don't suggest total fasting at this point for fear of dehydration but I would give no food for 1 day, give him water though, all he wants and maybe a spoonful or 2 of PLAIN yogurt. When you do feed him, give him boiled hamburg, drained and rinsed, with plain white rice, give that until his stools become somewhat formed then gradually add his regular food or do whatever your vet suggests. Please let us know what the outcome is, I hope it's nothing serious.

Judy

[austin]

Hannah had thrown up a little bit in her crate last night, was lethargic this morning and had terrible diarrhea when we went out. I went home to check on her at lunch and she had perked up but still had the runs so I went ahead and took her to the vet. He was able to rule out several possibilities and is pretty sure that it is just a puppy stomach ailment. If it persists for 48 hours, though, he wants her back to do some bloodwork and x-rays. He gave me pills called "Endosorb", which should "firm things up", and suggested a bland diet. I'm glad you took him to the vet, and hope your news is good too.

By the way, you might ask your vet about switching to Interceptor. I think it is the only heartworm preventive that also controls whipworms.

[whitney greenway]

We got our dog on a Sunday, took her to the vet on Monday for a puppy wellness check.

She started vomiting on Friday, threw up once, no biggie, threw up twice BIG DEAL!

I took her to the vets asap.

She had an upset stomach. Dr. Moser gave her Metoclopramide 10 mgs for her stomach.

I am always one to be better safe than sorry.

[Hudson's Alpha]

Well, Hudson went to an animal hospital I had never been to before and I was VERY pleased.

Sure enough, when Dr. Lewis looked at his fecal on the scope, she saw NO worms and NO Giardia.

What she DID find was a "massive load of bacteria". Yep, the culprit was the community "water bowl" at the dog park. I went over Hudson's history, diet, bowel habits, etc., and the ONLY thing that has changed has been his regular jaunts to the dog park, which he loves. There is a 5 gallon bucket that gets filled with water about every 1/2 hour or so while people are there, but I HAVE noticed the water is usually *nasty*. For instance, "Zoe" the Lab LOVES to put both of her front legs into the bucket and THEN drink. Imagine the latent poop that is probably on her toes, and now goes into the drinking water.

There is a Great Dane that goes everyday, and they ALWAYS bring their own water supply that only HE drinks from, and I always wondered *why*. NOW I KNOW.

So Dr. Lewis has him on Flagyl for 2 weeks. He has lost 5 pounds, and that really bothers me. He was 82 pounds 3 weeks ago, and today he was only 77 pounds. He will be 1 year on Saturday. In my records of my Beloved Boy Biggie, he was 95 pounds at 1 year. So I'm feeling pretty concerned/disappointed (I guess are the feelings) about his low weight. His dam is 100lbs and his sire is 125lbs. I *prefer* a larger Rottweiler (around 125), and I thought Hudson was going to come on as a big boy. Biggie's adult weight was 120-125.

Dr. Lewis has ruled out any other *sinister* problems because of the heavy bacterial load and inflammation in his stool/bowel, and that is good news. She wants me to put him right back on his regular diet, which currently is 2 measured cups of Nature's Recipe twice daily. I always soak the kibble in hot water to ensure that he is getting enough fluid intake, and it cuts down on the water bowl "messies", (and he will eat it ALL, rather than pick, if it is soaked.)

I had been interested in looking into putting him on the BARF diet, but if his stomach is too sensitive for a community water bowl, then I fear the BARF diet might be his undoing.

I just want to get weight on him, and have him be happy and healthy.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR FAST RESPONSES TO MY POST!!!! I greatly appreciate it.....A LOT.

Any other comments or suggestions are always welcome :)

[WorkinDogz]

Glad to hear the diagnosis was favorable for a full recovery :)

Lesson learned I'm sure.....LOL

I gotta tell you though....... I'm hoping people view "community K9 watering stations" with the same mindset that they would view a community HUMAN water glass.....

Just ew! Yuck.....

[Roscoe's dad]

Glad to hear everything will be ok. A very valuable lesson learned and 1 we all should keep in mind.:)

[rottmommie]

whew, thank GOD that dog is alright....
WD does bring up a good point, there are other kinds of worms, even though a dog is on heartguard, even THAT is not a guarantee.....

[Hudson's Alpha]

Thanks everybody for getting me on the ball. Hudson remained very well hydrated during all the diarrhea because I always soak his food, and that is why I didn't *really* get too concerned.

But then when he was lethargic yesterday, that's when I came here for help.

He needs to get "all better" soon.....he has a big day on Saturday! He'll be.....one. ;)

**Just a side note**I just completed and published a tribute site for my beloved Biggie. I hope you all can get a chance to look at it.

Thanks again....


Oh, P.S., any thoughts or opinions on putting Hud on the BARF diet?

[TrishB]

Here's a rule of thumb for ya:

Puppies (8 weeks to 5 months)
- 24 hours of diarrhea, Call your vet, see what they say
- 48 hours of diarrhea, GO to your vet
Adolesants (5 months to 10 months)
- 48 hours of diarrhea, Call your vet, see what they say
- 72 hours of diarrhea, GO to your vet
Adults (over 10 months)
- same as adolesants
Seniors (8 years and older)
- same as adolesants
Poor Health
- same as puppies

At the FIRST onset of diarrhea - fasting for 24 hours (with free access to water) is best. This should be done after 16 hours of diarrhea (so 3 - 4 bowel movements).

Start back on small, frequent feedings of a bland diet such as rice and boiled hamburger or chicken (no skin). Have 24 hours of solid bowel movements before SLOWLY switching back to regular diet and schedule.

The problem that was displayed here was that you waited 5 days. ;)

I'm glad that he's going to be okay! :D

[Miabella]

Good news, and happy first birthday to Hudson. :)

[Hudson's Alpha]

I NEED YOUR HELP AGAIN, PLEASE!

Since I first posted on TUESDAY about Hudson's diarrhea, and he went to the vet:

1) He STILL has diarrhea.
2) He has been on Flagyl, 500mg 2x daily since Tuesday afternoon.
3) He has been eating his regular Nature's Recipe kibble soaked in hot water, because the vet *told* me to keep him on his regular diet.

I fasted him for 24 hours, and this morning, more diarrhea.

I needed to break the fast, so he had 1/2 ration of kibble this morning.

I now believe he needs to go on the hamburger and rice diet. I know I need to fry the (lean) hamburger up in a pan and then run water over it in a collander.

Now I have some questions:

1. What RATIO do I make of burger vs. rice?

2. How MUCH do I feed him 2x daily? On normal kibble he gets (now) 2.5 measured cups 2x daily. Weight = 77lbs currently.

3. How LONG do I keep him on this diet?

4. WHEN should I expect to see firm stools on this diet?

5. And.....when he is back to normal stooling, will he EVER want to eat his regular diet again, now that he's been having "hamburgers and rice"??


I am going to the grocer now; I hope <fingers crossed>, I will have some good advice when I get back. I feel so foolish after reading my first post and guessing he weighed 95 pounds. He is only 77lbs right now and underweight.

I am going to post a separate thread called "Weight at one year of age??". Hopefully some of you can chime on on that for me as well. But right now I need to get this dog back on track.

What a way to spend your FIRST birthday. :(

[WorkinDogz]

Your dog has diarrhea on Flagyl. That is a pretty good indication that the problem (cause) is still actively causing symptoms (diarrhea).

I would HIGHLY suggest you consult your vet again (considering it is now moving to the point where the dog consistanly has had diarrhea for many days.....) and I'm wondering if the vet gave a Centrine injection??

I still believe your dog very well may have a parasitic problem (got news for ya..... Giardia is VERY EASY to miss on a slide...) and if the more typical parasites are not shedding eggs at the time when a particular sample is obtained; you're GOING to get a negative result even with a gut full of parasites.

Ratio is 2 parts white rice (no salt) to 1 part ground beef. (no seasonings)

Withhold food for 24 hours and then give 1 cup of the mixture every 2 hours.

Good luck.

[Hudson's Alpha]

WorkinDogz (and anyone else who can provide help),

No Centrine injection. Even though I told the vet he had been having loose stools for 4-5 days, she did not seem *overly* concerned, and all she saw on the slide was a "massive load of bacteria".

She attributed it to the H2O bucket at the dog run. (of course people at the dog run don't believe that could be true )

I am aware that Giardia can be a sneaky little devil that is often difficult to visualize on the scope, and I did ask the vet about that possibility. She responded that they rarely see Giardiasis in this area.

But I am concerned that he has now been on the Flagyl for 4 days now - no improvement. His affect seems good, and he is active, but nothing has improved in the back end.

I got 4.5lbs of ground turkey (the store was out of ground beef - b-i-g sale I guess) and a box of white rice. I washed the turkey thoroughly after cooking, mixed up the rice and meat, and gave him 1 measured cup mixed with H2O....which sure ain't a lot. He gobbled it right up.

So I'm a bit stymied right now about what might be going on......

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[WorkinDogz]

Overgrowth of bacteria in the bowel can certainly lead to diarrhea.....however the Flagyl is an antibiotic specifically FOR the bowel and you REALLY SHOULD have seen a marked improvement by now if it was "merely" a bacteria overgrowth.

I sure would *ask* (read: strongly suggest) the vet send a fecal sample out to the lab for an Ova/Parasite & Giardia test. Bloodwork might not be such a horrible idea either......

There is something going on there....... diarrhea is nothing more than a symptom of an underlying problem......

Diarrhea for 4-5 days (coupled with the weight loss) most certainly IS a cause for concern..... to me anyway...

What do I know... I'm just a Tech..... LOL :D

[Carina43]

Hi Hudson's...I agree with WD, giardia is easy to miss, and you should have seen improvement by now. My pup got giardia (or similar) when he was 11 weeks old - I had him at the vet pretty quickly - and Flagyl cleared it up within a day or two. I wasn't taking him out in public at that point, we think he got whatever it was from rooting around in the mud under the bird feeder & eating bird poop.

Canned or baked pumpkin is also a very good stool regulator that you can add to his rice & meat meal - but if he still has something else going on, that needs to be attended to.

BTW - I loved your tribute to Biggie. The photo of you on th grass next to him the week before he passed is almost identical to one I had taken about a week before my beloved old Bosco went at age ten from bone cancer. Bosco also was euthanised in our living room, on his blankie, with some of his favourite people next to him. Geez - my monitor is going all blurry... :(

I hope Hudson does OK...don't worry about his weight. It'll come back & he'll grow to whatever size he's destined to grow to!