Diarrhea in day care...

[hmeadq]

Yesterday when our 11 month old (Rotty ) was in day care the tech noticed that he had diarrhea at least twice.

She took a sample and sent it up to our vet (who is at the same facility) and it was negative for worms. When I went to pick him up they sent us up front to the vet. They gave us a 5 day course of Metronidazole (500 mg twice a day). But the vet never actually saw Doc they just gave us the prescription.

He has had problems with loose stools on and off since he was a little puppy, but it is very unusal for him to go at all in the middle of the day as his schedule is usally very fixed and he goes twice a day, after meals. And I would seldom describe it as "diarrhea."

I asked if they had given him treats, as he is pretty sensitive to corn, but they said one of the trainers gave him some cheese (she knows we often use cheese) when she was working with him, but nothing else.

He was shaking his head and scratching his ear a couple days before, and I was going to bring him to the vet if it got worse (it got better), so he could have an ear infection? Could that cause diarrhea?

I think our vet is parnaoid about diarrhea and Rotties, he has warned us about it every visit and always asks us about it. (We brought him in a couple times for it when he was younger.) Is Metronidazole a heavy duty med for something which ma or maynot be a problem?

[Judi W]

An ear infection would not cause bowel problems, however if the dog is not feeling well it might cover many areas. You should clean the ears, not just wait and see if they get worse. If you have a sensitive dog, anything can cause the bowel to act up and stress can be a big one. Is the dog supposed to get training and not just caretaking when at this place?

[hmeadq]

His ears look totally clean. I check them every day, along with his paws and teeth. They also smell normal, but he was scratching them and I caught him shaking his head a few times.

He is there for caretaking and socilization, he usally is with between one to three other dogs of similar size and energy level. (He goes usally 1-2 times a month when no one will be home for more then 6 or 7 hours.) But we went to the same place for our first classes and our previous trainers work there and love Doc. Sometimes when we are in they will run him through some commands and see how he is doing. Yesterday she ran him through some tunnels (which is his favroite thing in the whole world!) and did some heeling and stays. It is kind of nice because they can really notice how far he is coming, since I work with him every day and they only do once or twice a month.

It is nice to have one place for all our pet care needs. Vet, boarding, training, grooming (include do it yourself doggie baths), and daycare all at the same place (even hydrotherapy). Although we have outgrown their training classes we still go there for everything else... I don't think it stresses him to go there, he loves everyone and never looks back when we drop him off. He does get excited though, so maybe it is over excitement...

[HerculesMomma]

I'm no vet, but from my past experience with Hercules ear problems, I know the infection can get way down in there in the ear canal. But I always thought it would manifest itself at that point by having a smelly ear too. I dunno. But I would be real worried about the head shaking. Usually when my dogs ears flair up I will notice head shaking.

My cousins dog has been known to get a runny stool from excitement - or so we thought. Maybe it is simply excitement?

Metronidazole will help firm up the stool. I'm not sure what the science is behind that drug, but when Hercules had giardia (parasite) they put him on that first to try and clear up the parasite and firm up the stool (giardia causes very runny stool). I did not think it was a heavy duty medication. It didn't clear up my dogs parasite and he had to switch to something else. I got the impression it is pretty commonly prescribed.