Chronic Diarrhea?

[tangtang]

So, Kira has been having lose stools since about a little longer than a month. The Vet is not doing anything to help no matter which one i go to, they prescribe antibiotics and the diaphenox... stuff. No of which has worked.
I need some advice, chicken and rice doesnt work. Over the counter Immodium has no effect. I'm getting very frustrated with this situation.
It is not watery everyday but 80% of the time it is mustardy. I have not changed diets and been feeding Innova large breed puppy. I did try switching to chickensoupforpetlover stuff about two weeks after the lose stools began without success, so I went back to Innova.
I'm not sure what else to do. I have tried bananas, mashed apples and everything else grandma suggested ;-). I have given up on my vet to help me with this.
Do you think it would be adviesable to switch foods to something like solid gold? Ort anyother magic solution.
I realize that diarrhea can be caused by A LOT of things, but there has to be a good way to get these stools hard again.

[dogsbydoug]

How long have you fed each of these foods?

It can take up to a month before results can be seen, however the chronic diarrhea would concern me. We recently started feeding Merrick's "Turducken" food and had loose stools for a few days but things are firming up, so we'll see how the dogs do on this food - 60 pounds should last us 6 weeks, and we should be able to tell if they are doing well on this food by then.

I would fast the dog for at least 12 hours, offering plenty of water, but no food, to allow the dogs system a chance to settle down. Then, I'd begin feedinga bland diet - boiled chicken and rice or boiled hamburger and rice(fat drained off) - for as long as it takes for the stools to firm up, then very slowly begin to add kibble back to the food.

I would also suggest feeding something with as few ingredients as possible, such as California Natural.

Have you tried adding canned pumpkin to her diet (NOT pie filling with the spices)? Pumpkin is good at firming things up...

[jenn8five]

how much are you feeding? i found that JB's stools were loose for awhile and i couldn't really figure out the culprit. the vet had her on flagyl cuz he saw an overgrowth of bacteria in her stool, but that didn't solve the problem. i reduced her food portions by 1/5 cup each time so now she only gets 4/5c x 3/day and it's been improving. and if your dog is having bowel problems be careful about switching foods. be sure to do it very slowly over the course of a few wks.

[brunie's mom]

Overfeeding could be the cause. Try cutting back.
Has the dog been checked for parasites? Coccidia? Giardia?

If you were going to switch foods, I would switch to California Natural...a simple food with only two ingredients( I would suggest the Lamb&Rice, since you say she did not improve when you cooked her chicken and rice). The Innova may have a protein in it that is bothering the dog.

Gina

[tangtang]

THKS FOR THE GOOD ADVICE.
She has been on the Innova ever since she was 10 weeks old. She has not been checked for parasites lately and I think thats what im gonna do next. I will also definitely try the pumpkin. I'll keep you posted.
Another thing is..........once in a while it seems to harden up but only the first part of her poop/ sausage the last part is always soft.

[Lola B Marie]

Lola is 18 months and has had diarrhea on and off since the day we got her. Every test you can imagine was done to help her. She tested positive for giarida but when the vet treated her, the treatment made her worse. Finally the vet stopped doing stool samples. He xrayed her belly and did an extensive amount of blood tests. Turns out the over growth of bacteria was off the charts. Her belly and lower stomach was just full of irritation and bacteria. All through this, she never seemed in pain, ate all her food and had great energy. Just this chronic diarrhea all the time. It took one month of amoxicillin 500 mil 2x daily and tagamet 200 mil 2xdaily to finally stop the loose poops. Unfortunately, her stomach was so irritated, she was never allowed back on dog food. I home cook for her. She needs to eat 3xa day to keep the acidity levels normal. Her basic diet is dark meat chicken, brown rice veggies, fruits, eggs certain hard cheeses,and cooked red meat but not chopped meat unless it has no fat. She is allowed milkbones, but they must be small. The pay off is no more diarrhea. She is 110 lbs, lean, tall and her coat shines . I do need to run the cycle of meds every so often when I see a loose stool. I let it go for two days to make sure it's not just something she ate outside or part of a stuffed toy. It starts back with a hard first attempt followed my loose and I know if it does not self correct it's time for the meds.
I am not suggesting that Kira has this condition only that you might consider treating the bacteria for a while longer. Hope she feels better soon. If I can help with the human food diet.I will be back from Fla friday and can help.