5 month old with diarrhea

[romansmom]

Our 5 month old male Rottweiler seems to have chronic diarrhea. We have changed his food and been very careful with what training treats he gets. He will be okay for a couple of days and then right back to runny watery stools. All of his vacinations are up to date. Stools have been negative. We were told that the first food we were giving him was probably to rich for him to be able to digest so we switched, still the problem continues. He is not lethargic. He also likes to go outside and eat bark. I was trying to discourage this but it is impossible, to many trees to try and keep him away from. Any suggestions to what we should do? Does anyone else have this problem?

[lopezjohn49ers]

I don't know if this bark is in your yard, or a common area. If it isn't yours, I would be concerned what might have been sprayed on the bark. Insecticides, or weed killers? You might try adding some plain yogurt to his food, or some canned pumkin. These might ease his stomach. Also, what was he eating, and what is he eating now?

[Lola B Marie]

Our Lola is 2yrs old and had chronic diarrhea for the first year of her life. She was tested, retested and then some. She was on every type of dog food made including sience diet duck and other anti allergic foods. Nothing helped. Finally, a blood work up showed severe bacterial over growth in her belly. She was treated the way a person is now treated for stomach H pyloric (sp). She was given amoxicillin to kill the bacteria and tagamet for acid build up.She is doing well now. I I hope your pup is better.

[brunie's mom]

Has he been tested for giardia? It's a one celled parasite. This often starts from dogs drinking puddles or from ponds or lakes or eating feces. They need to be on anti-biotics to get rid of it.

How long has your pup had diarrhea? Is he growing and gaining weight at a proper rate?

What food are you feeding? How much are you feeding? Try cutting back the amount of food by 1/4 cup per feeding and see if the stools harden up. Sometime overfeeding causes loose stools.

Pup's do tend to want to put everything in their mouth...you must just stay outside with him and watch him every minute and keep a leash on him.

Gina

[romansmom]

We were feeding him the Solid Gold-Wolf Cub now he eats Natural Balance. We had thought to begin with that the solid gold was just to rich for him to digest but I guess that is not the case. How much yoghurt or pumpkin should we give him? Should it be mixed with his food?

[romansmom]

I guess I should add that it is the bark off of our trees. He never goes outside without one of us with him. He is growing well, I would say that he is
50+lbs now, which I believe is what he should be. We feed him 3/4 cups of food 3 times a day. He is playful as a puppy should be it is just very bothersome about this diarrhea. This morning it was formed and then this afternoon it is liquid diarrhea again.

[moondog]

Another possibility is a partial obstruction - especially since he's 1) a puppy, and they all manage to swallow stuff; and 2) because he has been eating bark, which is indigestible. If a chunk of it doesn't pass through and instead gets lodged in a crevice somewhere along the intestinal tract, it can cause chronic diarrhea. Has the vet taken any xrays to check for an obstruction, and has he done any bloodwork? I would ask for both, and the bloodwork should consist of a complete blood panel. Xray to rule in or out a partial obstruction, and bloodwork to see if there's any sign of an illness that can be the root cause of chronic diarrhea.

[romansmom]

Thanks...No we have not had any x-rays done as of yet. I did not realize that the bark would not digest. I just figured that it would break down with the digestive juices. We need to go and have another visit with the vet.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by romansmom

I guess I should add that it is the bark off of our trees.

I'm glad to hear it's not bark chips, which are usually treated with a "lord knows what variety" of chemicals. What species of tree(s) is the bark from?

[lopezjohn49ers]

I guess I am confused. Is he eating bark right off the tree, or is he eating mulch spread around the tree? Either way, I would take Moondog's advice and get to the vet.

[romansmom]

Roman bites the bark off of the trees. He walks over and grabs a bite of bark off of the tree! We have maple trees and spruce. This morning the stool is totally formed again, see what I mean about from one extreme to another. It really makes no sense. If it was an obstruction it should continually be loose stool going around the obstruction. I think either way this is one for the vet to try and figure out. Thanks for everyones input.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by romansmom

Roman bites the bark off of the trees. He walks over and grabs a bite of bark off of the tree! We have maple trees and spruce.

Neither one of those are toxic, so that's good news.

Originally Posted by romansmom

This morning the stool is totally formed again, see what I mean about from one extreme to another. It really makes no sense. If it was an obstruction it should continually be loose stool going around the obstruction. I think either way this is one for the vet to try and figure out. Thanks for everyones input.

In the event of a partial obstruction, an object can lodge, then move a bit, lodge, then move a bit, etc. - so it's not outside the realm of possibility that it could cause intermittent irritation - however, I am feeling at this point inclined to think this is not the problem, but I would still ask for xrays to eliminate this as a cause.

And again, I would ask for a COMPLETE blood panel to see if another cause can be determined.

I totally agree with you, this is a mystery that your vet should be able to help sort out and get to the bottom of. Please let us know what he/she finds.