HELP! Diarrhea for days

[sharman 2004]

Hello there...it's been a while since I've posted.
Our 18 month old girl has had what started as loose stools but has since turned into diarrhea for over a week now. On Monday night, in the middle of the night, she literally exploded in her crate didn't even whine to have us let her out. I think it took her by surprise too. Then she vomited twice on Tuesday morning. I had already made her appt for that day. So, I took her in to the vet. They said it could be a parasite. They treated her with metronidazole and an anti-diarrhea medication and told me to put her on a bland diet which I had already started. Have done ALL of the above but she is still having issues. No more vomiting, but she does have diarrhea. The vet called me yesterday and told me the stool sample was negative.
She is acting normal, VERY hyper, no fever, not dehydrated. We have not changed her dog food, we don't think she's gotten into anything, etc.
Any insight? Help! My poor baby :(

[BabyBrownz]

Is she getting anything new for treats? Too much food? Did they check her for a blockage of sorts - not a complete blockage but enough that only runny stuff is produced? What sort of bland diet do you have her one? With Quade we took him completely off food for 24 hours and then gave him small portions of a boiled chicken and rice mix for the next few days (gradually increasing each day).

I'm sure some here will have better ideas for you. Please take her back to the vet if this doesn't go away, they may have to do further testing.

Thinking of you and praying that everything turns out okay.

Lynn

[TrinaJ]

Did the vet check to see if she has a perianal fissure (small anal tear), its common in GSD, labs, Irish Setters . The fissure may be caused by a hard stool or repeated episodes of diarrhea.

Hope you find out what the problem is and that she's back to herself soon.

Trina

[sharman 2004]

Babybrownz~
The vet did mention a partial blockage but said to try the meds first to see if it goes away. If not further testing must be done. If it is a partial blockage, would there be any other symptoms?
No, no new treats, no new food, nothing new. She is eating boiled chicken with rice.
Another concern we have is since this has been happening she has been walking weird; and sitting weird. She'll be walking normally and suddenly she'll kinda start hanging her behind as if she's about to poop and keep on walking that way. THe first couple times she did that we rushed her outside thinking she was going to poop but she didn't. And as far as the sitting, rather than sitting with her hind legs facing forward, they go out to the side and her butt is directly on the ground? I don't think that any of this has to do with the diarrhea, just coincidence that it all happened at the same time???
I am so worried about my poor baby.

[DarinBongo]

You need to call your vet and find out exactly what they tested for in the stool. Most of the time they just do a routine check for internal parasites, and then take a guess. I just learned this lesson from my breeder, because Bongo was having some loose stools for a few days in a row. Not as bad as you're describing, but all the more reason you need to call your vet again. You need to ask your vet to check for Giardia or Coccidia, which are both microorganisms that could cause Acute or Chronic Diarrhea. These are not included in the routine stool sample and need a different course of antibiotics.

Here's an actual quote from my breeder from his email which will probably help you out:
"Back to the Vet issue, the parasites that they checked for was probably worms, as they can not see Giardia without doing an Elisa test, but none the less Metronidazole is used to treat Giardia as well, but Fenbendazole is better…which goes by the street name of Panacure which is manufactured by Intervet, the same manufacturer that produces the Proguard line of Vaccinations. Panacure is also a dewormer, the difference is that for worms you use it only 3 days, while for Giardia you use it for 5 days, and sometimes in conjunction with Metronidazole. On the Metronidazole, the dosage is 5 mg per 1 lb, so if he is 64 lbs, you should have given him approximately 320 mg, which means that you probably should have given him 1 and ½ of the 250 mg tablets."

[Nishasmom]

Nisha had Giardia; sometimes it takes multiple fecal tests for it to "show up". The actual parasite has to be in the sample you take; which can be difficult sometimes.

With his weird sitting and walking, I would be concerned about a blockage .

*on a side note; we had to feed Nisha a bland diet, the boiled chicken was getting so expensive! I bought Wellness Simple Solutions (duck). (rice and duck are pretty much the only ingredients). The vet okayed it as "bland" and she is doing great.

[trish603a]

I am also worried about a partial obstruction due to the fact that he is walking and sitting weird. When he sits, does he sit right on his butt (directly)? My sister's siberian husky did this and had all the same symptoms, it was a partial obstruction. Did the vet take any x-rays of his abdomen to rule out a blockage?

[sweetlee]

the dog may be sitting right on the butt because well, after having nasty bile type diarrhea his butt may itch really bad.
I guess I would find out exactly what all they checked for. If all medical is completely ruled out, I would start over, withholding food for 24 hours but make sure the dog has plenty of fresh water. Then start back in with the bland diet. I use rice with no chicken the first day, in VERY small amounts but more frequently, just boil the rice in chicken broth to flavor it. What works even better for my boy is oatmeal instead of the rice, it adds bulk to the intestines and will help to suck up some of the bile. I also cook this using chicken broth instead of water.
My vet said it's OK to give immodium AD, use an adult dosage. But please ask your vet before you do this, in case your dog is still on any meds that may react badly with it.
If you baby's butt is itchy, you can wipe it with some Tuck's pads for people. It should relieve the the itching and burning some. Poor dog.
Sometimes the gut just needs a good rest to get out of the cycle of pooping and producing too much bile.
You may have to start over at square one, with the bland diet, start slow and easy when reintroducing food, add some chicken on day two, and at the end of day 3 you can start adding in kibble to the rice mixture,slowly.
Let us know how things are going and what the vet says about what they have tested for.

Sharon

[lanka1]

Did they do any bloodwork? I am curious because walking oddly like you said is one of the signs my dog had when she got pancreatitis. It is sort of like a hunched walk. But there is usually a lot of pain with pancreatitis. Good luck to you and I wish you and your dog the best of luck and a full recovery.