puppy diarrhea
My 8 months old puppy has had diarrhea on and off for about 3 months now, I already spent about $2,000 in vet’s bills and we still don’t have a diagnosis. His blood and stools are “normal”. Even on a cottage cheese and rice diet and flagyl, he still has diarrhea . We tried to change his food, Chinese herbs, nothing is helping. I can hear his stomach growling from the other side of the room and he gets very bloated as well. It was under “almost control” and yesterday I gave him one of those cow knees you find at the pet store supposedly high digestibility… BIG mistake, it got worse.
Please help, I would appreciate your suggestions!!
smsteffy
———-
What foods have you tried & for how long a time for each?
Have you considered another vet for a second opinion?
Have you ever fasted him & then brought him back on boiled hmbg & rice before giving dog food?
He’s not getting any milk is he?
Take away any rawhides, cow hocks etc.
Were there X-Rays done?
suebgone
——
The first thing I would do is get a second opinion! 2,000 dollars is ALOT of money to waste on just diagnositcs alone. Have you tried an ultrasound yet? Ultrasounds are great for detecting things that x-rays and bloodwork can’t. They are especially good at detecting GI abnormalities. I would be surprised if your current vet has not yet recommended or done an ultrasound.
redfire
—–
GET A SECOND OPINION. I DID THIS WITH MY DOG RECENTLY AND IT WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE.
all4upets
——-
I feed him Nature’s Recipe easy to digest Chicken-rice-barley dry food. I’ve tried every food for at least 3 weeks. The funny part is that the first “poop” in the morning is normal, thereafter it is diarrhea. The ultrasound did not show anything special (aside from a pelvic bladder…). No milk, raw or human food.
I just don’t understand why we can’t find a solution.
smsteffy
———
I would get a second opinion in this case. Has their been any mention of inflammatory bowel disease or irritable bowel syndrome? How about mention of colonoscopy with biopsy? That might be a consideration also.
hscvt
——–
They mentioned a lot of things, including pancreas issues but they did not want to run those test yet.
smsteffy
——
Try him on bottled water only for a couple weeks & see if that makes any difference.
suebgone
———-
Does he act sick or like he doesn’t feel good?
redfire
——–
I am waiting for a call from the vet as the puppy got extremely sick this week, pooped in every single room of the house and in the car 4 times. I gave him imodium and pepto bismol, it helped until this morning at least. But he went back to intense diarrhea this morning. He currently is on a rice and cottage cheese diet, again. He doesn’t act sick, he still have a lot of energy, the only moment I can tell he is in pain is when he is bloated (on top of the diarrhea), and this happens pretty much every day. I just don’t understand what can be wrong that the vet cannot figure out! I started introducing a new diet on Friday with some rice, recommended by the pet store (wellness white fish) and I suspect that was enough to worsen the all problem. If you think about an exam an particular that I should suggest to the vet, please, please let me know… Thanks smsteffy
———–
Has any allergy testing been done? If not that might be a way to go….have you called a different vet or still going to the same one?
hscvt
——-
Still going to the same one. they did a good job so far on my other dog.
smsteffy
——–
As long as you are comfortable with them..that’s what matters. I hope that they can find something out soon for your pup’s sake! Things I might think about are (and most of these may have already been done)…
fecal float and direct smear (checking for things like coccidia, giardia, and any other intestinal parasties)
Bloodwork
Allergy testing
Abdominal radiographs/ultrasound
Colonoscopy with biopsy
Those are some of the things that come to mind….
hscvt
———–
The vet now recommends an endoscopy/biopsy, she thinks the bloating and the diarrhea would be more of a bowel issue. He had diarrhea last night but none today (so far). I am putting him on bottled water has somebody suggested, rice and boiled chicken. For some reasons I have a hard time putting him through this although I would like to know what the problem is. If I can maintain him “Diarrhea free” for 1 month, I will just keep this diet and spare him the biopsy. Thanks for all your answers, I will keep you posted on the evolution!
smsteffy
