Diarrhea help for Penny

Edtv24

Hello everyone

I need some input; We went out of town for 3 days and boarded Penny at a local trusted Vet/Doggie day care where she periodically will spend a day playing when I'm not working from home.  When I picked her up after her visit she had diarrhea which initially I was not worried about because I've seen this happen after leaving her for a day of (rough) play.  Now it has been 7 days and the diarrhea has not let up.  I went to the vet who prescribed Metronidazole to help her get over it.  I also gave them a stool sample to test for other issues (results in 24hrs)  The Vet suggested a high fiber diet as well which I'm doubting will help.... also when I dropped Penny for her stay she had her usual TOTW for the entire stay.

Any input or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Chris

Canned pumpkin and rice helps a lot.

Edtv24

Thanks Chris!
I've been doing rice mixed into a smaller portion of kibble but I'll try the pumkin as well

alexa

I'm going through the same thing with Maya right now, got her on the Metronidazole and probiotics. Stool sample pending too, so we'll see. Pumpkin and rice is helping a bit.
No fun poor babies, best of luck to you.

BulliesofNC

I'm a bit confused why your Vet would recommend a High Fiber diet when Fiber speeds the transit of digested material through the colon which is NOT going to help firm the stool.

Natural Pumpkin without the additives and sugars will help her. Rice water is good too. You can make Rice water by boiling one cup of rice with 4 cups of water for 30 minutes. This will make plenty of rice water. Allow it to cool and give it to her. You can even add the Pumpkin to it or plain yogurt.

I have a feeling what Penny is experiencing right now is caused from her experience at the boarding facility which can often cause emotional diarrhea. Dogs can experience this from excitement as well as being upset or stressed. It happens to some dogs at Dog Shows as well.

It it were one of my Bullies that had the diarrhea I would provide him or her nothing but Rice water, Pumpkin, and yogurt for at least 24 hours in order to provide a break to its digestive system in order to get back in line. Just ensure she is drinking plenty of water.

Here's a helpful link with good suggestions: http://www.wikihow.com/Treat-Dog-Diarrhea

Edtv24

BulliesofNC,

Thanks for the feedback!!  I picked up canned pumpkin and will start that today.   About how much per feeding?  About the same portion as her usual food? 

I think the vet recommended high fiber diet as on ongoing solution for a dog that goes through emotional/stress related diarrhea.... I don't think I'm going that route....

Alexa - let me know how it goes with Maya ; I'm curious how she progresses since we are doing the same treatments... Thanks!

 

exiled

The pumpkin has worked wonders for our BT.  The vet suggested giving him about a TBSP once a day.  We buy the organic pumpkin in a can.  Be sure to not accidentally buy the pumpkin that's for pies that has some other things in it...only buy the 100 percent pumpkin.  There are different qualities, some are very watery, but there's a brand at Whole Foods that is very stiff and high quality.  Let me know if you want a picture of the can.  The cans look very similar and I've accidentally put the pumpkin mix in the basket a few times and my husband noticed before we checked out.  We keep it in another container in the refrigerator and we give it to him when he's finished eating, like dessert.  He goes crazy for it.  If your dog doesn't like it, you'll probably have to mix it with the food.  We act like we're giving him a fantastic treat and he gets so excited, and his nose is orange he gets so into it.

Edtv24

Thanks Exiled!

The cans I bought were on the baking isle but the ingrediants say 100% pumpkin no thing else but now you've got me a little concerned = )

Edtv24

I just got the results of the Fecal and Penny has a bad case of Giardia (sp?) which causes the diarrhea!  I've got a powered med for her food 1x per day and was told it will take a couple of weeks to clear up....

Bummer.... She probably picked it up at one of our frequent visits to the local dog park....

exiled

Sorry to hear that Penny has a bad case of that, but at least there is some good news that you know exactly what it is and it's finally being treated.  Hope she's better soon.  Also hope she likes the pumpkin.  We will probably give him that every day since it has helped him and he loves it so much.  It's very fun watching him when he gets it at the end of his meal, like I would be with a pint of chocolate ice cream.

Forget to compliment you on the pictures.  It's awesome!  She look so happy.

alexa

Maya is doing great, solid poop today. Curious to see if it was Giardia as well, she had a case of it a few weeks back and I've heard sometimes it takes a bit to get rid of. Still waiting on results.
Hope she likes the pumpkin as much as Maya. She couldn't get enough of it!

Edtv24

Penny loves the pumpkin even with the medicine power mixed in with ground turkey and rice
Currently she hasn't pooped in 24 hrs which the vet said was not unusual.... Hopfully a sign she is slowly getting better.....

exiled

That's great to hear that she's eating and experiencing what the vet thought she would.  Glad she loves pumpkin, too.  It's so cute when we can see the excitement in his eyes for pumpkin.

alexa

Penny loves the pumpkin even with the medicine power mixed in with ground turkey and rice
Currently she hasn't pooped in 24 hrs which the vet said was not unusual.... Hopfully a sign she is slowly getting better.....

Exactly what happened in Maya's case. After 24 hours of nothing she was back to normal...sounds promising

Quinnofhearts

Hi all,

Quinn contracted giardia when she was a baby thanks to her irresponsible caretakers at day care. They would stand around and let the dogs eat poop and do nothing about it, and Quinn learned this behavior because before she went there she avoided poo at all costs. Dogs at this daycare would literally run to eat the poop...and I know this for a fact because I worked there and witnessed it.

Anyway, we went through months of treatment for Quinn (after pulling her out of daycare of course). Eventually it got to a point where they would test her stool and it would still be positive but she was asymptomatic. We rarely have problems with it anymore, but her system can be sensitive sometimes. Giardia didn't typically affect Quinn's moods or behaviors with the exception of very bad days when she seemed almost afraid to go to the bathroom...Poor girl.

Keep up with the treatments and I hope recovery time is pretty short!

Edtv24

Quinnofhearts,

Thanks for the feedback.... Penny is out of daycare and I don't know if she will go back or not...

When I dropped her off she was fine.... I know that she could have picked it up at the dog park but at least I can watch her there...

She is doing better and tomorrow is the last day of Meds , her poop is solid but only going every other day.

I'm gradually phasing out the turkey/rice/pumpkin and mixing in her usual TOTW and so far so good!

Thanks again for the input!