Bella's Momma

Week before last I took Bella for her rabies shot. A few days later I took her to visit a 'pet resort' for an hour or so for a meet & great. 2 days after that she had diarrea. Then some somewhat normal BM. Then an awful one (in the house, OMG, that was not fun to come home to). So now I've left her outside whenever I leave (I come and go a lot throughout the day) b/c I just cannot handle that again. Things got normal again, she went to pet resort for 2 days. They reported no problems. She came home, things are normal. Then one slightly runny BM so I had Dh take a sample to the vet yesterday AM (which looked normal) to the vet. They said it came back 'negative.' When I was cleaning up the yard today I notice both of the BMs were again, not normal.

So, diet. She eats grain-free Natural Balance. Her treats are the same. We WERE mixing kibble with plain yogurt and freezing it in a kong for whenever we left. We've not done that since the first incident. She used to get raw tripe but we've not given her any in a couple of months. She does get some supplements but I've experimented with getting rid of those in the last two weeks also. I can't directly attribute her problems to the times she has had them. I also cut back on her serving sizes during this time and soaked the kibble extra long.

The vet recommends rice (can't, it's a grain), plain yogurt (dairy seems HARD on an ill tummy to me, no?) or boiled chicken (I've not done this. We don't keep chicken in the house so I need to go and get some) as somewhat easier to digest foods. I'm wondering if we should push the raw trip and skip the kibble for now? But she's not had it for a few months so I worry about starting it, would IT be harder on her tummy?

What gives?! And ideas? I was concerned it was giardia but the vet didn't detect any.

Thank you!!

bigpoodleperson

Ask your vet if he ran a float or a direct test on the sample. If they only ran a float then take another fresh one in for a direct. Floats only really check for parasites, while the direct checks more for bacteria and other small protozans.
It could be that she just got stressed and that is causing the diarrhea (and now that she has diarrhea her gut cant get back to normal so it is causing more diarrhea, etc). Is there a reason she cant have grains?
I would feed her either hamburger/rice or chicken/rice (white rice, isnt hard at all on the stomach and not many dogs have an allergy to just plain white rice). This bland diet will give her tummy time to rest and restore it, and then you can Slowly add back in her normal food. I would add the yogurt as it will reintroduce good bacteria back into the gut to help stabilize things. It is not that rich. I would Not start the tripe at this time! Too rich and too much of a change right now. Stick with bland, basic things. Good luck!

bigredpoodle

Good Advice . this is the diet i use when we have tummy troubles. Works everytime

Bella's Momma

Thank you! I don't do grains b/c I've known two people with Standards who had trouble with grains. And the one time I decided to "losen up" a little and let the vet shove their treats down her she got sick as soon as we got home. So you think plain white rice, might be fine? We will try it then. Do you think white basmati is as good?

Good point on the probiotics (in yogurt). I do have some straight probiotics that I give her and did the first day she was sick but haven't since. I will make sure to give her soon this morning.

I assume you mean cooked hamburger or cooked chicken? I think I do have some hamburger in the freezer. We're a half-omnivorous family and I'm the other half so I don't pay a lot of attention to what's stashed about. LOL.

bigredpoodle

boil the hamburger if it quite fatty

bigpoodleperson

Yes, cooked/boiled meat, and make sure to rinse the grease off the hamburger. I think white rice will be just fine for her. Im not sure what the other stuff you mentioned is, but i personally would stick to plain white rice.

wishpoo

Unfortunately - if vet. results did not show anything it will be more or less "try and error" thing : (((. Same as with babies , I guess.

First thing that I would do would be to change food. I think that rice advice is wonderful advice that your vet. gave to you and I know it worked for my friend who had a Bierdy. Her breeder told her to try it and it worked like a charm !!! He was on premium food anyway , but had a sensitive tummy. So she would cook rice , drain it somewhat and than mix with the kibble . It would moisten kibble and gave it nice consistency and she would serve it nice and warm (room temperature). Diarrhea was gone immediately. She would put just a little bit of rice (maybe 2 tbsp per serving ). It made an immediate difference and puppy was happy and thriving

KPoos

Could she be picking up something viral from the pet resort? Do dogs even pick up things like that?

Fur Elite

If the dog checks out with the vet, my bet would be a nervous stomach. Probably gets excited and nervous from the visits. Pumpkin is a great way to help solidify matters. Two teaspoons (natural pumpkin...not the pie filler) does great at both correcting the runs (absorbs liquid) as well as defy constipation (fiber). Call it the jack of all fruits.

Bella's Momma

Okay, so the vet does both tests and it was negative. hmm..
Doggie got a nice warm meal of boiled chicken and white rice. At first she just stared at it, then her stomach took over and she inhaled it. I also gave her probiotics in a kong when I left, so here's hoping. Thanks for the advice, everyone.