Bella's Momma

Bella is STILL not better. She was doing fine on chicken and brown rice (and probiotics and vitamin supplements), but not gaining (she's very active). So vet said to add scrambled eggs. Still fine but not gaining. So vet said to feed more. We had just started this a bit and we had to send her to doggie daycare for one day with strict instructions about food (and I have no reason to think they were not followed, but feel I should mention this).

Back to terrible diarrea. :(

Now we have added sweet potatoes. It's too soon to tell if it's working, but I guess it's working somewhat as she's not waking to have to go out like the first night. Still doesn't look normal.

She's had several fecal tests, some other $500 worth of blood and fecal tests. The only thing that came back low there was folate and I tend to believe that was because she was on chicken/rice/no supplements for a few weeks.

Throughout all of this, her spirits and health are otherwise great. Sparkly eyes, fine nose, great activity level, etc. Insatiable appetite (and we keep a close eye, I don't think she's getting into anything that's making her sick).


I just don't know what to do. :( What would you do? Thanks for any suggestions.

Rough timeline of prior events for those who really like details:
11/4/09 Rabies Shot

11/5/09 Visit to Pet Resort #1 for meet & greet

11/8/09 Diarrhea Began

Recovered with Chicken and plain white rice and Raw Green Tripe
-no supplements

Started back on Natural Balance Venison & Sweet Potato

Illness returned

Recovered with Chicken and brown rice

Late December-Discovered kibble formula changed

Very slowly integrated back on Natural Balance Venison & Sweet Potato

Diarrhea returned

Started on ABX from vet #1 due to a bacteria in fecal sample that does not CAUSE illness but can be indicative of getting over one (sorry, I can't remember the name and the vet is closed now)

Recovered on Chicken & Brown Rice and Raw Green Tripe

Slowly integrated Natural Balance Duck & Sweet Potato

Diarrhea returned

Recovered on Chicken & Brown Rice
-w/ supplements and ref. probiotics by natren Lactobacillus acidophilus, NAS & Enterococcus faecium, NCIB 10415

2/1 Met with Vet #2 for spay Pre-Op
Tests Run, same results and back on same ABX as Vet #1
Started on procare(or procure?) Powder

Still on chicken and rice – stomach okay (NO GREEN TRIPE)

2/16 Spay Surgery & Microchipped
2/17 Given One Dose of Carprofen 100mg
Severe diarrhea began w/ severe mucous
Lost 4 pounds in 1 week

Fed Chicken and basmati rice w/ supplements & ref. probiotics
Very Soft stool continued often w/ mucous

3/3 Started Chicken & Brown Rice w/ supplements
Soft Stool continued

3/5 Immediately vomited breakfast (chicken and basmati w/ supplement)

BFF

I feel so bad for both of you. Not to mention that you have to be so sick of cleaning all the time. Her poor tummy!

I don't know what I would do different. I don't think I would feed her any more Natural Balance though. It wouldn't matter what variety it was. I know it is a super good dog food, but it's not working for her.

More likely it is a cause with something else, so keep asking questions. Don't give up. An answer is bound to be waiting for you to find it.

Just wish I could give it to you and make it all better. :(

Hugs to you both!

Fluffyspoos

Vegas has been having diaherra lately too, he's on clavamox and probiotics because I found blood in it the day before yesterday, the vets say it's not parvo but bad bacteria causing it.

It's hard not knowing what's going on!

Bella's Momma

Thanks. She's not had any kibble since January.

partial2poodles

I have a small suggestion.....no food for 24 hours...just water. Let it empty completely. When one of mine has the runs, I have absolutely found out that food irritates the lining MORE. The first feeding has EXTRA water and probiotics....I soak it and sprinkle the probioticn powder....during the fasting period - NO treats, no nothing. It works for me.

bigpoodleperson

It sounds like she reacts to stress with an upset tummy. Has your vet talked to you/ruled out IBD/IBS? I would seriously look into this. Has she been trialed on any steroids for this?

bluespoomommy

i know how you feel. When i first brought my puppy home she had diarrhea and occasional bloody stools for a straight month. it had me worried. it could have been the enormous stress of moving to a new environment. vet did a series of blood tests and stool samples, then gave her antibiotics which cleared it up for a bit, but then diarrhea returned. i had never been so concerned about poop - ever!

otherwise, she was energetic and happy during the whole episode (never fed chicken and rice, just her normal kibble). i introduced some natural yogurt for the probiotics into her diet and not sure if it worked right away, but eventually, the diarrhea went away on its own. i still feed her some yogurt daily and seems to be working well.

hope your baby gets better soon!

frostfirestandards

Have you tried people acidopholis (sp) ?

she may need an extra boost to restart her system.

Brian had a completly baffling digestive upset. he had explosive diarrhea for about 3 months, I had fecals run, switched foods, he ate nothing but chicken and rice, multiple prescriptions of flagyl,propectalin and the like.

this is what I did:

I gave him high doses of probiotics
(it said 1 teaspoon for a dog his weight, I gave 1 1/2) , mixed in yogurt.

I gave him the standard dose of Panacur (1 cc for every 10 lbs of body weight for 3 days ) every 10 days.

He got his normal food ration after one day of fasting, with some canned pumpkin

Within a couple weeks his poo returned to normal.






Passion4Poodles' Kiara had poo issues too when she first got her, and she gave people acidopholus and now Ki-ki is completly better.


have you tried to switch vets for a second opinion?


I know its disturbing when there are no clear answers hang in there kiddo

Desiree

I'm new to this forum so maybe you've read this stuff already but I'll take a shot at this problem. I think duck and tripe are rather rich foods and brown rice is harder to digest than white. I usually fast for 24 hrs. then boil chicken breast (pour off any fat) and combine with white rice and cottage cheese for upset tummies. Scrambled eggs and yogurt are a nice change of pace once things start to look better. Feed until stool starts getting some form, then start adding dog food slowly with Prozyme. California Natural Chicken and Rice seems to work well. Your dog may be having trouble digesting grains. Taste of the Wild is a grain free option if that is the case. Good Luck!

Katzka

Hi, when I worked for a vet many years ago, he used to reccomend a 24 hour fasting too, but he would suggest fish and rice as a diet, sometimes dogs cant take chicken ect and get a protein scald from it, which causes the runny tummy, feeding fish in any form often helps.

I hope you get it sorted soon.