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Bentley has diarrhea

Remali

Remali

Well-known member
I've been reading thru some of the suggestions about diarrhea....this has never happened to Bentley before, but last night he had about 5 or 6 watery stool/diarrhea episodes. Other than the diarrhea, he is acting like he normally does, and doesn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort. But, it has me really worried and I'm going to call my vet this morning due to the frequency of his diarrhea, it seems to come on about every couple hours, or more. I haven't switched his food, and he hasn't ingested anything that I'm aware of. I am very careful about his toys/chewies and check them over daily. Right now he is sleeping peacefully on my bed, so I'm hoping we aren't dealing with anything more than an upset tummy/GI tract.
 
Thanks Lani! He hasn't had any more major episodes for a few hours, he had a few small droplets of diarrhea, but that is all. And he is running around playing, so that's a good sign. But, I'm going to stay home today and run my errands later, I want to keep an eye on him for a while.
 
Withhold food for 24 hours as well (but give water). As long as he's fine otherwise, doubt there's anything to worry about. They can pick something up just about anywhere. Once in a long while one of mine gets the runs like this, always 'runs' its course as well within a few hours.
 
**Update** I just gave Bentley a good brushing, and when we were finished he ran all over the house with his squeaky toy in his mouth, just flying around like he was so happy....so I am hoping he is on the mend from whatever gave him the diarrhea. He sure seems to be acting just fine. Whew! I was so worried! I think I will hold his food for a bit tho.
 
Hi Karlin! Thank you! I must have been posting same time you were.
Yes, I think withholding food is a good idea, so I removed his food dish.
 
Renee - I've dealt with this more times than I want to think about :roll: It's always worrisome. The first thing I do is check their gums to be sure they are still pink and they are getting dehydrated. Then...withhold food. Let their tummies settle down. If either of mine goes on like this for more than 24 hours....I give the vet a call.
 
Thanks for the tip Cathy, I just checked Bentley's gums and they are nice and pink! He was running and playing like a maniac tonight, so at least he's feeling good...but he had another loose stool again a few hours ago (altho not as bad as last night's), so I called my vet and talked to the vet tech, she recommended the same diet you guys suggested (after I withhold food tonight, he has water tho of course), and she also told me it was OK to go ahead and give him a half of an Imodium tablet. So, I did that. He's snoozing now, and looks comfy, so maybe we'll get more sleep tonight. But, if it still continues tomorrow then I think definitely a stool sample is in order.
 
I'm glad he is doing okay!!! I know first hand how worrisome it can be ( :xfngr: Lucky's been okay recently ... )
 
I just love that picture of Lucky, it's so cute and he is such a handsome boy! I'm glad he's doing good!

Do any of you think that feeding cottage cheese or scrambled eggs is OK for a bland diet (no butter or anything like that)? I was reading online and a few websites about dogs and diarrhea mention feeding that. So I was curious as to what you all thought.
 
Oh, and I forgot....it also mentioned feeding baked potato...plain.
Any thoughts on that? To me, a potato would seem nice and bland and easy on the tummy and intestinal tract, even more so than the hamburger or chicken. ??
 
My sister tried the cottage cheese when her dog had issues as a puppy and she felt it made the problem worse.

I have Lucky on the California Natural Chicken and Rice - literally it's just chicken & rice so he's on a permanent bland diet. I do however give him Sam's Yams and have been feeding him ice cubes and baby carrots because his molar teething is out of control!!

The potato sounds good - my boss's dog has food allergies and she is feeding duck and potato ( I think). My mom used to always feed our dog boiled eggs when I was growing up ... he LOVED them and we never noticed any tummy issues as a result - good oils for the coat too. :flwr:
 
That makes sense, thank you! I know that sometimes dairy can provoke intestinal upstets in humans, so I wondered about the cottage cheese. But I think I will try the potato and egg. How has Lucky's colitis been? It sounds like the new dog food really helps Lucky, that's great! Funny, because I have Bentley on a chicken meal and rice dog food, Eagle Pack Holistic Select, altho it does have other ingredients in it too. Well, hopefully Bentley doesn't have colitis, but I did notice mucous in his stools.
 
Both of mine are on Ca Natural chicken and rice for exactly this reason. No matter what I fed...Jake would get the runs. I finally settled on this and it's been a godsend. The other thing I give when they get an upset tummy in Hill's Science Diet canned i/d. I know, I know...there are all kinds of comments about Hill's not being a good food...but it's the one thing that works with diahhrea. I carry a few cans with me when we travel, just in case, and always have a couple of cans in the cupboard.
 
Thanks again! I will have to check and see if I can find CA Natural Chicken and Rice. We used to feed Science Diet all the time to our other dog many years ago, he did great on it. Odd thing tho, Bentley has done so good on the dog food I've been feeding him for so long now, but, if he truly does have colitis, then we may need to switch to more of a bland diet for him. Funny, if Bentley should have colitis, I have several family members who have colitis, and I myself even suffer from IBS. So it figures that my dog could possibly have it too, aren't Bentley and I a pair?!!
 
Remali said:
Thanks again! I will have to check and see if I can find CA Natural Chicken and Rice. We used to feed Science Diet all the time to our other dog many years ago, he did great on it. Odd thing tho, Bentley has done so good on the dog food I've been feeding him for so long now, but, if he truly does have colitis, then we may need to switch to more of a bland diet for him. Funny, if Bentley should have colitis, I have several family members who have colitis, and I myself even suffer from IBS. So it figures that my dog could possibly have it too, aren't Bentley and I a pair?!!
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I feel for you both! I hope he's doing better! Lexi had diahrrea a couple of weeks ago (that made for a few sleepless nights) and here's what I did. I withheld her food for 24 hours and then fed her boiled chicken and rice for the next couple of days. After that I gradually mixed in her normal food (I feed Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul) and she was just fine after that. I had my vet on standby, who told me what to watch for (like the gums like Cathy mentioned). There's no telling what causes this, but it happens from time to time. :roll:
 
Thanks Angie! It seems like boiled chicken and rice really is the best, I'll go with that. It's funny how this diarrhea thing just seems to come out of nowhere. I'm just glad that Bentley isn't in any discomfort, in fact he was so frisky and playful today, that you'd never know he'd had the diarrhea. He is fast asleep yet, so I'm hopeful we'll have a better night tonight, the Imodium helped (I don't really want to do that real often tho), and I'll withhold his food for the recommended time; and then re-introduce his dog food like you said and mix it with the boiled chicken and rice. Hopefully we'll be back to normal tomorrow, or the next day!
 
So far so good today! Bentley only had to get up during the night once to go potty, and it was looking more like normal. (**breathes sigh of relief**)
 
Well, I guess I was too optimistic. It's been a few days now since he had his last bad bout of loose stools, and he was doing pretty good and had been eating the boiled chicken and rice, so I let Bentley have some of his dog food today (Eagle Pack Holistic Select chicken meal and rice), but now he is back to having soft mucous-like stools again, and they are a bit odd colored too, sort of light-colored. Guess my next plan of attack is definitely a stool sample for the vet. This sure has me worried, but at least he is still acting like he is OK and he doesn't appear ill.

:(
 
Renee -- fyi -

first off, the chicken meal and rice should really be not much different than boiled chicken and rice ... at least that is my understanding. It's not much different than Lucky's normal bland diet ...

Next though, my vet during my many visits for colitis said we should gradually move Lucky from the boiled chicken rice to kibble ... basically mixing it in as you would any change of food, until you are entirely giving him kibble. Just for what it's worth ...

If you go back to the boiled chicken/rice, you might want to try a more gradual transition to his usual kibble. It sounds to me like you already have him on a really good food for a sensitive tummy :flwr:
 
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