Thanks for reaching out Karlin!
Our Ruby (a Ruby
) had gnawed his fur off his Bach leg areas when he was younger. We tried switching foods but we didn't find anything that helped. He also did a lot of "zooming". So we figured he was a nervous or hyper puppy. Our vet said that we could try Apoquel and hydrolyzed food. So we did. He no longer bites on himself and his fur has returned. Yay! but it has been killing me to feed him that food.
Anyway, he has never had consistent poops. That is why I think he has belly problems. I forget that the hydrolyzed food was for the itching and not necessarily for the belly issue. The vet said he needed to be on it for 16 weeks so what ever food allergies he may be suffering from would be totally gone. I am wanting to and thinking that a fresh food diet will cure the poop thing. His poops can be runny, sometimes with mucous, most of the time very soft. So much so that I can't pick it all up off the ground. He poops formed maybe about 10% of the time. The other thing is that he can poop every 2 hours. Where the heck does it all come from? It is not often that sleeps through the night without having to go out. Sometimes I think he has gas and feels like he needs to poop. It's too dark some night to see if he really is doing anything. When I go back in the morning to pick it up sometimes I can't find anything.
I know - this is getting long. I'm sorry. Anyway, we go back to the vet tomorrow for vaccines. Gosh, I hope it doesn't;t make him sick like the heart worm medicine does. I'm going to ask if we can stop the Apoquel and start a probiotic too. He had previously been on one but he couldn't be on it while we were doing the food trial. There is a food allergy test I want to do for him (NutriScan) but he can't be on the Apoquel.
There is so much more to the story but that is where we are today. This has been a stressful year. I want him to be as healthy as I can make him. At least he is very happy.
My other puppy, Rusty, is belly healthy 90% of the time. I'm thankful for that. They are best friends and share everything. I feel bad for him because they both eat the same food and he doesn't really need to eat that stuff. I did a NutriScan for him and he shows negative on everything they tested. So that made me happy. I'm hoping Ruby's test will show negative on some protein source so they can continue to share their food bowls.
Do you have a veterinary background? It sounds like you are really knowledgeable.
Thanks again for checking in with me. I will be perusing other conversations to see if I can glean anything helpful. I belong to another group run by Dr. Bec