HELP please our puppy has a bad tummy

HELP please our puppy has a bad tummy, we have had our beautiful Harvey for 5 weeks now, he is 13 weeks old. For 2 weeks he was fine on the breeders food but then got diahorrea. The vet gave him sensitive canned food to help which it did. Every time we try and gradually ween him back onto any sort of dried food - sensitive, or puppy dry food he has a bad tummy again. He is awake 5 times a night to be let outside to poo and for minutes after he pushes and has just liquid dripping out. It is horrible to see him like this. The vet just keeps putting him back on the expensive canned food which helps but we want to give him more variety and make his tummy better. We are very tired and sad to see him like this. Please please help us.

Welcome!!

Some of us have (unwillingly ...) become experts on puppies with bad tummies.

Since I don't know all the specifics of your situation, I'd keep following the advice of your vet, but some of us also add a little bit of canned pumpkin (no spices, just pure pumpkin) to meals. I mix in about a tablespoon or so each meal. It helps regulate them.

I'm sure others will comment too, but in the meantimes you might want to do a search for "diarrhea" to find some old posts where this was discussed.

What dry food do you have him on? Our vet gave us Eukaneuba Low Residue for Lucky which helped - it's dry and specially made for sensitive tummies. (after a few months we were able to transition him to California Natural Chicken & Rice and then to Natural Balance Chicken).

There are definitely differences in foods and some dogs have sensitivities to ingredients in certain foods which might be causing your problems.

Welcome & hope he feels better soon.

Has your vet also checked for: worms, giardia, etc?

You might also try a special dry food for sensitive stomachs.

What was the breeder feeding the puppies before you took yours home? Have you spoken to the breeder for advice? A good breeder will be very helpful in this regard. How long have you had the puppy on the canned food? Can you try mixing a small bit of kibble in with the canned and gradually replace one with the other? It may take a week or two on the canned diet for the puppy's stomach to settle.

Tummy issues can be difficult to address sometimes in puppies but they often grow out of them. I would want to be extra sure there isn't something else contributing to the problems though.

Ps Puppies do not really need variety, especially if they have sensitive stomachs. It would be better to try to find one food he will do well on and leave him on that. If you want to add variety, try adding some lightly cooked chicken, shredded, or ground beef, or fruit or veg. But I'd wait to do that til his tummy is better at tolerating a food.

My lil man freddie is like that he has a very bad tummy and the vet gave him that canned food as well and it really help now he is on sensitive hill's food and is doing great! i give him banana as a treat!

In my opinion if ur lil man's tummy is bad ur best bet is to stick with something that is going to agree with him!

How is your puppy doing? I have had some troubles with my dog too, Bentley gets diarrhea from time to time. I would check first with your vet again, if your puppy still isn't getting better. But, my dog has a lot of trouble with certain dog foods, he gets diarrhea from quite a few, so it was a process of finding the right diet for him (he seems to do best on California Natural). When his diarrhea was bad tho, my vet told me to feed him boiled chicken (skinless and boneless) and white rice, as well as giving the 100% pure canned pumpkin (not pie filling). It really helped and he got better within a few days. But, I would also talk to your vet about it too, to rule out worms, giardia, etc.

Wow thank you everyone for the really quick helpful advice! The vet has done all test on worms and giardia and they are clear. The vet is concerned but thinks that he needs more time on the canned food until trying to ween him off again, which seems to be also everyones opinion as well. We have just stocked up on their sensitive canned food for the next 2 weeks to give him time to settle again before slowly introducing another sensitive dry food. As he always does well on the canned food, apparently if an egg white is added to the food it gives all the protein a puppy needs??? I wouldn't eat it myself and so I don't know if his tummy could take that??? It is soooo nice to here from other cav parents..so relieved we found this website

Unless the vet tells you to add things I'd only feed the canned food. There's plenty of protein in that for a puppy and it is only for two weeks anyway. Adding in anything else risks annoying his tummy. Hopefully that will solve his problem.

Hi!

I agree with you there Karlin, most vetrinary diets be they canned (wet) or complete (dry) are totoally balanced with no need to add enything more to them.

Sorry to hear your baby isn't well, I hope he is feeling much better very soon!

Unless the vet tells you to add things I'd only feed the canned food

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When Jake was a baby with tummy problems we fed him canned i/d. And nothing else. It was gentle enough on his tummy that it settled down quick enough. It would usually take a good week to get him back on regular food. And we did it super gradually...I mean literally 5 kibbles at a time

Glad to hear that it wasn't worms or giardia. The canned puppy food will have everything in it that your puppy needs, so he should do just fine on that. My Bentley is having some serious diarrhea issues too, and I may end up asking my vet about putting him on something for sensitive tummies too. Keep us posted on how your puppy is doing, I know it's no fun when you have a sick pet.