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Over 4 weeks of Poop Problems - advice needed.

LindsayD

Member
hello all,

I'm here again for some advice for Rosie, my 20 month old Ruby who has had diarrhea / soft stool for over 4 weeks.

It started August 4th when we picked her up from an over night stay at doggie day care, so of course we pointed fingers that she had picked something up from another dog. We withheld food for 24 hrs, bland diet of rice and chicken with a spoonful of yoghurt for the probiotics, antacid pills, 4 trips to the vet over a 4 week period which consisted of a course of Flagal, no success, dewormed - even though nothing was found in the numerous poop samples taken, blood tests - came back negative, x-ray - showed no blockages or problems, and then a course of Tylen Powder. Our vet was at a loss as to what was causing the problem and said that if the last course of antibiotics did not have any affect she would refer us to a specialist. Through all this Rosie has been her usual fun loving self, no changes in coat, not lethargic and continued to drink her water. Only had an accident in the house on the first day, so she was still able to hold it. The Tylen powder after a few days started to work with poop becoming a better consistency. I finally sighed a breath of relief. We finished the antibiotics on Sept 3 and upto yesterday we had almost 2 weeks of normal poop. (never the normal to Rosie standards but it was no longer a concern) And then yesterday we had an accident in the house and her poop is back to diarrhea / soft mucus poop. I figured I would reach out to the wealth of knowledge on this site before calling the vet on Monday. In the meantime we are back to a bland diet, this time I'm adding a spoonful of pumpkin to the mix.

Any suggestions I would be very grateful. I have never talked so much about my dogs poop :)
 
Only a guess but sounds like a food allergy. I have heard of dogs being allergic to chicken even. I also go to canned pumpkin for upset tummy issues instead of chicken and rice or rice with chicken flavored broth. I know a bunch of people here have cavaliers with allergies, I hope someone can offer some great advice.
 
Thanks Melissa. As I slowly introduce her regular food I'm going to switch to a kibble that is for sensitive stomach & that has limited ingredients. I hope that will do the trick.
 
How long was she on the flagyl? I had a similar issue with Bosco as a pup. He had giardia and it took two rounds of flagyl, I believe to solve the problem. Sometimes giardia is not picked up in the stool sample tests. Also, if she poops in your yard, she could be picking it up again. Vet told me to be 100% sure that I did not let him poop in my yard during the treatment.

Hope things improve. I would tie it to the overnight at the kennel. Seems unusual that she would suddenly develop a food allergy, and all of your problems seems to stem from the overnight visit.


I remember living through the on/off again diarrhea with Bosco for over a month, and its' not fun. Similar to Rosie, Bosco would be okay for a few days and then it would start all over again, and his disposition was fine, happy and playful. The second round of flagyl did the trick for him. Hope Rosie is feeling better soon.


Joan
 
I agree with Joan, I had a dog that had a bad case of on and off diarrhea. We treated him with flagyl and had his giardia test come back negative. However he still had poop issues. I really felt giardia was his problem so we had to retreat him with panacur which was the magic cure for him. I also add probiotics to his food.
 
Thanks ladies for the input.
When this first started in August Rosie was on flagyl for 1 week & then the stronger antibiotic for another week. I am slowly removing her old kibble & introducing the new with some canned pumpkin & she still is on a little rice & boiled chicken. Something is working as she is starting to bind. It's not perfect but its a start. I've noticed she is licking her paws more than normal. Is this something I should be concerned about? She is my first dog ever! Can't believe I waited so long too have so much love in my life and now I've become an over anxious mum. With so much to learn about this breed.
 
Licking paws is a sign of allergy. It could be food. It could be ragweed and grass pollen. You may have won the lottery and had both as the allergen.

For the diarrhea, try changing the food. First, though, look at her treats and chew toys. Bully sticks gave our Sophie some very soft poops until her system was matured. If your dog has the Nylabone chew toys, remove them. Those were what caused our Sophie's horrendous diarrhea outbreaks. She ingested bits of that nylon and they caused all sorts of irritation and diarrhea. Once I took those away, we had no more problems.
 
Allergies and many other things can cause dogs to lick their paws. If this is a regular behaviour, then it should be checked by your vet as well. Something caught in or on the paw, pain due to some other problem, boredom or anxiety, dry skin or some other skin complaint... loads of things can be at the base of this. Four of my 5 cavaliers lick(ed) their paws, none has any allergies, but some do have CM/SM; two fully clear for SM (at 5 and 9, by MRI, with very mild CM in both) also lick(ed) their paws. No allergies, perhaps became an OCD behaviour. One of those two, at age 10, has myoclonus, a neurological issue of unknown cause that seems pretty common in older cavaliers especially; perhaps that is related to the fact that he started licking his paws about the same time.

In short, it should be checked for any obvious source, but none may be found. In most dogs it will not cause any physical problems but may discolour white fur to pinkish/red from organisms that grow on the dampness. In some dogs, it can create raw hotspots.

My partners' alsatian also paw-licks; most likely part of a breed predisposed (like cavaliers) to OCD behaviours and hotspots as he has no allergies but also has a hotspot he licks at.
 
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