4.5 yrs old and weekly Diarrhea

Our dog is 4.5 years old, but we got her just 1 year ago when she was 3.5 years old.


We always feed her Royal Canin Breed for Cavalier, 45-50 g. 7.30 in the morning and evening. We also give her other dog treats like Dentastix, dried chicken strips, and small pieces of bread and cooked meats. She poops two times a day, in the morning and in the evening. She always does her business when we take her out for a walk, no incident in the house.


She's been perfectly healthy until about a month ago. Around the end of August, she has diarrhea in the middle of night around 3 o'clock. They are all liquid and a couple of time more later in the day. The vet injected her antibiotic, along with antibiotic pills and probiotic supplement. The vet also put her on Royal Canin Veterinary Diet - Gastro Intestinal. We have done all the blood test and stool test. The results come out normal.


Everything was fine for about 2 weeks and then the diarrhea comes back on weekly basis, very soft stool, not liquid. One around 11 o'clock in the morning and another around 6 o'clock in the morning. After the second time, we took her back to the vet, and had an ecography with a specialized vet which said everything was fine. The little problem is that her bowel moves slower than usual.


Then, last night, she had a diarrhea again around 5.30 in the morning. We are just lucky that we don't have carpet to clean. She doesn't even cry to wake us up, but the smell is so terrible that we have to wake up.


It's really frustrating since I have been reading other diarrhea threads and try our best to follow the suggestions. We always take her out on a leash, and watch her like a hawk to not let her pick something on the street. She always stays inside the house, follows us around. We stop giving her any treats and human food. The only treat she has is a spoon of her own Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal at lunch. She has a probiotic supplement every morning with Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal.


The questions are:
- Why does the diarrhea happen in the wee hours, long after she eats?
- If it is food allergies, why has it never happen before until last month? She always eats the same food.
- If it is a bacteria or bug, how to treat it permanently?


Thanks

Hi Xandra:

How frustrating -- I am sure a few people will have various suggestions.

The first note I'd make is that many of these things -- allergies, sensitivities, irritable bowel disease -- develop over time (in people too -- I got some allergies in my mid 20s for example).

It also sounds like she is getting a lot of mixed things to eat, some kind of odd and some known to cause allergies in many dogs. For example, the dental chews, in my own dogs, cause bad diarrhoea of themselves, so I don't give them. They are highly artificial. Bread had wheat and other grains-- which often cause allergies and stomach upset in dogs, and I'd totally cut out bread as dogs do not benefit from it at all. Many store-bought dog treats also have a lot of additives and are grain-based. Chicken is one of the meats most likely to cause allergic reactions/stomach sensitivities. Also, what are the 'cooked meats'? Fatty meat, pieces of cut off fat, and skin can cause serious problems for some cavaliers, including precipitating bouts of pancreatitis that can be life-threatening. The breed also has a very high rate of chronic pancreatitis and that can be aggravated by diet. See: http://www.cavalierhealth.org/pancreatitis.htm

Sometimes a diet just starts to disagree with a dog.

I'd cut out all the treats, for a start. You might also consider trying a commercially prepared raw diet, as many dogs and cats have IBD problems resolved very quickly on raw diets (I have a cat that had IBD for years and it was totally resolved in 24 hours when I loved her to a commercial raw). Personally, I try to avoid all-kibble diets, but also have to be careful with treats. I try to stick with fresh fruit/veg as treats or natural treats like dried tripe. NB some imported (from China) dried chicken has been found to be contaminated too so I'd be very careful not to use imports from China (many 'domestic' brands actually use imported meat).

Elimination diets to test for allergies/sensitivities have to be done carefully, generally with vet supervision, and take time. I have posted info on allergies etc in the Health Library section.

That's quite a few places from which to start; others I am sure will have ideas.

Thank you very much for your suggestions Karlin!


I'm very strict about her diets, and feed her treats like apple and carrot, but it is not easy to control those around me.


My husband and I live in an apartment above his parents'. When we go to work, the dog stays with them. My husband family owned a very tough Dalmatian before. They fed the Dalmatian many human food, along with his usual food (rice and meat). He stayed slim and never had any severe bowel problems. I tried to convince them that Cavalier is much more delicate than a Dalmatian, and they shouldn't give any human food to the dog, but to no avail. They keep feeding the dog variety of food and tell me not to worry since the dog seems fine. However, they listened to me now.


About cooked meat, they are grilled chicken breast, grilled lean beef steak, or fish. At least, my in-laws understand about potential heart problem, and agree to not feed her anything with fat or skin.


I bought dried chicken from a big online store for pets, based in Germany, but they sell all over Europe. I'm not sure whether they are imported of not.


I have read about Pancreatitis before, but she vomitted less than once a month, more like once every 2-3 months. Now, she vomits only after diarrhea. She has never lost appetite. She finishs her 45g kibble within 30 seconds. The ultrasound specialist didn't find any wrong. However, next time, we will ask our vet more about it.


Now, we feed her only Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal with a probiotic supplement, without any treats at all. So far, She doesn't have diarrhea in the middle of night, just loose stools sometimes when we take her out.


Next week, I will start giving her cooked carrot as a treat. Then, we will start to increase fruit and veggie into her diet while lower the amount of kibble. No more commercial treats for her!