Rescue puppy has loose stools....

[AxelRose]

Hello Everyone. I am from Brampton Ontario Canada. I recently rescued a 8 week old male dobe puppy from a lady in Caledon East, Ontario. The pup was very thin, lame in the hind end and dehydrated. Nobody wanted him nor wanted to take to the vet. I took him and brought him to vet. He had a compressed growth plate. He is doing much better now, not lame, but does look weak in hind end with standing still.
He is now 12 weeks old, doing well eating, drinking, playing, learning,etc., but he still has a loose stool problem. LIke soft ice cream...lol. His bowel movements are of normal intervals, but just won't harden up. At one point he ws having normal stool first thing in the mornings then would soften up over the day. THen he got his 2nd shots and then dewormed again and voila...diarreah.
THe vet put him on Metronidazole for 7 days, the poop is now soft (no diarreah), but meds are finished tomorrow and he is not better.
He has been wormed twice that I know of, and checked for worms, parasites, giardia, cocchcidia, etc. He is eating CHicken Canidae.
ANyone have any ideas or can help me before I head back to the vet?
He also sounds plugged up. Vet said as long as he has no discharge from the nasal he is fine.
Your help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks

Axle and Rose

 

[heidi's mom]

well maybe check another stool sample make sure he is all cleared up ... you could feed white rice with food or canned pumpkin which usually helps firm it up some.... . also for the plugged up issue, when you take a hot shower put him in the bathroom with ya, the steam will help.... thanks for rescuing him. he sounds like he is in GOOD hands

 

[Apollo]

it can be the food too. what do you feed ?
I had the same problem with Apollo, he was a healthy happy puppy, but had permanent soft poop. i tried different kind of food, til i found one what works very well. for us its Eukanuba with probiotics. no more soft poop, only if he might eats something what he shouldn't LOL
But i went through few foods. i was feeding very high quality food, like Taste of the wild, but it wasn't working for us.
It might takes some time to find the right onw for your dog and if you change the food, do it very slowly.

 

[MyBuddy]

I diddo Heidi's mom's suggestion of canned Pumpkin and rice. If that doesn't work you may think about changing the food. Has the stool been like this since the day you rescued? And is that the same food you have used since day one? Every dog is different and will react differently to each food. You have to give the food a chance though, and not bounce around too fast or you will never know if its doing him some good. I'd stick with some of the canned (not pie filing) Pumpkin and rice and maybe some cooked boneless chicken and see how it goes. Keep us informed and thank you so much for rescuing this little guy when no one wanted him!!

 

[von Cosack]

Hello and thank you for being a Hero to Dobermanns I personnally wish you & your pup the best!!! MyBuddy suggested real pumpkin and boiled white rice, that works well however the dry kibble needs to be removed from the meals and my formular is one teaspoon of pumpkin, one cup of rice , and one cup of boiled chicken or cooked hamburger (well drained). You need to rework the amounts as the pups needs persist. I've used this diet for 45 years and rarely does it fail, as the stool becomes better formed slowly add the kibble in and back down the rice and meat. It is possible that the kibble just doesn't work on your pup, I don't use a chicken based dry I rather add some chicken two times a week then have it in the meals 100% of the time. The bison or salmon or lamb is a better choice for the number one ingrediant and meat choice. I use PPP Selects Salmon and Br. Rice and my 2 yr. old has done well on it the passed year and a half. Please let us now the results if you try my suggestion and that should be tried for atleast 5 days three meals a day, best to you and your boy. Von.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Can any of you find canned pumpkin???? Around here they say there is a pumpkin shortage and I can't find it....Logan is back with his loose stools too.....

 

[von Cosack]

It's the least needed part of using the rice and chicken or beef. The bottom line is remove the dry. It's possible he doesn't agree with the dry. Did he eat anything different in the last two days than his normal intake? Von.

 

[heidi's mom]

if you cant find canned pumpkin then sqaush baby food is OK to use too, however the jars are small , but it will work too......

 

[MyBuddy]

Can any of you find canned pumpkin????

Ya know, I haven't looked in a while now but I do remember you saying there was a shortage or something a while back. I will have to check it out one day but when ya don't need it, ya forget! :ego:

 

[DLS]

Last Falls Pumpkin harvest in many areas was reduced because of a fungus/virus, too damp when they were maturing.

OP, see if you can find Slippery Elm Bark Powder at a health food or herbal store. 1 teaspoon a day for a pup should work to improve on the stools.

AS mentioned all this could be because of a food allergy. What brand do you feed. ALso check all his teeth, make sure there are no rotten ones or abccessed ones, could be causing the 'stuffed upness'.

Thank you so much for giving this Little Man A fighting chance to be all that he can be......................A DOBERMAN PINSCHER!!!!

Good luck with him, please update us when you can.

 

[MeadowCat]

If your pup was on Metro it's likely that the "good bacteria" in his intestinal system has been depleted. I would strongly recommend adding either a probiotic powder to his food, or giving a small scoop of yogurt with active cultures in it. I also really like a tablespoon or so of oat bran added to the food to firm up stool. Shanoa had a LOT of stomach issues as a baby and both of those things made a huge difference in firming up her stool.

 

[JanS]

Welcome to DCF and thank you for rescuing this boy and nursing him back to health.

In addition to what the others have said, I've heard thousands of complaints from people feeding Canidae after they made a formula change a couple years ago. Those complaints included severe loose stool, upset stomach and vomiting, so I'd definitely try to switch him to something else.

As for the canned pumpkin, I looked today and there isn't a can (of any size) to be found in our store.... Last time I was at least able to get the huge can of it (which I forgot to freeze portions of...), so I guess squash it is now....

 

[AxelRose]

Hi Everyone, thanks for replying so quickly to my dilema. Firstly, Axle was on some store brand food when I picked him up. I changed it to California Natural, but he already had diarreah when I got him. The vet wormed him and put him on Medicam for the pain in hind leg same day, well that didn't go over well...He had extrme diarreah after that and within 2 days I took him off the Medicam...Then he took pepto for 5 days, that helped until the extreme gas started..lol, so we figured he was really backed up. His stool was great first thing in the morning then went soft by afternoon, then I started with the boiled chicken and white rice for 5 days and slowly added kibble (chicken Canidae). Still soft...so vet put him on that Meditonidazole.
Diarreah is gone though....I changed to the Canidaea after the rice mix, becuae I thought maybe he couldnt eat lamb.....Could it be the rawhide too?

 

[DLS]

rawhide...bad stuff.

 

[von Cosack]

No raw hide the majority is now from China not the US brands were any better. The best you can give him is a Raw Beef Knuckle Bone, find a butcher that might sell them the brand stores have soup bones (long marrow bones) that can splinter and cause problems when injested and damage floors if tiles or hard wood. The Raw Knuckles are feed frozen and have meat, fat, marrow and clean and sharpen the dogs teeth for his life time he can take them down to nubs then just throw them out. I've fed these bones for over 50 years with out an incident, remember that ALL BONES must be given RAW, never COOKED!!! The pup needs time to get right! He has all these meds. and food changes so take your time and as long as he's eating and pooping (in any form) he's generally gonna be alright. Go slow try not to add alot of ingrediants at the same time then you won't know whats working and what might be the cause. best to you & the boy. Von

 

[BreesMom]

rawhide...bad stuff.

I would certainly stay away from the rawhide, bad stuff can cause the runs and gas, and cause alot of serious problems!! Good luck and I think it is great you are giving this pup the loving home he so deserves!!!

 

[MeadowCat]

I would recommend while you're trying to settle his system down that you don't give any treats or chews right now. Just get him stabilized so you can see if he can tolerate the food or not. Right now there are too many variables to figure out what's causing the upset. Give him just his kibble, add in a little bit of probiotics and oat bran, and I think you'll get him stable. If you're training just use kibble for training. I'd give it at LEAST a week with nothing else at all added into his diet, and then see where you're at.

Believe me, I feel your pain. Shanoa had extreme stomach problems as a pup - I've been through this.

 

[AxelRose]

Hello All,
Well, I can not figure out what to give him to chew while in the house....He can be a tyrant! The rawhide is the only thing that settles him down..He is extremely mouthy....with his teeth on everything, and on my other dog. If u scold him he barks back and will usually jump at you and bite..He gets pretty extreme and won't settle down. Nothing seems to settle his chewing habit but rawhide. This is a major problem. So what do I do?

I will try the oat bran. Done the yogart too.

 

[Apollo]

Hello All,
Well, I can not figure out what to give him to chew while in the house....He can be a tyrant! The rawhide is the only thing that settles him down..He is extremely mouthy....with his teeth on everything, and on my other dog. If u scold him he barks back and will usually jump at you and bite..He gets pretty extreme and won't settle down. Nothing seems to settle his chewing habit but rawhide. This is a major problem. So what do I do?

I will try the oat bran. Done the yogart too.

go to your supermarket, buy some beef rib bones, cut them and freez then and everytime you wanna keep him busy, give him one
raw frozen bones are the best to keep a puppy busy and happy or try to get the knuckle bones. but no rawhide, those pieces can get stuck in the throught, not good at all.

 

[DLS]

Oh, he sounds like a dominant little Man. I would try a raw bone and see if he likes to chew on them. All pups are mouthy, chewy, while teething, your guy must be starting to teeth.

BUT, no matter what, I would NOT give him anymore rawhide chews, so many dogs have gotten them 'stuck' in there intestines and had to be operated on to remove it.

Look into deer and elk antler chews. They do last a long, long, long time! great chewy for dogs!!!