I have a 10 week old Westie baby.

Since we got him home he has had loose,mucousy stools with occasional blood. It wasn't all the time, mainly last thing at night/first thing in the morning. The rest of the time it was best described as thick toothpaste (lovely lol)

He is also quite itchy and seems to be showing signs of skin problems. Little dry,flaky patch on ears/face/one paw.

He's had all his vaccinations and the vet has asked for me to put him on a chicken and rice diet for 4 days. Started this Wed lunchtime, and if anything the poop is worse. Looks like scrambled egg all the time now. Have been advised to swap the chicken for boiled egg, so am going to try this from the next meal.

I've been told that Westies need to be fed low protein food so my concern/query is that his previous food (Royal Canin) and now the fresh chicken are quite high in protein - could this be why it's not settling and also attributing to the itchy skin???

I don't want to go against vets advice, but he didn't seem convinced by the whole westie/low protein thing.

Can anyone help, I don't want a poopy/itchy puppy who, for the record, is as bright as a button and otherwise perfectly ok :-)

Many thanks

I would ask the vet to run faecal tests for parasites as well as giardia and campylobacter for the stool problem. Itchiness at such a young age is quite alarming, expecially as Westies are prone to skin troubles. Where did you get him from?

He's back at the vets next week so if it hasn't settled I will ask for checks, thanks.

He was a birthday present from my husband, who bought him from a local breeder. He presumed that as his (the dogs) parents are KC reg that she must be reputable? He saw mum,who seemed healthy and breeder told him she's never had a dog with skin problems (he asked as he knew Westies were prone to skin issues)

He isn't raw or anything, just a bit itchy round his face and ears. Vet said if he was any other breed he'd not be concerned, but due to him being a Westie he wants to keep an eye on it.

Has he been wormed regularly with a good quality wormer? (Some of the cheaper pet shops ones aren't always effective.) That would be my first query. If his stomach doesn't settle, cut out the rice as not all dogs get better from it, I have one who absolutely cannot tolerate rice. But also follow Jeangenie's advice.

I'd be concerned with flaky skin in one so young but would worry more about mites rather than allergies at this age -maybe ask the vet to check a skin scraping under the microscope?

KC registration is only like car registration, it doesn't guarantee anything, and I would be a bit concerned about any breeder allowing a pup to be bought as a present (assuming it was a surprise?) as good breeders will want to meet and question the entire family before deciding whether to let them have a pup or not.

Thanks Goldmali. He was wormed with Milbemax from the vet at 8 weeks.

I didn't know that about rice, so will bear that in mind, thanks

He was a surprise present, but I was taken to meet him at the breeders as he wasn't allowed to leave his mum for another week when I saw him. She seemed genuine, but I guess you never know do you. I must admit, my husband is now concerned he's landed us with a problem, though thankfully he's insured.

I wouldn't dream of parting with him now, but want him to be right and it does worry me that he has these issues so young :-(

I realise the problem had already started when you first brought him home, but whatwas the breeder feeding him, and did you stick to the same for the first couple of weeks? Changing home environment, food and water all at the same time is quite a challenge for a baby pup's digestion, then having a vaccination on top. Were his stools all right when he was vaccinated?

The breeder was feeding him Royal Canin which we stuck with. The vet did initially say it could be settling in but now, almost 3 weeks on, he says not. His stools weren't right when he was vaccinated, no.

He shouldn't have been vaccinated if he wasn't in top notch health as vacs really upset the pups system and don't need to cope on top of other problems, loose/bloody stools and itchy flaky skin.

Three weeks is a long time for a pups gut to not be working properly,stool samples should have been analysed rather than guessing at the problem.

He may need some probiotics to help get some good bacteria into his gut

boiled potato and fish is a  good alternative to rice to rice and chicken

I have also used canned pumpkin as an alternative to rice. Although I don't like doing this with young puppies, one possible solution would be to fast him for 8-12 hours to give his stomach a chance to sort itself out then start on food again slowly by giving very small portions of something easy on the stomach (we use a tablespoon of canned pumpkin or yogurt) frequently throughout the day. Would really only do this as a last-resort though.

Westies are very prone to skin problems and had this not been going on for so long, I would have said it was simply adjusting to the new home. Breeders can be lovely people with wonderful dogs, but still not be honest about health problems in their lines. Due to the fact that Westies are so prone to allergies and skin problems, I would be very cautious with a breeder who says her dogs have never had any skin issues. KC registration is also not a guarantee of health and good breeding, unfortunately.

Might be a good idea to try giving the puppy a bath using a soothing shampoo like oatmeal to see if that helps resolve some of the itching. Does the puppy show any signs of saliva or tear staining anywhere that could be indicative of runny eyes or allergy-related licking?

My first dog was a rescue with similar issues. Unfortunately it took expensive allergy shots to sort his problems out, but let's hope you can find a solution without having to resort to that!

I also expect that good breeders along with selection for good skin would minimise likely problems with skin, no deodorising sprays, careful with cleaning/washing products, food ingredients more likely to cause allergies etc.

It's like me saying I have never owned a dog that was ever lame (thus far) or had allergies, but I know of at least one of the ones I bred that had a serious issue with one arthritic pastern (he was kennelled and a jumper, so most likely started by an injury), and another who went through the first year with severe hay fever type reactions causing her eyelids to swell, and causing an eye ulcer and scarring of the lid.  Thankfully she grew out of it, and it did seem to be linked to her puppy vaccinations, or at least it started then.

In both cases I have owned either a sibling (obviously a parent) or half siblings of both parents in the case of the allergic one.

Some owners keep in contact, especially if they are also in our doggy show world, but others may never let the breeder know.

Most breeders will only own say 10% of the dogs they have bred.

Westies are very prone to skin problems

I would agree with you if they are pet bred Westies.  Breeders breeding to keep one for themselves and who keep a number of Westies to show, don't want problems or big Vet bills themselves and so producing healthy pups is a priority.  If they're showing, bad skin would keep them out of the ring, an expensive hobby these days and so again not what they'd want.

Good course Westie coats tend to have good skin and few problems.  I would tell my clients to look for pups with blue/black not pink skin.  These would have good skin and course coats that I could easliy hand strip.

All of the Westies that I saw with skin problems were pet bred, had soft coats and pink skin when I first saw them at 12 weeks and were not good examples of the breed.

Those with skin problems could sometimes be helped with either raw feeding or Wafcol Salmon and Rice of Vegetarian in that order.

Good posts Brainless and West Coast, still wish there was a like button! ;-)

Hope your pup is sorted soon x

Thank you everyone for your advice/input.

He was back at the vet last week. Still have a problem with sloppy stools (not so much in the way of blood now). Have got him on Burns food at the moment and initially he seemed to be improving (slightly) on that, although today we have gone back to quite runny productions :( The vet advised keeping him on a particular food for at least 2 weeks to see if it changes things. I can see the sense in not changing it every 5 minutes. The vet is sure that he doesn't have any kind of infection (temp normal and he is otherwise a typical, mental 11 week old puppy) and feels it is dietary. He thinks it's going to be just a case of finding a food that "agrees" with him. He's also on a probiotic (Yumpro I think it's called)

Re the skin - he's still quite itchy and has quite flaky skin on his chest. I'm brushing him every day with a slicker brush (is that the right thing to be doing?) He doesn't have any red or sore looking patches. The vet did comment last week that he has a very coarse under coat.

We're back for a progress check next week with the vet.  Just wish we could get to the bottom (no pun intended) of his poopy problems

A slicker brush has fairly sharp bristles and might irritate the skin more. Personally, I prefer using horse hair/boar brushes on my terriers to stimulate the skin and coat. The one that I swear by is the Chris Christensen ionic brass/boar brush but I'm not sure if they sell it outside of the states. Basically, you want something that will be able to stimulate the skin without irritating it like wire bristles would.

> The one that I swear by is the Chris Christensen ionic brass/boar brush but I'm not sure if they sell it outside of the states.

You can get these in this country at Hubint.

Hi, we have had a similar problem with one of our youngsters, different breed though. Stools very sloppy with blood, itchy feet etc. After feacal samples, diet trials, antibiotics, probiotics and short stay at the RVC with an endoscopy with nothing abnormal found it was thought it was some kind of allergy and started food trails. As a last resort, this had then been going on for almost 5 months, (tried everythingelse)we started feeding Hills Z/D. It's a hydrolysed diet, basically the protein is smashed into tiny pieces. It is used for dogs with allergies. Although this type of food wouldnt be my first choice (prefer to feed raw) it seems to be settling things down. From my experience food trials do take a number of weeks but if things deteriorate or there is no improvement at all within the first 7 days then it's likely that particular diet doesn't suit. If your vet has suggested it could be dietary I wonder if this food may help. My youngster has turned the corner by eating it. Good luck.

A slicker is fine for working through any matts but I'd be using a medium comb on a well groomed Westie which will go through the top coat and help to remove any dead undercoat, which will help the skin.
A Westie should have a soft undercoat but a coarse top coat which is a weatherproof coat to keep them warm and dry.  A soft topcoat attracts dirt, wet and debris so that they come back from outside looking like a compost heap.  Clipping removes this harsh top coat which is why they should be stripped and not clipped.

I am a Westie owner and haven't heard the advice of sticking to a low protein diet before. What we keep an eye out for to avoid in the ingredients of treats and food is lots of cereals like maize or wheat. I wonder if you are feeding him any treats on top of his normal food that could be bothering him?  Our older Westie can't tolerate any of the Pedigree treats for instance.
We fed our older Westie James Wellbeloved for a long time believing it to be a good choice as it is marketed as being hypoallergenic. However, he still frequently had stomach upsets on it. Since changing to a raw food diet (so definitely not low protein) his skin and coat is better than ever, and not a single stomach upset in a couple of years.

Bit of an update. Wes has still been very up and down with his stools. Saw the vet on Mon and he says he is still convinced that it's dietary and feels exhaustive tests would be a waste of time and money as apart from the stools he is otherwise totally well and puppy like. The vet has put him on the Hills Z/D in an effort to prove the dietary theory. He's only on it for 3 weeks to start with as it's not really a "puppy" food but the vet just wants to see if it makes a difference. I have to say, we are on Day 4 and already things are improving!! No blood so far today and the consistency is much, much better. Not solid yet, more like toothpaste (sorry if tmi) but don't know if that's "normal" for puppies??

As regards treats, he's never really had them - we just treat him with whatever he's being fed at the time in an effort not to overload his tummy.

I'm hopeful the Z/D is going to help him and the vet does feel that it's something he'll grow out of. My only thought at the moment is: If the Z/D works for him, then what do we do in the remaining puppy months as the vet did say the Z/D doesn't really have the right minerals/vitamins for a growing dog?

What are the ingredients of the ZD, if ti agrees with him then try to find a food that mimics ti.  Most puppy foods seem to be chicken based so I'd still try the Fish4dogs puppy (fish and Potato) assuming he is fine with fish.

With tinned foods I have always found Original Chappie brilliant for looseness including in puppies (also dogs with Pancreatitis).  It's fish based, though does have cereal.

Most puppy foods seem to be chicken based so I'd still try the Fish4dogs puppy (fish and Potato) assuming he is fine with fish.

Absolutely which is why Wafcol Salmon and Rice is often successful. :)

The z/d is a hydrolysed diet which means the protein is smashed into tiny pieces to avoid the body recognising it and having a reaction. The protein source of the ZD is chicken livers. We have been using this diet with our 10 month old for almost a month now and the difference is remarkable. We tried so many other routes before using this and really thought we would lose her if we couldn't find answers soon. All I can say is if it works, then carry on for the time being. We are hopeful our little girl will eventually grow out of the problem too. I hope it continues to work.