Hi everyone

We got our 12 month old collie cross rescue dog about 4 weeks ago.  For the first week he had awfull diahorrea constantly - we rang the home to see what food he'd been on, whether he'd had any problems before etc and they kept saying it was because of the stress of him being in a new home (even though he seemed very settled).  We took him to the vet after a week and he had an injection and a weeks worth of tablets (not sure what) which cured him straight away and for a week he was fine.  Now he just seems to go from being fine for a few days to having complete slop (sorry!) again for a few days.

We are feeding him James Wellbeloved dry complete food, half in the morning and half at night and hardly any treats.  I have been giving him a scrambled egg for a few days with his dinner as someone recommended this but don't know if it's right?  The only treats he has are very occasional dry bisuits broken up very small and the hyde bones.  I got him a Kong about 10 days ago and put some of the Kong treat biscuits in there but don't know if such a small amount could be responsible?  I've taken that off him today just in case. 

Are there tests you can do for food allergies for dogs?  We didn't get his poo tested at the vets last time but maybe we should have?  If it is a bug I would have thought it would have been constant rather than on / off.  Even when he did a proper poo on Monday though he then did a bit of runny afterwards.

My other problem which I have posted in visitors questions is he has really bad travel sickness and is sick every time we take him even on a short journey - I don't know if the two could be linked?  Also this means taking him to the vet is a trauma for him and us.

Any advice much appreciated, I haven't had a dog before and seem to have jumped in at the deep end with Max!

Hi Bagel

Although JWB is a good food, from other discussions on here it doesn't agree with a lot of dogs.

I would swap him over to a lamb and rice food, Nutro is readily available at most pet shops for a start.  Put a spoonful of live Bio yogurt in with it, this can sometimes settle the tum.

I would leave the hide chews and biscuits for a while too, just until you get his tummy settled.

I have been reading the thread on the car sickness, It sounds like he may of had a horrible experience in a car before you rescued him.  Other people have posted some good advice on getting him over it, but it may take time.  It will be a case of letting him know good things happen when you go out in the car, like a walk in park, or to visit someone he likes.

Unfortunately with a rescue we do not know what horrors he may have come across in his previous life.

Take it slowly and I am sure you will see an improvement.

Sandra

http://www.animal-allergy.co.uk/

I would stay away from eggs and any dairy products.

Has the vet done a faecal test for Giardia, E-coli, salmonella, cocciodosis, campylobacter etc

in the interim try Tree Bark Powder from Dorwest herbs, excellent for this condition, soothes the gut, you can put this in bio yoghurt (the only dairy product you can use) and it should help enormously whilst you are awaiting any test results.

HTH

Thanks for the advice - the allergy test looks like it would definitely be worth doing, the only thing is there is no price and when I rung up she said it depends on the vet so I imagine it will be expensive. I will have to ask the vet.  It's really annoying because we can't claim for anything to do with this on our pet insurance I don't think as we had already taken him to the vet for his diahorrea the first week we had him.

It's the same with the food, we bought a huge sack of pedigree chum dry food before we swapped to JWB thinking it might be due to his food, then loads of treats which we now can't give him etc etc.  I probably sound awfull and I do want to do everything I can to make him well but I have to say it's all getting me down at the moment and the hundreds of pounds I've spent already isn't helping.  :-(

Maybe the first step is to take a sample to the vet for analysis which I probably should have had done in the first place, and then look into the allergy test.  As a start I'm going to go and get some bio yoghurt now. :-)

You mention phoning the home after a week to find out what food he was on, does this mean you started him on something else when you got him home at first?  This may be the root of the problem rather than an allergy at all.  When changing foods it is generally best achieved very slowly over a fortnight or so starting with a very small amount of the new food and gradually increasing the ratio.  If this was not done, together with the stress and change of water, many dogs would develop loose bowels for a spell, then if I am reading the messages correctly you have changed to another food since making a total of three different foods during between you and the home over this period.
I would be inclined to starve for 24 hours with just plenty of water, a further 24-48 hours on fish or chicken and rice and a teaspoon of live yoghurt twice a day before returning to half and half fish/chicken mixed with, ideally, the homes choice of food.  If that works I would let things settle and for a few weeks before changing to whatever you plan to feed long term if you do not wish to continue with the homes choice of food.
Of course if this does not work you could go down the road of looking at allergies but if I am reading it correctly about the sudden change of diet I think it well worth looking at that in the first instance.

Nutro contains egg and chicken fat in addition to the rice and lamb, these could both be a problem if the dog can't tolerate them ;)

Burns lamb and rice/venison and rice both come in smaller bags as well as sacks so its possible to try it without commiting a large sum of money ;) and it doesn't contain any dairy or chicken.  They also do a fish version :)

The Bio Yoghurt is always a good place to start :)

As money is a consideration, before allergy testing I would try eliminating likely foods and treats from his diet, this may in itself be all that you need to do.  Some food intolerances don't show up in allergy testing unless you specifically test for them ;)

Worst and most common culprits are
Wheat(also barley and rye), Eggs, Milk/cheese, Corn/maize  There are others but these seem to get in everything ;)

The rescue place he came from said that they feed different foods all the time as it depends what they get donated.  They also said they hadn't known him to have diahorrea whilst he was there, but I wasn't impressed with the place at all so don't know whether I believe this or not.  He is 12 months old, had been in the home from birth, and been adopted and taken back twice before we got him (now we know why :-) ).  He is absolutely brilliant temperament and the home said the reason for him being taken back was he wasn't toilet trained (he is more or less and does quite well but the poor thing can't hold it in when it's liquid) which makes you think it was the diahorrea / travel sickness is why he really went back.  I would never send him back there and really want to sort this out.

So you're probably right that all the different types of food he's had won't have helped at all, although he's been on the JWB now for nearly 4 weeks so he has had time to get used to it.

I've been reading loads of posts on here and looking into the different foods and had narrowed it down to the Naturediet or Burns - Thanks for the advice on allergies Dill :-) that helped me to make up my mind to try the Burns. 

Do you think that I should mix a little bit in with the JWB food to get him used to it over a week?  He really loves his food and isn't a fussy eater at all but it may be better for his tummy?  Will it be okay to put the yoghurt on straight away and how much should I give?  (he's about 20kg)

I'm so glad I discovered this site I've got some excellent advice!  :-)

Just buy small sacks to try for now.  The treats etc. won't go to waste, just leave them out until you have his tummy settled.

With your insurance, I would not have thought diahorrea would be excluded as dogs can often get that and have to go to the vet.  It is not usually a sign of an on going serious illness.  Speak to your vet about it when you see them.

You can start using the yoghurt right away. About two teaspoons on each meal should be enough but it really doesn't matter if its a little more as it shouldn't do any real harm. As he's been havng JWB for 4 weeks you should probably change him over gradually to avois exacerbating the problems with his tummy. I find NatureDiet very good and my dogs love it but I find it a bit expensive to feed it alone (I have two large dogs) so I mix a little with their dry food, decreasing the amount of dry food slightly. Also, if the dogs have had an upset tum, I would just give them Naturediet for a few meals until it has settled as it seems to be gentle on delicate stomachs.

Good luck with your little boy. It's nice that he has found someone that is willing to stick with him and help him overcome his problems :)

"I would not have thought diahorrea would be excluded as dogs can often get that and have to go to the vet.  It is not usually a sign of an on going serious illness"

Sandrah,

Diarrhoea (constant or intermittant) which goes on for more than a few days is a sign of many ongoing serious ilnesses and a fair few not so serious ones which I will not detail here.  It should never be ignored, especially if it has gone on for weeks/months.  At the very least constant diarrhoea can cause mineral salt deficiencies over time which can prove dangerous.

Bagel,
Are there any other signs? eg. gas (either end) smell (bad or otherwise) colour etc.  Sorry to get all graphic but these things can help the vet diagnose the problem ;)
Just read your first post again, in your case I would cut out the biscuit treats, they are most likely wheat based and could be causing it, the hide treats also won't be doing any good ;) This is something you could do immediately and if it works (may take a week or so)then you will have found the root of the problem :)  I would still add the Yoghurt tho as it will help speed up recovery. 

Let us know how you get on

Regards
Dill

Well I have dogs that get it from time to time, for several different reasons which are not serious.  I was just pointing out it may not be something that would exclude future claims on the posters insurance.

At no point did I say it should be ignored.

I'd go for raw feeding. No need to do it gradually and immediate results. My GSD had many health problems before switching including loose bowels,now she has no health problems and nice firm poops. 

Thanks again for the advice everyone :-)

I got the bio yoghurt yesterday and gave him some last night and just now.  I was going to get the Burns food but unfortunately they don't stock it near me so have gone for the Naturediet as also recommended on here. Also the Naturediet doesn't have oats in - I don't know if this could be an allergy but there are oats in the JWB I've been giving him and also in the Burns so is worth a try at cutting it out.  I have also stopped all treats as of yesterday (poor Max!!).  So I will just give him the Naturediet for the next few days and see how it goes....

Dill - the diahorrea is really foul smelling (lovely first thing on a morning eh?!) pale orangey colour and sometimes has a bit of consistency with also some liquid.  Do you think that we should take a sample to the vet to have it checked or wait and see if the food clears it up first?

As a first time dog owner and vegetarian I'm a bit nervous about going for a raw diet as in knowing what to buy, quantities etc but it's definitely something to think about, I will see how the new food goes first.

Bagel,

One thing you could investigate is wheat/gluten intolerance (in humans known as Coeliac disease)  most dog foods including JWB contain wheat and/or gluten (found in wheat, barley, rye and products containing or contaminated with them) to learn more about it try this link

http://www.coeliac.co.uk/  Click on medical information and you will find out all about it.  

There is a blood test for it but it isn't 100% accurate, however if this is what it is the diet will sort it out (and naturediet should be safe :) )  You would be wise to check with the vet to eliminate things like campylobacter etc. if you haven't already done it first tho as they need different treatment.

SOLID POO!!!!!  Just had to share the wonderful news!!  Thank you everyone for the advice :-)  :-)

I hate to speak too soon but after two days on the bio yoghurt, naturediet and naturediet gold with no treats he hasn't gone in the house at all and his poo is solid, small and hardly smells. :-)  I am so happy :-)

Thanks for the info - I think maybe he is coeliac, I would never have thought of that but the only difference in the foods really is the oats so it would make sense.  Also reading up on that website he does have the symptoms - he looks malnourisded even though we've been feeding him more than recommended and is often lethargic, which for a collie / springer cross I'm told is not right!  I will keep him on this food for a few weeks now without the yoghurt to monitor, I so hope that's what it is just so we know what we're dealing with.

I'm just going to start another post with some questions I have about his food :-)

So glad things are working for him :D

If he is Coeliac then he'll also start feeling a lot better too :D

Hi there, have only just found this site and wanted to ask if you solved the problem with your dog because wheatgrass juice is also VERY good for them. There is Shirley's wellness cafe site that you could look up for tips and advice; it is very good.

The thread is nearly 4.5 years old!!!