I have a 9 month boxer dog called Guinness.  His stomach has always been on the sensitive side, we used to feed him Arden Grangem puppy food. His motions were very loose so we took him to the vet and he got sulfasalazine (anti-inflammatories) tablets and were told to feed him cooked chicken and rice until his stomach settles.  That was a month ago and we are still feeding chicken and rice and after some research are slowing adding in some Burns active (recommended by the Burns helpline). 

Today the diarrhoea has returned and its very watery with mucos and small traces of blood.  He has also vomited up some rice and bile.  I cant understand why this should happen, he was doing so well and does not get any treats so he is not geting anything different.
Naturally im very concerned as he is very underweight, his ribs, spine and hip bones are prominent.  I am fasting him tonight and keeping him warm and quiet, he seems so miserable.

Should i take him back to the vet?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Yes please.  Take him back to the vet.  You really don't want him to get dehydrated and this obviously isn't a simple problem to rectify but would benefit from veterinary intervention.

Hi, I have the same problem we also have got a boxer he`s 3 months old he`s has very loose stools with blood in ,the vet took samples of his stools and we had his results back today and he has been diagnosed with salmonella ,this will be his 3rd lot of antibiotics since  we have had him . good luck with your boxer hope this helps you  thanks joanne

Hi,

one of my relative's, whos a boxer breeder, one of her dogs has something like this.He was being sick, with traces of blood,diarrhoea with traces of blood and also his mouth bleed as well.

The vet put him on a healthy diet of chicken/rabbit/tuna with BETA dog food.This seemed to work and after a week or so, he was fit and healthy again. Keep a close eye on him, make sure hes warm and has plenty of clean, fresh water. I would advise you to keep visitng the Vet once or twice every fortnight even if hes getting better for regular checkups.

Hope your pup gets better!

Hi
I have a 4 and a half month old alaskan malamute who swallowed a large stone and a piece of plastic all in one day, they passed through her and she bleed and then had constant runs very watery and mucusey took her to vets straight away and he said the foreign bodies had caused a lot of trauma to her intestines she had  xrays and blood and poo samples done all comeing back clear, x rays showed a lot of swelling and fluid in her tummy so was put on antibiotics for 2 weeks.  she was als  starved for 24 hours and put onto chicken and rice for a few days and then hills pd tin food and complete which was prescribed from the vet This all went on for weeks She didnt loss any weight but put hardly any on which for a puppy growing so fast was not right. she was on the prescribed food for a bout 4 weeks before we attempted to take her of the prescription to give her insides time to recover, and even now she tends to be a bit runny so i feel she'll  probably always have a sensitive belly now.  But shes back up to her natural weight and looking good and is now on science plan which she tolerates really well (thank god ) it was a very worrying time for us but with the help from our vet we got through it. you should deffinetly take him back to the vets as you never no what could be happening he could have a blockage or anything. good luck and hope he gets better soon:)  

Hi there, it could be a condition called Colitis. Boxers are unfortunately quite prone to this condtion and my own Boxer suffers from it. Thankfully through a good quality diet I am able to keep it under control. Colitis is a symptom of an underlying cause - most probably food based, bacterial, or stress.
Maize, wheat, barley, oats, rice, rye, soya, beef, chicken, dairy , gluten, artificial colourings, flavourings, preservatives and additives are all culprits for triggering intolerances.
My advice would be to go for a total hypoallergenic diet and give the dog absolutely no treats, titbits, table scraps, dog chews, nothing of any kind for at least a 2 month period.

My vet recommended Wafcol Salmon and Potato as it is one of a very few dog foods that doesn't contain a grain that triggers colitis. My boy did brillliant on this and his colitis cleared up.
Kind regards, Clare

Hi everyone and many thanks for your suggestions.
Im just back from the vets with Guinness and he seems to think it could be pancreatic insufficiency/malabsorbtion.  bloods were taken so now i have an aggonising wait for the results.  I thought that it was colitis too as i have been through this with my boxer bitch and the symptoms seem similar.
Guinness still has very watery diarrhoea tonight, the vet says i have to stick with chicken and rice meantime.
I dont really know much about pancreatic insufficiency so i better do some home work!  Does anybody out there have a dog that suffers from this condtion?

Thanks again

Gillian

Sorry to hear about your dog Gillian, I have a dog with EPI (exorcrine pancreatic insuffiency). She was diagnosed in June after suffering for months with what the vet kept saying was colitis. Only when I insisted tests were done was it finally discovered :( not the outcome I expected but knew it wasn't just colitis. Anyway, a good site to join is K9-EPIGLOBAL, there is lots and lots of info and if I can help in anyway, please feel free to pm or email me. Maddie also has a lot of food intolerances so its very hard finding the right balance, just too much to go into and wouldn't want to bore anyone with details, but if I can help I will.

My bitch has EPI and I feed her on Burns which is very digestible with very low fat content.  Before she was diagnosed she was always really hungry, ate well but her poo was very soft, lots of it and yellow in colour.  Don't worry if its EPI with the powder on the food and fed 2 or 3 times a day the weight should be put back on.

Hi Jen, my girl is on cooked chicken, potatoes and veg, and I am just introducing wafcol salmon and potato but have had to up the enzymes because she became 'loose' again :( Unfortunately one of the foods she can't have is rice so that cuts out a LOT of complete foods. Hopefully this one will work. Do you grind the kibble or just soak it? She hasn't gained any weight since end of July, just keeping her stable, feeding four meals a day and making sure she doesn't steal any thing from the other two.

hi there mocket1....i have a siberian husky that suffered terribly with her tummy when she was younger......after months of tests at the vets i was told she had a pacreatic insufficiency.
The vet prescribed me PANCREX which you have to measure out and put it in the food.
IT STINKS and cost £60 a tub....i needed 1 every 3 weeks!!!!!!
guess what......it didnt work!!!!!!
The vet then told me to mix charcoal into her food  ( which she was willing to sell me at £27 per tub).
I got it from the petshop at £3.50 a tub  (yeah same size tub).
that worked 9 times out of 10.
Now however i have taken her OFF all dog food,charcoal and pancrex and i feed her raw meat from the butchers.
NO MORE RUNNY TUMMY.
I have gone from spending £30 a week just on food to spending £12 a week tops.
The change is unreal.....
if you want any more info feel free to contact me
GOOD LUCK

I tried Maddie on charcoal tablets :( She was having a real bad case of wind and dire rear a few weeks back and nothing I tried worked, altering food, enzymes (pancreax) etc so on vets advice tried the tablets. The result? Grey/black dire rear! No two epi dogs are the same, like normal dogs really, what works for one doesn't mean it will work for another. I'm glad it worked for yours though, really I am, I just wish I could find a cheaper alternative for mine. And a healthier one as the powder is playing havoc on my lungs and I have had a constant cough for the last 20 weeks through inhaling the flippin stuff, I have to wear a face mask to prepare her food - kids think I look hilarious :P - but it helps. I asked about going raw feeding but until she's stable in the 'toilet' department, its best I stay with what I'm doing, though hopefully we will get there eventually as it would save me a hell of a lot of time as well. I also have trouble keeping weight on her but as she is still growing up she out grows any weight she might put on.