I'm really worried at the moment. Since last Wednesday my Mini Schnauzer has had diarrheoa. He needs to go up to 10 times a day and he's passing a slimey red, mucousy liquid.

I took him to the vets on Friday and he was prescribed some anti-inflammatory tablets and some paste to replace the bacteria in his stomach. I was told to be careful with his feed and to only feed him very small quantities.

I have since fed him a little bit of cooked chicken and rice in the morning and evening, but it just comes straight out again. I didn't feed him Sunday morning and starved him all day and gave him a spoonful of sliced raw chicken in the evening. He did seem to hold on to this longer but went again in the early hours of the morning. I was greeted by a very slimey mess on the kitchen floor this morning.

I'm really worried. I've booked another appointment with the vets tomorrow morning. The vet didn't actually tell me it was colitis when I last saw him last, but just said it was a bad case of diarrhoea. I've just been reading up on colitis, as I suspected it was that, as it's been going on for nearly a week now.

Has anyone had the same experience recently with their dog? What did you feed your dog on to help them over it and how long did it take? I'll obviously be asking the vet a few more questions tomorrow, now I've had a chance to do a bit of research but any advice in the mean time would be greatly appreciated. To say I'm very worried is putting it mildly.

I've been wracking my brains as to what may have caused it and the only obvious thing I can think of is that I fed him some liver last Tuesday which I have since found out isn't always good for dogs with sensitive stomachs. I also doubled the blow by changing his complete food from one type of meat to another (from chicken and corn to lamb and rice) as my local petshop ran out of his usual. I didn't think it would affect him too much because it was the same brand food. I could kick myself!!

I've only had this happen once to one of my dogs - it turned out that she had swallowed some clingfilm (along with whatever it was she'd stolen from the kitchen). Fortunately it emerged 3 days later and after that she was fine, but she was getting very dehydrated, despite me giving her pints and pints of rehydration liquid. I don't know if clingfilm would show up on X-ray?

I hope you manage to get it sorted soon - it's such a worry. Good luck.

Hi Nicola, it could be the change of food coupled with the liver. You could try boiled boneless white fish & mashed potato & if thats OK, then slowly introduce boiled chicken & rice. I`d stay on the cooked meals till his tummy settles down. Give him the liquid you cook the chicken/fish in as well. I know a couple dogs diagnosed with colitis who changed over to th Pitcairn diet & the colitis has never returned. What did the vet say?
Christine, Spain.

The vet was surprised his conditioned hadn't cleared as he's on strong antibiotics combined steroid tablets, that are the most effective around apparently. He gave me some more tablets and said to bring him back on Friday if he wasn't any better. He advised to feed very small quantities of cooked rice 3 to 4 times a day. He also gave him a worming tablet just in case. If it doesn't clear by Friday then I'm going to ask for some tests to be done.

I might just try the fish diet.

Thanks,

OK Nicola :)
Christine, Spain.

suprised the vet has not already suggested a prescription diet like hills i/d or hills w/d.my friends dog suffered like this and these meals sorted the problem but nothing but fresh water should be added at all.it may pay to ask the vet about them.

I'm pleased to say that Stan's diarrhoea has cleared up now and he's much better. He's back to his usual bouncy self. I'm wondering if the worming tablet has done the trick although I'm convinced the liver was the culprit, as both my dogs threw it back up the next day. However my whippet didn't get the runs whereas my mini did. Thank goodness it was only an attack of colitis and not the pro-longed type of condition. I'm also going to pay much more attention to regular worming, as well as never feeding any liver ever again!!!

Thanks for all your help concerning dietary advice. The bland fish meals are working and I'll return them both to the complete I had put them on a few weeks ago. It seems to suit them both and they both really enjoy it (which is saying something for my finnicky whippet). It's for sensitive stomachs too, so should be OK. I'll just stick to the same flavour in future.