I don't know what to do about my 12 month old GSD's tummy problem. I got him two months ago and at first he was absolutley fine, the problems started when I put him in a boarding kennel for a couple of days, he and my other GSD had the diarrohea pouring out of them a few days after, got them on antibiotics which cleared them up but my young boy Lupin has had problems since then. Two days ago he had runny diarrohea, starved him for the night then put him back on his normal food the next day ( minced chicken with Supdog sensitive complete ) today I came back from work at lunchtime to find he had pooped all over the floor but it was mostly solid looking, with just a few little bits runny. Took him out and he was squatting away but nothing coming out!
Firstly, is it possible that he still has an upset gut even though his stools are not runny, he's not the type just to poop in the house for no reason as he was very clean when I first got him

Secondly, what on earth do I do, I don't want him put on anymore antibiotics as I really think too many can do more harm than good.

Please don't tell me to feed him raw food as I can't even give him a raw bone without him getting the trots.

Incidentally, his appetite lately has been ravenous but he's still so skinny. I don't think he needs wormed as wormed him about a month ago and I see no worms in his stools.

Please help, I am so worried about him, and am especially worried that the antibiotics have done him harm.

I'm guessing they both picked up a bug at the boarding kennels which for one reason or another Lupin is finding hard to shift. If he was mine I'd be giving him a very bland diet for a few days, with live yoghurt (pro-biotic) to help regain the 'good' gut flora.
Poor lad, he sounds in some discomfort.

He may have some kind of pancreatic insufficiency? i had the same problem with my GSD when i fist got her, had every test under the sun and thankfully she turned out fine. Hope your lad does too, but it's worth checking for it anyway - [LINK]http://www.vetcentric.com/reference/encycEntry.cfm?ENTRY=96&COLLECTION=EncycIllness[/LINK]

Annette

Hi Bear,

I would change your pup's food to Nutro Chicken and Rice, or Naturediet Chicken and Rice. Both of these are designed for delicate tummies, as GSD's often have.

I know of many people who have had tummy problems with their dogs, changed to one of these and their problems have been solved. One such incident might be of interest to you:-

Someone had a 9-10 months old GSD bitch who was constantly in the vets with a very bad tummy problem. The vet tried everything, did all the tests possible and came up with nothing, the owners was on the verge of having this bitch put to sleep because of the problem. We suggested he try Nutro Chicken and Rice and the bitch never had a problem with her tummy again and is now about 4 years old. The owner was almost in tears because he was so pleased she was now ok. :D

Just a thought!!

manda
X

Hi Manda,

He is on Supadog Lamb and rice which is designed for sensitive tummies, I don't think Nutro would be any different in terms of ingredients ( apart from the chicken obviously! ) and Nutro and Nature Diet are too expensive for me unfortunately.

Hi Bear

I'm sure the antibiotics won't have done him any harm. Sometimes bugs can take a few days rather than hours to get out of the system :( and even a sensitive diet can be upsetting.
Try him with a totally bland diet for about five days - scrambled eggs or steamed white fish and plain boiled rice - or boiled chicked and plain boiled rice, and then reintroduce his ordinary food slowly with rice over a couple of days.
Hopefully, he'll be fine :)
I don't put mine on antibiotics every time they get the skitters.
His weight could be down to any number of things - including harmless reasons like growth spurts making him look skinny.
Hope he feels better soon
Lara x

Hi,

have you thought he might allergic to something? We have a beardie bitch who is allergic to wheat, if she has even the tiniest piece of biscuit, she gets the squits for a day or so. She has naturediet and wheat free biscuits and treats. :)

It's a good idea to try the bland diet of eggs and fish etc, this might help to find out what is causing the problem if there is an allergy to something. You can introduce things back in very slowly and see what happens.

manda
X

Hiya,

Your GSD is 12 months? I ask because, one of mine was the same at that age... I couldn't get any weight on him, whatever food i tried. He had numerous tests for pancreatic insufficiency (it's worth getting that checked....it would involve stool samples, and probably blood samples) all negative.
He was so thin it was worrying...and embarrassing, even though he was very active and happy.
When he got to 18 months he started to get better and put on weight.

Mine isn't the first GSD I've heard of like this (although he's the only one I've had like it) so it does happen.

Was yours at all like this before he/she went into kennels?

It still could be a slight infection, or an allergy, so I think it's probably best to go back to the vets.

I wondered if the Kennels had fed the dogs usual food. I know lots of GSD owners, and nearly all of them tell me that they do not take well to having their food changed, and many have Colitis, and any reformulation ofr food change can be a nightmare with weeks of problems before they settle down again.

That's very true about GSD's - they have notoriously 'dicky' tummies.
Lara x

I am pretty sure Lupin picked something up at the kennels, because he was fine before he went there and indeed the woman who had him before me used to feed him whatever they were having! But he was very skinny when I got him, so it makes you wonder if he had frequent bouts of diarrohea at his old home...
I have got him on chicken and rice at the mo and his stools are solid again, dreading putting him back on the complete again in case the diarrohea returns.

My friend has two rescue GSDs both of which have had severe colitis in the past, and the older one was fine on a food until they changed the formulation. She tried Arden Grange Classic Lamb and rice formula, and has had excellent results, with no colitis. The older one is 11, and would have bloody diarhoe for weeks at a time.

if you would like to put him back on a dry food try and get pero, its made by a welsh company and is hypoallergenic chicken and rice, just like nutro, but is about the same price, if not a little cheaper than supa lamb, also weve been putting a lot of sensitive dogs, for tums and skin on the new duck/rice wellbeloved, it seems to be really good, but a wee bit more expensive. youll get pero either from pets at home, or if you have a local vets or pet shop ask them to source it for you. we get ours from wholesalers batleys, but im not sure if theyre just scotland. good luck. also salazopyrin (from the vets) is good for colitis, but its a human drug, so its prescription only

sorry, just had onother thought, try and get probiotic powder to add to food, its a bit like all of this friendly bacteria stuff thats on the market just now, like yakult drinks etc., but for dogs. it helps get the gut back to normal balance, i got mine from tdp-top dog products who advertise in dogs today, but youd get off the net. also for some dogs natural yoghurt helps, but not in all, so beware.