Our three year old dog has chronic diarhoea, I think caused by repeated courses of antibiotics. None of my other hounds have a problem, so don't think it is an infection, haven't changed food, only walked on our own land. Have tried yogurt but no improvement. Tried starving, Chicken, fish to no avail. He does not have increased frequency but the stools are, well the family call them 'Mr softee', sure you will understand.
Can any body help please. JH

Jackie, more info ! Is he ok within himself ? How long has he been like it ? Is he drinking ok ? :-) Have you tried light kaolin? Leigh

Do we take it that the stools are very soft rather than coming away like a water explosion?

John

I would consider a blood test at the vets

Pam

If he is eating all right and seems OK in himself try putting some Aloe Vera Juice mixed in with his feed I found that helped my Boxer a lot.

If the vet does not produce anything helpful then try live yohurt to get his gut back in order. Sometimes after repeated doses of antibiotics I understand they can suddenly get an overgrowth of flora (which needs another drug to sort out)

Christine

Thanks Leigh, John, Pam, Bec & Christine. Yes he is fine in himself totaly normal. Yes drinking as usual. What is light kaolin? Where can I get it? Stools are soft but not watery, no blood, some days they are more formed that others. I have been giving yogurt, but what is 'live' yogurt, thought all yogurt was live, can I get it at the supermarket?
Would consider blood tests after trying a few simple remedies if someone suggests any. My vet has just left the pratice so I've got to brake in a new one and I am having a foot operation on Monday and will not be able to drive for some while, so now is not an opportune moment to start a long investigation if I can help it. He has had the problem on and off for about three to four weeks and just as I think he will have to see the vet he improves, I relax and the problem returns. Now I wish I had gone sooner but vets don't usual want to treat diarhoea unless it is causing dehydration or blood loss. Supose I'm a bit casual as I once owned two GSD's who had permanant diarhoea and we learned to live with it. JH

Just thought, he is eating rose hips at the moment and before that blackberries, so are all the others but I supose he could be sensitive to some thing in the fruit, but how I could stop him I've know idea. JH

You could have hit on the reason there. One of my Labs was just like that most years around this time, Cooking Apples! I used to do out and collect them every morning and evening but of course they drop at other times so it was an impossible job! I'm afraid that in the end I just grew to live with it! If the stools are just soft then dehydration is not likely so you shouldn’t have a problem I would have thought. Of course, it would have been nice to see a vet and nave your mind put at rest because diagnosis by remote control is a recipe for disaster as we all know, But if you cannot get there then there is not a lot you can do apart from keeping a watching brief.

Regards, John

HI there

Just some info about the yogurt, you can get Bio yogurt, from supermarkets say Sainsbury's, it has a llive bacterial culture in it, usually lactoacidophillus or similar, if it is live, it will say so somewhere. Lots of yogurt is just ordinary and not live.

I get a gippy tummy and use it a lot, or did do until i discovered probiotics (the same pretty much) from the health shop, again "good" gut bacteria, you cannot overdose so it is safe for dogs. Try Quest or Solgar makes.

Vets have brought out their own version, i suppose it is particular to dogs so may be better, but of course is expensive!!!

By the way, Sainsbury's is in a blue and white pot.HTH
LIndsay

Light Kaolin is a white powder that can be purchased from Boots the chemist. You might have to order it though.I had to order quite a lot of it but it lasts for years. It was recommended to me years ago when I was into horses and has many uses. One use is to bind eg: like Kaolin and Morphine.
You sprinkle a tiny amount on the dogs food and it does the trick. I have never had to use it on a permanent basis, although it shouldn't do any harm.

Rose hips could be the guilty party here :-)

Leigh

Thanks for info. will send husband to go look for live yought and light kaolin, knew they had their uses.

The vet's do something called Kaogel - I always keep this in stock as I find that dogs coming in for rehoming invariably get the runs as their owners do not provide any food with them.

It is an orange colour and has the most wonderful smell

Off for a sniff

Christine

Oh wow!! Who would have thought that I would get so excited about a firm poo, fingers crossed for the morning please. Thanks again for all your help. Me for the chop in the morning, don't think I'll be allowed near my PC for a good few days so see you all later. JH

Best of Luck, will we see you at midland Counties?

Thanks Barbara, no won't be at Midland Counties, may not be about until the BEC Show. They tell me three to four months. See you in the spring. JH

Hibernation sounds like a g to me :)

Christine

Try tasting Kaogel, tastes like Bubble Gum. Yum Yum !!

Whilst we are on the subject of upset tummys my 8mth pup is terrible for eating sticks, I discourage this whenever possible but he is very quick and runs off chewing and grinning from ear to ear. Sometimes this can upset his tummy and I wondered if I should give him anything to help settle his tum or just starve him for a few hours until it settles naturally.

Ta Muchly !

Hi, glad it sounds like he is getting better. I didn't see this string early enough but just in case it happens again, I was going to suggest Pro-Kolin. I had a 4 week, suddenly very poorly puppy with the squits after worming, he had an AB jab and this pro-Kolin. It contains kaolin and pro-biotics to re-infest his gut with friendly bacteria after the AB jab. The results were almost instant. At 10am- a very poorly pupy - at 4pm he was up and playing again with his litter mates, had a normal poo the next morning and back on his regular food, after the "statutory" scrambled egg-I was astounded!!