I have a 12 weeks cross (at a guess boxer collie with a few others thrown in the mix).  We have had her for nearly 4 weeks and in all that time she has never had what you would call a "normal poo".  I have taken her to the vet and he gave her antibiotics and some huge tablets which he said would firm her stools up.  They havent worked.  This morning was worse than most, it had the texture of egg white but had a bit of brown and green in it aswell as clear. 

Shes growing well, has a shiny coat and loads of energy.  Shes on synoquin, im going to stop it for a couple of days to see if that has any effect and I think its going to be yet another trip to the vets..... I was wondering if anyone had any idea what the problem may be.  How come if shes constantly having runny poos shes growing and not having any ill effects?

Just reading posts further down about green poos etc.  Im taking her to the vets again as it sounds like it could be an infection but how many infections can a puppy get.....

Shes fed on burns puppy food.  I wish she would just have a solid poo.  Could it be because she ate pasta in tomato sauce??? Talk about clutching at straws!!!!

Sometimes pups can have soft poos because they are eating too much and the food isn't being digested properly - but if the poos don't look normal in colour, then this probably isn't the case here :(

Daisy

I'm assuming the vet's tested stool samples?

No jeangenie he didnt test the stool or ask about colour.....  just asked if it looked like a cow pat and gave her antibiotics. This same vet has given my yorkie antibiotics twice for a skin problem that hibiscrub clears up... he just loves antibiotics!!!

As for over feeding I think there could be something in that.... Im going to cut down her portions and see what happens, its only this morning that this ugly poo has come out the rest have just been like cement in consistency.  I think the ugly poo come from giving her pasta late last night.... but those eyes I cant resist, but I will be strong.

LeanneK

Have you tried giving her a little Bio Yoghurt? (pro-biotic ;) )  It may be that the antibiotics have upset the flora in her gut (I get this eew :( ) 

A few teaspoons on her meals should help, If she reacted that badly to pasta and tomato sauce then she could have a wheat/gluten allergy ;)  which in youngsters can be temporary after gastroenteritis ;)

Hope this helps

Cheers everyone.  I have got her natural probiotic yoghurt the other day and shes had a big spoon with all her meals and she LOVES it.  Im just scared of trying too many things incase I make her worse.

Hi Leanne - I didn't realise you'd added a new four legged furby to the household ;)

I can see from this thread and fully understand from your latest post that you don't want to be trying too many things at a time but personally I'd never feed a dairy probiotic in these circumstances - she may well enjoy the taste/texture but it may not prove to have any beneficial effect and could make her even more loose.  There are non-dairy probiotics which IME would be a safer course of action in this instance.

Good luck, Teri :)

I think Teri is right.  Personally I would start her off on chicken and rice until you see an improvement.  Keep her dairy and gluten free for a while then introduce it back in slowly, one step at a time.

Yeah Teri I decided Arthur needed a bit of competition as he was a spoilt brat. :-D

Cheers guys.... Shes is still loose and its still slimey in consistency.  I gave her yoghurt yesterday and this morning she had a bright yellow poo so no more yoghurt.  That was besides the one she did on her bed in her crate :-(  Im going to take her to the vets again and get him to test some of her poo as I dont think its right. Shes a little cross (mongrel) and shes cost me an absolute fortune at the vet hee hee shes worth it tho. 

Im going to put her on Rice and Chicken, now is this just plain boiled brown rice and oven cooked chicken?  and how much should I give her she weighs about 8kg.

Shes at this very moment trying to eat my yorkie hate to see what her poo would be like if she was successful!!

In times of need mine get what ever sort of rice there is plenty of in the cupboard!  Basmati, Risotto, pudding, long grain, etc!!!

I think you would be best to offer a small amount first of all with more rice than cooked chicken (2 for £5 in Tesco are ideal) and see how you get on.  Don't give her too much, at a guess (and this is a guess) try a saucer sized amount.  She won't starve if she doesn't eat much for a day or too.  Her gut needs to rest and recover a little.

Good luck.  (It all sounds delightful!!  Yuk!)

>I decided Arthur needed a bit of competition as he was a spoilt brat

Didn't think much of my earlier "dental" suggestion then :D

Plain boiled rice (I usually have white long grain / basmati in the cupboard) and boiled chicken or steamed white fish are good bland staple foods ;)  Over-cook the rice rather than the chicken!

You'd be best to fast/starve her for at least 12 up to 24 hours first to let her gut settle.  I prefer to give some Slippery Elm in the food after first day of a bland diet - this has soothing properties too and helps to firm up what comes out.  Worth having some in the cupboard as a stand by :rolleyes:

Good luck, hope she perks up again soon.
Regards Teri :)

ps. a couple of desert spoonfulls of food 3/4 x daily at most originally - then increase amount gradually over a few days if she's tolerating it.

Edited to add OOOPs. see Val covered that !

Hi Leanne, I was advised by someone on here to use acidophillus (sp?) which you can buy from any health shop.  I open up the capsules and mix the powder with whatever food she is having and it normally does the trick.

Shes just done another, I think I might be overfeeding as she is pooing about 6 times a day! 

Another thing, lets talk about wees now.......  I have not owned a bitch for years.  When Lilly wees it looks like theres petrol in it, sort of an oil slick effect in her wee, is this normal?

I would start by starving her for 24 hours to give her stomach time to recover!  Just give her water. 
Then I would start with a little chicken and rice, just a couple of dessert spoonsful, 4 times a day.  Then if the other end is OK, gradually increase the amounts over 3-4 days, but stop immediately when what she produces is less than the consistency of toothpaste. :)

Hi. I had my 12 week old Cav at the vets on Friday with the runs. He's now on a boiled chicken and rice diet 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm I give a chunk if chicken (4cms square) and 3 dessert spoons full of cooked rice per meal - just boil the rice and chicken in separate pans for about 20 mins and make fresh every meal. My vet told me that its dangerous to starve a puppy for more than 5 hours so I don't know about starving for 24 hours. We were also given a perscription of Promax pro biotic to be given for 5-7 days. He's much better now, poo's firming up but still a little jelly like clear mucus streaked with blood - rang vet this morning as I was concerned about this but she said that this is normal after a tummy upset caused by little burst capillaries due to straining. Hope this helps and hope pup is feeling better soon.

Hayley x

The probiotic capsules in health shops are mostly derived from milk products and also contain things like lactose (milk sugar) this will be of no use if a dog cannot tolerate milk.  You will be very lucky to find probiotic capsules in a health shop which do not contain milk products or aren't derived from milk products ;)  If they don't contain milk products they must say so on the label ;) 

"My vet told me that its dangerous to starve a puppy for more than 5 hours"

But 48 hours after Promax, your pup is still producing mucus with blood!  Starving a puppy isn't ideal, but it will sort out the digestive system quicker than dairy and lactose products. :)

He is loads better Val. Is Promax dairy/lactose based? Just passing on what my vet told me - It would be very ignorant of me to ingore her advice  :0)

Hayley

Hi Hayley,

>but still a little jelly like clear mucus streaked with blood - rang vet this morning as I was concerned about this but she said that this is normal after a tummy upset caused by little burst capillaries due to straining

Although the slight blood streak in mucus is most probably due to what your vet told you, the mucous itself is the product of irritation and over working of the bowel.  Had your puppy been fasted for a minimum of 12 hours but more likely 24 hours by the severity you describe, then the poor little soul's system would have had a chance to rest and soothe.   I'm very surprised that you have a vet who thinks that withdrawing food for 5 hours is likely to be a danger to a puppy   I've known many vets over the years of varying age groups and expertise and that line is news to me!

I'm glad your puppy is starting to show signs of improvement. 

Regards, Teri :)

Thanks for your advice Teri - good to know for future reference! You sound very knowledgable so wondered if you could help with my feeding dilemma. Harvey came to me on Pedigree puppy complete with a bit of pedigree puppy mixed in - poo's were ok but not great. I gradually weaned him over to Naturediet puppy and he was fantastic on it - loved it and poo's were really firm but then the runs started. I do believe that this has been caused by me over feeding him - he weighs 2.7 kilos and was eating 1 pack per day........maybe he would be ok on 1/2 pack per day, he had awful wind so I guess he was struggleing to digest it all. My vet has now recommended that I wean him over to Hills puppy as the Naturediet won't be doing his teeth any favours - I was happy with the Naturediet but didn't think about his teeth and my vet always raves about Hills as they stock it . Thing is, I'm now totally confused as to what to wean him on to after the chicken and rice diet........any ideas or recommendations. Also - he does seem to like to have a little crunch in his food.

Thanks

Hayley x

Hi Hayley,

>Thanks for your advice Teri

You're very welcome :)

>You sound very knowledgable

Thank you, but not quite as knowledgeable as Val who I notice posted the same advice prior to me ;)  There have been several good suggestions made on this thread - fortunately this forum has many regular contributors who between them can usually resolve most problems.

I don't have the ND puppy diet at home for comparison (my "puppy" is 18 months now ) but a full pack daily does sound a lot for such a small dog - my youngster weighs 18kg and 1.5 packs a day is plenty for her when that is her sole food.

I'm no fan of Hills - sometimes the prescription diets of the better known feed producers are life saving for certain conditions and so I'm in the "never say never" camp for those circumstances but IMO if dry completes are your preference, there are better ones around regardless of age, breed, size etc

If you'd rather continue with ND (which is an excellent food!) you could give your youngster a raw chicken wing as a treat in the evening or even just every other night -  this would clean his teeth effectively  -  however don't start on that route until his tummy has settled.

Good dry completes if the "crunch factor" is what sets you're youngster alight are Burns, Wafcol's hypoallergenic range, and most of the JWB recipes.

Regards, Teri  :)

Thanks again Teri

I do think that I'll give naturediet another try but 1/2 the quantity fed - how about a plain mixer for the crunch factor?? Any recommendations on a brand and is there a need to reduce quantity of complete food if mixer is added?

I think I've sourced another reason for his upset tum - just caught him in the act 30 mins ago munching on a big chunk of compost out of a planter, my favourite cordyline plant so I'm going to cover the top with slate chippings. I've seen him jump up round the back of the tub before but didn't realise he was eating the compost.

He is still mucusy and quite loose today - promax to be given until Friday along with the bland diet - he sits trembleing when his meals are cooking and appears to be starving! Will see how he go's and take him back on Friday if no better but hoping now that things will improve once the plant is covered.......puppies, who'd have em!

Hayley x

Hi again Hayley,

ND is a complete food so by feeding that and then adding a plain dry mixer you would only upset the balance of the diet.  I haven't used a plain mixer biscuit in years, so no name springs immediately to mind - what I don't like about many is the multitude of poor ingredients so if I were to use one I'd need to do some research for one that was high quality and without too many differing grains :)

Re adding slate chippings to your plant - I wouldn't in case he decides to try them out too :(  Could be very dangerous.  Perhaps try and get hold of large, smoothed sea pebbles (size of a large egg or bigger if possible) - they look attractive in planters and should be too big for him to get in his mouth ;)

>puppies, who'd have em!

LOL, I've lost count of how many times I've said that :rolleyes: :P

Teri 

Oops - missed this reply! Will sack the idea of mixer then, was just a thought. Regarding the slate - we have slate chippings all around the edge of our garden and he's not tried eating them.........got me worried now. Need eyes in the back of my head!!!

Hayley, dried food does not ensure good dental health, if you time how long your dog actually takes to consume it you will find that little time is spent on crunching (dogs do not do chewing) and in any case as the kibble contains mainly carbs all it will be doing is draping the teeth in stuff that needs to be removed.

If you do not feed raw bones you could try fragaria which is a homoeopathic remedy (wood strawberry) which helps some dogs and people with plaque etc.

HTH

This is probably very irrisponsible of me but the thought of feeding him raw bones makes me ill......really don't think that I couls stomach watching him eat raw chicken wings or anything like that. Will make a note of the fragaria, is this found in health food stores? Also, may I ask your opinion on feeding a mixer with naturediet for crunch?

Thanks

Hayley x

I have fed 'Laughing Dog'Mixer Meal with Nature Diet in the past.

I feed mine the Natural Choice mixer (also on your link page :) ) - but I don't feed it with a complete food, so can only recommend it as an addition to a raw diet :)

Daisy

Naturediet is a complete diet, there is no need to add a mixer as it already has one, in the rice it contains.

By adding a mixer you are unbalancing a balanced diet.

I know many dogs who are fed on Naturediet exclusively who have great teeth, their owners clean them.

Fragaria can be obtained over the net at Dorwest Herbs.

HTH

Have no idea if this is of any help at all, but I found that one of my girls looked really good on Burns, however her poo was always runny and had mucas and blood throuh it. We added a wee bit of tripe on a friends advice and her poos firmed up and became normal. We eventually changed foods as we couldn't get enough burns into her to keep weight on her.

Hi Leanne,
Ask your vet to give you Protexin Pro Kolin  it is a treatment for diarrhoea. Protexin Professional Sachet's u can also get this from the vet u can also use Protexin Soluble Dog every day if needed both Protexin Professional Sachet's & Protexin Soluble Dog are priobotics
U can purchase all products online and can be a lot cheeper than vet prices www.vet-medic.com, these products are what vets normaly give you)
Protexin Professional Sachet's price for one pkt is  £2.41 (this will last you 5 days as  you only give 1g a day)
Protexin Soluble Dog is £17.07 (150g container u give 2g a day)
Protexin Pro Kolin  £12.77

Start by not giving food for at least 12 hours but if you can make it 24 hours then this would be much better just make sure puppy drinks.
Then I would give some fish and boiled rice or potato's 4 times a day as this is light on the stomach, I would do this for one week then slowly add  in the food u normally use over the following week. Get your vet to give you Protexin Professional Sachet's (priobotic) for these two weeks and hopefully all should be ok. Do not give any treats or any other food for at least one month until your puppies stomach settles. Your puppy could be allergic to something in the food that you're giving it maybe not the food it could be a treat so keep a watchful eye all he eats to see what triggers the runny stool's.

I know how you feel my puppy is always having diarrhoea its all trial and error sad to say, I wish there was a miracle cure but I haven't found one yet :(

Leanne I hope your puppy feels better soon

HORRAYYY!!! and OH DEAR!!! all at the same time.

I think the reason she was runny was because we were over feeding her, poor thing.  We have cut down on her portion size and after 4 days her poos have firmed right up and are normal now.

Talk about killing with kindness.  Cheers for all your suggestion guys, if she gets runny again I will no doubt use some of them :-D

LOL - amazing how happy these things make us!  Glad all's well.

Teri ;)