Sick Dog - Any Advice Would Be Appreciated

carres1973

carres1973

Cathlete
Let me start off by thanking everyone in advance for even taking the time to read what I am sure is going to be a lengthy post!

First some background:p:
We adopted a shepherd/collie mix dog (we named her Sandy) back in August from a shelter. She was a stary for God knows how long so we have NO background on her. She was very scrawny when we got her but have since been able to help her gain 10 pounds, get house-trained, etc.

About a week after we got her, she started having terrible diarrhea. It got to the point where it was mostly blood (sorry for the graphic!). We took her to the vet again (we had obviously taken her as soon as we got her) and they kept her overnight, put her on an antibiotic, an anti-diarrheal, anti-worm, etc. She has been fine since then, eating normally, eliminating waste normally, etc.

For the last couple days, she has had the runs again and has also been throwing up. I am not sure if it is at all related, but we bought a different food. We give her both canned and dry together. We switched her to Iams cold turkey. I heard they were supposed to be better than just plain-old dog chow. Could that be the cause of her diarrhea? She was fine on the cheap stuff! The other thing is she LOVES to pick up God knows what outside and eat it. It may be acorns that have fallen from a tree, squirrell poop, who knows! Oh, and her favorite treat is cat poop from the litter box:rolleyes:. We have cut that off by using a bunch of child safety gates but EEEWWW!!!

Any advice on good food (that won't break the bank)? We have had her on plain white rice the last couple days and she STILL has the runs!

Thanks for reading. Any advice is appreciated!

Carrie
 
Carrie - Did you vet give you any METRONIDAZOLE (AKA Flagyl) for her? I'm not going to attempt a diagnosis, but I know that Flagyl is great for this kind of stomach upset. She may just be eating something outside that is upsetting her tummy. And she may just have a screwed up tummy. Who knows what the poor thing has been through. Bless your heart for taking her in by the way!
 
This one is tough.

Plain boiled chicken and white rice works for Mercedes (my female boxer) when she is sick, but white rice gives my boy Maximus the runs. He is allergic to grains. The only other thing I know that helps stop diarrhea is canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)- a few tablespoons in their kibble. For Maximus, I just keep him away from large amounts of grain.

It sounds to me like the food change was the cause of her diarrhea. I think with kibble, you need to slowly switch from one brand to the next. Start out by adding small amounts of the new in with the old. Gradually decreasing the old, and increasing the new.

I'm sure there will be better advice for you.
I had to take my two off kibble completely. I feed Fresh Pet. It is refrigerated dog food, and it's pretty pricey. I spend about $250 a month for two boxers. It is all natural dog food made of fresh meat, veggies, egg, and with very small amount of brown rice.
 
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Liann said:
She may just be eating something outside that is upsetting her tummy. And she may just have a screwed up tummy. Who knows what the poor thing has been through. Bless your heart for taking her in by the way!
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Yes, very true!
My son's GF's 6 month old puppy ate acorns outside, and ending up with terrible diarrhea!
 
Sort of off topic, but Cheyenne keeps eating lady bugs and her whole face swells up. She looks like she went a round with Tyson. It's amazing what they get in to. You have to really watch plants too. Certain plants can make them very sick.
 
Liann said:
Sort of off topic, but Cheyenne keeps eating lady bugs and her whole face swells up. She looks like she went a round with Tyson.
Click to expand...

That's what happens when Mercedes get stung by wasp. We keep benadryl in our medicine cabinet for that reason. First time it happened, we rushed her to the emergency room. She had large whelps all over her face- from one sting!
 
Carrie..it's difficult to say for sure what could be going on but our boys have had bad reactions like that to food changes. Can I ask why you switched cold turkey to Iams? Like Cynthia mentioned it's best to transition them into a new kibble by mixing the old and the new.

I just had Tucker at the vet last month with a stomach virus and he was given an anti-inflammatory antibiotic to take for a week and it cleared up. My boys have also been on METRONIDAZOLE (AKA Flagyl) various times for tummy issues.

I'm not being much more help..sorry! Maybe you should take Sandy into the vet and have them do a blood test. Is she running a temp?

ETA: With all of the vomiting and diarrhea she's been having it might be a good idea to take her to the vet so that they can inject some fluids into her too! I really hope you're able to figure out what's going on..poor thing!
 
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Thanks for all the good advice. I only switched cold turkey because we were out of the one food and thought I was doing good by going with Iams! I am going to stop at the grocery store on the way home and get some of the old (Kibbles and Bits) and work with that. I hadn't thought about a grain allergy. Maybe that is why doing the rice thing last time didn't help either. The vet did test the first time and, THANKFULLY, it wasn't Parvo. I had never heard of that before, but I guess it can be fatal. Other than the diarrhea, she is just as bouncy and full of energy as usual. It is just difficult 1 - on her and 2 - to come home to a house full of diarrhea!

I am going to call the vet in the morning. Maybe they can suggest something besides the rice or prescribe the Flagyl.

Again, thanks!

Carrie
 
Liann said:
Sort of off topic, but Cheyenne keeps eating lady bugs and her whole face swells up. She looks like she went a round with Tyson. It's amazing what they get in to. You have to really watch plants too. Certain plants can make them very sick.
Click to expand...

You are right! It is amazing what they get into! I had never even THOUGHT to keep the dog away from the cat litter. I had no clue dogs like cat poop!!

Carrie
 
Mercedes had stomach issues a few weeks ago and the vet put her on chicken/rice. Mercedes loves chicken and rice and it really is like chicken soup for the soul. Well, Maximus wanted some too. Stupid me couldn't say no. I gave him some. He had the runniest diarrhea- all over my bedroom carpet!
That will teach me.
I keep hearing Cesar Milan....rules, boundries, and limitations. I need to chant that over and over when the big panda face begs me for rice!!!:eek:
 
We adopted two German Shephard's and they had similar problems. They started to have diahrrea and vomiting and then would be fine for months on end. It may be whip worms which present with symptoms or intermittent diahrrea and vomiting and nothing else. The worms are not detectable on normal fecal sample and Heartguard does not treat whipworms. We had to get a strong anti-wormer from the vet and now we give them Interceptor (a different heartworm med). She still occasionally has issues, but we get flagyl and it fixes it. Hope this helps :)

Theresa
 
We also have a rescue dog and for the first year he had on and off stomach troubles until I learned which foods to stay away from. For him it was anything with gravy and mixing wet and dry foods. What did agree with his stomach were the little Ceasars packages. He is not a small dog but I would give those mixed with rice or Royal Canin kibble. Now I cook for him and that works well--no more stomach issues at all. I think that dogs that have been strays and eaten who knows what can have residual stomach problems. Keep him away from those acorns!
 
We have a Shiba Inu and I was explicitly told by the breeder to keep kibble and wet foods apart. If you feed them both, they need to have 4 hours between the 2 as they will get diarrhea and stomach upsets.

The breeder and the vet actually prefer raw food diets for their animals, so we have Jynx on raw food. I did try him on a no grain kibble to start, but he refused it and we switched him to raw. We have had him for 2 years and not 1 stomach incident.

He gets 2 cooked eggs in the morning with 3 fish oil pills, dried duck, chicken or salmon jerky like treats, a raw patty of bison, elk or beef in the evening. He also get a raw elk or bison bone 1x per week to keep his teeth clean.

If he is running a lot he will get a raw frozen herring at night. I will also throw him a few pieces of broccoli, carrots or pea pods a few times a week.

This breed usually only gets up to 25 lbs for males, but he is up to 37 lbs of pure muscle and bone, the vet is really impressed with his clean teeth, no dandruff coat and muscular stature.

My sister-in-law's Wheaton has had a lot of stomach issues through the years and she had to take him off Iams and switch him to a no grain food to stop the diarrhea and constant retching.
 
I'd be careful - diarrhea and vomiting- good combination for dehydration. Like others have said white rice and either chicken or ground beef often help.

Iams is not a good dog food - here a few brands that get an A+ in that department - they might be more in price but dogs don't need to eat as much of the better brands to get the same amount of nutrition - less fillers.

Evo
Innova
Canidae

There are others but these are easier to find.
 
A HUGE thank you to everyone. On the way home last night I stopped and bought a container of Fresh Pet Select Homestyle (it looks REALLY good!!) and her old dry food. There were no stomach issues last night/this morning. I am cautiously optimistic that I won't go home at lunch to a mess! Her waste this morning was a little more solid and there were no accidents overnight. I am going to give the Iams to a co-worker. Her dogs like it and don't have any reactions to it.

Dog food question - I always like to also feed dry food but is wet food enough? I guess I think the dry food gives it some "substance."

I will try to find the three foods listed by Shoegal as well. Sandy thanks you!!

Carrie
 
I personally do not like dry dog food. Too many chemicals and I don't care for how processed it is..


Fresh Pet is real food- lightly cooked/blanched, with very small amount of grain.
Before Fresh Pet I was buying pre-made raw from www.aplaceforpaws.com
It cost a lot to have 100lbs of raw food shipped monthly so Fresh Pet was the next best thing. My two have been eating it for almost a year now and they are doing fantastic on it!

I would not consider Fresh Pet the same as canned dog food or wet.
Just curious....Why do you think dry food gives your dog's diet substance?

I also wanted to mention that I did not have to transition my two with Fresh Pet because it is all natural, no chemicals, real food their body had no problems digesting.
 
Cynthia - I think it is because growing up, the family dogs only had dry food. I guess I think the "crunch" is more substantial and will fill them up more? The wet food just doesn't seem to be enough. I am sure it probably is. I just need to get that idea out of my head!

Which of the Fresh Pet foods do you try? I did the Homestyle but it is a single serving container. There was also a sliceable one and bite size chunks.

Carrie
 
I know what you mean. I was taught kibble cleans their teeth! LOL It doesn't.:p You need to brush their teeth or if you really want bright teeth, give them marrow bones from the butcher. Your dog will LOVE you for it!

I use the FreshPet Select Slice n Serve. I buy the 6lb rolls. My two boxers go through 4 rolls a week.
http://www.freshpetselect.com/products/slice-serve.htm

Sam's club started carrying the dog food and they are a few dollars cheaper per roll.
 
Jimmy does horrible on Fresh Pet Select - I guess all dogs are different. I do agree that it's decent food, though. He does best on Wellness/Solid Gold or a brand like that. Premium pet supply stores sell in. My favorite is Orijin, but it's hard to find.

Switching food abruptly is a common cause for the runs and they can last a few weeks. Try mixing a little canned pumpkin with the food (pure pumpkin - not the pie mix). Works like a champ (although it does produce some interesting results. Perfect for Halloween!). I haven't found anything that solidifies things like pumpkin will.

As for mixing wet and dry - your fine with that. I do that all the time. Where you need to be more careful is mixing raw and dry. Dogs digestive tracks are much shorter than ours, so normal bacterial issues like salmonella don't affect dogs when they eat raw. However, dry food takes longer to digest because of the fillers, and can cause the raw food to sit in the digestive track too long and the bacteria might affect the dog.
 
My weimaraner Jimmy has a sensitive digestive tract and I had the same issues. I turned to Blue Buffalo, it is expensive but not as expensive as an unhealthy dog. I'm highly recommending visiting the website and learning the difference between a quality dog food and the ones you can purchase at the grocery store. If the dogfood that you are using has corn as a main ingredient then it is not a good dogfood. Please check it out. Your dog will love you for it.
I was told by the vet not to give him wet food.

http://www.bluebuff.com/health/feedinghealthy.shtml
 
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