Ten week old puppy with the runs...any ideas welcome.

[wordfactory]

Hi there.
Brought our new pup home on Saturday and she seemed to settle well. Slept through from the start, ate well.
By yesterday she was pooing a lot, and by this morning had the runs. She's been to the loo over twenty times today, and it's very runny (almost liquid).

I'm just wondering if I should miss out her afternoon feed. Or is she too young?

[Abra1d]

Give her boiled rice and steamed white fish or chicken, or scrambled egg (not cooked with fat or milk). This has worked for my pups fairly fast.

[hephaestus]

How old, what breed, what food, how many feeds a day, and what amount?

[DaydreamDolly]

Boiled rice and boiled chicken works a treat

[wordfactory]

Thank you so much.

hephaestus she is ten weeks, a border terrier and on three meals a day.
Morning and afternoon feed is Baker's Puppy Complete. Lunchtime feed is a scrambled egg or a bit of fresh meat (breeeder said she gave her weetabix or ready brek but DH was a bit dubious).

My reaction to the runs would be to fast...but she's still so little no?

A scrambled egg it will be.

[tooearlytobeup]

Hi wordfactory, I started a thread on Sunday evening as my pup (also 10 weeks) had sickness and the runs. I had some fab advice from everyone on here.

The vet I spoke to advised the same, a bland diet, rice and chicken or scrambled egg, and also to give Dioralyte to drink, or a mixture of cooled boiled water, with salt and sugar.
I was told to check if he became dehydrated by pinching the skin at the back of his neck and seeing how quickly it bounced back, and pressing on his gums so they turned white, and making sure they returned to pink straight away.

He also suggested a probiotic paste, which can be bought from the vet's to provide nutrients if it continued
If my pup had not mproved (he had the runs for 5 days at this point) he had spoken about seeing him and giving him kaolin and morphine, but we did not get to this point.

I hope your pup is feeling better soon

[CalamityKate]

Baker's is shite.

[BCBG]

Definitely boiled rice, plain or with a small amount of boiled chicken ONLY until stools are normal. Water available all the time. Don't worry, pup won't starve, and you can feed pretty much ad lib if you like. Don't make rice up in advance unless you cool quickly in a fridge and don't keep it warm. Did the breeder have her on Bakers? If not, your problem is simply the change of food, which is pretty usual in pups who really need any change brought in over ten days or so.

[BCBG]

Have to say I agree with CalamityKate inasmuch as I would never feed Bakers complete to one of my dogs. If its not what the breeder was using then I would consider something like James Wellbeloved, Science Diet or Burns, all of which are easily tolerated and digestible. Bakers seems cheap but the results are def not worth it!

[HeidiHole]

Firstly stop feeding bakers :D it's truly terrible

Secondly I recommend just boiled rice and boiled chicken for a few days until it clears up. The runs is REALLY common in puppies due to nerves at a change in environment.

If she starts deteriorating or becoming sad and mopey take her to the vets.

[HeidiHole]

cross post about bakers! sorry didn't mean to rub it in!

[wordfactory]

Thank you again everyone.

The breeder was feeding her Burns, but when I sent DH to buy food we were both stupidly jetlagged and I am dyslexic and couldn't read the email properly. I could only make out the 'B' .

I'll get some Burns tomorrow.

Out of interest what's wrong with Bakers and what's the difference with all this food?
Also, when should she go down to two meals a day?

Should also say, that since her scrambled egg tea, she hasn't pooed again. Thank God.

[Abra1d]

I use Orijen dog food as the result of a lot of online research into dog food and allergies and cancer. BUT, regardless,--many, many pups will have upset tummies after moving to their new owners. It's to do with the excitement, a change of any kind in the food, and even the water may be slightly different. My 14-month-old can still get a runny tummy if she's had a shock or too much excitement or eaten something nasty in the garden.

Foods to avoid also include Hill's (annoyingly pushed by vets) and Eukanuba (sp). Very unpleasant stuff goes into them and they are over-priced.

[BCBG]

wordfactory, don't worry then, you have explained the problem! If you change a dogs diet over too quickly they will get the runs. If you do the rice nay thing for a day or two and then reintroduce Burns Puppy biscuit you will be absolutely fine (and so will she!).

[CalamityKate]

Bakers is full of crap. It's the equivalent of feeding your child M and M's. It's got more artificial colouring in than actual nutrients, and it's pretty pricey compared to some far better foods.

[Lizcat]

Bakers is very high in colourings, additives and preservatives. Do dogs really need multi-coloured food is all you have to ask yourself? Because it has lots of bulking agents you also get MASSIVE poohs.

[hephaestus]

Bakers is awful stuff, 4% meat meal (so not even 4% real meat) and the other 96% unspecified grains (pointless fillers to make huge bloated multicoloured poop) including additives and colourants prohibited in many countries and in human food as they are known to cause cancer, plus added salt and sugar.

I'd advise bland food little and often until the runs have cleared up (boiled chicken or white fish, scrap the rice) and then a gradual introduction to something like a raw diet, Fish4Dogs, Orijen, Acana, Arden Grange, Wainwrights, JWB (in that order). The frozen blocks and freeflow meats/minces by Prize Choice are good. I don't rate Burns much and would totally discredit Hills, Iams, Royal Canin, Pedigree, anything you can buy in a supermarket or from a vet.