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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The doghouse

Puppy Diarrhoea

18 replies

Babyroobs · 21/05/2018 21:23

Sorry not a pleasant topic but really need advice. Nine month old puppy has very loose poo. It can start off fairly normal in the morning, but gets progressively sloppier. He was being fed three times a day, I have now reduced to tow as per guidelines. We have tried a few different foods, he is still on puppy food ( James wellbeloved) with a little chopped chicken. I know that sometimes he eats some of our elder dogs adult dried food if we don't move her left over dry food quick enough but we try to avoid this if at all possible. He is well, very active, no signs of being generally poorly. It has bene particularly bad this week and he has been chewing grass at times which I understand they do to cleanse their digestive system. He is up to date with working too. Any advice greatly appreciated.

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Babyroobs · 21/05/2018 21:24

Sorry lots of typos. Last sentence should say up to date with worming !

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Whoknowswhocares · 21/05/2018 21:37

Very often, firm poos early in the day then sloppy later is because of over feeding.
The pack guidelines are notoriously generous....intended to sell maximum product. Plus your pup has slowed in growing now so will need a little less anyway
Assuming he is otherwise healthy, try cutting the food back a bit

Wolfiefan · 21/05/2018 21:39

If he was better on three meals can you keep him on that for now. They are guidelines. Not hard and fast rules.
You may well not be interested but raw feeding often sorts out poo issues!

Whoknowswhocares · 21/05/2018 21:40

Also the bit where you say 'we have tried lots of different foods' is a bad idea. Puppies need to stick to one and not chop and change as their digestive system is fragile and errr explosive!

BiteyShark · 21/05/2018 21:42

My dog from a puppy often had bouts of sloppy poos and we found they used to get worse later in the day. He was recently diagnosed with IBD but irrespective of that we found that certain foods made his stomach worse so you may want to try a few things we did which helped calm his stomach.

He doesn't do well with chicken and apparently lots of dogs cannot tolerate too much chicken so maybe try a bit of plain fish instead.

Also mine does better on three meals a day rather than two as he isn't having to consume as much food in one go.

We also found kibble to be quite harsh so we stopped to wet from the same manufacturer with the same ingredients and his poos are much firmer.

BiteyShark · 21/05/2018 21:43

Stopped = swopped

Skandinaviem · 21/05/2018 21:51

whoknows This isn’t correct I’m afraid.
Three meals a day as per guidelines is what OP should be doing, but in order to monitor whether that is optimal for your little pup you could take advantage of the weight clinics that many veterinary surgeries offer. Puppies of this age should be weighed monthly to make sure they are gaining weight adequately. Please don’t cut back on your puppies food amount, rather increase the number of meal times so smaller amounts more often if that helps. If the stools are solid at the beginning of the day and progressively looser, then this can be normal. However if there is blood or mucus present, then obviously that needs investigating. My first port of call when I see a puppy with loose stools is parasites. Is your puppy wormed up to date and what with? Was it veterinary grade? Or over the counter. I would also consider a visit to your vet and bring a faecal sample- ideally pooled from throughout the day so a small sample from each bit of poo produced in the day) which can be sent off and analysed for the three big causes of puppy diarrhoea (providing de-worming is adequate) -Salmonella, Campylobacter and Giardia.
In my experience about 80% of pups I
see with ongoing loose stools have some sort of infection which is usually easily treated once identified- so don’t worry!
As far as diet is concerned as long as you’re feeding a high quality complete puppy diet, you don’t need to worry about imbalances etc and allergies under 2 years of age are uncommon. I’m glad your little chap isn’t unwell! Perhaps a little trip to the vets with a poo sample might be a good idea.. and also while I think of it you could worm your older dog, and add some of their poo to the sample too as if there are any of the parasites mentioned in the above in the sample you may have to treat both dogs anyway. PM me if I can be of any help. Good luck.

Babyroobs · 21/05/2018 21:59

We haven't tried lots of different foods - we have switched a few times but will stick to one now.
Up to date with worming tablets ( Drontal )which were purchased through the vets. Skaninavium- thanks for all that information, I think I may well take a trip to the vets.
Bitey shark - I think I may try to cut the chicken out, he loves it but may not be agreeing with him.
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

Eldest son has just said puppy's breath smells like manure - not sure if this is significant !

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Wolfiefan · 21/05/2018 22:02

Chicken is a very common allergen apparently. Good luck at the vets. I have heard of various things to add to food to help with temporary upset tum but I haven't needed them and maybe not if it is an ongoing issue.

Babyroobs · 21/05/2018 22:04

I think I'm going to try cutting out the chicken in the first instance. If nothing changes I will book a vets appointment.Thanks for all the advice.

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BiteyShark · 21/05/2018 22:04

Ironically the 'go to' food for upset stomachs of rice and chicken were the opposite for us. We now feed cod fillets as extra food rather than chicken (Easier to cook as well as just a quick microwave from frozen).

Wolfiefan · 21/05/2018 22:05

Good luck OP. Also watch what's in training treats. (Speaks from bitter experience! )

Babyroobs · 21/05/2018 23:01

Yes I did wonder about treats as we have some new ones that dh bought, not our usual ones and they weren't specifically puppy ones.

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Wolfiefan · 21/05/2018 23:12

With our girl it's less about whether it was puppy or not and more about the ingredients.

Skandinaviem · 25/05/2018 20:23

Hey OP. How are you getting on with the poo issue? Any news?

Babyroobs · 25/05/2018 22:03

I've cut back on treats and chicken for the past few days but my son gave him some chicken at lunchtime and he has had sloppy poo again this evening. I think I really ned to stop the chicken altogether now. I always think plain dry dog food must be really boring so like to give him a bit of something tasty but it's obviously not doing him any favours.

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BiteyShark · 25/05/2018 22:12

Feed him fish or a bit of wet (non chicken) food if you want to add something 'tasty' to his meals in addition to kibble.

reachforthewine · 25/05/2018 22:15

Boiled rice, fish or plain chicken for the next few days.

It could be heat related (not sure of where you are but it's been very hot in Scotland)

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