Puppy diarrhoea and no answers

[Ansumpasty]

I’m at a loss what to do. I’ve written about this before on here.
We got our puppy 6 weeks weeks ago. She’s now 23 week. Since we got her, she’s had loose stools. Breeder had her on raw chicken and royal canin.
At first, I tried to change her food (very slowly) to a few different things and nothing helped.
Vets tried panacur, didn’t help.
Vets did bloods to check pancreas and b12 levels, which were normal.
Stool sample showed cryptosporidium but this is self resolving and the vet didn’t didn’t it is what is causing symptoms and said there isn’t a treatment anyway.
Stool tested negative for Giardia but an antigen test came back positive for Giardia (so she’s had it at some point).
Tried a raw diet which seemed great for a few days and then back to the runs. It got very bad last week with pure dark green, foul spelling water-like poo. Back on panacur and metronidazole.
Hasn’t worked :(
I really don’t know what to do and of course our vet is now closed except for emergency cases.

Is there a vet on here who can offer any advice or has anyone else been through this? It’s causing so much stress and ruining our time with her. I’m having to clean her bum all day long and mopping the floor constantly.

Help!

[furtivefeline]

Was she tested for salmonella and campylobacter? Raw chicken is a salmonella risk (causes diarrhoea and also a public health risk.) Best to feed cooked food. Ideally a veterinary diet designed for sensitive stomachs.

[Ansumpasty]

Yes, no other bacteria showed up. What veterinary diet, does that have to be prescribed?

[furtivefeline]

Something like Royal Canin gastro or Hills i/d. You can buy online. I think you just need to tick a box to say they are recommended by your vet. (I’m sure your vet would recommend something like this if you asked them - you could call and check)

[ilovetrees30]

Our puppy had to go onto a grain free diet in order to get solid stools. She also has a daily carrot to up her fibre as she was beginning to have anal gland issues.

[Ansumpasty]

Thanks.
We’ve tried grain free, makes no difference

[BlackSwan]

My DD had giardia as a pup and it was awful. The metronidazole did the trick in the end, but it took a long while.
My sympathies constantly runny poop is a nightmare.
I recommend re-testing & ask for broad spectrum treatments. Cover all bases. On top of medication, get some probiotics - once the gut flora has been flushed out this can just make matters wore.

[Shambolical1]

Pancreatic insufficiency (EPI)?
Bile acid issues?
Or could be an enteric reaction to the giardia - sometimes that can happen once the acute illness is over.
I'd say go back to your vet and ask for more investigation.

You could try some Pro-Kolin paste to relieve the symptoms but the vet needs to find out why it's happening, it's miserable for everyone.

[Amicompletelyinsane]

Is puppy insured. Could it be a dietary issue. Underlying food allergy. You can do allergy test to see. My dog has horiffic colitis symptoms and diarrhoea until we learned he was intolerant to loads of things. Strict diet change and he's good now

[Cyberworrier]

Which royal canin food is the puppy on? Our dog had awful diarrhoea for his first 4-5 months and the first diet he was ok one was a Royal Canin hypoallergenic dried food (he couldn’t take the tinned version). Still on it years later.
We’ve gradually been able to introduce other foods to him, like vet recommended, but very slowly so we knew what agreed/disagreed with him.
We also use Pro Kolin when he has an upset tummy now, first recommended by vet but can buy online.
I would imagine a puppy with bad persistent diarrhoea is an emergency? (Obviously depending on how long it’s lasted and puppy’s state).

[Bananarama12]

Are you giving any treats along side the raw food? If having tummy trouble always stick with just the one food for 2 weeks so you can eliminate anything that triggers stomach upset.
Lilys kitchen biscuits sorted my dogs problems.

[Bananarama12]

Also puppy with diarrhoea whilst not an emergency does need to be seen as they can dehydrate quickly.

[Historydweeb]

Mine had campylorbactor and was also allergic to rice which is found in many grain free foods. What breed is she? Now he has grain free but the meat and veg type not meat and rice

[Historydweeb]

In the short term, chicken and sweet potato should sort it.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Can you get a probiotic and prebiotic tablet for pup? The bowel might need help getting over a serious infection like that.

[nicky7654]

My puppy was the same as yours.and it took months to work out it was giardia. Eventually after spending hundreds got correct medication but he is left with a seriously sensitive tummy. He cannot eat dog food apart from tinned chappie so we cook mince/fish/chicken/rice/pasta etc and add to chappie. (He hated chappie) 4 years on and still sensitive. Good luck with your.pup and change vets if your not getting anywhere x

[Ansumpasty]

Thanks, everyone.

She’s been tested for EPI and that was ok. Other blood results were also good.

We have pro kolin to give her for the 3rd time.

Tried nothing but home cooked sweet potato and white fish for 14 days. This didn’t help. She wasn’t having water diahhroea while on it but it was loose and 7 times a day.

The vet that we have been seeing is away until Monday. We won’t be able to see him unless it’s literally life and death, but can speak to him on phone.

I just want her better We waited for so long to get a dog and researched the hell out of the best breed for us and the best breeder and had nothing but s**t (literally) since we picked her up.
She also eats dog poo obsessively. She will hunt for it the entire time she’s on her walk, so now isn’t allowed off her lead and has a muzzle for the few times she is.

[Ansumpasty]

@nicky7654 What medication eventually helped?

She’s had panacur and metronizadole.

I’ve been out to pick up some chappie today. She’s been eating raw food for the last 2 weeks and I was so hopeful that it would work but unfortunately isn’t. I’ve read chappie is meant to be good at settling stomachs?

[Ansumpasty]

We aren’t giving any treats and the probiotics are in the pro kolin. Sorry if I’ve missed answering anyone’s questions. I really appreciate all the replies

[Bananarama12]

I really am surprised your vet hasn't offered a diet to put your puppy on.

[Ansumpasty]

He did, he said sweet potato and white fish for 14 days. Then he suggested a single protein raw diet, incase she couldn’t tolerate grains etc

[Doublethesarcasm]

What Breed is pup? We had this with ours all tests negative.

[Ansumpasty]

@Doublethesarcasm She’s a PWD. How did you fix yours?

[BiteyShark]

My dog always had sloppy poos intermixed with periods of diarrhoea and foul smelling colitis until about the age of 18 months when we eventually asked for invasive tests rather than just treating the symptoms. He was diagnosed with IBD from endoscopy samples which was treated with steroids.

In those months when he was ill I found wet dog food to be the easiest and kindest on his stomach for him to digest so chappie would be a good thing to try.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

If she has antigen positive she has giardia (antibody positive would indicate had it at some point). The external lab tests look for antigen in faeces. Many dogs with giardia need multiple and long courses of panacur and metronidazole to clear giardia.

[nicky7654]

@Ansumpasty I cant remember what medication helped but i do know it was an antibiotic and the other ones over the months that were prescribed (antibiotic) would never have helped. Our vet eventually admitted that the other prescriptions would never of helped and laughed and I was furious considering it had been going on for bloody months and my boy was actually walking and yellow fluid was shooting out of his bottom so very serious. Same with his knee pain, they kept saying nothing was wrong although he couldn't even jump on couch. Got so fed up took him to another vet who said he was in a lot of pain and operated two days later! If you dont get taken seriously or helped change vets. Chappie is very good and the only one advised for dogs as the others give dogs the runs and basically are full of low quality meat bi-products. Aldi/Lidl sell mince quite cheap and whole chickens so cook it up and portion it out and freeze for your dog. One chicken has loads of meat and will last quite a while when adding to Chappie. Mince pork/beef also very good. I hope you get it sorted as it is serious and your dog can go downhill very quickly x