Puppy diarrhoea - is there something really wrong?

[DelphiniumHolly]

Hi everyone,

We brought our cocker spaniel puppy home on Saturday. She’s doing really well and settling nicely, but she has had diarrhoea since she arrived.

It was watery with fresh blood and mucous, so we saw the vet on Tuesday. They gave us vetplus promax to try. Her poo is now more sludgy (mr. Whippy texture, sorry!) with no blood or mucous. But it’s still very far away from being firm.

We have her on a bland diet already, but is there anything else we can try? It can’t be comfortable for her, and the garden is a mess I’m struggling to keep on top of the clean up out there.

We’ve have dogs before, but always rescues who were adults when they came home. Any tummy problems and I’d put them on a bland diet for a few days and they’d be fine. So this is all new to me!

thanks.

A sorry your pup is suffering. You did the right thing to take her to the vets. What are you feeding her?

Cockers can have runny poop especially when they are stressed ,take her back if you think she's still not right.

Pumpkin is supposed to be great for firming up poo, I've not tried it for my dog he gets a carrot almost daily which seems to help the consistency of his poo as a puppy we had loads of runny poo

When we got our puppy the vet said not to take them in for a week for jabs as they would be really unsettled the first week and might upset their stomach so I am hoping it's just settling in stuff.

Puppies do take several days/up to a week to settle so it could just be the normal stress.

What food did the breeder give you for her and what is she on now?

And are you 100% sure she is eight weeks? I know of several cases where scumbag puppy farmers have claimed puppies to be eight weeks and they are much closer to six weeks - at which stage, actually, they're not always 100% ready to be fully weaned off mum (it 100% depends on the individual pups as well as the breed)

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies!! It seems like it might just be normal settling in poo then.

To answer a few questions:

• She was sent home with Harrington’s, but she won’t eat it so we’ll be moving her onto James Wellbeloved when she’s feeling better. (Our rescue Staffy had an awful stomach and this was the only food he could tolerate, we even tried him with expensive food and raw food with no joy!)
• She’s on a bland diet at the moment - rice and boiled chicken as the vet advised.
• She’s from a registered Kennel Club breeder with all the right registrations and documents. Definitely not a puppy farm. She’s from a family home where mum is the family pet etc.
• Because of being a Kennel Club puppy she’s been vet checked a few times and they think she’s the appropriate weight/size for her age.

Is the consensus to give her another week to settle down? She’s drinking and weeing normally and the vet said she’s healthy in every other respect. I’ll try her with some pumpkin to see if it bungs her up 🤣

I’ve just got myself all stressed about it worrying there’s something wrong and I don’t know how to make her better.

Has she been wormed?

She has, two weeks ago. Is it worth doing again?

Have you spoken to the breeder? Is this unusual or has the puppy previously has loose stools?

Yes, I would speak to the breeder. I'd also include some pro-kolin or similar (check if safe for pups) probiotic paste, as pup will be having a big challenge to their system with the change in environment.

Theres a tinned hills dog for upset tums and although it’s expensive it does seem to work really well.

I wouldn’t do it again just now. I would chat to the breeder. I use protexin powder or have used something called gut soothe I bought online. I wouldn’t want to make big changes just yet. Avoid treats for now too. Even a change in water can affect them.

Our DDog had horrible, horrible hookworms when he was little, we had weeks of blood and mucus.

It took a rigorous deworming programme from the vet, regular pro-kolin (you can this on Amazon), and making sure we kept him in and with freshly washed bedding etc

It was horrible, and really made the puppy experience even harder than it already is! I'd see the vet again.

I had this problem with my pup a few years ago, it was so bad I was having to hose down my lawn to clean up the diarrhoea. In a nutshell, we tested for Guardia and that was the problem. It can pass to humans and also to other animals so you have to be aware of that. These things are sent to try us! Enjoy your pup.

I think you need to go back to the vet with a stool sample. Our puppy had problems with worms which required quite intense treatment but not from day one. I wonder if it could be a food intolerance.