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

Puppy - persistent diarrhoea

36 replies

LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 19:52

Dpup is a springer spaniel. 5 months old. She has pretty much had diarrhoea constantly since we got her when she was 8 weeks old. Within two weeks she was diagnosed with campylobacter which was treated with antibiotics. But she has had recurrent diarrhoea ever since - more diarrhoea than not. We’ve done two rounds of fecal tests and blood tests - vet says that pretty much nothing has showed up other than maybe bacterial overgrowth. So the plan is to put her on two weeks of antibiotics and to change up her food.

Changing her food has me totally confused. Vet suggested either a single source of protein diet but it has to be a source of protein she has never had before... only thing that I think she has never had is white fish so that’s very limited. She has had practically everything because she is a very fussy eater and both her breeder and then me were trying to find food she would eat! Or a hypoallergenic diet - vet has suggested dechra specific but I am totally confused about whether that would be the digestive support or allergy variety or does it make any difference? Meanwhile our very experienced gun-dog trainer has suggested a raw diet. I’m wondering if I could somehow do raw + single source of protein? And what do I do for treats then? I really don’t fancy trying to do training without treats!! She will currently only do anything for chicken pate - turns her nose up at anything else.

Photo added for cuteness and any advice very gratefully received!

Puppy - persistent diarrhoea
OP posts:
BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 20:19

Has the vet given her probiotics too?
If not, I’d start giving her a probiotic for dogs alongside the antibiotics

BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 20:21

Also, I’m sure I’ve heard chicken is one of the top allergens so I wouldn’t feed her any more pate. I imagine it’s quite high in salt and fat too.
I’d try and train with praise or a ball or tug for the time being.

Hellocatshome · 07/04/2021 20:22

I usually just advise Chappie to be honest but if you are wanting to try raw you could do it with a single protein, chicken would be your easiest but you would need to get chicken meat, chicken offal such as livers/kidneys and chicken bones and make sure you have the right percentage of each. As for treats we had 1 raw fed dog due to allergies and she just got some cooked chicken as treats cos I wasn't carting raw chicken around with me.

LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 20:33

Yes, she’s on probiotics too. She’s been on a very chicken-y diet because of her upset stomach - lots of chicken and rice! So no more chicken. Although the chicken pate is a doggy recipe - so no nasties!

OP posts:
Hellocatshome · 07/04/2021 20:35

Ok then definitely cut out the chicken! Have you actually tried some good old basic Chappie? Its usually the first port of call for a dog with the runs.

HappyThursdays · 07/04/2021 20:39

What food is she on now?

We had dreadful trouble with our (cocker) spaniel and dodgy tum and realised, after a process of elimination, that it was chicken causing his problems.

Problem is every time you change food it will be upsetting her tummy too! Might it be worth settling her on the Dec specific and seeing if it calms it down? It's really hard to figure out what upsets their tum but we now feed only kibble with kibble as treats and the v occasional cheese cube and his tummy is completely sorted.

LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 20:41

So much of the chappie stuff seems to have chicken in it or beef? We’ve been told to avoid both.

OP posts:
Darklane · 07/04/2021 20:41

Has the vet tested for IBD?
One of mine was on course after course of antibiotics for constant diarrhoea as a pup till another vet diagnosed IBD & put her on salyzopirin which she takes every day & it has controlled it.
She can’t tolerate even a tiny bit of chicken.
Quite honestly I’ve found the ordinary tinned Chappie has helped better than fancy allergy diets when she has a flare up & I always keep a tube of Prokalin paste in the cupboard to help as well. I buy it online you don’t need a prescription.

Darklane · 07/04/2021 20:43

For treats the fish skin cubes cause no problems & are like catnip to my lot.

LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 20:46

She’s been on Royal Canin GI food but it’s really hard to get the wet food at the moment.

It’s been a bit of a nightmare feeding her, really. I’m so aware that we’ve changed her food more than is ideal. ☹️ We have changed it slowly eat time but she’s been on the GI food 2 or 3 times with intervals on a ‘normal’ diet in between.

The Dechra Specific seems to have chicken in it.... Confused

OP posts:
LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 20:47

Fish skin cubes sound like a very good idea! I’ll look again at Chappie...

OP posts:
LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 20:48

How do you test for IBD?

OP posts:
BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 20:52

Original tinned chappie I think is fish.
If the vet can’t find any problems and IBD as mentioned is ruled out, could it possibly be overarousal?

I don’t know if spaniels are prone, but I have a collie who are a high strung breed (as I believe spaniels are) and they and GSDs (another high strung breed) are prone to sensitive digestion and stress diarrhoea.
That can be good stress like a high energy game fetch or meeting and playing with lots of visitors or bad stress.

If your spaniel is a high strung one, as you say it is intermittent, I wonder if something as simple as taking the excitement down, teaching her settle more, less high adrenaline games etc might help.

BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 20:59

With raw, they are incredibly expensive, but ‘Fresco dog’ would be a good one to try as they have meats your dog probably hasn’t had before like ostrich, horse, goat and kangaroo

LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 21:02

Original tinned chappie is mostly fish - 4% chicken which might be such a small amount that it’s fine? 🤔

My husband reckons that it could be over over-excitement but she actually isn’t that excitable for a spaniel! She seems pretty calm to me and spends her time at home lounging! 😂

OP posts:
LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 21:03

I’ll look at Fresco Dog! She definitely hasn’t had any of those before!!

OP posts:
FrameyMcFrame · 07/04/2021 21:16

Have you tried rice and rice liquid?

Sorry if this is obvious but it's the only thing that sorts our dog's tummy out.

Mixed with lean protein of choice.

BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 21:16

I would think that if she is allergic to chicken any percentage of chicken would be bad.

Fresco do a tinned or a freeze dried raw (like a kibble but not, it’s pure meat freeze dried)
It is horrendously expensive but it’s Avery good food imo.
My dog has the tins.

BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 21:21

They look to be out of stock of a lot of the dry raws at the moment but they have the hypoallergenic kangaroo one in stock

www.frescodog.co.uk/products/kangaroo-test

LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 21:21

Fresco dog looks like a fab range but it seems to be almost entirely sold out! 😫

OP posts:
Dora26 · 07/04/2021 21:30

Hills Sensitive stomach and skin worked for our springer - my niece is a vet and rates Hills v highly. Hth

CMOTDibbler · 07/04/2021 21:33

TBH, I would go for original chappie and just one really simple treat like dried sprats and stick to that for a month. I hate chappie as it stinks, but having had loads of foster pups with giardia and the subsequent gastric damage it really does do the job.
Why does your DH say over excitement? It really can have an effect on them, and my current foster has only started to settle his tummy down since we got on top of his anxiety

LorelaiVictoriaGilmore · 07/04/2021 21:33

Looking now! Thank you!!

OP posts:
BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 21:34

Yes, they had big problems a while back as it’s all imported from Germany then seemed to be back to normal.
I have quite a large amount of cans in the cupboard so must admit I haven’t looked at the website recently.
I would maybe drop them an email and ask what the reason for the shortage is and when they anticipate getting stock back in.
Hopefully they will have more stock in soon

BigWolfLittleWolf · 07/04/2021 21:37

I haven’t tried it, but Simpson’s do a wild boar and ostrich?
www.vetuk.co.uk/dog-food-simpsons-premium-dog-food-c-1024_2529/simpsons-premium-exotic-adult-wet-dog-food-wild-boar-ostrich-casserole-p-43923