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Thank you, everyone. I talked the Dr. Nordquist in Duluth, and she has given us another Albon prescription (a soothing anti-inflammatory, from what I understand), to continue through the next week. DH was able to pick it up during his travels.
As far as the food goes, after reading your posts I looked at the Wellness Super5Mix Puppy food ingredients, and learned it has oatmeal, barley, and brown rice, so it is NOT grain free.
The Google search revealed also that others that have switched to this kibble have had resulting loose stools -- which is usually the case for Bigun, but those articles brought out something ELSE to consider -- changing his foods.
We had started him on Purina Puppy Chow, because that was what I had thought the shelter was feeding the pups. He had the loose stools right away, and the doctor told us to mix cottage cheese and yogurt in with his kibble, along with brown rice. He did not like that mixture, so I added some of the homemade (brown rice and burger with veggies) to the mix. It did not work.
Blah, blah, blah -- resulting in two more switches, and NOW I am wondering if he is just reacting to all the changes, especially since I learned later that the shelter had switched to IAMS, after I bought the Puppy Chow. OMG.
So, I think I am going to take up the Metimucil suggestion, and leave the food alone. If his system has not settled down by the time he works down to the half of this bin full, I will look for a grain free kibble to work into the transition. Meanwhile, maybe we will hear back from the other pups owners, and I will look into the water-borne parasites issue.
Thank you, everyone. I feel more hopeful already! 8)
I'm wondering if dogs also get IBS?? Although I guess that doesn't explain the eggs.....
Dogs do indeed get Irritable Bowel Syndrome/Disease. I may be mistaken, but I believe there would be more mucus associated with the stools as a symptom.
I supposed the question here is are the supposed eggs indeed eggs?
I went through this very thing with my chihuahua and he has finally just grown out of it at 2 yrs of age . He constantly had diarhea and bloody loose stools then every vet we took him to said it was coccidyia and then another one said it was I BS . well now he is two yrs old he has grown and he weighs a whopping six.5 pounds LOL !! I would say wait a while and see if your dog grows out of it . I thought we would never find the cause and we did not he just grew out of it . we also put him on holistic food and no ppl food whatsoever . Now at 2 he can just now tolerated boiled chicken and rice and different ppl foods . I wish you luck and I know how frustrating it is .
Dogs do indeed get Irritable Bowel Syndrome/Disease. I may be mistaken, but I believe there would be more mucus associated with the stools as a symptom.
I supposed the question here is are the supposed eggs indeed eggs?
Very true. IBS is certainly a consideration, particularly among puppies or young dogs. Eggs are used in kibble as a stool hardener, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Eggs are also high in protein, with each whole egg containing more than 6 grams of protein.
When switching to a different brand of kibble, it should be done gradually. Over a period of at least 5 days. On the first day feed them 20% new kibble, 80% old kibble. Each subsequent day increase the percentage of new kibble by 20%. Loose stools or diarrhea is common during this transition period, but the stools should firm up within 5 to 7 days after being 100% on the new kibble.
Lots of the better quality kibble include probiotics that aid the micro-organisms in the dog's gut. It takes time for the dog's digestive tract to adjust to the new kibble. So you don't want to switch their food "cold turkey" in one night.
Re: transitioning, I generally have made it a practice to just add a few cups to the bin and shake it up, when the bin is half full. Then, after it gets down to 1/4, I fill it back to half and shake it up, again. He has been on this food with no other for at least five day, now, so it may not be the transitions, but I will be more careful in the future.
As for the eggs, these are not eggs in the food, but eggs in the feces -- tiny, white eggs that two of the vets did not recognize, and the first two didn't mention.
Going for Metamucil this afternoon. How much does one give, and how?
Re: transitioning, I generally have made it a practice to just add a few cups to the bin and shake it up, when the bin is half full. Then, after it gets down to 1/4, I fill it back to half and shake it up, again. He has been on this food with no other for at least five day, now, so it may not be the transitions, but I will be more careful in the future.
As for the eggs, these are not eggs in the food, but eggs in the feces -- tiny, white eggs that two of the vets did not recognize, and the first two didn't mention.
Going for Metamucil this afternoon. How much does one give, and how?
A puppy should not have any more than a 1/4 teaspoon once per day, mixed with wet dog food.
Another bulk forming laxative is pumpkin, which dogs like. You could use bran as well, unless you want to avoid grains to rule out any allergy problems.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LookinForMayberry
Going for Metamucil this afternoon. How much does one give, and how?
Artie is almost six years old, 35 pounds, and I give him a teaspoon with each of his two meals. As Glitch said, though, with a puppy, no more than 1/4 of a teaspoon is a good guess.
I don't think you're feeding wet food, and neither am I. I sprinkle it on Artie's food and shake the bowl so that it gets evenly distributed on his kibble. I thought that the orange flavor would dissuade him from eating, but I suspect maybe it's helping his finicky appetite.
Good luck! I hope this solves the wet poop problem. (Note: It will likely take a couple of days before the Metamucil kicks in, though.)
" -- tiny, white eggs that two of the vets did not recognize, and the first two didn't mention."
Interesting discrepancy re the vets' findings, and that the 2 vets who did see something like eggs have no idea what they are.
Did the switch to Wellness Super5 occur after he was checked by the first 2 vets? If so, that would narrow my focus to either the food being contaminated with something that laid eggs, or an ingredient in the food itself caused residual waste that *appears* to be parasitic eggs.
Other thoughts: How long have you had this little guy? How frequently have you been changing his food? Did he have loose stools from Day 1, or did it begin after you adopted him? Has he ever had good stools? Since he is a new addition to the family and you are on the road, could it be he is stressed by *his* life changes and traveling and simply hasn't adjusted yet?
FWIW, I agree 100% with Glitch re the canned pumpkin (NOT the pie filling version). Libby's canned pumpkin is 100% natural, not a manufactured compound of stuff (chemicals?) like Metamucil.
If he were my kiddo (and assuming he's not losing weight or showing any other symptoms), I'd not make any changes to his food at all for the next few weeks, other than perhaps adding some pumpkin, and see if he adjusts on his own.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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[quote=shroom;11130435FWIW, I agree 100% with Glitch re the canned pumpkin (NOT the pie filling version). Libby's canned pumpkin is 100% natural, not a manufactured compound of stuff (chemicals?) like Metamucil.
[/quote]
My dog also suffered from loose stools and:
1. Canned pumpkin (the natural stuff) made it worse, not better
2. Metamucil is simply Psyllium, which is derived from plants. It's not a chemical at all, and was vet-recommended.
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