# Diarrhea Frustration



## ZekersDad (Aug 1, 2012)

Our Vizsla is 5 months old and has had diarrhea since we brought him home at 8 weeks old. We have switched his diet many times. He is currently eating Taste of the Wild, venison and bison formula. We have tried Science Diet I/D and Orijen. We are using his kibble as treats. We add Pro-biotics and pumpkin to his food. We also give him 1 pepto bismol tablet in the morning and evening. When he goes to the bathroom, it starts off firm and then it gets like pudding. Some days are better than others. He has also developed a rash on his lower belly/inside of his legs where there is no fur. He was on antibiotics until yesterday and it cleared up but seems to be back again. He is otherwise healthy. He is 45 lbs and gets LOTS of exercise. Generally, he goes to the dog park 3 times a day.

Our frustration level is increasing and, needless to say, our vet bills are growing out of control. Any help would be so appreciated.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Just wanted to offer some moral support. I wish I could help, but it sounds like you've tried everything. Seems like the Pepto Bismol would take care of it. I know that when my dog has to take antibiotics, he tends to get the runs and an upset stomach. 

Is there such a thing as too much exercise for a 5 month old pup? Maybe you could try a different Vet for a second opinion 
on what to do? Hang in there, ZekersDad.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

I had this same problem, and it is how I came to find this wonderful forum. No dog should have soft stools for more than a few days.

Antibiotics seems to be the veterinary answer to everything. I would stop the antibiotics immediately, if they haven't sorted the problem bye now then they are probably causing some of the problem as they kill the good bacteria in the gut.

The rash on your puppies tummy - could it be an allergy rash? Does he scratch? Maybe the food and or the antibiotics are irritating his stomach. Perhaps he is allergic to his food.

Having had the same trouble as you with every kibble I tried - Healthy Paws (what the breeder was feeding him), Burns, and Orjen, I switched him to white fish or chicken and white rice. This improved his stools but the rice was passing out undigested. So my vet then tells me that dogs can't digest rice - so why are all these kibbles full of rice??? I then decided to switch him to raw diet - not gently mixing it in - I did a straight switch. He loved it and within 8 hours his stools were completely normal. So that alone told me that the raw diet was a much more digestable food for him, and didn't irriate his bowels. He gained weight and is now a healthy 60lbs at 9 months and we have never had a soft poo since. 

I do agree with mswhipple - why is your vet not being more proactive - just handing out antibiotics which will ruin his immune system. 

I hope you are able to sort the probelm out soon, and do keep us posted.


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## Bellababy (Mar 31, 2010)

Have you starved him for 24 hours? I know that is more for when they have picked a bug up, and this may be colitis or something similar, but we always starve Bella for 24 hours (very hard to do) and then give her a small amount of chicken and rice, then if she is ok, we give her a little more later.
My dad's boxer used to get colitis, and we were struggling with extreme diarrhea, until after googling etc I read up that alot of people starve their dogs for 24 hours. It was the first time his boxer had a quick fix, she got the runs, we starved her and she would be fine. If we didn't starve her, the diarrhea could go on for weeks. 
I'm no vet by the way, just something we do with our dogs. 
Good luck.


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## Bellababy (Mar 31, 2010)

Also if its starts off firm and then goes runny...you could be overfeeding him slightly? Maybe reduce his food a little.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Did you contact your breeder? A puppy should not have diarrhea @ 8 weeks of age. It sounds like there is another, underlying condition here. I would recommend switching to a new vet as the current one obviously isn't helping.


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## pippa31 (Aug 2, 2011)

I was also thinking a possible allergy - we also have to try lots of different kinds of food for Pippa (she has lots of food allergies - chicken being one of them!) and have FINALLY (after almost a year of trying) the one that works (Wellness Simple). Has the vet checked for allergies? 

This sounds incredibly frustrating. Send you and your V healing thoughts!


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Just a couple of things since we don't know ALL of the details...

You say you've tried several foods but are you trying them for long enough, at least a couple if weeks? If you change foods too often this will def cause soft stools. 

Three times a day to the park is a lot for a pup. Over exercise will also cause soft stools. I'd def suspect this if stools are normal in the morning and worse as the day goes on. 

I don't feed a raw diet but I have. You might try it. You can even get something prepackaged (such as primal grinds fed with a kong) just to try and see before full commitment. If stools are still wrong on this I'd be looking into something else medically. Maybe IBS? Or an allergy if there are common ingredients in all the foods you've tried (such as potato, poultry, peas, beef, etc). If so raw would help or an elimination diet (google if you don't know what that is).


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

pippa31 said:


> I was also thinking a possible allergy - we also have to try lots of different kinds of food for Pippa (she has lots of food allergies - chicken being one of them!) and have FINALLY (after almost a year of trying) the one that works (Wellness Simple). Has the vet checked for allergies?


We've also used Simple. But then they changed their formulas and I was very frustrated. Oh, and raised the price. Which I would pay since it worked for us...if the formulas were the same!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Has the vet taken any stool samples.
I would make sure they check for giardia and coccidiosis.
If those are ruled out, you might try a duck and sweet potatoes food that's not to high in protein.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

I would switch to raw. I would be shocked if he still has soft poos.


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