# 15 week old puppy with "diarrhea"



## Cricket_theV (Jun 14, 2014)

Hi folks. Cricket is about 15 weeks old. She had her last distemper shot about 2 weeks ago. This morning she wasn't interested in eating anything and instead slept for 2 hours which is pretty normal she still sleeps a good bit. I took her out of her crate, she sat at the door and waited for me, down 4 flights of stairs (we live in an apartment) and sniffed around the doggy area before going to poop but it was completely liquid. Obviously it sounds like diarrhea but I wouldn't have expected her to be so controlled with liquid stool--if it was truly diarrhea wouldn't she have just gone in her crate/in the house? She drank a little bit of water but I am wondering if I should try and feed her again or feed her something like rice instead of kibble. Any suggestions? If it continues should I call the vet? Thanks!


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## Rbka (Apr 21, 2014)

Nico's stools were often liquidy up until recently and it seemed like a lot of people just brushed it off as "puppy-poops" and kind of said if it's not true diarrhea/incontinence then don't worry about it. After 2 trips to the vet to do stool-sample test to rule out giardia/coccydia I came to the conclusion that it was just due to poor absorption or digestion of food. The vet tried to sell me on some kibble that he carries and is super expensive but didn't have any other recommendations... (his kibble also got poor reviews online)

I began doing research after posting about this a while ago (http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,25082.0.html) and in the end have come to the conclusion that kibble is just not natural for dogs to eat. I think that the "puppy poops" are the digestive tract's way of saying "wtf are you feeding me this isn't what I'm supposed to have". This being said -- I haven't switched to raw feeding or 100% home-made food because I don't want to cause Nico any deficiencies of vital nutrients! I do plan on switching over eventually, however.

Shortly after our last vet visit I decided to try the BRAT diet to really settle Nico's system. He was on plain white rice for one day, then I added minced boiled chicken & broth to the rice on the 2nd day, then peas, then carrots and now I just add a variety of other things (like kale, raw egg, beef)... I simply cut his food with this mixture. He eats the recommended 4ish cups a day of kibble to make sure he's getting enough calories and nutrient variety and at each meal I just mix in some of the home-made concoction. This is not recommended by any scientific source that I've come across -- but Nico loves his food, his stools are much firmer, he's less itchy, he's putting on weight well, etc...

Sorry this post ended up being so long but I hope it helps you decide what to do!


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## Cricket_theV (Jun 14, 2014)

Thanks for the reply Rbka! I tried feeding her rice mixed with a little kibble for her for lunch and she ate a tiny little bit and then didn't want anymore. She seems more sleepy than usual so I don't know but as soon as I let her out of her crate she wants to play. I personally haven't had any experience with "puppy poops" all of hers have been pretty solid since we got her which is why I thought it was abnormal. She's still drinking water but if she doesn't improve by this evening I'm thinking we might take her to the vet tomorrow.


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## Duke14 (Jul 20, 2014)

Rbka said:


> I simply cut his food with this mixture. He eats the recommended 4ish cups a day of kibble to make sure he's getting enough calories and nutrient variety and at each meal I just mix in some of the home-made concoction. This is not recommended by any scientific source that I've come across -- but Nico loves his food, his stools are much firmer, he's less itchy, he's putting on weight well, etc...


This is essentially what our breeder recommends. She also recommends wetting the kibble with warm water and then topping with a home-made rice mixture or canned wet food. We are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of our puppy, he is only 12 days old at this point so not even old enough for us to visit yet.  We plan to make a rice mixture to go with the kibble when we bring him home though. September cannot come soon enough!!


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## aliciavp (Mar 14, 2014)

Hi there! 

at 10.5 weeks Lazlo started sleeping through the night. A few days later, when we thought we were in the clear until he woke us at 5am with diarrhea. We thought he needed to settle himself so we let him whine for a couple minutes, but he got louder so we went downstairs to find a puppy desperate to leave his messed crate.

This continued over the next week, but as soon as I heard a wimper... i was down there like lightening to catch him before he messed the crate again. He only messed it twice, but it took me 1 week worth of rice, boiled chicken, roasted & mashed pumpkin mixed with yoghurt to get him back on track, then for an extra few days I would slowly decrease the rice mixture and increase his kibble... Then he had his first puppy class and the trainer gave him something that re-irritated his stomach and it all started again.

We ended up figuring out that his tummy couldn't handle this new dried chicken jerky treat we'd given him, but because he was so young it took over a week for his tummy to sort itself. 

I thoroughly recommend the chicken, rice, pumpkin and yoghurt mixture... Lazlo LOVED it, and it fixed the problem well. Good luck!


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

At 1 year old we still have runny poop mixed with solid poop. She is now eating moistened kibble with white rice. I will give her boiled chicken from time to time and if things get really bad she will get a spoonful of canned pumpkin. Often anything in the form of dried chicken, milk bones or anything remotely human (bananas or yogurt etc have been not so cool.)


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