liquid diarrhea and not eating

[npsjax]

Hi,

Jax is a 21month old shepherd whose on a raw diet. 2 weeks ago he had liquid diarrhea and we gave him boiled chicken and rice for 2 days with yoghurt. His stool went back to normal in 2 days, after which we got him back to his usual diet. He was good about 2.5 weeks but has gotten the liquid diarrhea back again.

he did eat some poop at the boarding place he goes during the day (but that was over a week ago). His liquid diarrhea started Thursday (didn't eat his regular meal on Wednesday). We didn't think much of him not eating Wednesday but once we saw the liquid poo realized his diarrhea was back. We tried giving him chicken and rice yesterday but didn't want any and same again today. He is not interested in the food other than some of his treats.

He has energy and still wants to play. His stool was examined for giardia, the result was negative.

Not sure what to do and how to get him interested in eating food which might help him. He doesn't eat pure pumpkin and the yoghurt needs to be forced down his throat. Other than the poop he ate the one day the daycare didn't mention of him eating random things (sticks etc).

He is keeping himself hydrated with tonnes of water, but we are worried as he has lost 2.6kgs in a matter of days. Please help.

[onyx'girl]

I would limit his water to small amounts at a time. Add in some slippery elm bark(you can get this in the holistic herbal section of a pharmacy) 2 capsules mixed with some yogurt. SE will help soothe the gut/digestive tract while he's going through this.
Are other dogs at the daycare having any symptoms? Ask the owners, not the workers.
I would have him checked again for parasites....sometimes it doesn't show. Or put him on a Metronidazole regiment and see if it clears.

[GatorBytes]

I second SE, as well for acute diarrhea - don't feed, give the gut a rest...you can give give Activated Charcoal. 260mg x 2, can dose again 15 mins or more again - safe product and will help take the gassy discomfort away too

Also - reduce the fat if you are feeding skin on chicken or marrow bones and such and add a pancreatin or pancrealipase (lipase is fat enzyme - in both) digestive enzyme...this will take some stress off the digestion process.

[npsjax]

Can these be given on an empty stomach. This will be the 3rd day of him not eating anything?

[npsjax]

We are trying to feed him chicken but he doesn't want anything.

[katdog5911]

Slippery elm always worked for Stella when she gets diarrhea. I got drops to add to his food or treat....

[onyx'girl]

Yes, the SE can be given on empty...best to give it 1/2 hour before the bland diet. And get him to the vet again, 3 days w/out nutrition is not good.

[DollBaby]

As said above, I'd start him on metronidazole. Giardia doesn't always show up on first test

[npsjax]

Hey guys,

We used the slippery elm as well the vet has given us metronizadole tabs for 10 days.

His appetite is definitely back and his poo is not liquid anymore!

Thank you for the help. He ended up losing about 3.2kgs in a matter of 3 days but hopefully will gain them back soon.

[Anubis_Star]

Good to hear In the future, unless otherwise specified by the vet I would not intentionally rest the gut by not feeding for longer then 24 hours (of course I understand when a sick dog just refuses to eat). Instead, a high fiber bland diet, like white rice with broiled chicken or low fat hamburger, to at least get something moving through but no irritating.

Depending on the cause of the GI irritation (parvo virus is the hugest example, it is a virus that attacks the lining of the intestine) you actually want them to eat as much as possible because an active gut sheds it's wall more frequently and you want to get that virus out.