I’m new to the forum, and I’m totally stumped right now. I’m not new to the breed, I grew up with 5 of them, but this is the first time I have my own. Sorry for the wall of text.I'm not sure if this should go in health or diet section...
Piper was born 4/30/16 – she is almost 6 months old. I adopted her from a rescue on 9/12/16, so I’ve had her a little over a month. From 9/12 to 10/12 she only gained a half a pound, and has had loose/sometimes watery stools the entire time. First I had her on Wellness Core Grain Free Puppy food. Thought that was a problem. Switched her to Blue Wilderness Puppy, whatever the red meat one is. Still no change. We did a round of hamburger and rice during that time and while it reduced the number of stools a day, they were still extremely loose.
She has been dewormed twice, her fecal was clean for parasites, and her diarrhea panel (Is that what they call it?) was clean also, so no giardia or salmonella or anything like that. She was tested for EPI, because the vet was concerned as it’s prevalent with the GSD – that was negative. She’s on antibiotics just in case something was missed in one of the tests.
The vet said that she may just not need to be grain free, because some dogs “need” the grains to bulk up their stools. Okay, that sounds somewhat valid to me. As of Tuesday she’s been on just regular cheapo Nutro Puppy food with chicken and oatmeal and whatever. Stools are just pouring out of the poor thing.
Vet also mentioned a single protein food allergy or sensitivity. Wouldn’t that cause more than just gastrointestinal distress? She suggested we find something that isn’t beef, chicken, turkey, or lamb – so, I was thinking duck or game?
I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed and I feel terrible because she’s just so skinny. I feel like a bad mom. :frown2: I have another dog with thyroid issues who requires a lot of special care, so I’m not opposed to handling it, I’m just not sure what to do.
Sorry for novel. Thanks for any insight.
Piper was born 4/30/16 – she is almost 6 months old. I adopted her from a rescue on 9/12/16, so I’ve had her a little over a month. From 9/12 to 10/12 she only gained a half a pound, and has had loose/sometimes watery stools the entire time. First I had her on Wellness Core Grain Free Puppy food. Thought that was a problem. Switched her to Blue Wilderness Puppy, whatever the red meat one is. Still no change. We did a round of hamburger and rice during that time and while it reduced the number of stools a day, they were still extremely loose.
She has been dewormed twice, her fecal was clean for parasites, and her diarrhea panel (Is that what they call it?) was clean also, so no giardia or salmonella or anything like that. She was tested for EPI, because the vet was concerned as it’s prevalent with the GSD – that was negative. She’s on antibiotics just in case something was missed in one of the tests.
The vet said that she may just not need to be grain free, because some dogs “need” the grains to bulk up their stools. Okay, that sounds somewhat valid to me. As of Tuesday she’s been on just regular cheapo Nutro Puppy food with chicken and oatmeal and whatever. Stools are just pouring out of the poor thing.
Vet also mentioned a single protein food allergy or sensitivity. Wouldn’t that cause more than just gastrointestinal distress? She suggested we find something that isn’t beef, chicken, turkey, or lamb – so, I was thinking duck or game?
I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed and I feel terrible because she’s just so skinny. I feel like a bad mom. :frown2: I have another dog with thyroid issues who requires a lot of special care, so I’m not opposed to handling it, I’m just not sure what to do.
Sorry for novel. Thanks for any insight.