[Ewilliams]

Hans' story is below. I am extremely worried that he has not had a solid poop since we brought him home last Thursday. I tried canned pumpkin, but he will not touch it. His appetite is fair. He gets fed at 7am and again at 5pm. The food is Diamond Brand Naturals Lamb & Rice. I plan to switch it, but I have been scared to do anything too quickly, afraid that it will upset his stomach even more.

He has 2-3 small bowel movements per day. They are not watery, but the consistency of pudding. There are no solids. Also, he doesn't drink a lot of water, BUT, we take him swimming every day. We are working on some obedience and retrieving also.

Hans is at the vet right now and before I go get him I want to ask you all if you have any ideas. He had a full dental, a rear dew claw removed, microchipped and had his nails cut. Also had to have one tooth pulled, an upper molar with a cavity. Please tell me
what you guys think. I am desperate!!


We just got our new dog, Hans. He is a PB GSD rescue. Not much is known of his history, just that he was found on the side of the road. He went to a shelter and was pulled by a rescue angel, Angela. Then, her husband died in an accident and Jarnee at One Shep at a Time took him in. That is where I met him on May 25 and he fell in love with my husband, so we officially adopted him.

He is so great! I cannot brag enough on how far he has come with his training in the past week.
We love him so much and want him to be well. He is also very beautiful. My camera is broken, so I can't post pics, but here is a link to him on PF-
http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=10915149

 

[dd]

Switch him over to rice to start. Then add a little boiled chicken. Probiotics won't do him any harm either. Give him very small portions, then increase the size.

You can slowly add whatever kibble you will be choosing in future a tiny bit at a time, but keep a high proportion of boiled rice at first and keep an eye on the poops.

 

[tankgirl]

Hmmm, not sure but I would take a stab at Giardia, very common in dogs, my Sam would get it on and off. It can be kinda hard to kill. He probably got it from the water...

Good Luck

 

[shilohsmom]

I'm thinking it could just be the stress of all the changes he's gone thru in the past week or so. Maybe others have a better idea.
Best of luck-he sure is beautiful and I wish you many healthy, happy years together.

 

[Ewilliams]

White or brown, or does it matter? I have both at home. When I add the boiled chicken, should it be white meat?

THanks for your quick reply. I forgot to add that we have had all kinds of pre-surgery bloodwork done. They took the blood on Friday and sent it out instead of having the quick pre-surg done in the office. All of his functions came back great. We are thinking he is 3-5 years and hoping for 3!

 

[Ewilliams]

I'm headed to the vet now. He woke up a few hours ago and I have been at work trying not to watch the clock!!

I will mention Giardia at the vet and see what he thinks. ABout the stress- that is what I attributed it to at first. It could be just that and I am worrying over nothing. He was also adopted a month ago by some lady with a farm. He is the perfect GSD, but his prey drive is HIGH with farm animals. He was chasing their min. donkeys. They got a private trainer and everything. Tried an e collar, but to no avail. SO, they were getting a horse, and for Hans' safety, they had to bring him back to Angela. They cried many tears. When they found out we adopted him, they were so happy. He is very loved by all who have met him!

What is cool is that he is great with small dogs. He was submissive to a 7 lb. chi at their house and has been a gentleman with my two smaller dogs and my kids. Have I mentioned that we adore him??

 

[Shandril2]

I use white rice and overcook it so it's not hard at all.

About 1/4 - 1/3 of his meal should be the boiled white meat chicken (or use boiled lean hamburger same proportion).
Give him 2 to 3 small meals .... don't stuff him full.

After a couple of days his poops should firm up. Let us know what the Dr. says!

 

[dd]

White rice is more digestible. Any boiled chicken will do. Did your vet do a fecal?

We had weeks of diarrhea last year caused by a number of different bugs. I would say if the rice doesn't get it under control in a couple of days, take him to the vet. Metronidazole will help clear most bugs even if they don't show up in a fecal.

We transitioned from rice to rice and special gastro food to gastro food with kibble, but very, very slowly.

I hope your boy is feeling better soon.

 

[Ewilliams]

Thanks! I will let you know!

 

[Ewilliams]

Hans came home from the vet yesterday afternoon. He has a bright pink bandage on his foot/leg where they removed his dew claw. He has not even touched the bandage! I thought he would chew it off, but has not even acted like he knows it is there. I called the vet to see how long to leave it on and they said 3 more days.

The kicker is that he has to stay completely out of the water for 10 whole days! This is a dog who swims every day. Last night he was so confused b/c every night when DH gets home, we leave for the river. Well, each time we went for a walk, he would walk over to hte car, then the truck, looking at us like 'What is going on, why aren't we going?' I felt so bad.

I talked to the vet about his poop and mentioned Giardia. He said it is a good place to start. We have not done a fecal yet. DH was supposed to collect it this am, but he "forgot". Yeah, right. I thought he had the poop and was taking it to the vet on his way to work, but I called to ask and that is when he told me he didn't get it. BUT, he said Hans' poop was better this morning.

I fed him 2 cups of soft boiled white rice and three chk breast strips, boiled. THey are boneless/skinless. I bought several packs on sale for $1.96/lb. He got that again for breakfast.

I will cook more rice for him tonight and see how is stool is in the am. If it continues to improve, should I still do the fecal? I am only asking b/c his bill was $431 yesterday and I want to make sure it is necessary before spending more. If you guys think we should do it anyway, then I will. I just need advice from those of you with more experience. Thanks!

last thing- I asked the vet when to put him back on kibble and he said today. I thought with having a tooth pulled he should be on soft food for a few more days b/c it was a large molar. Any ideas??
By soft food, i mean the rice/chk combo, not canned food.

 

[Lola1969]

My guess is stress as well. It took Ozzy 2 weeks to have a satisfactiry poop after we got him from the rescue. Shepherds are very sensitive to change.

Also, the cavity probably hasn't been helping his appetite. I bet in time you'll see improvement!

 

[BowWowMeow]

If he hasn't had a fecal recently I would go ahead and do it just to be sure he's free of parasites, etc.

And be prepared that he could have any number of intestinal/digestive issues--gsds are very prone to them. It took me 5 months to figure out what food to feed Rafi!

 

[WiscTiger]

The fecal test for Giardia is very unreliable. If the fecal test isn't that much money at least it would tell you if the dog has any other parasites.

Chicken and rice is a nice limited diet to help dogs that have digestive problems.

 

[dd]

I would switch him over to kibble only very gradually - adding a little bit into the rice daily, and increasing the kibble proportion.

 

[chevysmom]

Chevy had very loose stools for a few days and I took him in where they did a fecal, complete blood work and other tests (including Giardia) and couldn't find the source of what could be causing it. He was put on Metronidazole and panacure. I fed him plain white rice (with the panacure mixed in) and within the next couple days, he was fine

Good luck!! And I hope your guy is feeling better soon!

 

[Ewilliams]

Thanks everyone. Hans is still on chk/rice. His poop last night was worse than it has been. I tried to get him to go this am so I could take a sample to the vet, but no go. I am going home in a little while to walk him again. we'll see. If not, it will be Monday before I can get it to the vet.

Hans is our second GSD and I have fostered/placed GSDs for the past few years. We had 13 that came through our home last year, some hanging out longer than others, and this is the first time I have ever obsessed over poop this much. The others had other issues, but not this. So, thanks for answering my questions.

 

[dd]

Sounds like he needs a course of metronidazole. Good luck!

 

[lmkersnick]

One other test you might have to consider, especially if the poops continue to get worse, and possibly oily-looking and really smelly...
Ask your vet to run a TLI test - Hans will have to fast for 10-12 hrs beforehand. - This would be for a pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, treated with low fat/fiber food and the addition of enzymes on the food to start breaking down his food.

 

[Ewilliams]

Hans' poop problems are back. He was doing better with almost normal stools for the past three weeks. Then, last Thursday the pancake poop was back. I took a sample to the vet to be tested for Giardia.

I called ahead, took in the sample and waited. Finally, I called the office back on Friday. The girl said, "Well, good news, Hans doesn't have worms."

"Good", I said, "I didn't think he had worms. He is on HW preventative and I was not concerned about worms" ( I know that they can still get some kind of worms on HW preventative, but usually only in certain environments)

"What about Giardia?", I asked.

Girl said,"I don't know anything about that. He was only tested for worms."

I was so mad. I guess I was not clear enough or something. So, I am charged $25 to test for worms. At least I know he is all good there. (I guess).

I could take in another stool sample to test for Giardia for $40 or take Hans in and let them get a swab sample for $30 for a more accurate test.

I am taking him in today at 3:30. Do any of you know that difference between the two tests I mentioned above?

Also, I guess I need to do more research on Giardia b/c I thought once his poops got better (firmer), that we were in the clear.
Can it lie dormant in their system or something?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[dd]

We went through this last year: treated for giardia, got things under control, three weeks later back to bloody poops. The second test actually identified campylobacter as the problem, so went back on antibiotics to treat for that. I wonder if the immune system gets overtaxed and so they are more susceptibvle to anything else that's floating around?

Sorry you paid for a test you didn't need - I don't know what the difference is between tests, hopefully someone else can help you.