dog diarhea
 

I have a 11 or 12 year old Mexican rescue dog. I take him back to Mexico each year over winter. Last year while there he had quit e few bouts of diarrhea. That has continued here. the vet did a blood test for his liver & pancreas, no problem there.

Over the last couple of weeks he has been ravenous and has lost weight (5 of 35 ibs), plus he is shedding a lot even though its october ( Mind you you maybe his body knows it will be in Mexico after Christmas). Still frisky however. I went to the vet today and got Drontal in case he has worms which could explain the hunger, weight loss & I am guess the shedding as well.

This all seemed to start after we were camped at a fresh water lake in Mexico, so I am also thinking Giardia may be the issue. That however is muddied because at the same time he chased a cat and since he has a bad leg due to being hit by maybe a car as a pup, he wrenched one of his good legs. I di not know what to to do, it was a remote area, no phones, vets etc. he could only get comfortable if he was on memory foam. Out of desperation we gave him celebrex in proportion to his weight. He had been on the veterinary version of that before, but I suspect we may have OD'ed him a bit. That did a number on his stomach, but it sure cured the leg. So I don't knwo if we are connecting the lake water to the digestive issues or the celebrex.


His stool was normal for a few days until i gave him the Drontal today, now he has bad diarrhea which I am guessing may be a side effect to that.

Being at least 11, more likely 12, I am also wondering about the C word. Any ideas?

I'd go back to the Vet. Or at least phone the Vet. I am surprised your Vet did not ask for a stool sample.

Your visits to the Vet since this started up again are not clear to me. Are the visits you mention in the first paragraph recent and related to this bout?

Yes. I can't remember if he had a stool sample last time or not. I only saw the receptionist yesterday since i dropped in.

I might be worried about SIBO, bacterial overgrowth, which is in the intestines and often not giardia. I would try a round of metronidazole to see if it helps, since it should help with giardia and also SIBO. Tylan is a safer long term treatment for this if needed, but for an acute situation, metro works well (it is neuro toxic if used in the long term).

If the blood results show that liver and kidney function are good, you guys should be okay. Still might be a good idea to add something like Country Life's "Liver Support Factors".

Ok i will suggest that to the vet if the de worming does no good. I gave him an imodium and it stopped the diarrhea. for now.