Runny light coloured excrement, gas - but otherwise healthy, need to be concerned???

[torzechowska]

Hello to all,

I have a female Boston Terrier (fixed) who has always suffered from light coloured excrement and bad gas. I was told by my vet in Canada that she was healthy, but upon arriving to Italy, the vet told me to try a pancreatic medicine for 20 days and if it didn't help he would have to run a series of tests.

As I do not have all the money in the world for extensive testing (I wish I did!), I was wondering if maybe I could get some advice from this forum, as it seems you are all very wise!

Piggy is three years old, and when she was a puppy she had a bilateral intestinal hernia which was repaired and hasn't suffered any problems since. I am hoping that her digestive problems are not a result of this, because the pancreatic medicine that I tried has not helped. I have tried switching her food several times too, and know have her on Royal Canine Intestinal food which she seems to like. I stay clear from most grocery store brands, and have always bought dog food that seems to be focused on quality rather than price.

She is a healthy eater, and but I suffer from guilt and have always fed her some human food every now and then which doesn't seem to make a difference to her except that she loves it.

She also drinks a lot of water and pees frequently and large amounts. I figured that it has something to do with her being so active, but is it possible it's a symptom?

She is generally healthy (shiny black coat, lots of energy) but I am growing more concerned with her digestion problems.

If anyone has any ideas/advice it would be great! Thanks!

[pitgrrl]

If you've had her urine tested to make sure she's not suffering from a UTI or kidney issues, my guess would be that she's either just really into drinking water or it's connected to the digestive problems. As an example when either of my dogs have an upset stomach and/or diarrhea, they drink a ton more water than usual.

Have you ever tried adding a digestive enzyme to her food (like the kind you would buy for a human at a health food store)?

Another thing to try might be a probiotic, either in supplement form, or adding a bit of plain, unsweetened yogurt or kiefer to her food.

[hazelrunpack]

It does sound like it might could be something like pancreatic insufficiency:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23404.htm

This is worth checking out, because pancreatic dysfunction can also lead to diabetes--and one of the symptoms of that is increased water uptake and urination.

Have they done a full blood panel on her? That might give them a better idea of how her organs are functioning and might not be as expensive as the other testing that was recommended by the vet

[torzechowska]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

It does sound like it might could be something like pancreatic insufficiency:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23404.htm

This is worth checking out, because pancreatic dysfunction can also lead to diabetes--and one of the symptoms of that is increased water uptake and urination.

Have they done a full blood panel on her? That might give them a better idea of how her organs are functioning and might not be as expensive as the other testing that was recommended by the vet

The pancreatic medication I tried for a month and it didn't make much of a difference to her stools. I guess the best thing is to go through all the medical tests and to see what's wrong.

Thanks for the help!

[torzechowska]

Originally Posted by pitgrrl

If you've had her urine tested to make sure she's not suffering from a UTI or kidney issues, my guess would be that she's either just really into drinking water or it's connected to the digestive problems. As an example when either of my dogs have an upset stomach and/or diarrhea, they drink a ton more water than usual.

Have you ever tried adding a digestive enzyme to her food (like the kind you would buy for a human at a health food store)?

Another thing to try might be a probiotic, either in supplement form, or adding a bit of plain, unsweetened yogurt or kiefer to her food.

I'll definitely try the yogurt! Thanks!

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Have they done a full blood panel on her? That might give them a better idea of how her organs are functioning and might not be as expensive as the other testing that was recommended by the vet

Has your vet done a complete blood panel? Liver disease is also a sign of light coloured stools. Royal Canin is not the best choice of food....what else do you have available there?

[torzechowska]

Originally Posted by rainbow

Has your vet done a complete blood panel? Liver disease is also a sign of light coloured stools. Royal Canin is not the best choice of food....what else do you have available there?

Not yet, he wants to run blood and excrement tests our next visit - which is tomorrow.

I actually have to buy food this evening - what do you recommend? I always bought Nutro (something or other) in Montreal, but it's not available here. I think they have 'Science Diet' or something of the sort, Innova if I'm not mistaken, and of course Pedigree, Eukanuba and others that I wouldn't buy ever. The options are not great, to be honest. Most people in Italy cook for their dogs, which is something I would LOVE to do but I don't really know a lot about what different types of foods they need.

[TeriM]

Innova is a good food. I would also wonder about food allergies and if possible look at trying a food with totally differerent proteins or grains.

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by torzechowska

Not yet, he wants to run blood and excrement tests our next visit - which is tomorrow.

I actually have to buy food this evening - what do you recommend? I always bought Nutro (something or other) in Montreal, but it's not available here. I think they have 'Science Diet' or something of the sort, Innova if I'm not mistaken, and of course Pedigree, Eukanuba and others that I wouldn't buy ever. The options are not great, to be honest. Most people in Italy cook for their dogs, which is something I would LOVE to do but I don't really know a lot about what different types of foods they need.

From the choices you mentioned Innova is by far the best. The company that makes it also makes California Natural which has fewer ingredients and would be a good choice until you find out the results from the tests.

Once you find out what the problem is then you can deal with the diet. In the meantime there is alot of information here in our dog food forum...

http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=53


And sub-forums....

http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=38

http://www.pets.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=64

A couple of other websites to check out are:

www.dogfoodproject.com

www.dogaware.com

Click on all the links provided for further information.

Good luck and please update after your vet visit tomorrow.

[torzechowska]

I've been looking at the forums for the B.A.R.F. diet and think I am going to try that for my Piggy! Thanks so much for all the advice! It will also be a lot easier to figure out if it's an allergy by constantly switching different meats, fruits and veggies that I'll feed her!



I just know she'll love and enjoy her meals so much more now too!

Will keep you posted!