Hello and a question....

[dexsmom]

My name is Tammy and the two sweeties in my avatar are Dexter and Gracie. Both Dex and Gracie have had diarrhea for about 30 hours now but there is no vomiting, they have an appetite and seem a little tired but not lethargic per se.

I have two suspicions about what may have caused this and wanted any and all feedback anyone might have.

1. I gave them both Advantage 4 days before. Gracie recently had a severe reaction to Revolution and I will never put that on her again. Do you think it could be that.

2. I recently changed dry food from Hill's T/d small bites to the Hill's larger. Could there be too much fat or something in it?

Any advice is appreciated.

TIA
Tammy

[angeldogs]

I would be concerned about the diarrhea for having it that long or longer as they can become dehydrated.i would talk to a vet

[Dr Lee]

Diarrhea can be caused by many things. Abrupt changes in food can lead to diarrhea just as reactions to normally safe topical medications can do this. However with Hills t/d - going from small bites to large bites should not be the cause as the kibble formula is the same.

Sometimes it can be difficult to ascertain the cause of diarrhea.

Definitely a good idea to visit the vet, discuss the medications and obtain some antidiarrhea medication.

[SnowDancer]

Agree with all advice you have been given. Re the fat in the Hill's t/d - whether it be small bites or large, t/d does have a lot of calories so you really have to watch portion size.

[Shadow's mom]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the poops. I have a hypersensitive pup that reacts to all her shots but not with diarrhea, just lethargic and off her feed. Hope things settle down. When my girl is under the weather I try to give her extra fluids in the form of watermelon or other fruit high in water content or banana's. Just like kids they benefit from the b.r.a.t. diet as well, (banana, rice, apple sauce and toast) not usually apple sauce. Plain yogurt can also be helpful. Good luck.

[dexsmom]

Well, I took Gracie in to the vets last night. Really kind, gentle vet named Dr. Buchanan in Kingston. It is obvious that she loves the pets.

I took them a stool sample. They called today and said that there was nothing in it ie. parasites, etc. which is good news. Gracie is recovering and didn't poop at all last night so that is great. She is on Flaxil I think it's called.

My concern is the cause of this. I KNOW they didn't get into any garbage. What I DO know is that they switched to the Hill's t/d bigger bites and since doing some research and discovering how low-quality that dog food is, maybe they just got sick on it. I know, it seems unlikely becuz you'd think it would be the same formula. By the way, I mentioned some research I did (thanks to alot of people on this forum) and that Hill's is very low quality. The vet (as sweet as she is) told me that she found it hard to believe that it would be low quality since Hill's spends so much money on research and stuff (more likely marketing). Anyway, I wasn't going to argue with her . Maybe she'll do a little digging around on her own.

She also highly doubts it was the Advantage even though Gracie reacted similarly (although even worse) to Revolution 2 years ago.

What am I going to do now? Do I try the Advantage and Interceptor again and hope that they are okay? Do they REALLY need them? Dr. Lee? I'd love your input. I live in Kingston Ontario. Is it high risk for heart worm?

[Winston]

I would think a food change would be a good choice...espcecially since the stool sample showed nothing..I went through many problems with my labs tummy until I switched him to a higher quality food..He was on Hills for many yrs through the vet and when I changed his food all of his issues went away...Cant hurt to try!

Good luck

Cindy

[loopoo]

could be both.. a slow gradual food change can help... there are also many natural things that work well for flea treatment that arent toxic if a reaction to that is what you fear... hope your kitties feel better soon