Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog health - Ask members * If your pet is vomiting-bleeding-diarrhea etc. Vet time! > Puppy health

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 2nd, 2010, 03:22 AM
Raivotar Raivotar is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 3
Golden retriever pup with stomach problems

Hello all,

I've been doing some research on this issue for a few days and I see a lot of conflicting stuff. Here's the rundown:

I have a 15 week old golden retriever pup who is having a lot of loose stools during the night/early morning. During the day, his stools seem to be fine. This has been happening for almost a week now. I haven't changed his food or given him anything out of the ordinary. Two days ago, I didn't give him any treats and just fed him his regular meals and he was fine. Yesterday, I gave him a few treats throughout the day and he had problems again at night. Tonight, I just fed him his regular meals with no treats and it happened again. I thought maybe the treats were the problem, but I guess not.

He's not vomiting and he doesn't seem to be fatigued or acting any differently. I took him to the vet just a few weeks ago and the vet said he was healthy and growing just fine. I'm going to drop off a stool sample to the vet later today for testing. My question is this; why would it be happening only at night and not every day? Could his food be the problem or how many times a day he is fed? He's been having the same food since he was 7 weeks old (Iams puppy, which I'd like to change and give him better quality food), but could this just happen after a while even if he is used to the food?

He is crated at night and has been since I got him. He has adapted very well to his crate, but could this be some sort of developing anxiety? I would imagine that if he were sick, this would be happening all of the time and not just at night, but I don't know. I'm really, really stumped on this and any kind of information or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I don't know if it's worth mentioning, but when my pup eats his meals, he eats really fast. I know personally, when I eat fast, I don't feel so great afterward, but I see dogs eat fast all of the time so I didn't think anything of it...

Last edited by Raivotar; April 2nd, 2010 at 03:27 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old April 2nd, 2010, 07:02 AM
Sib.HuskyMom's Avatar
Sib.HuskyMom Sib.HuskyMom is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Ontario
Posts: 311
Hi Raivotar,
Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry to hear that your little pup is having some poop issues. Good call on taking a stool sample into the vet - that would be my first thought too. Pups can pick up all sorts of parasites and whatnot, so hopefully you'll get the results to that soon.

Switching to a better food would definitely be a good idea. When my pups were young, they also had problems with loose stools intermittenly. I tried about 3 or 4 different foods before I found one that worked. Eventually I learned that a completely grain free diet works best for my dogs. That includes food and treats (which I make myself - cheaper, and no preservatives). THe brand I ended up with was Orijen, which several people on this board recommend as well.
If switching food is your next step, be sure to do it very slowly - like over the course of 3-4 weeks. Therefore, it'll end up taking probably 6 weeks at least before he's fully used to it and you know if it's going to help.
For days when the stool seems really loose, I would suggest keeping a can of pure pumpkin (not the pie filling) on hand, that you can mix in with his food for some extra fibre.

If he seems to have adjusted well to his crate, than I doubt that's the problem.

If he's gulping up his food to fast, he may be inhalling extra air, which is bound to give him some gas, and maybe an upset stomach.
For an immediate way to slow him down, many people have found it successful to put a kong (or tennis ball or somthing) in the middle of his bowl. That way he has to eat around it and it slows him down.

But if he's a bit of bugger like my two were (are ) then I would just have to watch them closely as they ate. 3 or 4 times throughout their meal, I would make them stop and sit for a moment, and then they could continue. It was a long process, but eventually I had to do it less and less, and now, they don't eat too fast at all.

Best of luck with your little one. I hope you find a solution for him soon.
P.S. Any pics that you'd like to share
We loooooove puppy pics!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old April 2nd, 2010, 07:07 AM
Sib.HuskyMom's Avatar
Sib.HuskyMom Sib.HuskyMom is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Ontario
Posts: 311
Another thing worth mentioning is the amount of food that you're feeding. The guidelines on the bag tend to be overstated.
You certainly don't want a skinny little pup, but overfeeding can definitely be a cause of loose stool.
I know it's hard when they're so young, because they often don't know enough to stop eating when they're full, so you usually can't rely on them to monitor their own intake levels.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old April 2nd, 2010, 07:45 AM
LavenderRott's Avatar
LavenderRott LavenderRott is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,671
A change in food certainly wouldn't hurt but look at the treats you are feeding and how frequently you are feeding them. If you feed quality kibble but really bad treats you could have a problem.

Three meals a day at this point. Ideally breakfast should be fed about an hour before you go to work or, if you don't work, half an hour or an hour after you are up and moving in the morning. (My pup gets breakfast around 9:00, 9:30.) Lunch should be around lunchtime - between 12 and 1 or so. Dinner usually around 5:00 or 6:00. Don't get yourself stuck in a routine where you feed at exactly the same time every day. And don't worry if something comes up and you miss a meal. I know it sounds bad - but life happens and will continue to happen for the next 10 to 15 years. You do not want to be that person who has to leave Christmas dinner with family because your dog will get sick or tear up the house if his food bowl doesn't hit the floor at 5:10.
__________________
Sandi
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old April 2nd, 2010, 11:40 AM
mummummum's Avatar
mummummum mummummum is offline
-
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: The Hammer
Posts: 8,534
Are you adding anything to his kibble like omega oils?

It could well be his diet (kibble or treats). His digestive system may not be processing everything within 8 ~12 hours. So, the food he ate yesterday morning may in fact be the cause of cannonbutt the following evening. Going grain-free may be well worth a look.

Also, parasites are bedevilling little creatures. My oul' boy () had a wicked case of liver flukes which were not only difficult to diagnose but like, your guy, one day he'd be sicker than all get-out and the next he'd have normal BM's and no
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old April 2nd, 2010, 03:29 PM
Marcha's Avatar
Marcha Marcha is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Greater Victoria, BC, Canada
Posts: 510
What is the pup's activity level after her meals? Do you give the pup time to crash/digest after a meal, or is he getting activity after the meal?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:41 AM.