First trouble - diarrhea!

[JennieV]

Hello everybody!
So as some of you are aware, we got Sparky to join our family. Well, today was the first sign of trouble in the month that we had him.
For information purposes:
Sparky is a mix Pomeranian/Maltese(possibly Westie), almost 4 months old, 7.5 lbs.
The problem started yesterday, I noticed his stool to be watery. It didn't smell very strong nor did it have any other worrying signs, it was just very mushy. I don't panic at the sight of mushy stool, especially since Sparky seemed to be fine otherwise, eats, drinks, plays etc....And he is a puppy, its to be expected that some things won't agree with his tummy.

This morning, I woke up to our first #2 accident in the house (it was very mushy as well), he is almost fully house-trained and I found it weird, especially since last walk was at 11 pm and I woke up at 6 am to walk him. Previously, we had absolutely no trouble going through the night.
Well, when I took him out and he went again, he literally went water, and after careful examination on my part I noticed a tiny bit of blood.

During the day, he was walked by my nephew, but he only went once, mushy...No accidents in the house.

So off to the vet we went, after careful examination of the dog and the sample of stool that I brought in, the vet declared that there is nothing in the stool and prescribed 2 things:

1.Apo-metronidazole - 250 mg, she said it was for his diarrhea.

2. IAMS puppy food, veterinary formula, Intestinal Low-Residue (Dietary management of GI tract Health) I looked at the ingredients and got mad, because its everything I am trying to stay away from and I don't understand how sudden switch of his food (he is on NOW!Puppy) to this **** is going to benefit him.
So I am kind of torn, this goes against all I know about food and dogs and their slow integration to new foods (she just wants me to feed him this while he has diarrhea, then switch to normal food)

On the other hand, she is the doctor, and so far she has been very good with us and our pets. I don't know what to do....

I suspect that the diarrhea is the result of giving Sparky treats, especially the freezer dried liver.

Any ideas? Opinions?? I would be very appreciative!

P.S. He SHREDS his puppy pads!! I don't suppose anyone has a remedy for that? he leaves them alone at night, but in the day I come home to a white pile of shreds...Could he be ingesting some?? It just dawned on me...but in the stool that I inspected there was nothing. I would have seen white pieces, no?? :sad:

[Chaser]

IMO, I would not feed the Iams. When we are sick, doctors prescribe the meds, but common sense tells us what nutrition we should be getting during that time. I believe it to be the same for dogs.

While he is still suffering from tummy upset, you could feed him a diet of plain cooked rice and chicken, though that may not even be needed given that he hasn't been throwing up. Usually if my dogs have the runs I'll give them the canned version of their food to promote hydration. I'd stay away from treats, and give a tiny bit of plain canned pumpkin (probably 1/2 a teaspoon for his size) once a day to help firm things up.

As for the puppy pads, I don't know how to get him to stop shredding them b/c I didn't use them. But I do know that Kleenex comes out looking like Kleenex, so I'm thinking it would be the same story if he was eating pieces of the pads.

Hope Sparky feels better soon!

[rainbow]

I also would not feed the Iams food and would give him boiled chicken and rice until things firm up. If you want to give him treats set aside a few pieces of the boiled chicken.

As far as the puppy pads, I have never used them but I would think they have chemicals of some kind in them so perhaps that is what caused the diarrhea.

If he is not better after the metronidazole treatment then I would have blood tests done. Good luck.....I hope Sparky recovers quickly.