Puppy diarrhea problem....

[Diemex]

Hello,

I sought out this forum so I could get some better advice than what I am urrently recieving.

My puppy is a 3 month old pure breed Shih-Tzu. The puppy came from a puppy 'farm' near here, I thought the conditions were pretty deplorable and that alone guilted me into saving at least 1. Anyhow that aside the puppy seems to be in good health and the Vet has given a thumbs up and first round of needles. Today actually the second round of needles are administered.

The puppy is very active, happy and has all the apearance of a healthy growing pup.

I do however have an issue with the food. I was unable to get a good answer from the 'farm' on what food the puppy was fed. They told me it was a mixture/blend of 'good stuff'. I'm feeding her IAMS right now but her stools are always very soft and a bit runny. The VET here in town told me that I need to switch food. I also checked with the staff at the local Pet Value shop, they also said a food change would help... but the vet and the store had conflicting opinions on which food to switch too.

In the end I found Pet Value to be more informative and I choose a brand on their advice. I bought a bag of "Performatrin" for puppies. I found it was high enough rated on various internet sites so I suspect its decent quality food. However the runs has not stopped. Also the puppy has accidents in the house, I suspect that since the stool is so soft like diarrhea that its too difficult for her to hold in.

I do not know if its the food... or how I am introducing it. I Only had her for 3 months and she was having diarrhea from day 1. When I bought the Performatrin last week I started mixing 50% old / new right away and have been doing that all week. Non change in the stools, some may even be worse. I am also sprinkling some holistic enzyme powder on the food that is supposed to help... but so far it just seems to be getting worse.

Can anyone advise me how to get her stools to be 'normal'. I dont know if I am using the right food, introducing it wrong... or what. I'll be looking for more advice from the vet this afternoon, but honestly I dont find them very informative so all the information I can get will help.

Thanks for reading my wall of text !

[Lukka'sma]

When we brought Lukka home she had soft stools too and it went on for the first year and a half of her life. I went through four or five food switches and finally ditched foods that contained any grains. I started to feed Orijen and the poop issues were a thing of the past. So in our case it was a gluten sensitivity I guess. I hope you find a food that will agree with your little one too.

[t.pettet]

The vet checked stool for parasites?

[rainbow]

When you introduce a new food you should start more slowly than a 50/50 mix. I would add no more than 25% of the new kibble for the first 3 or 4 days then gradually add more over the course of two weeks.

Since she has constant diarrhea, I would also stop giving her any kibble and feed her boiled chicken and rice until her poop firms up, and then introduce the kibble.

Performatrin is better than Iams but there are still alot better brands out there. What I mostly don't like about Performatrin is:

1. Menhaden Fish Meal - it is likely preserved with ethoxyquin which is linked to cancer. Pet food companies do not have to list it as an ingredient since it is preserved with ethoxyquin before they purchase it.

2. Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex - also known as Vitamin K3 and banned for human consumption as it is also linked to cancer. Vitamin K1 should be used instead imo.

[growler~GateKeeper]

Originally Posted by Diemex

When I bought the Performatrin last week I started mixing 50% old / new right away and have been doing that all week. Non change in the stools, some may even be worse. I am also sprinkling some holistic enzyme powder on the food that is supposed to help... but so far it just seems to be getting worse.

When you introduce a new food it should be gradual to allow the digestive system time to adjust, the first 2-3 days should be roughly 1/4 new food 3/4 old food, on day 4-7 increase to 1/2 & 1/2, day 8-11 give 3/4 new food 1/4 old food, then on the 12th day you can give 100% the new food.

You can restart the gradual food change (go back to giving 100% old stuff for a day or two, then start gradually introducing the new food) & see if that might help with the "some may even be worse" part of the change.

Are you giving any treats? Oftentimes we focus on the food & forget the treats might cause upset tummies as well. I know with my his tummy couldn't handle any treats @ all & so was given his kibble for treats

This was gonna be my next question:

Originally Posted by t.pettet

The vet checked stool for parasites?

[rainbow]

This is an excellent site for information.....

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/

Click on "Ingredients to Avoid", "Label Information 101" and the rest of the links on the left hand side of the page.

You will be very confused at first so come back and ask all the questions you want.....someone is always here to help out.

[rainbow]

This is also an excellent site for information and there are lots of links (highlighted) there to check out....

http://www.dogaware.com/dogfeeding.html

[rainbow]

I also should have mentioned in my first post that you need to make sure she is getting enough water so she doesn't get dehydrated.

Try leaving a little of the water from the rice & chicken in her dish. Puppies can get dehydrated very easily.

Also, as t.pettet suggested, did you take a stool sample to the vet to be checked?