Diarrhea in 5 month old puppy

[FlamesGirl]

Hi, I'm not sure whether to be posting this in this forum or if it'd be better in the health forum but I thought since the pup HAS seen the vet, I'd get some advice here.

My brother's new pup Blue has had loose soft poops for about three weeks now. The first week they noticed him having really bad squirty diarrhea and immediately took him to the vet. Vet prescribed some pills for ten days (sorry, don't know what it was exactly) and a diet of potato/hamburger, feeding only 4-6 tablespoons a few times a day. After the pills were done, his stools went mostly back to normal with the occasional very soft one. But now the runs are back (not the liquid kind, just extremely soft ones) and he's lost some weight. Blue's attitude and energy levels are the same, he has been dewormed since my brother got him and all his vaccinations are up to date.

My question is: what can be done to stop the loose stools? Vet did a full blood panel and check up, everything was normal. Blue is eating Acana Large Breed Puppy (as we think he is a lab/sharpei X) when his poops are normal, but that is so rarely the case at this point. I'm wondering if had something to do with the food being so much more richer in nutritional value. I changed my dog over from his rescue food, to Iams in the 2 weeks and there was no problem. Then I changed him over to Orijen and I had to keep mixing it for about 2 months before my dog's stomach got used to it. Any time it was just the Orijen, he would have loose stools. Could this be why the puppy is experiencing the same thing? I know when my bro got Blue, the rescue only gave him enough of his old dog food to mix it for 4-5 days.

Some more information: Blue is getting a chicken/potato/kibble mixture at the moment as I thought maybe that would help ease the kibble back into his digestive system. He gets no other treats and is watched like a hawk so he doesn't eat anything he shouldn't (like berries off trees or mulch!). I was thinking of recommending some pumpkin puree to try to help firm up his stools from reading that on this board.

I'm not sure if we should get different kibble for the pup, if maybe he just isn't doing well on it, but he was fine on it for about a week before the runs started the first time. I'm also not sure if introducing yet another food is a wise decision at this time. Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S Blue right now is getting about 2 cups of potato/kibble (more potato than kibble) three times a day.

[Sib.HuskyMom]

Hi FlamesGirl.
There are some really great food experts on here, so I'm sure you'll get some great advice for your puppy. My puppies are now a year old and have good solid stools now, but I've definitely been where you are.
We had to try about 3 different kinds of food before we found one that worked. Turns out, my Jasper is intollerent to wheat. So I've kept him off all grains (including in his treats), just to be on the safe side.

I have them on Orijen right now which is working great, but I've heard that it can be too rich for some dogs which results in the loose stools.

Pure pumpkin is great for firming things up, but it's only a temporary solution for the symptom. You still have to get to the bottom of the problem. My best guess would be some sort of food allergy but there are definitely people on here who are much better experts.

Best of luck to you and your little one!

[SuperWanda]

How much does Blue weigh? You said he gets 2 cups of food 3x a day - so 6 cups in total? That seems like a lot of food. I have a 60lb and a 65lb and they get 2 cups of Orijen each day. I know he is just a pup and may require more nutrients but overfeeding can cause this type of problem.

This is the first thing that came to mind after reading your post but I'm sure someone else will be along to offer more advice than I can

[FlamesGirl]

Oops, sorry. He gets 2 cups a day divided into three meals. Last time he was at the vet's, he weighed 11kg, around 25 lbs. Not sure what he weighs now, but you can see his ribs and his hip bones are starting to stick out.

Hope that clarifies.

[Lyrical44]

Are there any colorants in the food? I know that Bennie had the same problem when he was a pup, and it turned out he was allergic to artificial colouring. It was REALLY scary because he lost alot of weight really fast, have you had the dog tested for allergies?

[aslan]

hi flamegirl, at 5 mths your little one is doin the growin thing so long and lanky is his state at the moment. I would suggest switching him back to the orijen but you have to do it slowly over a couple of weeks. It sounds like you did a quick switch from one brand to another and that was more than likely the cause for his runs. Gradually add the orijen to his kibble, a little tomorrow, let the little ones tummy adjust gradually.

as for the other pupper, yes pure pumpkin will help firm the poop up, but i'd want to find the cause. It could be the Acana is too rich or puppies usually need to be dewormed more than once. I guess we would need to know what you mean by soft.

[katty5256]

Has he been dewormed? If you are doing all of the right things with the food that may not be the cause. Sometimes puppies need to be dewormed for the first 6 months. It is cheap to treat and will rule it out as a possibility. Worms will display a lot of the same signs you are describing here and the treatment reacts in 2-6 hours so you will see almost immediate results.