Cooper's tummy trouble--question.

[joeysmama]

Cooper had the trots on Tuesday. The vet said chicken and rice for a few days. Well he had a normal poop on Thursday and the hubby gave him regular dog food and also some doggie treats that night. Runny poopie on Friday. (The boy is home from college and he really took over while I drove my aunt back and forth to the hospital to visit my uncle--he's a great kid. Did the bath and washed the ick out of his fur and blew him dry and everything.)

The vet said put him right back on the bland diet, scold hubby, and bring in a sample if it continues.

He seems fine, active and happy, but hasn't pooped today.

Here's my question. I boiled a bunch of chicken and rice today and put it in ziplocs. He usually gets a half cup of Wellness Super5Puppy mix twice a day. The vet said to give him half a cup of the chicken and rice mixture twice a day.

He seems so much hungrier than he did on the puppy food. (Of course it could be because he LOOOVES the chicken and rice, and can't get enough. ) But do you think I should give him more? He is just under 10 pounds and the vet said it's plenty of food, and that we could go up to 3/4 cup at one of the feedings but he shouldn't need more than that.

We have to go to a funeral out of town and will be gone half of Sunday and all of Monday and I want to be sure to give my mom the right directions regarding feeding etc.

I HATE HATE HATE to go away and leave him but my husband's best friend from childhood died suddenly (at 48 years old leaving two teenagers and a parapalegic wife) and we really do have to go to this funeral.

Thanks in advance for helping a nervous mama !!

[joeysmama]

I forgot to mention that as sad as I am for my husband and for his friends family, I'm also upset that Cooper is going to miss his last day of puppy kindergarten. It's graduation and they get to pick out a toy. Does this make me cold hearted--that I want to leave early so my puppy doesnt miss out on fun? I think I should post that in the "You know your a dog owner when..." thread. (I'm looking for someone who is willing to take him to his graduation since my mom is probably too nervous to take him in the car.) Seriously--does this make me a bad person?

[Prin]

no... you're not a bad person. What happens is unexpected things happen, but that doesn't take away from the things we were looking forward to before they happened. Life is for living and it goes on all the time.

As for the doggy, maybe he's got an intolerance to something in the food.. When you start feeding again, do you give a huge portion? After the stool is solid on the chicken, I'd start with about 1/4 of a portion first and see how it passes... It could be that there is something in the food that he just can't digest (even though it is a good food).

Just to be on the safe side though, I'd bring in a sample to be tested for wormies.

[joeysmama]

Yes, that's what I was planning to do as soon as something makes its way out. I was walking aorund with the pup and a paper cup and baggie all morning, but no luck.

He's never had trouble with the Wellness so I'm hoping that's not it. His coat is so nice, and he seems to be thriving on it.

Ok, I'll start with 1/4 portion and ease him back into his regular food. Maybe I'll send Tom to stay somewhere else until the pup is back to normal.

[Prin]

Depending on the timing of it all, he could also just be upset. If there has been a major change in routine or if you are both stressed or upset, he might have picked up on it. With dogs, emotions, especially anxiety, are osmotic. They just feed off us (in a bad way).

[joeysmama]

Well his routine WAS disrupted last week when we were away and he was at the dog sitter's. But we came home Friday and he was fine until Tuesday. He was at puppy classes Monday night--maybe he picked something up there? We didn't hear about Tom's friend until Wednesday so I don't think it's that. Plus, we're sad, but hadn't been really close to him for some time--so it's not a disrupting kind of sad. But to avoid changing his routine again my mom is coming here. I don't want him out of his environment again so soon.

Another question.

He didn't poop yesterday and, so far, not today. If he doesn't go later should I give give him a little pumpkin or is that just stupid since he is getting over diarrhea? I don't want to bring it on again but I'm worried that his system might be over correcting and he'll get constipated.

I'll definitely be taking a stool sample to the vet as soon as he produces one.

[Prin]

What has he eaten since he stopped going? I'd just give him enough opportunity and if that doesn't work, maybe a little all-bran (small amount like a few tbsps). I think pumpkin might constipate him more...

[SnowDancer]

I would ask vet about feeding canned I/D food for a few days. I keep 2 cans on hand for emergency purposes only - and my Eskie just happens to love it. Very sorry for your friend's family. My uncle became a quadraplegic at age 40and my aunt had to care for him and their children. Fortunately he had sufficient family money to care for his family. He died at age 70. It was always a major concern for my aunt that she would predecease him when the children were still at home. Fortunately that did not occur. I really hope that your friend's family has a support group - and I hate to say it, that her husband has sufficient insurance to enable the family to stay together.

[Cymba's friend]

My German Shepherd has had long term problems with the runs (diarrhea), and in addition to a super sensitive digestive system, we did find that he had coccidia which is a protozoa parasite that he picked up from squirrel droppings. Dogs can also pick up other parasites, or can have allergies to certain food substances. Mine was also on Wellness (therefore good food) but we had to switch to Hills I/D cans (specially for gastro problems) and we managed to stabilise his stool while taking some potent sulfa medicine against the parasites which caused the diarrhea. The advantage of I/D as a temporary measure is that you know exactly the amount of calories, and nutrients you need for the weight/age of your dog (and you can keep it in storage as long as you need it). You may wish to have a stool test done by your vet to find out the root cause of the problem.

[joeysmama]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice. I kept him on the chicken and rice while we were away, making up packages for Naunnie to give him so I knew he was getting the right amount at each meal. He did not poop at all for her while we were gone but went when we came home. Nearly normal poopie. We took it right to the vet to check for parasites and it came back negative.

I've weaned him back to the Wellness and today he was back to normal routine, normal poopies.

Thanks for helping me out !! It's nice to have other doggie parents to talk to.

[mastifflover]

Glad to hear your babies poops are normal. Pumpkin is good for the runs but too much can constipate so when you use it give small amounts at a time.

[Prin]

Yey for Good Poopies!! lol There's something you don't hear every day!