Dutch Shepherd Forum

My pup is about 6 1/2 months old. I got her at 2 months and have battling off and on diarrhea since then. I'm working with a different vet and we seem to be making progress. We are trying many things and then slowly taking away to see what might trigger the diarrhea to come back. When I phased off the Metamucil her diarrhea came back. I just started her back on last night and it is firming up a bit already . . . not okay, just better. Does anyone else need to give their Dutchie Metamucil to control diarrhea?

I've never had a chronic case as you describe, but I've had nasty cases. I fed brown rice and boiled, skinless chicken breast, started off in small doses, and avoided situations that were known to cause stress.

What is her daily intake--what foods, including types of treats?

Also, is there anything environmentally that is/could be producing stress? It may be something you wouldn't normally think causes anxiety.

P.S.: Metamucil has sugar in it, yes?

I'm assuming you've tested for parasites?

Sharon's questions are good ones. Are you keeping a food diary?

Boiled chicken with brown rice fed in small portions multiple times (e.g. 4-6 times) a day as Sharon suggested is a go-to for loose stools in my house. I usually add pumpkin, colostrum, and slippery elm syrup (pumpkin firms, colostrum adds nutrients, slippery elm syrup coats the gut).

Both vets I've taken her to have prescribed Hill's prescrition food (first vet i/d, second vet z/d switching to d/d?). Both vets have taken me through the parasite and wormers. With the first vet I was giving her treats (knucklebones mostly) and then I heard that could be bad so I stopped those. So for treats . . . well, her metamucil is now a cinnamon wafer she LOVES, ice cubes, and her regular food. I'm not giving anything else because I want to figure out this diarrhea. . . so no real need to keep food diary.

Yes, I'm sure she is stressed. I have my two big dogs in the back yard and Lexi is in a large kennel under our deck. We have a walk-out basement and it walks out into her kennel. So if the big dogs see something in the woods or a neighbor dog comes down, they go to the fence and either look or bark. Lexi runs around her kennel barking like crazy. I'm sure that is stress. I can't have the three of them together without supervision. Lexi will jump on my old girl who doesn't have much to fight back with but tries to bark her off. Then the other big dog comes in to settle the pack dispute . . .which means she attacks my old girl. I try to avoid that situation at all costs.

We also have her on Purina Forti something? It is probiotics. If the metamucil firms her back up we may try removing the probiotics. If both could be removed, we might look at the protein source in her kibble . . or for other food allergies. I like the route the second vet is going to figure this out. It just might take time. At least she hasn't gone in the house except for once when I first got her.

Purina is ineffective in my opinion. I had the same constant fight with my dude for a loooooooong time. Hill's is also.... Uhm, politely put, not worth the cost of manufacturing. What brand is her normal food?

With my dude I had to switch brands to a lower fat/not a rich/4 star food from Orijen. I also was feeding him too much and had to really cut down his food/treats until I learned the balance. For him his perfect mix was like 1/2 cup below recommended feedings on kibble. There's a thread on here started by me, I think maybe called "Acid reflux" that has a really good list of better probiotics and supplements that really helped my guy. Stacy has a bunch of things that worked like a charm (colostrum, goat yogurt/milk, slippery elm syrup) that still gets implemented today especially after dewormers or antibiotics. Besides having a super sensitive stomach (I mean if I went 1/4 cup over what he could handle, instant dire-rear. Too much yogurt, instant dire-rear. So keeping a food diary was helpful when I was playing with portions.

A lot of vets will recommend a food because they are encouraged to, and if I'm not mistaken, are the kibbles that vets often sell in their offices (because of it). Kind of a marketing and PR thing by the manufacturers who want to reach the broad, commercial audience. Who better to promote their goods than those who treat our animals?

You won't see a regular MD pushing turmeric powder on patients with inflammation; rather, they prescribe whatever the pharm companies manufacture.

And just as with medical doctors who aren't savvy about nutrition, vets don't necessarily know about nutrition in relation to kibble.

Elli has (or had) chronic diarrhea resulting from an emergency surgery she underwent with her last owner. She's on Tylan powder (mild antibiotic) and metronydazole for life. I have them and will use for 2 days in case of a blowout, but I've mostly controlled it with diet. I feed her a raw diet and she gets about 20% bone (normal is 10%). I now supplement with MSM as it's a natural antinflammatory and works similarly to the Tylan powder in the intestines, without the side effects of long term antibiotic use. It's also been known to prevent giardia, so it helps prevent another common cause of loose stools.

k9lexi wrote:Both vets I've taken her to have prescribed Hill's prescrition food (first vet i/d, second vet z/d switching to d/d?).

You're not going to find many high marks from this group on Hill's...you can search the archives, but it's horrible food.

k9lexi wrote:I'm not giving anything else because I want to figure out this diarrhea. . . so no real need to keep food diary.

As Kira mentioned in her response...whenever you are dealing with stuff like this, it's always important to keep a food diary with portions, etc. You'd be amazed at what you can discover as you tweak the diet...

k9lexi wrote:We also have her on Purina Forti something? It is probiotics.

This product isn't worth your time... The first ingredient is Animal Digest. It's a very salty fat made from rendering animal matter. That has been proven repeatedly to contain cats and dogs in many high profile cases (IAMS). The salt makes the dogs want to eat it. There is one strain of probiotic which can be found in any other product. There's nothing in it that could work better than any other product. It's merely a salty coating that costs a fortune and does little for the gut flora. I use Mercola's Pet Probiotic. It has 14 strains of probiotics and is manufactured in a way that delivers live, active cultures.

k9lexi wrote:If the metamucil firms her back up we may try removing the probiotics.

Why? Probiotics are good for everyone...