Constant diarrhoea...

This isn’t for me, but for someone I know.

His dog is just coming up for 12 months old, and he got him when he was around 4 months old. To begin with, his dog was having almost constant diarrhoea, and when he didn’t have it full blown, he was still very loose. He was back and forth to the vet, who kept squirting stuff down the dogs throat, and for a few days he would be ok, while be fed chicken and pasta/rice. But once back on kibble, the diarrhoea would start again.

About December time, he saw the head of the vet surgery and she suggested that since he was ok after getting the squirty stuff and the chicken and pasta/rice, that it must be down to food. So, he put his dog on JWB Turkey and Rice, which is a hypoallergenic one. His dog was doing great on it, and he was thrilled to bits. His dog still had odd days of diarrhoea but on the whole his toileting was great.

Then three weeks ago, the diarrhoea started again… he is getting so stressed out and being driven demented by it… which I can totally relate to, after Jake and his blooming allergies. He had given his dog a marrow bone, so thought it was that but it has continued on. Sometimes his toileting will be ok, and then a few hours later, and this is the words of his owner, it is ‘flying out of him’. He is being woken up in the early hours by his dog needing out, almost every morning. He also has a bit of blood in it, but the vet said not to worry because it is bright red, rather than dark red.

I suggested to put him on an elimination diet, but his owner keeps saying he has… but he has never been strict enough and still gives him treats/biscuits etc. I think it could possibly be an intolerance to wheat, and I think he is now realising that he needs to cut out everything (today, he was telling everyone not to give his dog any treats whatsoever and had kibble in his pocket). He is now thinking it could be caused by worms, and so wormed him yesterday. He is also going to keep him on the chicken and pasta/rice until Monday, and if he is ok, then try it until next week. Then, if he is still ok he will introduce the kibble again… and if starts again, then he will be back off to the vets.

The vet told him that long term, he shouldn't be feeding chicken and rice/pasta but he now really really wants to. He wants to find out about balancing it out, and I can’t help too much coz I don’t know a great deal about it… I did tell him to fed egg shell though (eventually, not right now).

So, I have two questions. Does anyone have any suggestions on what this could be, and how to find out? And also, to those who feed home cooked diets, do you add vitamins etc to your dogs diet? I will do more reading about it later, but I need to go get ready just now to go out but I thought it would be helpful to know what other people's opinions are. I don’t think the JWB is the problem, but hopefully he will be able to find out soon enough.

ETA: I forgot to say, that his dog is completely normal in himself, no signs of illness etc.

I'd try this dog on Chappie and give a daily vitamin/mineral supplement like the one I've just ordered which is the equivalent of the SA37.

I'd be suspecting worms, and my preferred wormer would be Panacur 3 or 5 day course.

Having been through almost the same thing over the past year or more, that would be my advice. Zena is the same, she will do me 2 completely normaly poo's of a morning and then lunchtime or evening, it can come out of her like a hosepipe, but by morning, it's normal again!

She has now been actually diagnosed with the Giardia, so this dog needs to have a poo sample taken for analysis too if he hasn't already done so. Maybe 3 days on the trot, coz to find Giardia is like finding a needle in a haystack, hence the 3 days of samples.

Good luck, I do know what a nightmare he's going through.

Sounds like a nightmare
But I think sticking on the rice and pasta for a little while is a good idea - switching things around and chopping and changing cant be helping

Also look for simple things - is he eating stuff he shouldnt out on walks?
and if everyone is giving him treats then it could be anything. I know of two dogs round here who will be pretty squitty after even a tiny bit of cooked chicken

Hipoallergenic dosent actually guarantee dogs wont react to it - just that it dosent have the most common things in it that dogs have problems with.

Also check the quantities, took me a while to figure it out but Ben gets the runs if I feed him even a little too much, which has been a pain when I was trying to get a little weight on him and it was just running out of him

Good point, feeding too much will also cause diarrhea

Thanks guys

I am going to do some reading on things just now, and write out some notes for him, which I will pass on tomorrow (I will need to write it down or I will forget ).

The poor guy is absolutely stressed, and you can see it all over his face now, and the way he talks too... He just doesn't know what to do anymore. I don't know much about Giardia, and have only ever heard it in passing before, so I will be off to read about that! H, I hope you can get everything sorted out with Zena!

He doesn't eat too much things he shouldn't out on walks, but his owner goes mental coz he drinks out of puddles. He does it almost everyday though, even when he is on his pasta and chicken diet, and he doesn't get diarrhoea then. Also, some of the other dogs drink out of them too, and it doesn't effect them in this way... He did eat a stinky birds head yesterday though

He gets treats on walks from other people, but most people only give him the odd one... although, there is someone who often gives the dogs too many biscuits, and his owner often has to tell her to give him no more...

He wanted to try a hypoallergenic kibble because it eliminates a lot of the potential problems, and although it doesn't totally eliminate the risk of a reaction (if there is an allergy/intolerance), it reduces the risk, and if the dog does still react to it then it can be easier to pinpoint the problem.

I will also ask how much he is feeding (I hadn't thought about that one!), but I don't think he feeds too much, coz we once had a conversation about feeding amounts after he got his dog weighed and we were comparing his dog and Jake and, I am sure he wasn't feeding a great amount.

So, I am off to do lots of reading now I really hope he can find out what is up with Louie, coz he loves that boy so much.

You are right in thinking that not sticking to the diet is the commonest problem in these situations, giving a treat makes us feel good but ultimately the dog suffers.
Marrow bone/beef and beef protein is one of the more common allergies although this could well not be a true allergy. Are there any other symptoms such as skin irritation?
Some dogs are just intolerant of change rather than allergic so any new or rich food can set them off.
As Helena says Chappie is a good alternative to chicken and rice and , although not a fan of vitamin supplements, with such limited diets I’d use one a couple of times a week.
Hope it settles.

What about one of the pre-packed raw diets like Natural Instinct? They'll be grain-free and not too much faff for him (sounds like he might prefer an easier option than "homemade" raw feeding?)
Maybe recommend some treats, like the Fish4Dogs ones that are 100% fish. He could tell other people that his dog has allergies, he'll have to be strict especially with the one that dishes out lots of biscuits, but it's his responsibility to control what his dog eats.

The vet should consider giardia as a starting point.

He thought the marrow bone could be the cause because the marrow can be known to give dogs the squits... But, as it is now continuing, he has decided it most likely isn't that.

I mentioned to him Chappie today, and he says that he will keep it in mind and might give it a try after he tries the pasta and chicken.

Thats a good idea, will suggest that to him. He wants to try home cooked because he knows his dog is doing well on it re. toileting. He did mention today that he would like to try raw, but for the meantime, he wants to stick with the pasta and chicken until he settles. But if he decides to go for raw, then he knows he can ask me anything

He has also been strict in not letting other people feed his dog treats for the last two days, now that he is seriously doing a strict diet. I keep telling him the importance of this, and that something small that he feels is insignificant, could actually be causing it. So, I think he is determined now to be strict with him.

I mentioned that to him today, so I think he is going to look into it.

Good news ... I have got to the stage now that whenever I hear about a dog who has diarrhoea that is not responding to change of diet etc. etc., I suggest to the owners that it might be giardia and that they should treat with panacur, and miraculously the symptoms clear up. It really does seem to be reaching epidemic proportions, very worrying. I do hope you get to the bottom of it Lozzie, no pun intended!