Finally figured out my pup's 4 month battle with diarrhea

[wiscguy]

We have had a LONG process with our 8 month old Boston Terrier's GI tract. He started having diarrhea in October. Vet thought it was "garbage gut" because he tried a new treat - six weeks and three vet visits later he was diagnosed with giardia. We switched vets, did two rounds of giardia treatment, spent a month constantly cleaning floors, washing bedding and toys, bathing the pup every other day... the diarrhea persisted. We tried two different prescription foods, no change. His poop was testing negative for giardia cysts & eggs but positive for the antigen.

Finally, last week our vet brought up the possibility of a food allergy/intolerance. We agreed to try an elimination diet with Hills z/d prescription food. Finally, after a few days on the new food, his poop is perfect! Totally normal. It's such a relief for all of us.

Now we just have to figure out what exactly he is allergic to, but we're thinking it's either chicken, pork, or corn. He most likely has a general poultry sensitivity since every time we've given him turkey it's been a butthole explosion.

If your pup is having diarrhea, it WILL end. You WILL find the answer and things will get better. Work with your vet, get a second opinion if you're not satisfied, and dig deep to find your patience.

The pooper himself

 

[patrickwhitmore]

@wiscguy This post makes me feel so much better. Luckily, Flick didn't quite get that bad. He had coccidia when we rescued him from the humane society, got that treated and taken care of. Then he was on an antibiotic (two actually, over 20 days) for a UTI. He had one whole day of no medications before the diarrhea started. He had tried a new food (yogurt), so I thought that was the cause and that it would subside on it's own. It didn't, and then it got bloody. A trip to the 24 hour vet and a negative parvo test later - we were back home with another antibiotic. Then, he was barely pooping. So now we're on a probiotic, and a bland prescription diet (Royal Canin).

We tried to phase his original food back in over the weekend. He was fine at first, until I used a handful as training rewards and he threw up within an hour. So, to the trash that food goes. I'm assuming it's just an intolerance, but now we're starting the same battle of figuring out which things his body is rejecting. I'm waiting for a call from my vet now to see if we can make the switch to one of the Hill's Science Diets, but their gastrointestinal line seems to be for adult dogs, and then they have a separate puppy line, which I doubt is as simple for his stomach to digest. In the meantime, I guess I'm lucky that he likes this current food!

I'm sorry you guys had to go through all of that, but I'm glad you've narrowed it down and he's feeling better.

Puppy tax, courtesy of his puppy daycare yesterday:

https://imgur.com/Atsoyqp

 

[wiscguy]

@patrickwhitmore Yes mine has been on a probiotic (FortiFlora) since mid October and we think that helps as well. Apparently protein allergies/intolerances are the most common type so I would look at that first. Depending on how old your pup is the Hills prescription diets should be fine, they are okay for puppies and adult dogs and we found puppy food was a little too rich for our guy anyway. Good luck and hopefully you get things figured out soon! SO cute also!

 

[fijiman]

@patrickwhitmore Just a general fyi -- Dog2 has food sensitivities/allergies along with some chronic health conditions. AND Hills Prescription Diet Low Fat Gastrointestinal seems to trigger those allergies while she seems ok with Royal Canin Low Fat Gastrointestinal

I suspect it's the chicken and the processing of said chicken in Hill's but am not certain.

So be cautious about switching to a different brand's prescription diet because they don't formulate them the same way and your dog may be ok with one brand and not ok with the other brand's.

 

[drterrapin]

@fijiman I used to work for a vet and I can attest that royal canin is pretty good about preventing cross contaimination between their different diets, whereas hills may not. That could explain the trigger from hills...just a thought!

 

[jake99901]

@drterrapin Yes! I've seen some good results with Royal Canin Anallergenic.

 

[patrickwhitmore]

@fijiman thank you for the heads up!! someone posted about another alternative from a company local to my state, I think I might get my vet's opinion on that before we commit to the prescription diet, unless she says otherwise.

 

[wiscguy]

@fijiman Yes my pup has been on both and he did way better on Royal Canin GI than Hills i/d even though they both had chicken.

 

[fijiman]

@wiscguy I have no real idea but I have wondered if Royal Canin processes their protein in their GI food to be as hypoallergenic as possible while maybe Hill's just concentrates on the actual GI upset issue (missing or overlooking that sometimes GI issues are caused or worsened by food sensitivities).

 

[cins]

@patrickwhitmore Read the bag’s AAFCO statement. If it says formulated for “All Life Stages” then it’s formulated for the growth of puppies (including large breed puppies). If it says formulated for “maintenance” then it doesn’t have the extra calcium puppies need.

Source: work for a pet food company.

 

[patrickwhitmore]

@cins thank you!!

 

[elcamino]

@patrickwhitmore My catahoula/staffy pup was allergic to the Hill’s science diet. I’m assuming it was the chicken in it but I’ve since switched her to the Taste Of The Wild salmon grain free puppy food and her coat has never looked better, her itching is starting to subside and no more diarrhea

 

[jlondon33]

@wiscguy So happy your baby is better but also shocked your vet didn’t come to this conclusion sooner. I can’t even imagine cleaning that up. We get disgusted cleaning the car after ours throws up even if it’s a 2 minute drive, I can’t imagine poop

 

[henrymaxwell]

@jlondon33 We had the same issue -- months and months of paw-licking and ear infections and wrong diagnoses from several vets. It wasn't until a pet store employee suggested it that we realized that could be the issue!

 

[wiscguy]

@jlondon33 Well he was still testing positive for giardia so we were treating for that. Also he wasn’t pooping in the house or pooping more frequently really, it was just when we took him outside to potty the quality of his poop wasn’t good.

 

[leexyri]

@wiscguy Best of luck finding the right food for your baby! My golden has a chicken allergy and luckily we were able to use pro plan sport salmon and rice for a while. But they changed the formula and he's got itchy skin and I'm having trouble finding an affordable non-rx food that meets the veterinary nutrition guidelines that doesn't have chicken in it! I think we are going to end up on a prescription diet. But so be it because my boy will be happy and healthy!

 

[iffsiisolsos]

@leexyri I suspect you already know this, but just in case... your pup can have food with Chicken Fat. Since it doesn’t have any protein, the immune system does not react to chicken fat. This will open up a lot more foods for you. I’m not your vet, and this isn’t medical advice.

 

[justincann]

@iffsiisolsos That is not always the case. My guy is allergic/doesn’t tolerate chicken and he had treats with chicken fat and threw up for 3 days straight

 

[leexyri]

@iffsiisolsos Good to know and I was still unsure since we attempted a lamb based food with chicken fat with disastrous results (hill's large breed lamb and rice). I will definitely discuss this with my vet at our upcoming appointment! Thank you!

 

[wiscguy]

@leexyri Yes we are going to keep him on the z/d food for a while to let his stomach get more stable and then slowly reintroduce different proteins to see what exactly he is intolerant to (but we are almost certain it's all poultry). If your guy can do lamb Purina, Eukanuba, and Hills all have lamb formulas that are not prescription!