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Diarrhea for over a month...please help! -UPDATE-

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Stubborn_Bulldog

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
My poor bulldog Lola (1 year old in early Feb) has had diarrhea for quite a while now and we're at our wit's end. We have been to the vet multiple times and tried multiple things, but nothing has worked so far. The strange thing is that more firm during the day, but runny at night. She had bad diarrhea earlier on...we changed her food to Eukanuba low-residue RX diet. That seemed to do the trick (for 6+ months) until recently. The vet did a fecal examination to rule out worms and initially gave her some antibiotics and a mild sedative called clomicalm. During this time, we gave her some plain yogurt to offset the affects of the medication. The medicine didn't work. We then tried another type of antibiotic along with pro-pectin. This seemed to work temporarily, but did not ultimately solve the problem. Lastly, our vet gave her prednisone and sulfasalazine...which she has recently finished...also didn't work. Our vet said that he has done about all that he knows to do! he said that she may have IBS and that we may have to "deal" with it. Even thought Lola is acting and eating perfectly fine, I know that it cannot be good for her...and it certainly isn't good for the carpet!

Now, I know that there are more things that we can do and would like some suggestions...should I change her food? If so, what should I try and how do I go about changing it?

Thanks in advance for the help.
 
#2 ·
What food was she on before you changed it?

Many time foods like Euka...other foods vets recomemnd and foods that can be bought in a store have ingredients that many dogs are allergic to and these allergies will cause soft stools... no so much diarrhea, but soft unformed stools.

This might be your problem. There is a food sticky in this section, read through it and check out some of the foods on there with high ratings. A very good food is DVP potato and duck. They sell it at Petco and it is hypo-allergenic.

My next question is...do you give her raw hides? soft chews that she chews quickly?
 
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Discussion starter · #4 ·
Kate said:
What food was she on before you changed it?
Click to expand...
She was on Eukanuba LB puppy before changing over.

Kate said:
My next question is...do you give her raw hides? soft chews that she chews quickly?
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No, no raw hides. She only gets her food, a dry liver based treat called Charlee Bears and an occasional chopped up carrot ( her fav).

If I try a new food, how do I change it...cold turkey? How long before I see a change?
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
cutter146 said:
I think it maybe the food too. Especially considering the Vet is stumped. I have heard changing to a food that has venison is your best bet as dogs aren't accustomed to it so less chances they will be allergic to it.
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I just went to Petco and picked up a small bag of DVP Potato and Duck. How should I go about changing her food?
 
#8 ·
Hopefully you still have some of the old food. Mix the two together so it isn't a shock to the system. Also it helps them get accustomed to the new food taste. Duck is also a good choice to try. Slowly back off the original food and once she is on the duck meat give her a few days to see if there is a difference. Bust of luck and let us know what happens :) This site should help. http://dogs.about.com/cs/dietandnutrition/qt/switch_foods.htm
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
cutter146 said:
Hopefully you still have some of the old food. Mix the two together so it isn't a shock to the system. Also it helps them get accustomed to the new food taste. Duck is also a good choice to try. Slowly back off the original food and once she is on the duck meat give her a few days to see if there is a difference. Bust of luck and let us know what happens :) This site should help. http://dogs.about.com/cs/dietandnutrition/qt/switch_foods.htm
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Thanks for the info. I gave her a little of the new food with the old stuff and she seems to love it...I'll LYK how it goes...hopefully this is the answer.
 
#10 ·
You didn't mention it specifically, so forgive me if this possibility has already been explored.

Has your vet considered Pancreatitis? I have a female dog (non bully-breed) who developed a fairly severe case of pancreatitis at about 2 years of age. The diarrhea was awful, and after about 2 days of battling the problem at home, we took her to the vet and a blood test was done that confirmed his suspicion that it was pancreatitis. He placed her on a drug (that I unfortunately cannot remember the name of) and it cleared the problem in just a day or two.

Like I say, I would imagine the vet's already thought of this, but I thought I would mention it just in case. Good luck!
 
#11 ·
I'd take her to another vet & have them check VERY carefully for giardia. We had a client whose dog had diarrhea for over 2 months. Sometimes it would got to normal for a few days, maybe a week, then it was back to very runny stools. We had 3 different lab techs search over those slides (including myself) & we never could find anything. But it just so happened one day that I found a whopping 2, but that's all we needed to confirm it (imagine looking for something literally microscopic & clear that moves very quickly). Although the giardia snap tests aren't 100% accurate (or even 90%), I might still have them do one if they have them.

Has the dog ever had a CBC or Complete Profile run?

My next advice is to take your dog to a veterinary gastrointerologist. Do y'all have a vet school nearby?
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
fotno said:
Has your vet considered Pancreatitis? I have a female dog (non bully-breed) who developed a fairly severe case of pancreatitis at about 2 years of age.
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No, we havent talked about that...did your dog seem to be in any pain? Lola is very energetic and playful...and still has a HUGE appetite.
 
#15 ·
well u have a beautiful dog!

but i have a few ?'s to ask.


do u take your dog to the dog park?
has the vet taken a fresh poop and examined it?
what treats and toys do u allow your dog to play with?
has the vet taken any type of xrays?
do u have children? if so do u think they can be feeding your dog junk it should not eat?

have u ever thought about testing your water? as there can be something in the water!!!


feed your dog straight rice with chicken broth (low sodium) and see if that works!
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
jr8fan said:
well u have a beautiful dog!
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Thanks a lot!

jr8fan said:
do u take your dog to the dog park?
has the vet taken a fresh poop and examined it?
what treats and toys do u allow your dog to play with?
has the vet taken any type of xrays?
do u have children? if so do u think they can be feeding your dog junk it should not eat?

have u ever thought about testing your water? as there can be something in the water!!!
Click to expand...
I don't take her to the park, but I do live in an apartment, and she sometimes "goes" where other dogs "go"
Yes, the vet has examined a fresh sample.
No Xrays or bloodwork...I'm thinking I should change vets.
No children...I keep a pretty close eye on her...but she still eats the occasional piece of lint, etc...lol

I tried the rice and chicken thing for awhile and it seemed to work just a little...but the diarrhea came back as soon as I put her back on the dry food.
 
#17 ·
Stubborn_Bulldog said:
fotno said:
Has your vet considered Pancreatitis? I have a female dog (non bully-breed) who developed a fairly severe case of pancreatitis at about 2 years of age.
Click to expand...
No, we havent talked about that...did your dog seem to be in any pain? Lola is very energetic and playful...and still has a HUGE appetite.
Click to expand...
It didn't seem to affect her appetite any, but she was not quite as energetic as normal. Our Vet told us that it varied from animal to animal, with some being almost lifeless, and others unaffected other than the Diarrhea. I gathered that he always did a complete blood panel on dogs with persistant diarrhea, so that he could rule out everything BUT food allergies or gastro-intestinal problems like IBS.

BTW, he also told us that mild cases of pancreatitis could go away on its own, or it could become chronic in which case only treatment would be effective in stopping the illness. As someone else suggested, I think I would try another vet. Sometimes it just helps to have a new set of eyes looking at it.
 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
fotno said:
I think I would try another vet.
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Yeah, I'm going to pick up a copy of Lola'a records tomorrow morning. I'll have to find another vet that is a little more willing to help...mine told me 5 days ago that he would be in touch with me...and I've heard nothing. Lola needs a doctor that will be much less nonchalant about this.
 
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