Puppy diarrhoea

[Johnnyc2528]

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My 7 week old pup has had diarrhoea for the last 3 days. We have changed his food because he was not eating his last one , however he us not fond of any puppy food at all.so we have resorted to feeding him plain chicken which he likes very much.

He does not appear unwell and is very much normal other than his stools.

He has not had his first injection yet and we are in the process of worming him.

Can anyone offer any advice please as we are a little worried

 

[chelynnah]

I would get him to a vet as soon as I could. Puppies systems are not to be messed with and diarrhoea for that long could cause him to be seriously dehydrated.

How long have you had him? It concerns me as puppies ideally shouldn't be going to their homes until at least 8 weeks. Also I'm not sure what you mean by 'in the process of worming him'? He could be reacting to the wormer.

Overall in this instance my first port of call would be the vets. Not eating, and diarrhoea for three days could be very serious in a pup this young.

 

[Johnnyc2528]

Thanks for your reply , we have had him for nearly a week, aware that this is very early to be separated from his mother and brothers and sisters , but we bought him from a very unreliable breeder with pretty squalid conditions and he was no longer with his mother , so after speaking to a vet and a successful check up we took him nearly a week ago .

I took him to the vet first thing today , and there is no serious concerns , they gave him some bacterial paste to help stabilise his stomach , a course of antibiotics and some sensitive puppy food with chicken and rice .

The little terror still won't eat the puppy food but will eat chicken , the vet said this is still ok short term just to ensure he eats.

Although he eats very little he has still gained weight in the last 5 days .

We were given a 3 day de worming programme from the vet and today is the last day of that.it does not appear to have any link to worms , probably a bacteria of some sort .

 

[chelynnah]

Glad the vet thinks he's ok. It's so worrying when the little ones have this problem as they can dehydrate so fast. It may be to do with the worming. I don't usually have that problem with panacur (I suspect that's the 3 day worming), but when I tried a different wormer on my last litter of pups they were all ill within an hour. Not because they had worms, but because a wormer can be hard on their tummies, so with him not eating much, the wormer itself may have just caused a bit of digestive upset. Bland chicken and rice is good if he has a bit of a dodgy tum.

Once he gets past this, don't mess around changing his food up too much as it can easily become a control issue for him and you can unintentionally create a fussy eater. If he learns that if he turns his nose up at one thing then something better will come he will take full advantage. So once this is over find a good dog food (maybe keep to a bit of a more sensetive lamb and rice or fish and potato forumula) and stick to it. I think that plain dry food is boring though so I always mix a little bit of wet food in with it and mix it up, whether it's a pet mince, or a good quality wet packet. Just a dessert spoon of it with the dry food can make it interesting enough. Another option is a bit of plain (non sweetened non flavoured) yoghurt. That's good for the digestion as well as making the dry food a bit more interesting.

Let us know how you get on. He looks a sweetie.

Wendy

 

[broxi3781]

Sounds like you have the problem under control but I have always found rice water a miracle worked for tummy problems. I over cook white rice and eat it myself, then add the milky water to the pups food, or in severe cases give just the cooled rice water. It coats the stomach and really does help. Found out about this shortly after parvo was first released. The vet had vaccinated my dog against my wishes with a vaccine that had only come onto the market while the dog was undergoing surgery for a dog bite wound. He ended up with parvo, but I was barely a teenager and my mother couldn't afford more vet bills so I sat up with him for nights spooning rice water into his mouth. He recovered, and at that time less than half the dogs who were kept in the vets recovered. After that we used it for everything - including poorly humans. We did get a second dog with parvo - despite being vaccinated and the vet was amazed at his condition considering the illness. We spent a long time chatting about diet and such and he said according to what he had learned in vet school everything I as doing was wrong, but it was very hard to argue with success. He also mentioned that he had a few other clients whose dogs lived longer, had remarkable immune systems and never gave him any business apart from the basic vaccines and check ups and perhaps the odd accident. He had been interviewing all the owners and felt he had found a pattern in diet - none of us fed more than 50% dog food. He did use rice water himself though and I have found other vets do as well. I was sent home with a pup with parvo with no medications and the instructions to just stick with exactly what I was doing, but of course the pup did not have as serious a case as he would have done if he had been unvaccinated. Sometimes vaccines do not give full immunity but hopefully when a vaccinated animal contracts the disease it is better equipped to fight it off. With your pup being kept in filthy conditions though, it is most likely simply a result of poor early hygiene and I expect the vets treatment will sort the problem easily.

As to diet, I feed my dogs everything and they have all been picky eaters. I don't really mind, I have never had an overweight dog, nor a truly underweight one at least not after I have owned it long enough to bring it up to a normal weight. They are all healthy and happy and if they turn up their nose at their tea one night, they will always eat the next, much like my children ( who are also picky eaters). There are all sorts of diets to choose from those that include no dog food whatsoever to those which include nothing else. I'd recommend a lot of research, but here is a good place to start : You'll have to google the title as I can not cut and paste the url here, but look for How pet food is killing your dog and why you should be feeding it parsnips and yoghurt. If you do want to stick with dog food only _ would recommend a really good one. So far I think Platinum is the best but very expensive. Royal Canine, James Well Beloved and several other premium brands are good, but I would still add extras myself. Still everyone ahs opinion, you can only go with what works for you and your dog, Of course chicken alone will not make a balanced diet, but you can use it as a starting point if you wish with other natural ingredients. Personally, I feed about 50% a good quality dog food and then add various meats, usually what we are eating, but I will add fish, liver or heart at times, mashed up vegetables and some fresh fruits especially strawberries. There is a huge debate as to whether dogs should be fed grain at all, but I do feed rice, home made breads etc... However grain should not be the mainstay of the diet. I also feed milk, which is recommended in many books including Dr Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, and all of the older books on Staffordshire Bull Terriers. Most people disagree, but I find it works quite well for our dogs. I wouldn't take Pitcairn's book as a bible they do advocate a vegetarian although not vegan at least diet for dogs as they find the meat industry cruelty to animals - but sadly dogs really are not herbivores but there is a lot of good info and it makes a good starting point. I know some people who swear by the raw meaty diet, and others who have had problems as well. You just have to find what works for you and your dog, but if you are planning to go the people food route, you do need the willpower to leave out any foods which are not appropriate. Dogs love junk food too and while I see nothing wrong with the very occasional small tidbit, I know too many staffies who think chips are a dogs main food source, and the most unhealthy wee poodle I ever groomed ate chocolate cake on a regular basis. It also died at about 8 or 9, horrible for such a long lived breed. Like everything else, a healthy diet for dogs requires common sense.

Reznov was also bought far too young as the bitch had accidentally been bred just after weaning a large litter. She was a very tiny bitch, bred to a very large male twice and lost roughly 1/3 of her body weight. The pups had been removed and they were feeding milk and wheatabix in the morning and dry Bakers choice at night. I thought he was worm infested due to the coat, pot belly and horrible skin, but when I took him to the vet the next morning we found out it was malnutrition. In the 4 weeks between appointments, Resnov more than doubled his body weight ( 2.2 kg to 5.8 kg) and the vets first response to seeing him was what a lovely coat he had. She was absolutely shocked when she looked up his records as she wasn't the one who saw him the first time. You can no longer feel any bones and he looks the picture of health, but I expect him to still go quite scrawny when the main growth burst hits him as staffies reach full height by 6 months. A widely varied diet is working well for him - but I have to confess he is already a bit fussy and food just doesn't work as motivator for training - we have to use play instead.