Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:35 pm Post subject: Soft poo's - sorry!
Hi. I appreciate this has been done many times but I'd like a little advice.
Our lab is 14 weeks old. She was on antibiotics when we collected her at 11weeks as the litter had the runs. A week later we took her to the vets as we noticed some blood in the soft stool. She had a antibiotic jab and some tablets to take and some paste to be given. Things improved snd the stools were quite well formed. This only lasted a few days tho and we are now back to soft poo's. As far as th dog is concerned she seems fine, running and playing as id expect her to be. She poo's as she normally would - meaning she isnt going all the time. Just 4/5 times a day which id expect as a puppy?
She was on oscars and a bit of wainwrights mixed when we got her and we have gradually moved her to wainwrights salmon and rice now. No oscars.
I'm thinking that since she seems ok it may be food related and we have just not found the right one yet - is that a safe assumption? If there is no change by Friday I was going to try some JB food and see how that goes?
I'd just appreciate some opinions as its something I'd really like to get to the bottom of (excuse he pun)!
Soft poos are pretty usual for a young pup, especially one that has had antibiotics and a change of food.
I take it you are not seeing anymore blood in the stools?
Maybe give the wainwrights a bit longer to give a chance for the tummy to adjust before you change again. Make sure she drinks enough.
If the poos continue to be runny it might be worth putting her on something really bland like boiled chicken or white fish and rice.
But if she is active, and not losing weight it probably is just the food she needs to get used to combined with stress of the vets, medication and the new home.
This is so much more common than you would think you and half the puppy owning population go through this conundrum and rotten time.
Chances ARE because she came 'right' on the AB's then went 'off' again when they finished she is harbouring a small problem which is enough to go into remission when attacked with drugs and then start dancing in victory again, as soon as the drugs disappear. This can often be Guardia. A complete PIG of a problem to shift especially if they get it badly when young.
The side effect of that is that the bowel can take quite some time to recover from soft poo's and blood vessels breaking because the stool is not as it should be and coming through too quickly (which is the blood you see - its harmless - but its a sign things aren't right).
So regardless of food they tend to have problems for some time, and add to that the problem may well still be lingering its very difficult.
I hate to say it but sometimes there is no magic answer, and you just have a 'loose' youngster for quite some weeks to come yet. you can change food fifty times but it makes little difference, or only very temporarily.
now there are a million 'ifs and buts' to this. For example yes if she is allergic to something in a previous or current food etc etc, but I would lay money on it not being food related BUT if you can find one gentle on her insides it would certainly not set you back any.
However personally having had two dogs exactly like this in three years, I stuck with the Wainwrights S & P and they came out the other side of it after a few months and thrived. My only tip would be from experience to shift her OFF the 'puppy' even though shes young and go onto the large breed adult. Mine improved some when I did this although were still youngsters.
Di
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I had endless problems with Bella initially, first campylobacter then a mix of coccydiosis and giardia. It seemed that Bella had nothing but runny poo's for the first 4 months that I had her. She was treated for all of these and had subsequent tests which confirmed she was clear of everything, but she still had soft poo's (not runny, but always soft). At 6 months I changed her to adult Burns food and I have never looked back (neither has she ), apart from when she eats something in the field that doesn't quite agree with her
Having been through what I have been through, and if it was me, I would take a poo sample into the vets and ask them to test this to make sure any remaining bugs have been cleared up. Bella was always very active, happy and apparently healthy even when she had all these problems, so although she may appear fine, I would still get it checked out.
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Thank you for the replies. I know it must get a bit monotonous at times with the new/less experienced.
It's a very confusing frustrating situation and I know I'm one of many. I just hope it can be resolved.
I think I'm going to stick it out with the WW food then ( and try the adult ) a little longer and I will probably call the vets and discuss it with them. Taking a sample in for testing sounds like a good idea
I was thinking the same as Di about the possibility of giardia. My 10 month old GSP had problems with on/off soft stools and diarrhoea, my vet ran a poo sample test rather than giving AB's and it came back as giardia - I had already guessed he had it. He had a course of Panacur which didn't shift it and then a week of high dose metronidazole which finally did the trick. As Di said if they get a bad dose its a pain to get rid of!! Been there and got the t shirt!!
I would ask your vet to do a poo sample test as it won't do your pup any good to keep having AB's on and off on the off chance that they will fix it..they will mess with the gut flora and it will take longer to get her right. A probiotic paste such as Prokolin could be useful to give in the meantime.
I wouldn't change food again at the moment as that will most likely make things worse. How much are you feeding? Overfeeding can also result in soft stools especially if a pup/dog already has a sensitive stomach. I would be giving 300-350g a day split over three meals - maybe even go back to four for the moment whilst the stomach isn't good as it will help with the digestion not to have to process too much at once.
Hey . . Just thought I'd add an update to let you know where we are at and also some advice as to our next move.
We had her to the vets who gave her some AB's (sorry, don't have the name) but it was 2 pills twice a day for 5 days and a medicine once a day for a week. After a few days her stools were noticeably better, since they have finished 4 days or so ago they seem to be slipping back to being softer again.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking projectile watery diarrhoea, just softer stools- some a lot better than others. Some splodgy, some soft but shaped if that makes sense.
She is putting weight on, she is 4 months now and weighed 9.5kg last week at the vets last week, runs around and plays like a loon and sleeps through the night so I'm not overly concerned she is I'll BUT I'm wondering if I should just sit tight and see how the stools go rather than go back to the vets.
I'm sticking with the wainwrights puppy food, that hasn't been changed and she gets 120g 3 times a day plus the dog treats through the day.
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), apart from when she eats something in the field that doesn't quite agree with her 
