He seems to poop whatever quantity he's given but he's gaining weight. Also, his poop is the shape of poop but it's really soft and squishy. Can I give my puppy kaopectate and give him half his food ration with an equal amount of pumpkin instead of fasting him. He panics and I worry that could make it worse. I know his food has upset his stomach but I'm not sure why. We think he's about five weeks old but when I found him he barely had milk teeth. I have wormed him and he checks out with fecal exams but I won't let the vet give him any shots. He seems healty and is otherwise thriving. I've done alot of research but it's confusing and I really don't know what I'm doing.

I had a similar problem with some rescue puppies. Turned out they had Giardia. I got them on meds, cleaned their kennels with bleach every time they messed and they are now getting healthy.

Some of them didn't stop gaining weight, another little female started actually losing weight since the Giardia can block nutrient absorbtion. She is now putting on weight and has solid stools.

Giardia is one of those things that is VERY hard to catch in a normal stool sample. But your vet can run a screen for it. It's normally the last thing on the list they test for, too.

That is just my experience.

I just went through a week of this with my young pup...nervewracking to say the least! I added a probiotic powder in the morning, fed him on a cookie sheet instead of in a bowl to slow him down, and made sure he wasn't chewing on the lawn, leaves, or sticks in the yard. I also added rice to his Chicken Soup kibble and then gradually phased that out. I have no idea if this was the correct thing to do but after 1 week of liquid poop he's had 2 days of normal stool and I think we're over the hump.<p>Take a fresh(not more than 4 hours old)fecal into your vet and have them screen for parasites and Giardia. Giardia is hard to detect but we see it a lot with pups. My guy's fecal result will be in tomorrow and I'm very interested to see what it says.</p>

Thanks ladies. I didn't think to ask for that but I will and I'll post how he does.

screening for giardia is usually not very helpful because it often doesn't show up. if giardia is suspected, it does no harm to put the pup on metronidazole. if the stools firm up, then you know it solved the problem.

where could he have picked it up? where do i go to get the medicine? is it something that spreads to people? if he has it will it die in the yard or do i need to treat it to? is it ok to give meds alongside dewormer or should i skip the dewormer to treat for that parasite? thanks

it's a water-borne parasite, so you don't need to worry about it living in your yard, so far as i know (i'm not a parasitologist. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

they get it from drinking water that has the parasite in it, which you can't tell by looking at the water. dirty or clean, could still have giardia.

people get giardia from drinking untreated water, usually if they are on a camping trip or something and think it would be fun to drink out of the lake. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

as for the meds, you have to see a vet. this is not something i would do on your own. ask the vet if it could be giardia, and if so, what do they think of treating now and seeing if it clears up with treatment. often that's the only way to know for sure.

I made an appointment with the vet for Friday. I think the pumpkin is helping because his poop is well formed and less frequent even though it's still soft but I'm going to insist on him being treated just in case the pumpkin is being a band-aid instead of a cure. Thanks for the guidance. I'll be in touch.

Sarah, let us know how your pup's results turn out. I'd like to see if TLC can improve and even mask that infection.

I've got egg, or is it poop, on my face <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /><p>Test results came back today negative for everything, including Giardia, but after 2 days of normal stool he's having runny, mucousy poop again. So much for my experiment!</p><p>Fortunately I work for a Vet so I was able to get him checked out again today and get an RX of Metronidazole which I started tonight. It's good medication but...I wish this wasn't happening. I am the calm and reassuring voice with our owners when they are facing problems with their pups but when it's your own...Well, I'm as big a handwringer(or worse)as our most nervous clients <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /></p><p>On the plus side he's gained weight, has a ton of energy, and seems in every respect happy and healthy. I'll let you know what's happening and Thank You for asking! Hope your visit with the Doc goes well. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /></p>