I've been trying to deal with this on my own, but it's to the point now that I'm wondering if I should take her to the vet's office.

Last weekend she was given a day's worth of dehydro'ed Nature's Variety Prarie blend last friday as I was out of town and was cared fo by my parents. She was not allowed outside unless on leash to walk or go to the bathroom. Her water was their drinking water from their own well...no city tap water.

Getting back saturday early afternoon she started having pudding/yellow stools.

Saturday night she had a tremendous amount of gas so much that she yelped when trying to go to the bathroom and expelled violently. That continued three more times saturday night/early sunday morning.

By Sunday after church she was in full blown diarrhea, still yellow. I stopped feeding and just gave her water and about 2 tbls of pumpkin all day and while the gas stopped, her bowel movements did, also.

there has been no decrease in energy or play levels at all...none. No fever. She continues to play/fetch/be a pain in the rear as if nothing is bothering her at all.

I started back on about 1/2 lbs of beef heart yesterday and a chicken quarter today(tuesday).

So far, she's had one BM today and it was dark, runny, and very small...any ideas?

I've read several threads here and feel like I've done everything I know to do except give her more time to self regulate or go to the vet's office.

I don't think a vet visit is a bad idea, given the unknown nature of the problem.

I recently had similar problems with my GSD pup, and the advice I got here (and followed religiously) really did the trick.

Boiled rice (75%) and boiled chicken breast w/o bone (25%). Plus a tablespoon of plain yogurt. I did this for about 3 or 4 days and then gradually added in some real food. Worked like a charm.

 Quote: Amber Morgan

I don't think a vet visit is a bad idea, given the unknown nature of the problem.

Ditto. With a sample.

after two days of rain, there's nothing to sample which means an overnight stay, probably...

her water intake is up from what it is normally, but that could be from the dehydrated food.

she's not had anything new in her food, the dehydated stuff is stuff she's eaten before and never had a problem

I'm going to give her some more pumpkin and watch her closely...she seems a little lethargic this afternoon but ate well.

I wonder if she's eaten something(not food items)that I didn't catch?

I did massage her tummy awhile ago and she acted like it felt good to do that and I heard a big "swoosh" in her stomach when she sat up afterwards...I really hope she doesn't have a twist in her intestine. A puppy of my old cocker spaniel female died when it's intestine twisted and killed it nearly instantly.

ok, I've talked myself into calling the vet...anything else anyone can recommend?

Mike, probably a dumb question but are you sure the dehydrated food was hydrated with water before fed by your parents? Even if it wasn't, it doesn't seem she would still be affected by that 4 days later but I don't know for sure.

Do you or your parents have any plants in your yard that sprouted up recently that she may have gotten hold of?

I'm thinking vet too.

I have read in multiple places that pumpkin in *excessive* quantities can make diarrhea worse.

In normal doses, it helps both consipation and diarrhea but I would caution you against "too much of a good thing." Don't know how much you're giving on a daily basis, or even if what I read was true, but I thought I'd throw that into the FYI catagory.

It could be any number of things. The fact that it started after she was away from her home makes me think that, like Sandy said, she may have gotten into something she shouldn't have.

It could be something that will work itself out, but who knows? It could be bacterial or parasites or too many table scraps, or sampling of the local flora and fauna...hard to say. A stool sample is a must, I think. I don't know why you'd need an overnight stay, though. At my vet's, they do the office check and then I drop off the sample whenever it "arrives."

It rained so I have no "samples", in addition there wasn't much of anything to sample since saturday night...it's been pretty much liquids. So, I figured that they'd require an overnight stay to get a stool sample.

btw, she's had about 4 oz of pumpkin so far and she's drank probably a gallon and a half of water in the last 24 hours...that's a lot for her.

The dehydrated stuff was definitely soaked in water for sure...and she didn't have that much, to boot.

I would agree that she might have put something in her mouth that she shouldn't have while on a walk or potty break...there's lots of critters at my parents: deer, turkey, coons, possums, foxes, etc...

plus alot of vegetation that she isn't used to being around...but she's not really much for eating plants at my house--everything else---but not plants.

I'm thinking she ate some deer droppings or something like that...

Well, then, call your vet and when you make the appointment let them know about the lack of stools and see what they suggest.

Our vets has this handy little bottle they give you for samples. It has a little spoon on the end; apparently they don't need much for the analysis.

Please let us know how she's doing. It's good that her mood and energy are still good.

 Quote: mike morrison

It rained so I have no "samples", in addition there wasn't much of anything to sample since saturday night...it's been pretty much liquids. So, I figured that they'd require an overnight stay to get a stool sample.

btw, she's had about 4 oz of pumpkin so far and she's drank probably a gallon and a half of water in the last 24 hours...that's a lot for her.

The dehydrated stuff was definitely soaked in water for sure...and she didn't have that much, to boot.

I would agree that she might have put something in her mouth that she shouldn't have while on a walk or potty break...there's lots of critters at my parents: deer, turkey, coons, possums, foxes, etc...

plus alot of vegetation that she isn't used to being around...but she's not really much for eating plants at my house--everything else---but not plants.

I'm thinking she ate some deer droppings or something like that...

I agree that this does not sound like a reaction to her meals...... One possible cause of yellow poop is Giardia, so you will want to rule that out.

(I went back to check and I saw that the yellow poop started before the pumpkin.)

I would try to get a sample. Even a disposable pie tin under her at the right moment might work.

The vet can "go fishing" if necessary, but better that you catch it, if possible.

I agree that it's most likely that they'll do a check-up there and then you drop off the sample when it happens, rather than requiring an overnight. JME.

I'd have her on a lead every trip outdoors so you don't miss one.

Isn't it interesting how poop becomes such a big part of the new dog-owner's life?

I'm thinking it's possibly Giardia also. Giardia is found in water, it can be found in well water and especially surface water where there are farms. In city tap water carbon filtration is used to filter out the giardia from being in the finished water for drinking.

One other thing, I would definitely fast the dog for a day or two before going on the bland diet to let the digestive system rest and give it a week of decent stools before introducing their old food to them. JMO

Kimberly